I am typing this as we are driving south to Louisiana. Though it is a difficult drive on a two lane logging road twisting through the western edge of the Ouachita mountain range, it is beautiful and especially in autumn. As we pass through through the various little towns along the way, I am seeing lots of hay bale decorations…huge, round hay bales painted orange like pumpkins with the eyes, nose and teeth crudely painted on it. There are one or two turkeys decorations with all kinds of things being used as the head and tail feathers. I’m just waiting to see some Santa Clauses and Christmas ornaments painted on the hay! Sure have seen a few Christmas decorations up already! Here’s what we saw…
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Thanksgiving Decorating Ideas
The natural beauty the great outdoors brings us this time of year is simply amazing. Trees are ablaze, dripping with gold, persimmon and pomegranate colored leaves. If you are lucky enough to live in a part of our country with beautiful fall foliage, you know what I means…it takes your breath away and you marvel at God’s design. The leaves are at their peak right now in my town and this is what we pass by everyday on our way to and from school carpool. Gorgeous!
I guess it’s time to start thinking about Thanksgiving and highlighting nature’s bounty in seasonal décor. Here are a few that have caught my eye online…what will you come up with this year?
Thanksgiving Table Decorations, Thanksgiving Tablescapes
Monday, November 8, 2010
The Hillbilly Hoedown
Well, doggies! Trinity Junior High’s Buffalo Blast was a bona fide hoot as all of the elements lined up for a festive fundraiser. The food, drinks, décor and music were mighty pleasing, and the fact that the Razorbacks game was on televising a big victory over So. Carolina eased the crowd with pleasant spirits…or maybe that was the “White Lightning” being served?!
More than 200 guests decked out in their country casuals feasted on smoked brisket, chicken and chicken wings prepared by Trinity Dads Russ Bragg and John Hagen. Doggonit’ if it wasn’t finger lickin’ good, too! The sides were something to behold…freshly prepared hash brown potato casserole, smoked baked beans and creamy coleslaw. Hot apple cobbler and a Twinkie and Ding Dong layer cake crowned the dessert table…and yes, we actually saw people taking chunks of the Twinkie cake.
Jed Clampit and his band played toe tappin’ country and blues plus a few more…they were so good and we hope they come back for more! Thanks for all the help and support from parents, teachers and friends for making the night a fun success!
Dave and Shana Hughes set the tone for the evening!
Lori Shields, Principal Chandler Doss, and Julie Hagen greet the guests
The first heat of the Buffalo Races
The tailgating section hoping for the best against Carolina
Chopped, smoked chicken and brisket lovingly prepared by Russ Bragg and John Hagen
Jed Clampit and the boys provided “front porch,” toe tappin’ music
The Benedictine Sisters from St. Scholastica Monastery visit with Chandler Doss
Ed and Stacy Ralston and Amy Weis are proud to be Hillbillies!
Karen Schwartz captures snaggletooth smiles from committee members Kim Green and Patty Wortley
The entry…
Sonya Coleman and Kate Maurras survey the vittles!
With the football game on in the corner and the band’s music blaring…is it possible they can concentrate on their hands?
Twinkies, Little Debbies and Ding Dongs adorn the masterpiece cake…if that doesn’t satisfy the sweet tooth, the brownie bites will!
Phil and Chandler Doss call out the numbers for the Buff races
Karen Schwartz and Theresa Piechocki print out the souvenir pictures
Don’t you just love a man in overalls??? And cut off sleeves with tats???
Is it any wonder that we had no hash brown potato casserole left over?
Lana Hunt, Kim Green and Jennifer Yaffe make sure Alex Catsavis counts out the correct number of spaces
Apple Cobbler…sho’ waz gud!
Big money on the races…things are getting heated
With many thanks to our Sponsors!
Mr. & Mrs. Mike Rappeport
Shields Energy
Dr. & Mrs. Jay Stringfellow
OK Foods-Russ Bragg
John Hagen
Friends of Trinity
Fans of Trinity
Platinum Distributing
Mr. & Mrs. Phillip Hindman
Golden Corral
Carlisle Alderink & Chris Albertson
Anders Group
…and thanks to a hard working committee
Eileen Teagle - Chairperson, PR
Julie Hagen & Carrie Johnson - Reservations
Sonya Coleman - Food
Kim Green & Patty Wortley - Beverages
Jennifer Yaffe & Ellen Shields - Decorations
Audra Pogue - Entertainment
Heather & Brant Latta - Texas Hold ‘Em Tourny
Polly Johnston - Buffalo Races
Janet Gilker & Karen Schwartz - Photo Booth
Kate Maurras - Raffle
Chris Fitzgerald & Jeff Meares - Football Pool
Lori Shields – Door Sales
Principal – Chandler Doss
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Hillbilly Hoedown Decorative Details
What a fun theme and especially for an autumn party! So many details went into the decorations…
the committee worked hard on getting it all together and trying to follow my vision.
Take a peek to see what we came up with…
The Entry…
A bubba sized spotlight casts a bubba sized shadow of the tractor on the side wall
Yup…chicken butts!
Those wacky weed picker ladies!
Gymnasium Lobby…
Hillbilly shack
Check in table with paper and duct tape pennants overhead
The “Pour House” Bar made from painted cardboard
Hand painted sign on old board I found
Check in table information and those funky aluminum can votives I mentioned in an earlier post…ah…the lovely sofa!
Hallway leading to gym entry with duct tape pennants and mini lights with paper petals
“Extrie” jeans hung out to dry!
The outhouses with moons, stars and corncobs hanging over head!
The Food Table
Scarecrows of the Faculty hung on the corners of the food tents…I scanned their photos, digitized them and printed them out onto iron-on transfers.
The committee hot glued together the “outfits” I cut to resemble Fr. Tom Elliot, Mrs. Doss and the others.
They received lots of giggles…
The table…
The Twinkie cake…what a work of art!
We couldn’t have pulled this off without the help of the PE kids who helped move tables and chairs,
set the tables and did anything we asked…all with smiles on their faces!
Football Tent
The football tent before the party started…most of the action was here until after the game was over.
Table Centerpieces
Table centerpieces were industrial sized food cans that we wrapped with scraps of old fabric. We hot glued in a piece of styro foam in the bottom, added a piece of newspaper for cushioning and topped that off with raffia. Skewers were inserted through the raffia into the foam with images of famous hillbillies and country folk, pennant flags in country calico themes, and sponsor tables had the sponsor’s name at the top of a long dowel.
We used bandanas under the cans for color, tied more of the scrap fabric onto mason jars and used as votives along
with the aluminum can votives. Table sponsor tents and boats of peanuts finished off the tables.
Sponsor’s name on table centerpiece and event koozies for the guests.
“Audra Sue” and “Jennifer Jean” are on illumination rounds!
The Gymnasium
How do you fill up a huge empty room for a party to make it festive, intimate and interesting?
Build height where you can, add twinkling lights, colored spotlights and make it personal.
For example, as soon as our guests entered the gym, they saw this goofy arrow sign to lead the way and saw
tall tents set up like a country fair…lined with mini lights, of course!
The big picture…the backdrop on the stage lined with lights and the red spotlights up the wall add some punch
when the lights are turned down for the concert.
The Gym Bar
We used the scoreboard table and built a crude sign to go on top to add height, lined it with mini-lights and paper and duct tape banners.
The Photo Booth Area
Love the laundry line on the bleachers!
The outhouse was constructed with a large furniture box that was cut up and painted into individual “wooden” planks, then built into the “shed.”
Don’t you love the calf, old benches and laundry line? It was a big hit!
The Stage
I painted the barn on a cut up refrigerator box and duct taped it together.
Hay bales are charming, but messy and cause lots of allergy problems!
Jed Clampit and the boys warm up. In the foreground is the Buffalo Races track made from corplast and white electrical tape.
The Buffalos are wood blocks, dowels and oval plaques…
The dice box is also made from corplast…
Races are a fun and profitable way to raise extra dollars at your next fundraiser…easy to do and an attention getter!
Flickr Tags: Trinity Junior High School,Hillbilly Hoedown,Buffalo Blast,Country Decorations,Hillbilly decorations,decorate a gym,country food table,Twinkie Cake,painted shack,painted outhouse,paper and duct tape banners,fundraiser party decorations,painted barn decorations,tables centerpieces fundraiser,bar decorations fundraiser
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