Pack a Little Picnic (Part Two)

Of course if I show you invitations, I have to show the party decor! This is more of a photo journal sort of post, limited description, but fun ideas! Of course, you know from the invites that the potluck luncheon was picnic themed so we used fun, vintage decor! 

At our lemonade stand, we used old wooden crates and canning jars for glassware. 

Paper products and utensils were stored in various glass jars, and then in a vintage wire basket.

Each table (the buffets and lemonade stand too!) was covered with plastic picnic table cloth as seen in basically every photo! The colored daisies were put in larger versions of the utensil jars. 

And no picnic is complete without ANTS! Ours were friendly, plastic, and snagged from our math manipulatives for a fun effect!

I was super excited that McKenzie (decorating partner in crime!) embraced my harebrained idea to use the bench in our decor. It was really only thought of because it was still in my car from the Vintage Hardware Fire Sale we shopped the day previous. We decided it would be perfect to hold our drink bucket.  This photo was taken before the bucket was loaded with ice and bottles.  

The room as a whole, the tops of the library shelves served as our buffet line, so they were decorated with paper flowers and picnic baskets too! If you look closely, you can see the butterflies that the wonderful Mary Ann hung from the lights! The perfect topper to our picnic party! 

Thank you so much to McKenzie and Mary Ann for teaming up with me to decorate on Sunday, you are both so clever and crafty! 

Thank you to all of our certified staff for providing all of the food! And for your help setting out food in the morning and clean up after! And for giving our classified good break time by covering their obligations for them.

AND BIGGEST THANKS TO OUR CLASSIFIED HEROES! You are truly the foundation of our school and programs. I know I'd be lost without you! 

PS: Lynne B. the bar has been set! ;) 

The Willow Pattern Story!

I saw this art project on Pinterest months ago and have been wanting to have my students participate! I ordered "The Willow Pattern Story" by Allan Drummond from Amazon so I could have a text based introduction for the project.  I try to relate all of my projects to either something we are studying or to a book that I can share with the kids to give them a bit of background.  The project was fairly inexpensive, I bought about 8 packs of variety size paintbrushes from our local dollar store, Deals Only. The plates were about $3.00 for a pack of 100! You need paper plates, not waxed covered, if you want the paint to stay! The paint came from our school supply closet, blue and white tempera.  Students were given their Willow plate and a second plate for mixing the paint for varying shades of blue. Each group also had a couple cups of rinse water and sets of the paint.  In hind sight, I should have used wax covered or plastic bowls for the paint rather than more plates, because they would be more liquid proof and would be easier to cover with saran wrap. Oh well, to remember for the future! When students completed their pieces I hung them on the bulletin board for all to see!

While they painted, I displayed a tea saucer that I borrowed from my mom featuring the Blue Willow pattern.  This helped give students a visual reference for what they heard about in the story. 

The students worked hard to imitate the original pattern by incorporating the love birds at the top of the pieces, a river, pagodas, a zigzag fence, the bridge with three people crossing, and various trees. 

I had a couple unfinished pieces at the time of the following picture, hence the awkward gap!