My best friend is in charge of the room mom tea at our school. This tea honors the parents who take on the responsibility of being room parent for the year.

She has about a $50 budget for about 6 centerpieces. I know that all of you that read this board are VERY creative. I told my friend about this board, and she asked me to post this and ask for some ideas.

We really wanted to do something fun and different. Everyone always does the same old thing. Any ideas you could send my way would be VERY much appreciated.

Looking forward to reading some of your ideas.

i wish i could make them for her! i have a huge supply of flowers almost all year round and too many ideas to use myself..... for a party for my husband's bd....i got pictures from his whole life and deckled the edges, mounted them on blue and white gingham (it was a bar-b-q) and then laminated them....i got cheap terracotta pots - you know the kind every nursery has and stuffed them with some oasis (the green stuff that holds water - at all craft stores/hardware stores)...crammed sunflowers in the pots.... THEN got 20 gauge (i think) wire and curled the top to hold the photos and stuck them in the pots. it looked great, every body has copied me since and it gave everyone something to talk about. my husband is sort of shy but everyone was asking him about the pictures and he never shut up. this would be good for women who aren't best friends.

my last party i got lined the inside of mason jars with leaves and then filled with flowers from my garden - doesn't sound great but was incredible - i have photos i think if you need to see.

at easter i cover the entry table with wheat gr*** and cut holes in it so little 6 packs from the nursery look as if they are growing out of it.....

since it is because of the children they get together, the kids could draw pictures for the laminated things - fall leaves now - snowflakes...whatever the occasion the mom's are getting together.....have done things where the children draw self-portraits OR they could draw pics of their mothers to use...i could go on and on....run these by her and then let me know if she needs more direction or more ideas or for me to shut up......

WELL... since this is a scrapping site, why not use photos? Here's what we did for a women's conference about 3 years ago:

We got terra-cotta pots and filled them with foam. Then gr***y paper shreds. Then we took wire (from hardware store) and made "stems" and curled the top so it would hold photos. Then we took photos (antique heritage photos in this instance) and mounted them on colored cardstock and put them on the stems. You could do this with photos of the children in the cl***es or the teachers or the parents themselves. (with a digital you could do it pretty quick).

Just an idea for ya!

__________________
April Anderton
Contributing Editor
Digital Scrapbooking Magazine
brought to you by Simple Scrapbooks

OH MY GOSH! AS I was typing mo hit send! LOL well, I guess you know it's a good idea if two people suggest it within seconds of eachother! Either that or it's done a lot!

__________________
April Anderton
Contributing Editor
Digital Scrapbooking Magazine
brought to you by Simple Scrapbooks

Hi Campelmolino-

Your ideas are wonderful. Might I say, I'm a huge fan of your l.o's. They are always so unique and creative.

I'll run these by her. I really like the first one you mentioned with the pics of your husband's life.

Can you think of anything that might incorporate a tea theme, and school? I know that sounds kind of like a weird combo. For instance, decorating the gl***es with pencils, so the teachers can pop them off, and use them in their cl***es. I was trying to think of something along those lines, that might be a little more "tea-themed" Money is a big issue, unfortunately. However, with all of the $ stores around now, you can get a lot for a little. Keep your ideas coming.

No matter what, you're giving me great ideas for future events.

Also, since you're in creative mode, I'm in charge of the banners for the front gates of the school for Red Ribbon week. (The week where the school educates about drug and substance abuse.) So far, I thought of buying some caution tape, and making a big poster that says Caution:Entering drug-free zone. I wanted it to be something that caught the kids attention, so that it didn't seem like the same old thing. I'm not the most artistic without my computer helping me out. Can you think of a cool way to make the poster? I need a couple of posters, so if you think of any other great ideas that I can make without having to be an artist, let me know.

It's so great to have other viewpoints. Thanks again.

Thank you too April-

I didn't see your reply, until after i replied to Campelmolino. Yes-this idea is awesome! Thanks.

Cardee-
You may want to call Kinkos....or other printing/copy shops in your area. A lot of places are getting large format ink jet printers, and depending on your budget, can print them quite reasonably.

OR...

You can purchase a roll of yellow art paper, and print out your lettering, either at home, or have Kinkos print laser copies. Then just cut out eash letter, and glue to the yellow paper, then take it to be laminated! Lamination will make it water proof, and I suggest requesting at LEAST 2" of extra lamintaion on each end so you can fold it over (to make 1" border) and cut a hole thru both pieces so you can tie it to a fence. If you print the letters yourself, you can use red letters for the "caution" and black for the rest.

Call around and check laminating prices, and also size limitations....length usually isnt an issue, but the width can be. You can also check with the school.....some schools have the equiptment. Its been awhile since i was in school, but the high school I went to would allow the use of our laminator for school related stuff for pennies a square inch.

They may also have the paper.....or check out ****Blick.com
they have 24" x 60' rolls of colored art paper for $11.25.

Just some ideas!

__________________
juli

Destiny is not a matter of chance,
Its a matter of choice,
and what you chose to do with it!

Hi Destnymyne-

Thank you for the great ideas. The kind of things you mentioned is kind of the track I'm on too. Great minds think alike-I guess.

We do have use of a laminator at the school, so I'll definitely use that. Thanks again for all of your input.