Themed Event:
A Time for Every Season
Theme Verse: Ecclesiastes 3:1
Decorations: Clocks & Sunflowers
Color Palette:
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Decoration Ideas
White Tablecloths
Royal blue runner
White pallet board platter
Small clock
Royal blue vase with sunflowers
Wood block clipboard with Scripture print
Bright yellow napkins
Optional: Table reserve tags made from the Name Card print
The Decoration Details
We’re on a frugal budget for our Ladies’ Retreat at Rapidan Baptist Camp, so we make a lot of our decorations. I have a talented friend who helps to plan and execute the decorating. I have included both our budget friendly ideas and time friendly ideas.
Clock
We were able to purchase ours at Dollar General. They may or may not be available currently.
White Pallet Board Platter
Budget friendly: You can make them using free pallet wood. Place three pallet strips side by side in the desired length. Secure two smaller strips across the width of the platter to hold them together (I used hot glue, but a nail gun would work, too). Paint with white paint. You may make them solid white or you may want a more distressed look by painting it lightly and then roughing up the edges with sandpaper.
Time friendly: Purchase them in the store or use the link below (the linked item has a rope for hanging that you would want to remove, and then paint the boards white)
Wooden Block Clipboard with Scripture Print
These are very easy to make! Simply cut a 2×4 into 4.5” pieces. Paint with a light coat of white to off-white paint. Sand the edges to rough them up. Then take a little bit of stain on a rag and run the stain around the edges and streak the sides gently. Don’t over do it with the stain. Less is better.
Use hot glue to attach the bulldog metal clip.
Art Print Digital Download
$4
Save time on design. Purchase this file; print on card stock; cut and display.
Royal Blue Vase for Sunflowers
Budget friendly: We made our vases using empty Izzy bottles (any tall, narrow bottle would do). There are several ways to make them blue. I don’t think I’d use our method again, but here’s what we did: We used royal blue paper napkins and mod podge. Simply tear the napkins into pieces and glue them on to the bottle. Once dry, paint another coat of glue on the outside. Be careful when storing as they can stick together if the bottles touch each other. Tissue paper may have worked better. You can find plenty of other ideas for painting bottles on Youtube.
Time friendly: Check the local Dollar Tree. You may be surprised to find blue vases there!
Or purchase vases online:
Sunflowers
Check your local Dollar Tree, Dollar General or Walmart. Otherwise you could purchase them at any hobby/craft store, or you can purchase them here:
Optional Table Reservation Tags
Use the Name Card Print File to make Reservation Tags for the tables.
Purchase the holders here:
Name Tags
Print on card stock and cut out the name tags following the directions on the sides of the Name Tag Sheet.
Use a slot hole punch like this:
Purchase Name Tag Clips here:
Mix-it-Up Game
After drawing a Seasonal Image card from the basket, each lady will find the other ladies with matching images. Once they’ve found their group, they will introduce themselves and share which season is their favorite and why. The ladies will stay in these groups to play the Seasonal Doodles Game.
Easy preparation. Download the game, print on card stock, and cut out the game pieces following the directions on the sides of the sheet.
Seasonal Doodles Game
It’s a game of quick drawing and clever guessing. Each team will select four ladies to draw, one for each season. Drawers must get her team to guess each word, but she must draw them in the order they appear on the card, and she can’t move on to the next word until the team guesses it right.
Seasonal Win-it-in-a-Minute
Team challenges for each season of the year that will have ladies cheering and laughing.
Photo Booth Idea
Simply set up a backdrop and some fun props and you have an added memory maker. Let the ladies use their own phones or cameras to take pictures.
Here’s my special backdrop hack…we use a shower curtain! Crazy, I know, but you can find some colorful and inexpensive scenes!
Booklet Ideas
We always print a half-fold booklet (5.5×8.5) for our events. This is totally optional.
We include the following:
A welcome
Speaker information
Schedule
Announcements
Songs
Pages for notes
A personal devotional
Coming events
Song Suggestions:
Walk Worthy of the Lord
Only One Life
May the Lord Find Us Faithful
The Beauty of Jesus
