HOME DEPOT IS THE BEST CRAFT STORE EVER!

Yes, the title says it all. Home Depot, as well as other hardware stores, is the best large (and sometimes small) craft store. I have gotten some weird looks from my women and men friends when I tell them I’d rather go to Home Depot than the mall. I’m giving the shout out to HD because they have been the most generous in helping out our school with its After Prom. I’m not slighting the craft stores either; I prefer them over the mall too. Hobby Lobby, Michaels, JoAnne and others have played their roles in making ourAfter Prom décor fabulous.

What I want to establish here is not to overlook your neighborhood hardware store to create something decorative. Theatres have been using them for a long time and I would venture to guess that there are a few event/party planners out there who have also made a clandestine trip or two to Ace or Depot, etc.

I’ve already touched on what I get from the HD to create papier mâché; lumber, chicken wire, paint. I will now tell you of some other items that can be utilized.

· Cement form tubes – these come in sizes from 8” in diameter to at least 12” (there are probably more, but this is what I’ve seen) and most are about 4-4 ½’ tall. They aren’t just for pouring cement footings; they can be used in a multitude of ways.

o Columns – such as the ones I used for this years After Prom to form mausoleum columns. These were stacked and faux painted to look like marble.

o Pier supports – or made to look like pier supports. Cap them off with wood or Styrofoam and faux paint them to look like log posts. Coil and tie hemp rope around them to make it look more authentic

o Bases for a balloon arch– These were painted in florescent colors for a 60’s area, then the arch was tied to gallon water jugs which were put into the tubes (make sure your wire or fishing line is long enough so that the balloons look like they start at the top of the tube).

o Focus tubes for up lighting - Cut them down to the size you need, paint the outside black, and line with aluminum (at least around the light) to protect the tube from heat.

o Sewer drains – I know, this sounds weird but it works. Cut them down and give them a base coat of white paint. Then they are ready for the next hardware store product that comes in very handy for décor.

· Plaster, spackle, or drywall mud – You can buy this in different sizes or dry to mix. I prefer the readymade stuff in a tub that you just open and slap on.

o Sewer drains cont. – Once the base coat of paint is dry, slap on some plaster and user your fingers, a brush or a sponge to give it a rough cement look, you can insert it into part of the decoration, as I did with a papier mâché wall this year, or place it strategically in your grand design.

o Old stone treasure chest – We took an old wicker trunk, donated by a very willing parent and covered it with plaster, roughed it up and then dyed it with tea bags that had been soaked in warm water. It was very convincing.

· Sand – Yes, sand is messy but, if you want to get the look of stone on a larger scale without having to use a huge amount of plaster get a bag of construction or play sand.

o Stone walls – Here we go back to the usefulness of lumber for frames. Have a handy husband, or maybe you can do this yourself, build a frame (mine are typically 8’ tall by 4’ wide and staple cardboard to it. Here is where the “oops” paint at most hardware stores becomes a great bargain as there is usually some shade of beige, sand, taupe, brown, or gray on the shelf. Pour some in a paint pan, mix sand into the mix, and using a cheap roller, roll on the gritty paint. When dry, it looks like a stone wall. You can then embellish it however you want. NOTE: For an awesome urban look, find yourself a really good graffiti artist.

o Stone blocks – You know those free postal boxes that they have at your neighborhood post office? With the right amount of treatment, they can look like stone blocks. Close them up, beat them up, and use the same treatment as you did on the walls. Stack them any way you want to create the look you want. If your husband works for the US Postal Service, make sure he understands that this is for the kids, that the Post Office is doing its part in a community service, and that every box used is well appreciated. Or, ask him to turn a blind eye.

· Rigid clear plastic tubing – I can’t say enough about rigid plastic tubing and twinkle lights. It’s awesome. Stand them up, line them up, run different colored lights through them. Make sure that the tubing is at least 1” in diameter and no larger than 2-3”. After that it kind of loses the glowy look and its appeal.

· Tomato cages – If any of you have ever looked at an Anderson’s or Stumps prom catalog, you may have seen the gossamer covered columns they sell that have the twinkle lights on the inside that give that romantic soft glow. They charge a pretty penny for these. I say create your own. Get some tomato cages, attach them together, cover them with gossamer or other filmy fabric, run twinkle lights down through the middle and presto, you have lighted columns!

· PVC – Any PVC. You can use is for flag poles, frames, bracing, etc. I think I could come up with a lot of ideas if given enough time. PVC is like having Tinker Toys again, only larger. There are all kinds of bends and angles, different sizes of tubing, and you can get them cut to whatever size you need. The possibilities might be endless. We once had a jail cell made of a wood frame and PVC bars.

· Metal tubing – Again, flagpoles come to mind. We have used them as such.

· Wooden dowels – Many uses here as well; flags, bracing, bars, banner hangers.

If I had the time to go down each aisle and look at the different items and think about what they might be used for, I could spend a lot of it in a hardware store. I could say the same of the fabric and craft store. However, the point of this installment was to color outside the lines, think out of the box, and all those other clichés.

Like I said, Home Depot is the best craft store – EVER! So, next time you are in a hardware store, check out the merchandise, open your creative eye, and see what you come up with.

Have a happy and blessed Easter/Passover!

Robin

What is After Prom & why am I still doing it? {Guest Blogger Robin Calkins}

I don’t know who thought up After Prom, but as a parent, I’m 100% behind this event. It’s a safe event that the kids can attend right after the Prom dance is over instead of going out driving around, doing not so intelligent things that get them into trouble. If you are the parent of a teenage kid aged 16-18 you can use your imagination to know what I’m talking about. If your imagination doesn’t stretch that far, just remember back to when you were that age – there, I knew you would get the picture. I personally did not want the police/neighbors/other authority figure, at my door at 2 or 3 in the morning telling me that my kid had done something dumb, so I decided to volunteer my time starting my son’s junior year of high school.

This event gives adults the excuse to do arts and crafts on a grand scale without having people think they’ve gone round the bend (I’m sure there are people who make that circling motion at the side of their heads when referring to a member of our group, but please let us live with our delusion). The first year I did this the theme was Wild, Wild West, and I got to make huge cardboard cowboy boots that had holes punched along the edges so that Christmas lights could be inserted. I have to say that they looked pretty cool lit up, standing sentry at the entrance to the school. Being of a not quite sound, but creative mind, I was hooked.

The next year I bit off one of the most ambitious creative pieces I could chew. The theme was Pirates of the Caribbean. I was given the entry hallway so I thought, “why not make the biggest impact I can?” I created a cave, a big, hallway size cave. It consisted of crumpled black paper over the walls and lockers with papier mâché stalactites, stalagmites and rock out cropping (unfortunately, Cap’n Jack could not join us that evening L). It was a huge hit, this fed my creative ego even more, and the fact that the kids absolutely loved it was even better. This is how I got stuck (uh, lucky) doing the entry hallway for the last nine years. Since then, we have done a cruise theme, James Bond theme, Super Hero Theme (I did another cave for this one)and a Racing/Sports Theme to name a few.

We use a multitude of things for decoration (papier mâché, Styrofoam, cardboard, foam core board, etc.), and have had to become a little more creative each year. One thing that has changed from when I started is that we can no longer use as much paper as we have in the past. We still use a lot but there are stricter fire laws surrounding the use of paper. We can still use it to cover things like lockers (let’s face it, lockers are ugly and what kid wants to be reminded he’s at the school when he’s trying to have a good time?). However, I cannot get away with the amount of paper I used creating an entire cave.

One question we always get, every year, without fail is, “How do you come up with the theme?” Here is the answer. The theme for the next year usually comes to us sometime within the two weeks leading up to the current years After Prom and usually make itself fully known the day of set up for the actual event. For me, it feels as if the idea hits while you are standing on your head, and looking through rose colored glasses at the same time. I believe it is because you are so numb with the process of getting ready and setting up for the event at hand. It sounds like a good idea while you are in the throes of setting up for the current party, but then when you’re at the same point the next year, you wonder what the heck you were thinking! It’s a circle, and it makes for some schizophrenic thinking. Now you are saying to yourself, “they set up for this year’s event; get an epiphany while doing that about the next year’s event, which would make this pretty much a year round thing.” Yep, you would be right about that. Those of us, who are diehard, tend to have it creep into our thoughts all year. However, the real nitty gritty planning happens from about January to the event in April (or May depending on your schools scheduling). If you do fundraising, things may start ramping up around October.

In this blog series, I will talk about the different things you have to think about when preparing for a large event like this, but mostly, I will talk about the fun, creative part; the planning, design, and creation of our school transformation. My next piece will be about the planning and design of the theme. I know this event sounds like a lot of work, and maybe not so much fun. You are right about the work, but it is fun, and when you see the kids having so much fun, playing games, winning prizes, eating food, and just being kids, it is extremely rewarding.

See you next Friday!

Robin