The committee basically flattened a ton of cardboard boxes and using really fat black permanent markers turned them into "buildings". They were cut, shaped and then taped together and set along the outskirts of the room.
Here is the Water "Well". The Base is actually a plastic tub (Sitting on a step to make it taller), filled with ice and then water bottles, then covered with thick brown paper and the rim is a spray painted pool noodle. The wooden frame helped to keep everything in place and was cute. 1 Bench was brought from home, while the other three were confiscated from the Primary, YW, & Relief Society rooms.
Booths were created out of modern-day canopies. Sheets were hung in between to create "walls". The insides were lined with Christmas White Lights and other things such as baskets. Poster boards were used for the sign shops.
At David's Toy Shop we were "selling" little dreidels. The Committee purchased these online in bulk. There were other toys and trinkets that were in the activity closet from activities past, so we thought it would be a good idea to "sell" those too.
The Bishop's winery had sparkling Grape Juice. (Grape Juice & 7-Up in punch bowls)
The fruit market contained grapes, orange slices, banana halves, pineapple slices and apple slices, all donated by members (via the sign-up sheets).
Ruth's Bakery contained rolls & honey along with several types of cookies and bars brought by the members (via the sign-up sheets).
The Gift of the Magi was selling Gold (chocolate gold coin), Frankincense, and Myrrh. I don't remember was the Frankincense was, but 1 token got you all 3 and the Myrrh meant you got to use some of the lotion.
Potiphar's Pita hut "sold" pita wedges and toppings such as Hummus, Cream Cheese and Honey. The Activity Committee supplied the food items for this hut.
Benjamin's Meat & Deli was offering grilled chicken strips (provided by the committee) and "Deli Kabobs" of cheese cubes and black olives (provided by members via the sign-up sheet).
Rachel's Rentals contained a basket full of blankets for those who did not bring one to sit on.
One of the members brought these benches from home. The "actors" for the Nativity program sat here until it was their turn to go on stage.
The back corner of the gym was set up with tables. It was announced ahead of time that these were for the elderly or for those who could not sit of the floor.
The tables were decorated with simple burlap cloths and mini lanterns.
This was taken after it the marketplace opened for business.
During the Nativity.
The lady who organizes this for us uses all Primary Children and no adults for this. When most of the kids are playing a part, it's easier to keep them from running around. :)
A white sheet was hung in front of a garage door to one of the out-buildings and that became the "movie screen". A member of the ward had an LCD projector that was then hooked up to a laptop. A large speaker was also hooked up to the laptop and the DVD was played from the laptop.
Popcorn was popped ahead of time and placed in large bowls with little scoops. Brown paper lunch sacks were set out so movie-goers could fill up their own popcorn. Ice water was also provided.
Special Instructions: We were invited to arrive no earlier than 8pm to set up our chairs and blankets while we could still see :) It was announced the movie would start at dusk, around 9pm. The popcorn would be provided, but we could bring other treats from home if we wanted.
The selected movie was one that had been previewed at another local outdoor movie night. It was a local independent film and therefore we were able to obtain permission ahead of time to show the movie to a non-profit church group. Many places are not particular with this, so long as you are not making money off of the event. It also helped that the movie was being shown at someone's residence as it then fell into the category of "home viewing".
Crayons were set out along with the popcorn bags, so before dusk the kids colored on their bags and wrote their names on them. This helped to keep them entertained. The adults enjoyed sitting and visiting with each other.
Also, in the activity closet were found some 3-legged-race bands from a ward camp-out several years ago. So, while waiting for the sun to set, several joined in the 3-legged-race. They had a lot of fun.
Turn-Out: There were 46 people in attendance. And because the popcorn was donated and we already had a supply of paper sacks in the closet, we ended up spending $0 on the activity.
We also made Tissue Paper butterflies. I donated tissue paper and I bought a pack of white chenille stems (50 for .89).
The best thing about the crafts is I only had to make one of each ahead of time, and set them out as an example. They were so self explanatory, that I didn't need to oversee them. Big sisters helped little sisters, and they all seem to have fun!
We had little 3 oz cups set out so people could sample the chili as they went through the line. Then they could fill their bowl up with the one they wanted to eat. There were plenty of rolls, and our Roadkill dessert bar was a hoot. I had little place cards and pens so they could write down the name of their "roadkill dessert". We had "tire tread", "runned-over raccoon", "squashed frogs", and I can't remember all of them.
We had each crockpot of soup labeled with numbers, and there were empty mason jars lined up across the stage, that had corresponding numbers. When they came through the line to get their chili, they were also given a black bean. Then, they cast their vote for the best chili by placing their black bean in the corresponding jar. It was a quick and easy way to "visually" judge who had the best chili. It also was cute as it went along with our theme.
We had ice water in a metal tub that was labeled "waterin hole" and people could help themselves to water. The oyster crackers were served in a cardboard box (lined with plastic) and marked "Chicken Feed" in Hillbilly Handwriting.
Once everyone got through the line, we had a girl in our ward do some fiddling for us. She was excited to do it and had been practising for weeks. She played about 4 or 5 numbers and the audience loved it. Then we had a girl from the activity committee teach an easy line dance and practically everyone joined in.
Finally, we awarded a few prizes for the chili as well as for the best roadkill dessert, and we also gave an award for the best-dressed hillbilly.
We had "redneck" teeth from walmart for the outfit, and for the food winners we had a dish towel with chili peppers on them.
Everyone loved it and seemed to have a great time! Here are a few pics from my camera phone...
Set-Up: EASY!!! Call the surf & swim like in January for your summer party. They will hold the reservation for 24 hours. Bring deposit check to them for $100. The rest is paid on the night of.
Set-Up: Starting 2-3 weeks ahead of time, we put nomination boxes in the foyer. We told everyone to nominate their favorite "King" ages 16+. We had a good number of nominations. I also sent around a sign-up sheet in RS for the chocolate dipping bar. We had people sign up to bring: cake bits, pretzels, marshmallows, orange slices, strawberries, pineapple chunks, apples slices, bananas, graham crackers, gummi bears, wafers, shortbread cookies, macaroons, and anything else you could think of to dip in chocolate.Turn-Out: We had about 100 people come and everyone said it was a lot of fun.
