Tuesday, March 6, 2012 Blue and Gold Centerpieces + Free Mini Pennant Printable
The Blue and Gold Banquet is coming up for our cub scouts. I was charged with making centerpieces, and wanted something the scouts could help make, too.
The basis of this project is the popsicle-stick Blue and Gold Paper Lantern Centerpieces I found at Making Friends. The printable instructions they provide are excellent. Today, I am having some trouble with the site defaulting to an ad rather than the content. If you have the same trouble, basically you need:
- waxed paper
- popsicle sticks
- paint
- glue
- scissors
Roll out enough wax paper to cover the length of 4 sticks end to end, plus about 2 inches extra for a tab to glue the centerpiece together into a cube. Make 4 squares with the popsicle sticks, side by side, being sure each square has 4 sticks ( I messed this up with the boys -- the squares were sharing the side sticks and so I had to do it over). Glue all the sticks onto the wax paper. When the glue is dry, gently fold into a cube, and glue the tab.
The original called for a fleur de lis foamy stick on, which I did not have. I made this blue and gold mini pennant garland printable instead, and I think they turned out cute.
These are easy to transport to the event because you can lay them flat.
After printing and cutting out my pennants, I placed them back-side up on the table, dotted glue on each, and then put the bakers twine through each dot of glue. Next, I put a dot of hot glue on each corner of the centerpiece and hung the garland from the corners. Last, I tied the loose ends in a bow and sealed with a dot of glue so they won't come apart in the car.
We'll be using battery-powered votives inside these centerpieces (they will be on the tables) in a dimmed-light gym, with tents set up around the outside of the tables, a faux campfire, and plentey of lanterns. We're serving food with a hot dog and baked pototo bar. Should be fun!
Results on this project...after the event...ours is a fairly small group so we made enough table lanters to put two on each table. We dimmed the lights in the gym and the tables lanterns lit up so nice...also, they were really easy to transport and set up at the event. The tents were at the edges of the gym -- around the outside of the tables -- and they each had a lit flashlight inside, so the tents glowed, too! We used 5 tents of various sizes.
The indoor campfire we rented from a theater supply company. It's construction was simple for someone just a bit skilled with wiring...It was a computer fan under a small box containing 3 small halogen pin lights. The lights were in a row, about six inches apart. The center light pointed straight up, the outer two angled in. Each light had a plastic film of red, blue, or yellow clipped onto the light by what looked like a bent paperclip. Two pieces of white silk fabric, cut into the shape of a flame, were sewn by thier bottoms onto a wire frame placed on either side of the lights. The silk blew and fluttered when the fan was turned on, and the lights cast a flickering glow. There was plain old firewood stacked around the outside of the light apparatus. It really did look like a campfire. Maybe I'll ask my husband to help me construct an indoor campfire, then I can post a tutorial.
A few additional notes: We used blue and gold plastic table cloths and had paper activity packs (coloring pages, some crosswords, other simple games or puzzles on paper) with bags of old crayons at the table. This was a good idea as it occupied the kids from time to time. The boys posted and retired the colors behind the campfire, and they received thier awards there, too. The baked potato and hot dog bar included chili and Fritos for Frito pie, plus cheddar cheese, and sour cream, and we had Rice-Krispy-treat type desserts (there was one made with Golden Grahams, chocolate, and marshmallow that was particularly good). There was somthing that all ages enjoyed eating. All in all, I think this blue and gold was pretty easy to put together, and it was a really fun, relaxed event. The campfire, table lighting and lit tents really gave us a sense of closeness and specialness throughout the night. I highly recommend it.
Reader Comments (5)
How did your guys make a fake campfire?
Hi Karen,
Our Blue and Gold is tonight. I'll get a good look at it and ask some questions and report back.
I'd like to try this activity but I wasn't able to see the "blue and gold mini pennant garland printable." Does the link work or perhaps it is just my mac?
Well, I'll be darned. I'll check into that this morning! Thanks for asking!
An update on the link for the mini pennant garland...it seems to be working. The link opens the PDF in a new window. Is it working OK for everyone else?