Christmas Party decorations help!

DomRavioli

Hi

I've been asked by a good friend to help decorate a large hall for a christmas party for 50 children who come from disadvantaged homes, for the grand sum of £50.00.

I have 3 teenagers at my disposal for crafty things, and have most cheap shops locally. We have a large rope light already, so thats a big cost done. Ideally, I need ideas on the following:

Table decorations/covers - was thinking wrapping paper for the table cloths as I have a fair bit from last year's savvy purchases that I can use
The stage - about 20 feet wide and would like to make it really festive
Ceiling and wall stuff to make it as magical as possible.

and anything else you wonderful people can think of! The ages range from 12 months old to 12 years, and I have plenty of time to make things (party isn't until 15th December). I've had a look on martha stewart and a few other places but I'm really stuck!

Hope you can help

Dom

Grimbal

I'm not sure I would use wrapping paper for table cloths - one tiny bit of dampness & they'll disintegrate. The local £ shop usually sell more hard-wearing disposable cloths (& decorations too)

As your party cause is a very worthy one, could you approach some local businesses that may be happy to offer decorative items in exchange for a small acknowledgement ?

DomRavioli

Hi Grimbal,

I've got some decent foil wrapping left over, but I'll have a look - didn't think about them getting wet. As it isn't a registered charity, most of the local businesses won't donate (in the process of being registered, but it seems to take forever!).

thankyou for your help!

Grimbal

ah, that's a shame.

Do you have a Poundland nearby ? They usually have lots of stuff in stock - examples here

Also, Ikea are good for cheap decorations too - link here

ETA: Tesco have 3ft coloured trees for £2.44 - a few of these would brighten up the place decorated with a 75-piece pack (£5.97) of these decorations!


All the following from Tesco's for under £16:


from poundland, tinsel, beads, paperchains etc
6m/£1

fatblackandwhite

What about asking the big shops if they have any spare festive merchandising left over? When I worked in retail there was always excess stuff as all stores got the same amount regardless of size.

When I worked with prisoners families I made some large paper mache reindeer for in the play area. Really easy to make with a bit of imagination. Some balloons, card, kitchen roll holders and a lot of tape to make the body then cover and paint.

scaredy_cat

paper chains, paper snowflakes, collect pine cones and spray them gold.

fatblackandwhite

Also - can you borrow anything? As it is only one night I am sure friends and family would lend fairy lights, baubles etc. As long as you record who owns what!

DomRavioli

Grimbal - i've just ordered some of the christmas trees as they only have a big one which is a little worse for wear, and they look fab so thankyou

Fatblackandwhite - I shall have a ring round everyone I know, I'm sure they can donate a few bits and bobs, and if everyone does I should hopefully be done.

Grimbal

DomRavioli wrote: »

Grimbal - i've just ordered some of the christmas trees as they only have a big one which is a little worse for wear, and they look fab so thankyou

They had them in my local store & are a bit on the spindly side tbh, but will look great if you just throw enough decorations at them. I dont think "tasteful" is the way to go here

savykate

yay! I do this every year for a living as I'm a youth worker. sounds like it'll be a fun night for the kids!

I recommend asking on freegle/ freecycle for a Christmas tree and decs. I did this last year and was given 2 nice trees and 2 boxes full of lovely tree decorations. you could ask for any other decs whilst you're at it too.

as has been suggested, poundland is a great place for tinsle related items. Tinsle is a good way to decorate your stage by drapping it across the front with pushpins. Poundland also has party poppers (30 for £1) or big champagne bottle party poppers and last year had gorgeous Christmas themed shiny table confetti. They also have battery operated colour changing Christmas characters like snowmen, and Christmas window stickers.

If you have access to a wood/forest nearby have you considered doing something with holly? e.g. making table decs by putting a candle in the middle of a holly ring? or collecting pinecones and painting them? you could even get the kids to decorate the pinecones at the start of the party and/or you could attach a loop of cheap gold/silver thread to the top of each of them for a tree dec for them to take home as a party favour.

balloons are always instant party mood setters. decorate the room in red/green balloons. I found something on the internet about once you've tied your balloons, tread cotton using a needle (risky!) through the bit that's been tied and you'll create balloon garlands. I tried it and looked great!

if you'd like some nativity options, you could invest in gold/silver card with stick on gems (available at home bargains) for the kids to make their own wiseman crown!

I usually manage to dec out our youth and community centre on about a £30 budget. It can be done but takes time and forward thinking so you're on the right track!

Forgot to add, find out if your area has a resource centre or if the charity already has a membership to one. Doesn't cost much, about £20 a year for a registered charity and provides endless access to free shiny things/gold and silver paper etc. as well as cheap craft supplies.

lushlifesaver

has the local area got a 'scrap store' I know there's a few about - basically you get a card (its for an organisation so you can get one although I think individuals can in our local one too) and you can buy all sorts of craft stuff for dirt cheap then get crafty!

As a children's worker (back in the day, volunteering) we made paper snowflakes (so much fun even for the grown ups ) paper chains - a good use for the wrapping paper if you can't use it for the tables perhaps, we made snowflakes from the coloured stuff too actually. Get some people to cut out letters to spell merry christmas for the front of the stage and hang them on cheap ribbon or bead chain. Bunting from wrapping paper will be cheap.

Tinsel and the cheap mini trees would look awesome, even just a few clustered on the stage - wrap some empty boxes to be presents under them

Balloons maybe - from poundland or somewhere similar

If you've got time papiermache snow men

Ah wish I was involved in this kind of stuff now!