FUNdraiser Decorating

You may wonder where have I been?  That is a good questions with various answers, but the main one I am going to talk about today.  I’ve enjoyed the past few weeks getting ready for the 157-C Education Dinner Auction that took place recently at Prestwick Country Club.  I personally don’t have tons of money to give back to our schools, but got involved with my kids Education Foundation to give back with something I enjoy doing…decorating! 

Looking for a venue to host a shower, wedding or party?
Check out Prestwick's Facebook page here.

Among other fundraisers, annually the 157-C Education Foundation puts on a dinner auction that entertains around 300 people and raises money through silent auction items, live auction items, split the pot, can raffles, wine pulls, etc.  Originally, I was attracted to the event for its atmosphere and as a fun night out to raise money for the local schools.  I know many people perceive that their high property taxes go to our children’s schools, but we all know the economy and loss/delayed government funds have indeed affected our schools.

Bokay Flowers helped us come up with an arrangement.
Check out some of their awesome/one of a kind
arrangements here.

Now on to the FUN stuff…  Our logo is a tree and motto “Funding Growth in the Classroom”.  In years past a theme of “Give, Grant, Grow” was adopted and along with it a “natural” essence at the event to go along with this theme.  So how to you merge “Country Club” and “natural”?  This was the biggest challenge going into it. 

Tips from our local florist, Becky Dees at Bokay Flowers, helped merge the elegance of Prestwick Country Club into an elegant/natural event.  We knew we wanted to incorporate fabric to soften and bring in the white of the furniture.  Her tips of using dowel rods and fabric tape helped make this become a reality.  I love the way it turned out!  She also recommended in season flowers that were easy for “non-flower” people to make into beautiful bouquets.

Want a custom pallet table or wine rack?  Message me
on my Facebook page for details!

Another challenge was furniture.  In the past we had used benches, pallets and wooden electrical spools for tables, etc. My husband built tables that Kathy, Amy and I, painted in a white wash to merge the “country club” look with the natural vibe the event has.  My husband and my contribution to the event were three pallet coffee tables, a sofa table, a tree and two wine racks.  The goal was to offset decorating costs by selling the furniture through the silent bidding.  Thanks to the generosity of those at the event, we were able to offset a majority of our decorating costs.  My personal favorite was this wine rack.  The tables seemed to get a lot of interest.  Daymon (my husband) and I are trying to figure out a way to market these, although it may be a while before you see them at Anne Maddox Boutique.  Shipping seems to pose a little of an issue J 

If you don’t know this about me already, I LOVE to repurpose things.  For those who are not familiar with this term it is called “upcycling”.  We used pallets to make all of the furniture.  Members of the foundation also donated pillows that Kathy, Amy, and I, covered in burlap and stenciled with our theme thanks to Kristin.Looking back, we should have sewn them all.  Most of them we hot glued which made some parts of the process easier.  Someone even purchased one of them at the event!  This mixed the elegant settees with our burlap décor. 

A BIG thank you to my husband for
making this life-size tree a reality!

 

My house is finally getting back together…no more burlap fragments, saw dust, paint, etc.  I have to admit I do miss it.  It was fun putting this together with friends.  A big “thank you” goes out to all of the 157-C Education Foundation members, parents, teachers, administration, and local businesses that helped make this event a success!  If you didn’t join us for the event this year, why not try it out next year!  Hey, it beats going door-to-door selling, and gives you a fun night out!  Win…win!!

Check out these new items from Anne Maddox Boutique!