The First Week of December

...was a DOOZY! I can honestly say that I'm glad it's OVER!! Even though I did enjoy the distractions...a little....

The Sacramento Festival of Trees and Lights was the 4th and 5th of December, but planning started back in August! (the first meeting was the night before we moved. Yes, my husband was pleased as punch that I left the night before moving. Can't blame him, but I didn't attend any more of the meetings so that should be a good trade...) With moving and the Festival, two RS events, and trying to make my children and husband happy, these have been some really busy months.

There was a lot of work and preparation just to begin decorating for the Festival, the part I was in charge of. I was given the title "Designer/Decorator". It was sort of generous---but I'll take it! We finally started putting things up the Saturday following Thanksgiving (after a few trips to the venue in November for final measurements and things.) We were there all day Saturday, Monday(i think---it's all a blur), most of the day Tuesday, I took Wednesday to spend with the family, then back a little on Thursday, squeezed in a trip on the "Polar Express" ride, and then back Friday--the morning of. I am so grateful for all the help I had! From watching the girls to tying fishing line to re-attaching jingle balls (after someone put them on haphazardly the first time----thank you, Sandra) to unpacking the decorations and organizing to just BEING THERE. I FOR SURE couldn't have done it myself. Sure, I had my breakdowns---crying in the bathroom is OK, people!!! But it couldn't have turned out any better! And, truth be told, no one really even notices the decorations with all the beautiful trees around! I suppose it adds another "layer" of interest to the event. :)


Earlier in the week, Tuesday to be exact, was the RS Quarterly Meeting for which we assembled crafts to donate to the Craft Boutique at the Festival. Instead of doing a Christmas dinner and program, as was done in years past, we decided to go the service route and truly get into the REAL meaning of Christmas, which is to celebrate the birth of the Savior and His life of service. We thought it was a really fitting way to kick off the Season! With the help of the RS presidency, I selected 4 crafts (from about 15 I had narrowed down) and collected all the necessary supplies. It was a lot more work than I imagined, but I'm so grateful everyone took one craft and helped get some of the supplies for me. Phew! It was fun and the Festival sold quite a few, which is impressive since the Festival was only for Friday evening and all day Saturday.


The following pictures show the labor of love both of these events and ensuing projects were to me. I feel truly blessed to have been given the chance to be involved in such awesome events! Enjoy!


What the centerpieces looked like when I bought them....
(Pretty, yes, but they didn't match our 'color scheme' of gold, copper, silver and peacock blue)

SO......

All 22 trees disassembled All 264 bells(....yes, I counted) ready for spraying!
I spray-painted. For hours. My little tree forest:

First step: done.
Color Scheme:

Sprayed bells put back on. I didn't like the way they looked, so I decided to hand glitter them.
:/ Not my brightest idea ever. But they did look better in the end....
See?
All the hand gluing and sprinkling was worth it! :) (....and the glitter that I am STILL finding all over my house...)
We decided to sell the centerpieces at the Boutique after the Gala event Friday night and this is one of 3 that I bought back on display at my house:
The venue "BEFORE":
Picture 2 of the venue from the entrance:

The Venue During the Decorating:


The Finished Product:



The Gala Event Friday Evening:





Crafts the RS Assembled and Donated to the Festival Boutique:






A fun couple of days were had by ALL!

The Cathedral Square Homeless Program thanks EVERYONE for their contributions of money, time and good works! Hope to see you all there next year!

Comments

Sandra said…
WOW Chels! I feel like I just relived that entire weekend all over again. Phew! You really did an amazing job! Those before and after pictures say it all! And I have to admit, I had no idea you spray painted ALL THOSE TREES! I have a whole new appreciation for the decorations! All I can say is..awesome..it was just awesome! Thanks for sharing your talents with me. I learned so much. Maybe next year I'll just help you and give someone else my job. I really enjoyed myself..even during the stressful times.. You truly amaze me!
I wish I would have had the time to go see it 'cause it sounded so awesome! At least I get to see pictures of it! So cool!