I am in need of ideas for inexpensive table decorations for a Grandparent's Day at my son's school. We have 24 tables so we need to keep it spring like and cheap.
I love the photo idea, but if that won't work, you can have the children make tissue paper flowers. Cut tissue paper into 4" by 4" squares. Have the children trim the edges of the squares to make circles. Take different lengths of green pipe cleaners (also called Chenile Stems) and fold the top 1/4" down. Thread the tissue paper circles to the top of the pipe cleaner, where the bend will stop the tissue from falling off. Scrunch the circle around the fold, and repeat until you have made your flower full enough. Kids can use different shapes, sizes, and colors of tissue to make beautiful flowers. Just tie a bunch together with ribbon, yarn, raffia, etc and set at each place. Or you can twist the stems together and place in vases, baskets, decorated plastic cups, etc!
How about some small frames with pictures of the Grandparents themselves. It would help to let people know where they are going to be seated. Hope this helps
Can you collect a school picture from each child - you know, the mini sized ones that always come with the packages of school pictures, that no one ever knows what to do with? If so, you can make flower pots for each table - Buy the terra cotta pots, the craft stores regularly run sales on them for like .25 ea, any size. Get wooden skewers for cooking - I've seen them at the dollar stores, and craft foam in various spring colors. Cut daisy or tulip shapes out of the foam, big enough to glue a photo (maybe cut into a circle). Take two flowers and glue them back to back with the skewer in between. You can make leaves for the stems out of craft foam as well, and either glue two sides back to back or poke the skewer through them, sliding them on at various heights.
How about a "Give Grandparents a Hand" and make bouquets of cut out hands on pipecleaner (chenille). stems. Stick these in an inexpensive vase or container that the kids make and bend them to look like flowers,
DO EACH TABLE (OR MORE THAN ONE EACH) WITH GRANDPARENT ITEMS.... CROCHETING NEEDLES,THREAD, IN A BASKET; FISHING POLE, ETC ON ANOTHER TABLE; CROSSWORD BOOKS; GARDENING GLOVES/PAIL; WATERING CAN/PAIL; THINGS THAT WOULD RELATE TO GRANDPARENTS...
