Mother-Daughter Banquet

Tonight we are setting up for the Mother-Daughter banquet at church, which is set for Saturday night. The men cook and serve, and there is always good entertainment, music, a puppet performance (our puppet team is well known in our denomination), a hilarious skit and a speaker. It's a very nice evening out. This year, the theme is something along the lines of "Mother's Best Bargains," and I was asked to help with one of the tables. Each lady in charge of a table is to bring in something in their home that they no longer use or would be selling in a yard sale for the centerpiece. This will then become a door prize for someone sitting at that table. We are also responsible for a little favor for each place setting and napkin rings.

I decided to bring in a picnic basket that I have not used in probably 6 years. For being in our damp basement, it is in remarkably good shape. It is the size of a small overnight suitcase and contains plates, cups and silverware along with a blanket. A quick wash of everything, and it is good to go. For my favors, I decided on a votive with candle. I had hoped to find citronella candles but couldn't find anything in my price range. We hot-glued blue and red ribbons on the candle holder to coordinate with the blue and red blanket. I also got a bag of Hershey minis and a bag of glow-in-the-dark bugs for any young girls that might be at the table. After all, you can't have a picnic without chocolate and bugs! haha For the napkin ring, I had hoped to bend spoons into a circle, but that was harder than I thought it would be. The stem of the spoon (where you hold it) must have an extra piece of metal in it to make it strong. The part where the spoon meets the stem bent easily, but even after heating the metal (by boiling), the stem didn't bend. So my daughter and I went and got 2 sheets of plaid scrapbooking paper, again to coordinate with the blanket in the basket, and we'll just wrap that around the napkin.

If you don't count the spoons (DD took off all the tags and such before I could stop her, so I can't return them), I spent about $10 for my table, which I think is pretty good. I am anxious to see what the other ladies have come up with. Now, I need to find a craft to use 10 tablespoons in!