book party {some planning details}
So as promised, I have a few details of the ‘how’ behind some of the aspects of our book party….
1. The invitations: I used one of my favorite Design Aglow templates for the base design (adding the Joyful Life Library logo). The invitations included a main invite page, a letter to parents explaining the ‘why’ behind the party, and a book plate for each child to include on the inside cover of their donated book. I wrapped the three pieces together with a strip of scrapbooking paper and sealed it with some masking tape. You can find colored masking tape on etsy…look for ‘japanese masking tape’.
2. The movie screen: We made this up as we went. Originally we borrowed a basic projector screen, but it just wasn’t big enough. We needed it to be cheap, so this is v1.o our screen. I bought two paint drop cloths for $5.00each from Walmart. We layered those drop clothes and stapled them to two 2x4x12 boards. We then stood the boards on one end and used tent spikes and rope to secure it. Chris tied some slip knots and the stakes were hammered into the ground – the boards were not in the ground at all. Being married to an Eagle Scout comes in handy when you need a good knot! It wasn’t windy, so that saved us from a lot of headache. We did grab some chopsticks and poke holes all over it to help a bit.
Our next version is going to be with cloth and nicely cut holes to help with wind.
3. The food: Popcorn in cute boxes from Hobby Lobby.
4. The bugs: My dad has a fogging machine, so we fogged the whole area several times before the event started. I think a lot of the guests still used bug spray and there were still some bugs.
5. Book reading: We read books for a little over 30 minutes. Chris read some and a few of our guests read some as well. 30 minutes was too long, I think the kids got a little restless…at least a lot of the boys did!
6. The movie: A classic 3o minute Cat & The Hat
7. The projector: We borrowed it.
I think that sums up most of it. It was pretty simple and required very little planning. Hopefully everyone had a good time.
And just because….my niece. Sweetness.
