VBS: It Is Finished! (At Least My End Of It!)

Here it is, folks! The thing that has been consuming my time lately. The castle went up with only minor hitches and it was still standing this morning. Check, and double check! The castle is made out of cardboard sheets and covered with what is/was supposed to be an aisle runner. A LOT of hot glue went into the making of this year's VBS decorations. 

This is the dragon that nearly killed me, and took every bit of my creative wits to complete it. Here is, for your amusement, what went into the making of this beast: at least 4 sheets of 4' by 6' cardboard, one tomato sauce box, two water bottles, a stray box, bulletin board trim, a floral vase, one string of lights, tin foil, two cans of green spray paint, one can each of dark green, purple and orange, red and green deco mesh (for wreath making), half a roll of window screen, 5 pounds of paper clay, a stack of newspapers, half a dozen stick pins and enough hot glue to hold together the Titanic. 

Having never seen a fake knight just hanging around before, I was surprised when they started turning up everywhere. This one was loaned to us by the youth pastor's family along with a smaller one also. The large one came from someone's cousin's uncle's neighbor's exterminator or some such tomfoolery. 

The eye of the dragon lights up, which necessitated several trips for me into the literal belly of the beast in order to install the light. Word to the wise: using an industrial strength hot glue gun above your head while being basically immobilized in a tight space is not advisable and requires nijna-like reflexes to (mostly) dodge falling globs of molten glue. 

The castle is attached to columns by some fancy schmancy, high-tech cardboard brackets. Shhh, don't tell my engineer husband. 

This might be my favorite part of ye olde decorations: the stained glass windows. We made one for each of the 6 large windows and the 4 front doors. They look so pretty with the light shining through.

I painted each piece of the Armor of God (from Ephesians 6) on foam board to hang around the room. The kids will be learning about each piece during VBS.

Another piece of armor, and the age group signs

We covered the doors with faux wood paper and added medieval looking hinges. 

The foyer was decorated with sparkly gold chandaliers, flaming torches and a purple runner (which may or may not hold up to a bunch of kids running over it all week)

And there you have it! It is finished!!!!

P.S. I did not accomplish this on my own! I came up with the ideas, but I did have people helping the vision become a reality!