Friday, May 3, 2019

Enchanted Forest Prom 2019

One of my roles beyond PreK-12 Art Teacher is Prom sponsor. I actually really love planning the decorations and even get really in to my spreadsheet. I thought it might be helpful to share how we decorated for prom and even my shopping list to save you some time.

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Here are some pictures of our set up. We have 4x8 foot 2x4 frames hinged together in the middle that we use to define the space of the dinner and dance floor without creating artificial walls. We cover the frames with SmartFab. It is more opaque than gossamer and cheaper and easier to cut than regular fabric. I buy the 4 foot rolls and it fits perfectly. We bought dark blue SmartFab and then ran purple gossamer over the seams from the floor draping up to a hula hoop suspended from the rafters.

Since we wanted to incorporate a lot of trees for decorations, we had some saplings cut down that were coming up in less than ideal spots and I cut some branches from shrubs that were overgrown, and those became trees! The stand alone trees had bases made from scrap 2x4s that came out around the bottom in an X shape. We also made a couple of screens by sandwiching branches between 2 2x4s and then adding another scrap piece perpendicular to the row for support. The trees were embellished with ivy vines and wisteria. We bunched up green gossamer along the bottom to disguise the wooden supports.

We have 2 arches that slide together now that a parent donated an extra she picked up at an auction. They are designed to have a satin cover but we left them uncovered so that we could wrap lights and vines around them which fit the theme better.
Here is our entry to the gym with the branch screens on either side and the decorated arch. 
We used purple lights around the perimeter of the room. I picked them up 1/2 off the morning after Halloween. At the right of this photo you can see the 2nd arch which led back to the photo area.
The table runner is 16 inch wide gossamer with our centerpieces- my favorite decoration- on top. The napkin rings were made of a wired vine which we also incorporated on the rim of the jars in the centerpieces.


I LOVE how our centerpieces turned out this year! The students compromised when discussing the prom theme and ended up merging the girls' and the boys' ideas. To tie it all together we have antlers and fairies. There was a log slice as the base of each, covered with preserved moss, which we bought in bulk. We added an artificial succulent for interest near the mason jars sprayed with frosted glass spray paint and filled with battery powered led fairy light packs. An antler shed wrapped around each and we had a silhouette of a fairy against the lights. To disguise the battery pack, we added a 3D butterfly sticker to each. We ordered them to use as decorations around the room but found they had magnets- BONUS!- so that worked perfectly.
  

The chandelier was a hula hoop with lights, ivy, and roses draped around it. It looked brighter in person. I had my first ever gallbladder attack and ended up needing to leave prom early so I didn't get as many pictures as I usually do. In fact, I did not get any finished pictures of our photo backdrop! It was so pretty. We draped blue and purple gossamer on the wall and hung a swing from the rafters. We covered the cable of the swing with rope, vines, and flowers to make it look more natural and had trees behind. The floor was covered with brown butcher paper and we used green gossamer again to hide the supports and look like plants. I wanted to order artificial terms or buy real ones but that didn't fit in the budget this year.

All in all, this was a really pretty prom and I recommend the theme!

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