Get Creative With Decorations
Mad Scientist's Operating Table
I’m always hosting all kinds of crazy fundraising events at my house each year. Past themes have included Girl’s Club Tea Party, Italian Dinner Celebration and Halloween Costume Party. Right now I’m putting the finishing touches on the Team in Training cycle team’s Mad Scientist’s Party.
Party Supply Stores
The Mad Scientist’s Party is like a miniature version of the annual Halloween party, so I know I can use a lot of the same props and decorations for both parties. The obvious places to find decorations are party supply stores. I buy a lot of my supplies online from Oriental Trading. If you are purchasing supplies from a local party store, ask the manager or owner, if they can make a donation, or offer you some sort of discount towards the purchase of supplies for your fundraising event.
Medical Props From Scientific Surplus Store
Find Decorations at Thrift Stores
Party supply stores aren’t the only place to look for fun, interesting and inexpensive decorations. Local thrift stores are a favorite of mine. Faith Farm, located in Boynton Beach, has a huge section of brick-a-brac. It’s kind of a mish-mash of tables filled with a lot of junky looking, garage sale rejects. But I look at it like a treasure hunt. A little bit of digging, and you can find all kinds of goodies.
I’ve found many silver-plated Reed & Barton serving pieces at Faith Farm. With a little elbow grease, these highly tarnished pieces can be given a new life. And they only cost between 50 cents and $3.00 each. I love using silver pieces for tea party celebrations. They would also be perfect as serving pieces for a bridal shower, baby shower, or Sunday brunch.
Garage and Yard Sales
And don’t forget to check the local garage and yard sales in your area. One man’s treasures is another man’s junk. Last year we hosted a large yard sale at our house, as one of our cycle team fundraisers. I spent $20 and got a ton of treasures! Try to be creative when looking at potential props. Items that can be used over and over again, and not just for one party, will be money well spent.
IV Pole From Medical Supply Store
Scientific Supply Stores
My guilty pleasure is scientific surplus stores. I will even list a few of my favorites in this blog. You can find all kinds of craft supplies, office supplies, lab ware, hardware, and other funky stuff at scientific supply stores. I really like to make all my Halloween displays look as real as possible. My most recent find was an I.V. pole that I found online at a medical supply store for only $16. I.V. poles can cost upwards of $200, so this was a real find.
- American Science & Surplus – www.sciplus.com
- Edmund Scientist’s Scientifics – www.scientificsonline.com
- Cynmar Corporation – www.cynmar.com
- Steve Spangler Science – www.stevespanglerscience.com
I’d love to hear what kind of fun and creative ideas you’ve come up with while planning decorations for your latest fundraising events.
Take care,
Lynn Smythe AKA the Bike Diva
Hello,
Wow! This is SO NEAT! Where did you get the litttle metal rack and tools (looks like scissors and pliers and such).
Thank you!
I collect items from various scientific surplus supply stores. I included the URL’s to their websites in this post. The companies get deals on overstock and slightly damaged items. Once an item is sold out, they can’t get it back in stock. Kind of like Big Lots.
That’s half the fun of collecting items for Halloween displays, new inventory to choose from every time you visit the surplus companies, never know what you’ll find.
A lot of the tools are jewelry making and stained glass tools – pliers etc… Just grabbed them out of my studio, and used them for the Halloween display.
Thank you for the response Lynn! What do you call the thing that is holding all of those tools?