Thursday, December 18, 2014

Under the Sea Party Decorations


I have been away from my computer all week, mainly for two reasons.  First, my son has been caught up in the whirlwind of farewell functions that a 6th grader must add to his social calendar, when he embarks on the next phase of his life journey, by leaving primary school.  As his mother, I have been involved to varying degrees.  The second was the devastating terrorism which came to town this week.  It has left me weepy and wondering how it could all come to this. One such a joyous set of events, the other being the absolute opposite of that.  We are not used to this kind of brutality as a nation in Australia, but it seems we must now brace ourselves.  I have been mourning for a loss not only of the wonderful people killed and psychologically damaged in the siege, but also for the red letter day it was.  Everything will now change here in Sydney and Australia.  Trust broken, is difficult, if not impossible to restore and we will all suffer for it, as a society.



As for the farewell party, I along with many other mums and dads, helped decorate the hall. The farewell party was one committee I had wanted to join, but we were away when much of the party was organsied, so I made sure I was there to at least help  put up the decorations.  I was absolutely blown away by the style of the mums on the decoration committee.


The entrance to the hall was decorated like a tropical island.


The kids were then invited to walk through the jaws of  a big shark and under the sea, into the dining and dancing hall.


Each parent had been asked to write a private message of love to their child and send it back to the school in a sealed envelope.  These then became a message in a bottle for each child.  They were hung in class groups on nets at the back of the hall for the kids to pick up and read, at the end of the night.


The menu consisted of a sushi entree and fish an chips as a main course. There was blue jelly for dessert.
I love the little bamboo 'boats'.


The tablecloths came from a sea themed plastic roll.


Along each table were coloured paper bags, with sea themed cut outs. Inside each was an LED tea light, so the lantern glowed during dinner.


Shells and starfish were also placed at intervals down the centre of each table.





I love the anchor napkin holders.



Hoops strung with shiney beads and torn fabric represented seaweed.



There were even puffed up wetsuits, draped from the ceiling, to give the feeling of being under the sea.


Silver spray painted CDs, tied to fishing wire represented bubbles.


Big spinakker sails were draped across the ceiling. 


The toilets were labelled Buoys and Gulls.


And a big octopus kite,filled with balloons became the centre piece of the ceiling decorations.



You can see the scaffolding in the back ground of these shots, which was used to hang all the decoration from the ceiling.


After dinner, the tables were packed away and the kids danced. Not disco style, but rather formal dances they had learned, so that no one was left out. 


The parents were invited to join the party at 9pm to have the last dance with their child.  I thoroughly enjoyed that bit and could have partied for alot longer.


One of my favourite decorations, was the jelly fish made from clear shower caps and long curly white ribbon. So simple, but so effective.


It appears the kids had a wonderful night and many thanks to the wonderful, creative and generous mums and dads in our school community.


There haven't been many Christmas posts from me this year. I have loads of ideas, but not enough time to create and post them.  This has been a big year for my son and I have loved every minute of watching him pass through it.

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Metamorphosis Monday

12 comments :

  1. Wow talk about amazing.....love all of it...-love dee x

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  2. That is absolutely amazing!!! I love the sails on the ceiling, actually I love all of it! xx

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  3. Bonjour,

    Un billet fantastique ! Et quelle merveilleuse fête... merci pour toutes ces magnifiques photos.

    Une pensée particulière pour l'ensemble des familles qui viennent de subir ce tragique drame...

    Je vous souhaite de très joyeuses fêtes à vous et à tous ceux que vous aimez...
    Avec plein de gros bisous ❄︎ ♡ ❄︎ ☃ ❄︎ ♡ ❄︎

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  4. What a wonderful send-off from primary school. Certainly some very talented parents in your part of the world.A great night to remember. Love the messages in the bottles.

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  5. What a thoughtful and beautiful send off! What a lovely school community you must be part of. xx

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  6. What an excellent party decorating idea. Congratulations to those who made it and congrats for your little 6th grader!On the other hand we are feeling really sorry for all those things happening around the world, be it in Australia and Pakistan recently!It's tragic!AriadnefromGreece!

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  7. Yes, it's been a very difficult week here in Sydney and the unthinkable has now occurred and I think we're all feeling extremely violated. And then there's the grief we feel for the families of all those caught up in this very evil act against innocent people. Moving on...I am super-impressed at the lengths the parents went to, to give their children such an amazing end-of-primary-school celebration. The attention to detail, the great theme and the stunning decorations are truly impressive. What a great send-off to these young boys and girls. I wish your son well as he makes the transition to high school xx

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  8. Holy cow! That's amazing!!! Freakin' amazing!

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  9. My goodness this is delightful - I bet the kids were over the moon! Have a merry Christmas Carolyn

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  10. Madame Beach House. I emailed you. But in case it bounces...THIS has got my juices going - http://www.eatwith.com/offering/11330-An--autumnal-French-feast/

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  11. This is a wonderful and creative idea! So well done!

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