Santa Grotto

[Guest]

Hi I have been asked by a charity to organise an children's party. My problem is I have little money so would like to ask if any of you wonderful fsf people have any ideas of setting up a grotto for santa on the cheap please. Thank you in anticipation.

Merry Christams

[Guest]

Look in charity shops for a large white bed sheet. Sponge/potato print it with snow flakes/stars - that's your back drop.

 

£1 shops for tinsel or see if friends will donate 'last years colour'

 

I'm sure last year I read on here something used for reindeer magic dust or was it reindeer food?

Go to supermarkets and ask for large cardboard boxes - use cardboard to draw/trace then paint reindeer heads/ elf heads.

 

Use a gazebo as a frame to drape cloth/scenery from

 

Wrap up lots of small boxes for presents

 

The Works/The Range sell iridescent card - the silver/white one always looks nice as a twirling snowflakes

 

Hope that helps, I'll try to think of more

 

ppp

 

Edit: Oh and you'll need a decorated christmas tree - I'm sure someone has an artificial one they're not using this year

Edited December 4, 2010 by Guest

[Cait]

The reindeer dust stuff is just oats and glitter mixed up and put in a nappy liner and tied with a pretty ribbon

[Guest]

I suppose the other thing is not have a grotto and just get a big chair ready for Santa!

 

Santa usually makes an appearance at our parties but we like the idea of all of the children sitting and seeing him, and getting their presents..... and then we sing to him.....

 

I was hoping to have Santa meet us outside in our conservation area this year..... but Santa is already moaning about the cold weather!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Inge]

We used the reindeer dust as a fundraiser and we always made money from this one, so you could sell it alongside the grotto... or add it as a small gift to the present...

 

we made small parcels of glitter and oats using an old piece of voile curtain cut into squares we found in a charity shop, or a piece of festive material, and gift ribbon.. then add a tag with a rhyme

 

see here for the rhymes to use with the parcel.

 

 

for the grotto we used sheets and old curtains we have made a sleigh out of card boxes around a chair for Santa to sit in , painted and decorated with glitter or tinsel...

 

a gazebo is a good idea if you can borrow one or we used a corner of a room to decorate when we didn't have one...

 

ask to borrow a few trees if you can to make a group of them ,

 

Christmas lights borrowed to have around the area..

 

Inge

[fimbo]

can i remind you all please not to use craft glitter if you make reindeer food - aparantly it can be harmful to wildlife, i use coloured sugar or 100's + 1000's, with a little edible cake decorating glitter.

[Guest Spiral]

can i remind you all please not to use craft glitter if you make reindeer food - aparantly it can be harmful to wildlife, i use coloured sugar or 100's + 1000's, with a little edible cake decorating glitter.

 

 

Thank you so much for that tip - making our reindeer food this week and I'd really hate to hurt any other wildlife (or my puppy who eats anything she finds too!)

 

Spiral

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