Color Me Happy

     I know, I know.  It's been a while, but I have something very helpful for you today.  Well, it may be helpful to some.

      This past week we conducted our Women's Ministries Annual meeting. I have several friends who are in ministry with The Salvation Army and I also have friends who are in ministry with other churches.  We love to share ideas with one another!  It helps to have fresh perspectives and interests and personalities to enhance ministry.  I have had a few friends ask me to share my decorating ideas and other resources for the program we just conducted.  Rather than send each of them an email with details and pictures I thought that I would post it here.

     The theme we decided to use this year was "Color Me Happy".  I love art and colors and painting and colors and art.  I saw several things on Pinterest for an art party and I knew I wanted to have an art party as soon as possible.  My annual meeting gave me that opportunity.

Scripture you can incorporate: Psalm 105:3, Psalm 51:12, or Psalm 32:21

My ladies were encouraged to come dressed as a famous artist or in colorful clothing.  They did not disappoint me!  I came dressed a Frida Kahlo and will be withholding that photo from this post as it has the potential to frighten young children.

     The decorations did take quite a bit of prep.  Several of the seeds for these ideas came from Pinterest and I either adapted them to fit my purposes or used them as a starting point for something new.

     The best thing about having a teeny tiny multi purpose room is it doesn't take as much to make it look lively and decorated.  Your room may need more or less.

 

I wanted a banner for the entrance to our multi-purpose room.  I used 7 spools of ribbon - one spool each of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.  I found the paintbrushes at Home Depot.  I purchased about 12 of them. 

I left the packaging on the brushes and just scooted it down so it covered the bristles.  I then sealed it with painter's tape and spray painted each one. Again, I used basic rainbow colors.  To attach them to the ribbon I used small clear zip ties and just tied them on.  I purchased a spool of rainbow ribbon and tied lengths of it onto the banner in between the paintbrushes.

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It is my hope that someone will be able to use these ideas to spark their own imaginations and create something fun for your ladies!  I wish I had the presence of mind to take better pictures of our meeting right before all the fun began when everything was just right. I will share with you the pictures I did take.  Scroll down for more photos and captions.

 

I spray painted several frames from the Family Store.  Each lady could choose their favorite and have their picture taken.  The drop cloth was the actual drop cloth I used when spray painting all my decorations.  It turned out semi tie-dyed.  We hung empty paint cans (from Home Depot) from the ceiling and attached a colorful tablecloth to the inside.  You can arrange it to look like paint is spilling out.

The palettes were sold in a pack of 10.  We placed a cupcake in the center of each one.

Colorful food!

The centerpieces were very easy to create.  I used empty vases I had lying around.  The straighter they are the better.  Put a rubber band around the vase and slip your crayons, markers, colored pencils, or markers underneath the rubber band.  Tie a ribbon of your choice around the rubber band.  Fill with flowers of your choice.  I loved these paint splattered flowers!  I found them at Sam's Club.

 

 

 

 

 

 



Elliptical Reflections

    With the new year comes new ambitions, new outlooks, rekindling of old goals.  Just like a bunch of other thirty-something year old couples careening towards forty we have joined a gym.  Our aspirations are no longer about how we look so much as they are dictated by our health.  Allen, bless his heart, still wears the exact size as he did when he was in high school.  The joke is on him though as his cholesterol and triglycerides have recently reached astronomical proportions.  And yes, I am constantly aware of the superfluous nature of my silhouette and the negative impact it has had and will have on my health.
    
   Which leads me to this thought: I will never be a willowy brunette.  I have learned to accept the terms and conditions of my physique.  This fact seems to scream even more loudly at me while I am at the gym surrounded by all shapes and sizes.  We are what we are.  But still, I desire to be healthier and must perform these necessary tasks. 

     Yesterday I forgot my earphones so I was forced to interact with my environment and observe my surroundings.  The following represent my observations:

     Robot Runner began her session on the treadmill at 5 miles an hour.  No warm up.  No easing into the run.  Just full on running.  She held her arms cocked at a perfect 90 degree angle and pulled in tight right against her body.  Her back was as straight as a line.  Her stride was short with a staccato tip-tap, tip-tap, tip-tap with no variance in cadence or speed.  Precise and accurate she represented the textbook definition of running.  I think to myself "I want to run like Robot Runner!"

Free Form was beside Robot Runner in an almost comical study in opposites.  Free Form was running just as fast as Robot Runner but it looked so different.  The stride was fluid and graceful.  Her arms hung loosely and swung in a soft arc.  She gave the impression that running is easy.  Her breathing wasn't labored and she seemed so relaxed.  I think to myself "I want to run like Free Form!"

     One of the nightmarish things about the gym is that there is a huge mirror running the length of the cardio area.  So I get to enjoy the ridiculous spectacle of observing myself.  If I were to choose my own moniker it would be "Awkward Woman".  I spotted an elliptical and found myself shuffling my feet trying to decide how to get on the thing.  Left foot first? Right foot first?  I decided to treat it like a horse and put my outside foot on the pedal and swing my inside foot around.  I push start and nothing happens.  However, I am not going to go through the foot shuffle debacle again by finding another working elliptical.  I start pedaling or push walking or ellipting or whatever my feet were doing and the machine magically turns on.  I go through the menu and select the appropriate categories and began merrily rolling those ellipses.  I see my unkempt hair bobbing up in an cumbersome, scratchy rhythm.  I perform my prescribed thirty minutes and hop off the machine to tackle the weight machines.

     This is where I observe the Muscle Man.  Yeah, the stereotype does exist in the context of this gym.  I think he has mistakenly used his Axe body spray as soap.  Wearing his sleeveless t-shirt that is only attached on the top of the shoulders and at the waist, he lingers at each machine placing the little stopper at the heaviest weight.  He grunts through five reps very quickly and loudly.  He continues to sit on the machine visibly ogling the women on the stair climber.  He doesn't wipe his machine off when he moves on to his next weight machine conquest.  And it bears his sweaty rear end mark.  Yep, he's that guy.  I think to myself "I do not want to use those machines after Muscle Man!"

     With all of this reflection I am forced to ask myself how often I have allowed my own perceptions of self to dictate my actions.  How often have I been presented with an opportunity, an idea, a nudging of the Holy Spirit that I shrugged off because of how perceived myself? Incapable, not smart enough, too fat, too frizzy headed, too scared, too nervous, too weird?  How often have I held back? The honest answer is too often.  And it's convicting.

  Going to the gym scares me to death.  I am an overweight woman with hideous gym clothes. But I know I have to do this.  Most of what I do on a daily basis scares me to death.  I am an overweight woman who looks frumpy in a uniform.  In both cases I'm learning to suck it up and keep moving.