I love a good furniture upcycle, so it seemed like a total no brainer to think way outside the box and use thrifted items as centerpieces for this year’s 2014 Worthwhile Wear Gala.
If you’ve been around EC2 for a while, you know that one of the organizations that I’m passionate about is the anti-human-trafficking organization Worthwhile Wear. November was the 3rd annual fundraising gala and as in years past, I was given the challenge of transforming an ugly church gym into a gala venue for over 300 people. Jess and I did the first year together (see it here), but last year she was busy having a cute baby and all that, so I did it solo. I was so glad to have her back to plan and help for this year! The theme was Restoration so we decided on a Vintage theme with an emphasis on upcycled items. Later this week I’ll share the full gym before and after, but today I want to focus on the awesome centerpieces.
Most are self explanatory, so prepare yourself for some eye candy…
I didn’t mention the fact that we’re given a budget of $300 to transform the gym. We raised a little extra this year from some amazing sponsors, but we still needed to keep costs low, like “shorty got low, low, low, low” budget. So, we hit up one of our favorite thrift stores Liberty Thrift in search of unusual items that we could use as containers for farmers market flowers. Oh and we collected about 1.3 million soup cans because they were free, so that’s awesome.
Please tell me these kids’ rain boots aren’t the cutest thing you’ve ever seen? Of course they were bright red at first and we just hit them with a coat of copper spray paint.
I don’t say this lightly, but they’re seriously totes adorbs! (and now I’ll jump off a bridge, because those boots were so cute they made me talk like a complete moron- goodbye world!)
Each table had a frame with a bit of a reminder for us- this fight against human trafficking isn’t going away.
Anything can become a centerpiece. Jess and I loved the baskets with all their texture.
White vintage cookware
All of the amazing flowers were from Produce Junction and Jess did an incredible job arranging them!
I sort of fell in love with the idea of shoes as containers. I think it would be amazing to do an entire wedding’s centerpieces with all kinds of shoes…
So pretty and unique aren’t they?
Jess and I really fell in love with these centerpieces and we thought they perfectly expressed the theme of Restoration. The women that Worthwhile Wear helps long for restoration and it’s amazing to see that with love, support, and opportunity that these women can become so much more that they’d imagined. They’d been told lies of worthlessness, and Worthwhile Wear helps them overcome and blossom.
As we put these centerpieces together, we didn’t just see a discarded pair of shoes or an old pot, we saw the potential to become something amazing- something incredible, just like the women rescued from trafficking. I won’t lie, it was a cool process and a great life reminder.
Yesterday was National Human Trafficking Awareness day- join us in spreading the word and helping women become Restored. To learn more about human trafficking and how you can join the fight against it, use the links below.
Worthwhile Thrift & Freedom Boutique (NEW!!)
I’ll be sharing more of our gala transformation this week- check back. The before and after is pretty incredible!
Happy Monday Friends!
-Mon
**A huge shout out and thank you to 2 amazing photographers Pill Photography & Salvatori Photography.that donated their time for the gala and are responsible for all of our amazing images!
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