From the beginning, the Lord has blessed me with this ministry to serve Him and you.
Below are my offerings for the '09 theme. I strive to show you easy-to make decorations and keep the costs as low as possible.
The goal is to create something memorable for the child who sees it.
We want him to connect what he sees and hears to the fun he has at Vacation Bible School, and know it was really all about Jesus.
And if I don't bring you a laugh or at least a smile along the way, I haven't fully done my job! 
Love, Bobbie
"Boomerang Express" Vacation Bible School Decorating Help
| Decorating Ideas & How-To's | Resource Links | V-M@il! | Help for Any VBS Theme |
Boomerang Express"It all comes back to Jesus"
"Hop on board! Take a thrilling ride across the Land Down Under with LifeWay's Boomerang Express! As kids wind their way across Australia, they'll discover the vastness of God's love, and they'll learn that no matter where they go or what they do in life -- it all comes back to Jesus."
Motto: Follow! Worship! Live through Him!
Scripture: "God's love was revealed among us in this way:
God sent His One and Only Son into the world
so that we might live through Him." (1 John 4:9, HCSB)
Decorating Ideas and How-To's
July 4th -- These pages for "Boomerang Express" will stay in place through August. The new theme will have a different link, which I will make available as soon as I have anything to show you. THANK YOU, my dear readers, for the blessings and prayers you have sent my way.
When you're ready to start on the 2010 theme, see my pages for "Saddle Ridge Ranch" VBS Decorating Ideas.
Okay, VBS people, let's go... Aussie
My mother, age 80 and unsaved
I used my graphics software and chose "transparent background" and added the text of this theme's Scripture. Then I printed it on card stock containing a subtle design. To make it scroll-ish, I rolled it on a 3/8"-diameter dowel rod at the bottom. At the top corner, however, I used a straight ball-point pen. The smaller your rolling apparatus, the tighter your scroll. This one has loops of masking tape on the back to hold it to my kitchen cabinet door.
Originally I had wanted to use genuine parchment. I liked the texture. Alas, parchment paper is intended to block moisture. Therefore, it not only doesn't print well, it doesn't care for the ride through the printer, either. Now we know!
I love you all. 
"We Made a Little Scroll"
nevertheless recalls with a smile that when she attended Vacation Bible School as a child, "We made a little scroll." So I decided to show you how to make one. This picture is the simple version.
Here's another scroll, wider than it is tall, with a fancy dowel rod on top. First I painted each end of both dowels. I used genuine gold metallic paint because I had some handy. I set them on a paper plate to dry overnight. (See upper left picture.) The next day I ran a bead of tacky-glue to my printed card stock, and carefully positioned the top and bottom dowels. You want them to be straight! (See upper right picture.)
Next day, I rolled the paper to completely cover the dowels, applied tacky glue, and used spring clips to keep them from unrolling. (See middle left picture.) Lastly, I added a tassle at each side of the scroll. They slipped right over the knobs of the fancy dowel. And now you see my finished scroll that's rigid enough to be propped up on a small wire easel, ready for shelf, windowsill, or bookcase. To hang on a wall, just add some cord, yarn, or string to the upper dowel. I bought the tassels I liked the best, but they were nearly $3 each. 
Check drapery trims for ready-made edgings with smaller tassels, and harvest a couple of those.
Costumes
My research was no help in locating any defining costumes related to our theme. I found this guy in his khaki shorts and loose shirt and big hat, which merely reminded me of "Amazon Outfitters."
But for the male directors and teachers and leaders, you can't go wrong with the big hat. Here's one I found at our local "Daily Dollar" store in January for $5, and no doubt you can probably find them even cheaper than that... somewhere. I printed out LifeWay's "outback_label", shown in the lower right corner on page 2 clipart, and tucked one corner of it into the ribbon hatband. Laminating the paper label or printing it on cardstock would be even better!
Bug Off!
Speaking of hats, here's an unexpected discovery: The "Gnat Hat" is as simple as a rigid-brimmed hat with corks dangling from string. It is claimed that this hat, when worn outside, creates its own swatting motion with the movement of your head, thus keeping the bugs away.
You can make as many as you want with foam core (cardboard is too flimsy), some crepe paper, and a bit of fabric. I cut a 12-inch diameter circle of foam core and a 6-inch diameter "donut hole" from the center. I covered this handmade hat brim with crepe paper streamer. -- dirt cheap. Hold that flat donut between your knees to keep it steady and wrap the streamer to cover the cardboard. Next you need corks on strings. I found a package of 12 corks for $1.99 at Michael's. Locate a large-eye hand-sewing needle. Find some thin yarn or cord on which to attach your corks. I used my power drill to make small holes in the center of the corks; when the needle has string going through the eye and you can push it through the cork, you're in business.
Use the "U"!
When making flyers or other promotional advertising, and somehow use words like "favor," "favorite," "flavor," "color," and "harbor," do what the Aussies do -- add a "u." Like Canadians and the British, Australians write "favour," "favourite," "flavour," "colour," and "harbour." It's subtle, but it's there.
Here I've used leftover chipboard letters and applied them to sparkly paper, which also happens to have an adhesive backing. Said paper was found at a dollar store a few years back. Yes, we must scour those dollar stores all the time!
While our prayer and desire is to help bring children to the Lord, they need to know He is the ONLY way to Salvation. With apostasy so rampant and the end-times upon us, it's more important than ever that children and adults know the Lord's Truth.
When you're making signage for your VBS, don't neglect the adults. One of my readers wrote to tell me that an adult was saved through the '06 VBS! Simple signs containing key Scriptures are always correct for our decorating, for the Lord to use as He will.
It's tough to get a good photograph of sparkly paper...
I love to make signage, and in all these years of doing VBS decorations, I don't think it's ever occured to me to make signs of the motto or scripture for the theme.
Here's a bargain I found in Target in late September -- "chipboard" sticky-back lettering. The package (only $1.00!) contained two cards of 1-1/2" letters and numbers that yield enough depth to be called dimensional.
Since I bought two packages, I'll likely make another sign.
For those of you who are more artistic than I am (and that's got to be 99.999% of the population), I offer these pictures of Australian trains, which could be excellent entryway props, or part of your "Crafts Crossing" room.
The Great Barrier Reef off Northeastern Australia is home to vast array of ocean life, including clownfish and seahorses. Who doesn't adore Nemo?
OPTIONS -- Create your own reef background on posterboard. Save the clownfish and/or seahorse image to your computer and then use your colour printer to print out as many as you like! Cut away the white background; white glue holds them in place.
With an eye on doing something around the Great Barrier Reef, I bought this yarn and pom kit for $1.99 at A.C. Moore. It's sure to be available elsewhere. This little kit to make a clownfish is composed of three tied bundles of orange yarn (about 3" pieces), and two tied bundles of a mix of black and white yarn. The fins and tail are made of "foamie," with the black tips to be glued onto the pale orange. And large white and small black poms make the eyes.
I put this thing together and did a horrible job!
But the point is this -- you can easily purchase one kit and duplicate the components. Facing facts, we know we can't afford to spend $2 on each fish we'd like for each child. But we can cut yarn and hold it together with a small rubber band, and we can cut fins from card stock and Sharpie-on the black tips. Just a thought.
Keifer
I couldn't figure out how to make a eucalyptus tree with a branch for Keifer to sit on while he munches leaves, so I've settled on placing him in a nice portable basket. Here you see Keifer and his nephew Kilroy, surrounded by the leaves they love!
Leftover stems of eucalyptus leaves can be used in vases of varying heights, or placed on windowsills, similar to the way we use evergreen branches at Christmas time.
By the way, a koala is not a true bear. It's a marsupial, like kangaroos and wombats.
From the Texas State Library, here's a pattern for a simple kangaroo craft or decoration.
"Cut out a mother kangaroo, baby kangaroo, and the pouch... glue the pouch onto the mother kangaroo’s abdomen, leaving the top open... slip the joey (baby kangaroo) into and out of the pouch."
Make it any size you like, and either paint or use felt to give your 'roo some dimension. I left mine plain, and took a scrap bit of card stock, about 2" wide, folded up one end, and glued it to the back of the 'roo.
Click this image to yield a copy-paper-sized enlargement.
You can promote your VBS presentation ahead of time in a subtle but fun way by making signs for the restroom doors.
American signs read "Men" and "Women," but the Aussies use "Blokes" and "Sheilas."
Green and yellow are Australia's national colours. A number of their sports teams use them for uniforms, and they serve as general "party" colours. So let's run with that! Crepe-paper streamers are dirt cheap and found in any party department. Also look for paper garland, balloons, pennants, and tissue balls in green and yellow. Paper plates, napkins, plastic forks/spoons and cups can be had in these colours. VBS is certainly a party, right?
The striped fabric (above right) will become window/doorway swags or bunting. These two colours together in a church setting will surely be noticeable! To break up that stripe a bit, we can sprinkle kangaroo and boomerang cut-outs from vivid green and yellow construction papers or felt, and pin them to the fabric.
Look what I found at our local "dollar" store in July! For my dollar, I got a package of three green spirals, with -- believe it or don't -- little cut-outs of Mexican snowmen with musical instruments dangling from the bottom.
An Emu is a large flightless bird native to Australia. It is very similar to an ostrich only a little smaller and much more gentle.
Here's fabric from a WalMart "get-rid-of-it" shelf. At just $1 per yard, I bought plenty. First I thought of making a kangaroo with it, and then I found this picture of an emu. How can this fuzzy fiber become a huge bird? Print out this silhouette and project it onto blue insulating styrofoam. Use flat brown spray paint on the head, neck, and legs. Now drape wispy -- feathery -- fabric on the body of the bird. It's really easy if you use a spray adhesive on the back of the fabric, and then smooth it onto the styrofoam. This might best be done outside to avoid adhesive overspray in your house.
If you check the fabrics on the Resource Links page, you'll see that the "Abos" of Australia have a distinctive way of expressing themselves. Their prints are like nothing I've ever seen. The closest to them that I could find were these batiks, and the designs are growing on me.
Australian aborigines make up less that 1% of the entire continent's poulation. But they have their own flag!
Make yours from posterboard, or paint fabric, or even sew one like I did. Hang it from its upper edge or staple its left side to a dowel rod; now you've got a stick flag! Put a message in that big yellow circle. Possibilities.
For decorating, I'd like to see some huge boomerangs on the walls. Use the ubiquitous 1/2" blue insulating styrofoam. At left is a printable pattern you can use for hand-sized boomerangs or enlarging. These could be painted in any colours, and I know my readers are creative!
For a craft, my pattern could be printed on card stock, and cut out ahead of time. Give the kids some crayons or markers and let them decorate boomerangs to take home.
But this handy shape is can serve us in other ways. 'Rangs can be hung from the ceiling, a doorway, a light fixture. They can be the signs on a directional signpost. They can be solid-colour cut-outs for random placement in windows, on curtains, over doorways. They can be name tags, tickets, invitations. They can be cut from wood and strung on fishline as quiet wind chimes. Versatile!
Down-Under Trivia
Danger! Danger?
These are actual road signs made and used in Australia! Click on any of them below and print out on regular paper or card stock. They'll be about 7-1/2" square. Or use the print to enlarge in your projector, and make some fill-the-wall signs using orange posterboard and a black marker.
This aborginal instrument can be made in different ways. The real ones are sometimes made from eucalyptus logs that have been hollowed out by termites.
Hear a Didgeridoo
Here's an option for signs that puts Australia in the forefront. When you click on this image, you'll get an Aussie outline that you can print out full size on ordinary copy paper or card stock. Check your office-supply store for coloured papers, too! The shape of our theme country allows lots of room for lettering. You can also use the print-out in your projector to enlarge the outline to any size.
LifeWay Site Rotations
Worship Rally Central
Bible Study Outback
Music Opera House
The exterior architecture of the Sydney Opera House is one-of-a-kind, and looks to me like a collection fo sails sans masts and booms.
Prints and puzzles of moored boats are pretty easy to find. I bought a $1 jigsaw puzzle, assembled it, and coated it with white glue. Don't waste your money on "puzzle preservers" -- they're white glue at a higher price and more awkward to use than the familiar glue bottle.
When the puzzle was dry, I used more white glue to attach it to this dollar-store foam-core. I weighted it with the biggest books in the house until dry. The finishing touch was this piece of soft gold cord (find it in fabric stores in the drapery department) that I tacky-glued around the edges, for a somewhat "nautical" look.
Crafts Crossing
Ayers Rock is roughly in the center of the Australian continent. It rises more than 1100 feet above the surrounding desert, covers over two square miles, and measures 6 miles around its base!
I cut 3 pieces of 1/4" foam core to make the shape of that rock (3 pieces side-by-side make it almost to scale!) and stapled this shimmery fabric to it, much like upholstery work. The fabric was $1 per yard on a WalMart "get-rid-of-it" shelf, and I loved the colour! Doing the rock in multiple pieces makes it easier to work with and transport. Ayers Rock is so huge, that it could be made in any size and still be an appropriate background prop.
While mine is covered with fabric, yours could simply be painted, or even have a built-up base that shows the texture of this majestic bit of nature.
Next, trim away the outer rim of the cookie sheet, carefully -- the cut edges are sharp! -- and then cut along the edges of the print-out. Use a black Sharpie to make your lettering stand out. Remove the print-out and draw a 1/2" line within the perimeter of your now 8-1/2" by 11" plaque. This line is easy reference for your next step of covering that exterior edge with black electrical tape.
To add rigidity, I cut blue insulating styrofoam the same size, covered its edges with black electrical tape, and used tacky glue to hold the foil to the foam.
Lastly, I added 4 screws to the corners for a finished look.
Daily Overview
TRACK 1
TRACK 2
TRACK 3
TRACK 4
TRACK 5
Snacks
Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport
Listen to this classic tune here. Make a poster of these song lyrics, just for fun!
SPOKEN: There's an old Australian stockman lying, dying. He gets himself up
onto one elbow and 'e turns to his mates, who are all gathered around and 'e says:
Watch me wallabies feed, mate, Watch me wallabies feed,
CHORUS:
Tie me kangaroo down, sport, Tie me kangaroo down
Keep me cockatoo cool, Curl, Keep me cockatoo cool
'n' take me koala back, Jack, Take me koala back
Let me abos go loose, Lew, Let me abos go loose
And mind me platypus duck, Bill, Mind me platypus duck
Play your didgeridoo, Blue, Play your didgeridoo
Tan me hide when I'm dead, Fred, Tan me hide when I'm dead...
So we tanned his hide when he died, Clyde, And that's it hangin' on the shed!!
Tie me kangaroo down, sport, Tie me kangaroo down
Tie me kangaroo down, sport, Tie me kangaroo down
This year's logo is a bit too complex to be exactly duplicated. Oh, sure -- you can probably buy a big banner from LifeWay and there goes your budget! My recommendation is a large sheet of heavy cardboard or insulating styrofoam. Use that as the base. Using your projector, enlarge the image and trace just the lettering. Cut out the individual letters from 1/2" or thicker styrofoam, paint them, and apply them to your base with tacky glue. The kids will see the familiar logo and you've avoided needless detail.
Next I used a thin nail, about the same size as the sewing needle, to punch 12 holes (for 12 corkstrings), about an inch away from the outside edge of the hat brim. I had marked the locations and punched with the brim upside-down. The needle and string went through smoothly! I made loose knots at first, which were easily adjusted to get the length I wanted for my suspended corks. All that's left now is the puffy part of the hat so that it actually looks like a hat. To make it, cut a circle of fabric about the same size as the brim. Use either double-sided tape or tacky glue applied to the edge of the fabric when it's face up. Then adhere that fabric to the underside of the brim opening. Options: paint the foam core rather than covering it with paper, OR use as is, OR you might even luck into foam core that's green or brown on one side. Check the dollar stores.
Jesus Sparkles!
Here I cut out sparkly letters and placed them on posterboard, and yes, it was labour-intensive! Again, hard to get a good photo. The foil of the lettering changes colour under different lightings, making it an effective eye-catcher. It reads:
JESUS IS SAVIOUR
The exterior trim is bulletin-board border, which, again, I found a few years back. Got a 32-1/2-feet package at a thrift store for 50 cents! I really like this sign, seen here propped up in my favourite reading chair.
AND LORD DIVINE
MAKE HIM YOURS
IN 2009
Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign
Here's the remedy! The motto is done on yellow posterboard with green Sharpie lettering and felt kangaroos. I know you'll use these on the wall in a straighter manner than I did for this picture. The more colourful sign was lettered onto a sheet of 59-cent scrapbooking paper, and sports a boomerang shape from textured scrapbooking paper and a felt cross (simply because my son gave me a package of them). I then backed the scrapbooking paper with a handy piece of posterboard.
Signs,
Chapter 2
Mine are placed on green posterboard, and embellished with a few boomerangs.
Ticket, Please
School Zone
And who can resist a seahorse? My homage to this spectacular coral reef is a small school of clownfish against an underwater background.
I can paint a kitchen in three colors but I can't paint a reef scene. So I bought this background fabric and went fishing. I had scraps of genuine "Finding Nemo" fabric left over from making a pillowcase, cut out all the fish, and applied them with white glue. A simple sign proclaiming that "Australia is the home of the Great Barrier Reef" is all the explanation needed.
Craft Review
I can't believe how sloppy I was with the tacky glue, and I can't tell you how awkward it is to hold the yarn bundles together with that glue. I've got the most mis-shapen clownfish ever made, and no, I'm not going to show you a picture of it.
the
Koala
We certainly need the presence of a koala in our decorating, and koalas are associated with eucalyptus leaves, of which there are many varieties. Above left is the type I found in a 16-ounce bunch at Michael's; the price was $9.99 and I only bought that much because I had a half-off coupon. (Smaller 4-ounce bundles were less than $3.00.) With no luck in finding a toy koala locally, I tried amazon.com. I got this little guy for $6.24, and his face looked awfully familiar... Reminded me of Grandpa Munster!
I printed an Australian flag onto card stock, taped it onto a wooden skewer, and pushed it into the branches for a finishing touch.
Kangaroos
It stands up nicely!
Here's a kangaroo silhouette for a stand-up prop or signage.
Or use as is for small cut-outs, name tags, etc.
You can get two nice-sized 'roos from a standard 9" x 12" piece of felt.
The Necessary Room
Show Your Colours!
If spirals are a part of your desired atmosphere, here are a couple of freebies to run through your printer. With yellow and green copy paper you can make all you want for next to nothing! Just print and cut on the line. Reinforce the smallest points at the tops of the spirals with a little square of masking tape, and it's ready for a thumbtack or a paper-punch hole for a string hanger. When displayed, they're about 18" high.
We can easily snip those cuties off, and add a boomerang instead.
Emus on the Horizon
Aboriginal Art
I've made some hang-anywhere flags from the material, shown here on a tension rod. These flags can offer a splash of colour wherever it's needed. While mine are sewn, you can simply cut yours with pinking shears and run a line of tacky glue on the back to form the rod pocket. You could also run some cord through them to mount absolutely anywhere.
Their Very Own
It's easy to follow the graphic image above and make one. Mine is made from flame-retardant industrial canvas, because it's what I have access to. It's 36" by 24", and the yellow circle is 12" in diameter. I finished it off with a black polypropylene webbing header, and black-finish brass grommets. There isn't another one like it! Maybe a geography teacher would like to have it when VBS is over.
Boomerangs
"Play Your Didgeridoo, Blue..."
Others are made from bamboo. Make one from a durable cardboard tube and paint it and decorate as you like. Here are some relevant symbols to be found on didges and 'rangs.
Make a PVC Didgeridoo
Aussie Signage
Here's how you can bring this unique shape to your VBS decorating with two sheets of card stock. I recommend making this project with regular copy paper first to get the feel of how it goes together.
Missions Harbour
Recreation Rock
I think this prop should have a sign reading "The Lord is My Rock" from Psalm 18:2. You can make a nifty metal-look plaque with a foil cookie sheet (I found a package of 2 for $1.88 at WalMart) and this template. I know what you're saying... "But Miss Bobbie, the lettering is backward!" Yes it is, on purpose. Stay with me a moment! Print my template -- it will fit on a sheet of copy paper and will be a good size for your plaque. Now let me show you how to make it.
You need a somewhat padded work surface, such as an ironing board or a folded towel. Center the print-out on the foil sheet, using masking tape to hold it in place. Then use an ordinary ball-point pen, and trace over the lettering. Turn it over. Now that lettering is raised like a real plaque!
G'Day Café
Here's a chance to re-use one of my ideas from a previous theme. I printed a picture of pavlova (a fancy cake favored by, and named for, late-19th-century ballerina Anna Pavlova) and cut away everything that wasn't the cake. Then I glued it onto a paper plate. Quick! Easy! Cheap! Do the same with other Aussie (and American) foods that would be appropriate for your café.
I was able to print 15 of the ANZAC biscuits on one sheet of paper, and piled them on my plate like the real thing. Your paper plate foods hang on a wall, door or window with loops of masking tape on the back side.
Truth: Follow Him
Bible Story: Peter's Invitation (John 1:40-42, Matthew 4:18-22)
Bible Verse: "As the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you. Remain in My love." (John 15:9 HCSB)
Life Application: Because Jesus loves and chooses me, I can follow Him.
Crafts: Name-A-Rang, Boomerang Express Nameplate, Aussie Art Frame
Truth: Worship Him
Bible Story: Peter's Discovery (Matthew 14:22-33)
Bible Verse: "But these are written so that you may believe Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and by believing you may have life in His Name." (John 20:31 HCSB)
Life Application: "Because Jesus is the Son of God, I can worship Him."
Crafts: Praise Bells, Worship Whirligigs, Cuppa Coasters
Truth: Confess Him
Bible Story: Peter's Challenge (Luke 22:31-34, 54-62, 23:44-46, 24:1-12
Bible Verse: "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Life Application: Because Jesus dies for me, I can confess Him as Saviour."
Crafts: ABC Sheep, Shareable Wearables, Mini-Rang Game
Truth: Serve Him
Bible Story: Peter's Mission (John 21:1-19)
Bible Verse: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9, HCSB)
Life Application: Because Jesus forgives me, I can still serve Him.
Crafts: Outback Place Mats, Service Plate, Sheep Station Service Board
Truth: Obey Him
Bible Story: Peter's Obedience (Acts 12:1-17)
Bible Verse: "I am able to do all things through Him who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13, HCSB)
Life Application: Because Jesus helps me, I can follow God's plan for me.
Crafts: Didgeridoo, Outback Plant Marker, Memory Mirror
Kid Step Snacks:
Delightful Didgeridoos
Sheep Station Cupcakes
Boomerang Express "Chew-Chew" Train
Emu Tracker Cracker
Koala Krunch
Cool Kookaburra
Brekkie Parfait
Sydney Tower
Kangaroo Kabob
Down Under S'more
Wooly Sheep Cake
Tucker Bag Fudge
Opera House Sundaes
Coral Reef Mix
G'Day Soda
Leader Prep Snacks:
Mini Pavlova
Termite Mounds
Aussie Pancakes
Ham 'n' Cheese Train Wheels
Twirly Lollies
Red Rock Refresher
Meat Pies
Damper with Syrup
Waffle Train Trackwiches
Kangaroo Tails
Camel Crunch Cups
Platypus Punch
Coober Pedy Pudding
Aussie Biscuits
Lamingtons
Orange Melbourne Float
They're a dangerous breed, mate, So watch me wallabies feed
Altogether now!
Tie me kangaroo down, sport, Tie me kangaroo down
Ah, don't go acting the fool, Curl, Just keep me cockatoo cool
Altogether now! (CHORUS)
He lives somewhere out on the track, Mac, So take me koala back
Altogether now! (CHORUS)
They're of no further use, Lew, So let me abos go loose
Altogether now! (CHORUS)
Ah, don't let 'im go running amok, Bill, Just mind me platypus duck
Altogether now! (CHORUS)
Ah, like, keep playin' 'til I shoot thru, Blue, Play your didgeridoo
Altogether now! (CHORUS)
Altogether now!
"Boomerang Express" Logo
Please Visit Again!
Decorating Ideas & How-To's
Resource Links
V-M@il!
Help for Any VBS Theme
I'm here to serve! Your sister in Christ, Bobbie
