for Any VBS Theme
Useful Items for (Almost) Every Theme
Fabric Uses
"Fabric" encompasses more than "by-the-yard" cottons. Try bedsheets and shower curtains for large backdrops or to hide non-theme areas. Is there an upholstery shop, canvas shop, or sailmaker in your area? You could be surprised at the size of what they might consider a "remnant." Can't hurt to ask! Tell the business establishment that you seek their throw-aways for your VBS presentation. Even in these "Christian-unfriendly" days, most people will give a discount to churches. Use fabric for these items as well:
- aprons
- bandanas
- belts or sashes
- capes
- hats and headwear
- scarves
- vests
New Uses for "Throw-aways"
Almost every business disposes of items unrelated to its product or service, that are just so much trash to the company, but potentially valuable to the person who can see a different use for them. Such cast-offs could be cardboard spools similar to those that hold electrical wiring, flat insulating styrofoam sheets from refrigerator cartons, wooden crates, or specialty packaging. And most places throw away boxes. Do you or your spouse have access to items that will get tossed out? Maybe a friend or relative works in a place with intriguing items destined for the dumpster? Something to think about. 
Scout Out Your Community!
Does your area have a film or TV production studio, a performing arts center, a dinner theater or playhouse? These establishments often have vast prop collections, including costumes. Could they be borrowed or rented? It costs nothing to ask!
Decorating Odds & Ends
Promoting Your VBS
Does your church have a Fall Festival or similar community gathering in place of halloween? Perhaps an Easter egg hunt? Portion out treats into small zip bags, and add a card advertising your VBS, as well as a Gospel tract for unchurched guests. With a magnet on the back, the card can be kept on the recipient's refrigerator. Or it could be in the form of coupons, with a special prize to any child who comes to your VBS as a result of that coupon. For whatever event or activity that attracts children to your church -- Christmas, Easter, school, day-care center -- have VBS posters ready to advertize the theme and dates.
It needn't cost a pretty penny to make up a colorful flyer regarding your VBS; "desktop publishing" has seen to that. Ask a computer-savvy church member to make one up and run off copies. Ask local businesses for permission to display one in their shop window.
After VBS is over, go back to those businesses and remove the flyer.
Some Cable-TV providers have a local station for FREE public-service bulletins -- investigate that when your presentation dates are confirmed.
Same with Christian radio -- my favorite local station welcomes advance notice of special events for addition to their online calendar. Then they broadcast that information for their listeners in the week beforte the event. And it's FREE!
Make a Monument Plaque
You need a somewhat padded work surface, such as an ironing board or a folded towel. Center a print-out of your text, upside-down, on a foil cookie 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!
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.
Make a Tree
You'll need a floor-lamp or microphone stand, a heavy cardboard tube ("core"), an umbrella (even if it's broken), one package (100-count or more) brown paper lunch bags, and green fabric / paper / streamers / foil / felt / plastic tablecloth / artificial leaves. Slide the core (heavy fabrics come rolled on these things -- check an upholstery shop and ask for one) over the stand. Cut the bottoms off the lunch bags, and scrunch them up and slide them onto the core. This yields a marvelous textured tree trunk. Now open an umbrella and drop the handle into the top of the bag-covered core. I used scrap fabric and cut pieces the same shape as, but larger and longer than my umbrella sections, and sewed them together. Then I threw this new cover over the umbrella, and cut deep scallops with pinking shears to resemble large tropical leaves.
Surround the base of the stand with a burlap bag or a circle of green or brown cloth (roughly like a Christmas tree skirt), to conceal the base.
Handy Patterns
If you like hanging spirals for decoration, here are a couple of freebies. Just click on the spiral you like and you'll get a full-size image that will fit on standard 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.
