When the kids’ school director asked me to design a little something for their staff holiday event, I couldn’t pass it up. No really, I couldn’t pass it up. They were hoping for a “Winter Wonderland”, but this is Long Beach, California, it isn’t a “winter” kind of town. What did I come up with? Beachy Winter Wonderland.

And it all started with wine bottles… I know what you’re thinking, but no we didn’t drink them all. I had friends collect a bunch of different glass bottles, and my lovely assistant spray paint her little heart out! To cover 17 bottles, it did take 2 cans of spray primer, but at less than $10 for paint + free bottles, it was a deal I couldn’t pass up. The arrangements in the bottles were made up of glitter/spangle branches (half price at Michaels) floral taped to a dowel, to add height. Because our school is pretty diverse, I thought to include a Merry Christmas message in several different languages as part of the graphics. Bottle labels and 2″ round “ornaments” were blinged out with little glue on stones.

The most cost effective way to decorate the food table, was to create garlands out of the same rounds as the “ornaments”. Punch out the circles, and sew them together -easy. I added sand, shells, candles and twinkle lights – and of course, 3 hours of set up time. Yeah, three.