Spring Woodland Retreat

I have been busy, busy, busy lately. I've been getting ready for our Women's Ministries Spring retreat which was this past weekend. We used a Spring Mountain Lodge theme.  I thought I'd show you a few of the details.  

I wanted to find some animal silhouette stamps to use on the name tags. Of course, I couldn't find exactly what I was envisioning. A friend suggested that I carve my own stamps on linoleum blocks.  I've always wanted to try that, so I jumped in. I used these instructions. We needed four different groups, so I carved four different animals. They needed to be small in order to fit onto the small tags. My team have helped me during work days, but I think they feel like I'm a little crazy. Here are a few samples of the tags. The moss made them even better. 

I found these straws on Anthropologie. They are evidently no longer available. I didn't get a picture, but we used them in Mason jars. We had soup in sourdough bowls with salad for lunch. Dessert was cobbler served in iron skillets on a birch log in the center of each table. Snacks on the first night were a hot chocolate bar and a trail-mix bar. The ladies loved it. 

The kits we bought for the retreat came with a necklace that has a scripture on it.  We didn't really care for them, so we changed them up a bit.  I had helpers crochet longer necklaces and then added a leaf charm.  I also added colored seam binding bows, which I obviously didn't photograph.  

 I made a large terrarium for the registration table and four smaller ones for door prizes.

 We pooled all our silverplate, and crystal for the centerpieces.

 I made mushrooms out of air dry clay and then we painted them.  I should've left them lighter because they didn't show up very well with the moss, stones and wood.

The retreat called for different room setups.

 The ladies enjoyed our props.

I didn't get the best pictures since I was in charge of the weekend. I'm so exhausted and anxious to get back to some unfinished personal projects.The retreat package we used is originally called Cozy Mountain Lodge from Group Publishing. I wanted to make it more appropriate for this time of year, so as you can see, we made it our own. Our ladies absolutely loved the retreat material. I heard more than once that it was the best retreat some had ever attended. Check it out if you need these resources.