Wednesday, May 2, 2007

RMH Wish List Donation Drive Box: Decorating 101




There are two posters in a set. The white sign is mounted to the back of the donation box so that people see it at eye level. Foam board is used for the white sign, as it needs to stand up straight. It includes a large printout of the wish list and an envelope containing a smaller version printed on index-cards. The blue sign is attached to the front of the box. It includes an RMH information sheet and a large printout of the wish list.

Shopping List / things to look for around the house
White foam board
Blue poster board
Wide blue Duck Tape
Blue Scotch painters tape
Laser inkjet white index cards, for the take-along wish lists – Avery template 5388
Inkjet & laser compatible matte white 8.5 x 11 sticker paper, for photo and logo images
Clean white 8.5 x 11 paper, for printed material attached to the posters
Kitchen, school and baby-themed stickers of items on the wish list
Self-stick glitter paper for the star on the blue poster, unless you can find one in the sticker aisles of your craft stores.
Blue “Ronald McDonald House” – Colorbok Blueberry Casual alphabet stickers. There’s no size on the package, but they measure 1 ¼”. 2 packs are required for one box.
Sparkly blue “Wish List Drive” – RoyalBrites Project Works Letters 1.5 x 1.5”. 2 packs are required for one box.
White “Our House is Full” – PermaSign Helvetica Caps Self-Adhesive vinyl letters 1”, found in the sign-making department, not the craft department
Red “We Need Your Help!” – PermaSign Helvetica Caps 2” vinyl letters
Big Box – I used a U-Haul shorty wardrobe box
Blue envelope to hold index cards for take-along wish lists – this one was found in a desk drawer in a stationary set my mother bought me 20 years ago.
The “aluminum foil” and “tall kitchen bags” labels on the wish list are cut from packages from our kitchen and applied with clear tape.

Technically speaking, if you do this the same way I did, you will need the following:
Color printer.
Photo image editor to resize the images from the RMH website. You may also be able to get assistance in re-sizing photos at your local printing shops.
Word processor to create large and small wish lists and information sheet.

Computer-based tasks:
Enlarge the photos and logos from the website or have them enlarged and saved to *.jpg files.
Print the photos onto the sticker paper.
Print a small-print version of the wish list onto the index cards.
Print two copies of the full-size wish list. Change the default bullet color to red to make it more visible. Add a red border.
Print one copy of the RMH Information page. Use the same border that was used for the wish list.

Crafty tasks:
Cut out the photos and logos in shapes that suit the design. Use sharp scissors to avoid wrinkles.
Cut out the star from the glitter paper if you couldn’t find one on the shelves.
On the white foam board, put a piece of the wide blue duct tape about 8” from the bottom of the sign to denote the point at which the sign meets the box.
Use the wide blue duct tape to create a border around the white foam board, to both protect the edges and provide a frame for the poster. I positioned it with ½” on the front of the foam board and wrapped it around to the back.
Tape the 8.5 x 11 printouts on first, using the skinny blue tape.
Stick on letters using a straight edge as a guide. No pencil line is needed; if it looks like a child did it, so much the better.
Stick on the rest of the stickers.
Tape the blue envelope where it will be seen, folding back the top of the envelope so it’s not in the way. Put the take-along index cards in the envelope.

VOILA!
With any luck, you will have done in a few hours what it took me two weeks and five trips to the craft stores to figure out!!












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