Rockin' the jungle for prom...

 Sometimes my job is just fun. Fun like back in high school, making decorations for the prom. Except between high school and now, I did a stint in the event industry, so I know a few pro tricks for props and backdrops. Basically, it's all about the duct tape...and the drywall screws...and the sonotubes. Everything can be built from sonotubes and duct tape. If it can't you probably don't need it.

My friend Toni Fogarty (click here frontporchphotos.com) shoots the photos for prom, and wanted something that would go with the theme, but coordinate with every dress. Most years, this ends up being some variation on black. This year, with the theme being "Jungle", nature's neutral filled the bill. And some of those leaves are even real...

Best dressed couple in the jungle.  I don't actually know many of the local high school kids, so I picked the pair that looked the most striking with the backdrop.  She knows what suits her, huh?  And what guy wouldn't look fine in a black suit and purple tie?

sonotube, floral shipping box, front porch photography's break room stool (sorry, Cindy, it's not coming back), empty mud bucket, two overturned flower pots, one plywood scrap, dozens of drywall screws, thirty feet of duct tape.   Looks like a jungle to me.

The covering is made of old bed sheets torn into strips, dipped in "monster mud" (1 quart premixed joint compound + 1 gallon of paint), and draped.  I did add some wadded up newspaper to the basic structure, attached with another sixty or so feet of duct tape, to create soft rounded edges.  I also inserted some screws to hold the heavy bits in place until dry.  When dry, this is like a slightly flexible paper mache, but way more durable.  I don't recommend wearing the stuff.

Not sure if they looked more like rocks or stumps, but with a background and floorcloth  (painted using every old leaf stencil I've ever cut), and filled with six houseplants, they looked pretty good.  In fact, I think the phrase was "freakin' awesome".  If I'd had kids, they would be about prom age now, so "freakin' awesome" made me feel not quite so old.  The fact that I spent a few mornings last week on my front porch, making prom decor, and being able to call it my job, was pretty freakin' awesome.

Okay, one more.  Aren't they cute?

Making props?  If you have questions, I'll be glad to share any answers I know.  Leave them in the comments below, or feel free to email me at dawnmariedelara@gmail.com.

Wanna see what else I do?  Click over to theartofthehome.com, to check out my portfolio and the information about the services I provide, though I don't think it listed prom decorator anywhere, there.