Sweet Saturday Was Very Sweet Today

Four times a year the ladies at Parma Heights Baptist Church have a get-together called "Sweet Saturdays" for fun, food and fellowship.  It's from 8:30 - 11:00 on Saturday mornings.  I always look forward to these because it's a relaxing time of entertainment and chit chat.  Previous themes were on balance, de-stressing.  Today's them was on planning gatherings with the holidays approaching.

There were four mini-workshops that we went to in small groups which were dinner card making, connections, chocolate creations and ornament making.  Then we heard about doing table decorations, had some music and of course enjoyed all the food.

My first workshop was making some placecards. We just glued on a picture of a turkey or some little leaves cut from construction paper and a colorful strip across the bottom and wrote our names with a marker on the front.  On the placecard, we could write a short Bible verse on the inside and a conversation starter question on the back.  Here is a list of some of the suggestions:

What new thing would you like to learn to do?  why?

What was the kindest thing that someone ever did for you?

What is the best Thanksgiving you have ever enjoyed?

What is your favorite story, and why?

Tell us what you think is special about older people?

Tell us what you love about babies.

What is your favorite room in the house, and why?

Next we moved to an easy mixer game.  Each of us was given a lunch bag with a number on the front and an object inside that was stapled shut with a ribbon through it.  We each put on a bag and then tried guessing what the objects were inside just by feeling through the bag.  I only guessed 4 right out of 12.  It did get everyone talking to everyone though which was the real point of it.

The chocolate room was a big hit!  There was melted chocolate in several small crockpots and we got to dip in pretzels, cookies, chunks of cake and even spoons and then add sprinkles if desired.  There was also some popcorn that we could dribble some chocolate on!  What great treat ideas!  This, of course, was my favorite activity!

My last workshop was the ornament.  I shaped my ornament as a football with the year on it.  You use 1 cup applesauce to 1 cup cinnamon and they smell very good!  You roll it out and then for about 5-7 days depending on how thick you make it, just flip it over once a day until it dries out.  Then put a string through it.  The suggestion was to make these to have handy to give out to visitors who come to your house during the holiday season.

We had a great time and one lady shared ideas for decorating the table and one family shared about things they did to make holidays special.  Another lady challenged us to create a gathering to show God's love to others.  It was a very enjoyable morning!

Are you having a gathering for the holidays or any time soon?  Do you have any other suggestions to share for making it special?