Some of you may know I'm a member of Poulsbo Lions Club. Lions is a community service group with members around the world, helping with sight and hearing, diabetes, natural disasters and so much more.
I was asked to design a float for my club for our area casino's Fat Tuesday parade, which signals the end of Mardi Gras. My goal was to keep it economical because I planned on donating my time and materials so our club could keep the $500 each nonprofit was guaranteed to receive from the casino.
My hubby put together a wooden step for the lion to sit on. The paws are actually nailed into the wood! I painted the previously red wagon gold. We painted the wheels and added glitter and doubloons.
I purchased actual Mardi Gras doubloons thrown off floats in New Orleans from Ebay, along with Bourbon Street and French Quarter black and white signs. And I was given two full boxes of beads from another Lions Club in the area.
I used Stampin' Up! products I had on hand - glitter card stock, my Big Shot and dies, rhinestone jewels and adhesives - Tombow liquid glue, mini glue dots, dimensionals and Sticky Strip. I had led battery-operated lights from a craft show I did years ago with my buddy and fellow SU! demo, Kim, and purchased a big stuffed lion and masquerade masks from the Internet too. The Lions Club motto is simply We Serve.
I received a handful of Golden Tickets, which I handed out to family, friends and fellow Lions. Votes were the difference between 1st and 2nd place - one vote, to be exact. Our float didn't place, but like I said, the goal was to get the $500 for our club. The casino picks 20 nonprofits who apply to be in the parade every year. It had been a few years since our club had last been chosen to participate.
Our Poulsbo Lions have a great mascot costume. Lion Ginger Shields showed up to lead the procession, while another lion dressed as King Rex to pull the float and several more (including me, though you can barely see my head) walked behind. It was a fun evening and a great (easy) fund-raiser for our club.
If you want to see what Lions are all about, there's a lot of info on the web, as well as Facebook! I think it feels great doing great things in my own community!
