This week I’ve been devoting a significant amount of my free time to camp preparations.

I take cabin decorating very seriously. There’s nothing I dislike more than a bare wall (well, okay not exactly true, but still). I love color, and I’m determined to create a fun, bright cabin environment that makes campers smile.

In a little over 48 hours I’m traveling to southern Michigan as a camp counselor for third and fourth grade girls in the Missionary church conference. This will be my second time as a counselor for this camp, and so I’m relying heavily on my whopping one year of experience.

I love camp. It’s a week-long time of games, chapels, fun zones, crafts, chants, goofy dress up days, hanging out with kids and other counselors, and, of course, who could forget the air-conditioned, multi stalls and showers “cabin.” This is my kind of camping!

To decorate my cabin this year, I decided to go with a theme I like to call, Neon Galaxy. My vision is to have the cabin filled with stars, lights, geometric shapes and neon colors. My impressive one year of experience has taught me that disposable decorations are your friend, and so the majority of my decorations are made out of paper.

My mom works in our local community library, and so I have access to a die cutter and large collection of shapes. Using neon cardstock I cut a variety of stars and spirals that I will hang all around the cabin. I also cut out special large stars for the girls to decorate with stickers and add to our “galaxy wall.” Sticking with the theme of throw-away decorations, I purchased a dozen spools of brightly colored ribbon, a dozen neon paper lanterns, and two long strands of white lights from Oriental Trading Post. I’m planning on wrapping the ribbon around the bunk bed posts, and maybe even in the bathrooms if I feel crazy. I’m attempting to hang the lanterns from the ceiling with either paper clips or fishing line, and the white lights are there to make the place look awesome (lights really can transform a room). From Hobby Lobby I have these weird, yellow curly sticks (center photo) that I’ll probably arrange somehow on a shelf. And who could go to camp and not bring a disco ball?! I’m hoping my campers are game for a dance party.

I am also in the process of organizing little gifts for my cabin each day. I purchased a variety of neon-colored draw string bags (top left photo) and hand-painted each girl’s name in light pink paint on the front. The girls will receive this bag on the first day, along with the bandana (top center photo) a journal, pens and candy. I couldn’t find bandanas in the fabric I wanted, so I ended up purchasing fabric instead (from Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Store…who has some pretty fun fabric choices!) and having them made. The other little gifts (not pictured) go along with dress up days that I thought would be fun for the girls. I also have bed name tags, schedules and memory verse printouts, all with multicolored geometric or galaxy backgrounds that I am hanging around the cabin.

I am thinking of more and more prep things yet to do as I type this–but the most important thing is that the girls learn about God this week and their relationship with Jesus Christ. I am look forward to what adventures the following week brings!