I was the Costume Coordinator for my church's VBS play this year. It was an amzing experience. I loved being in the thick of it and seeing it all come togther. I was especially touched by all the 6th grade and up kids that put so much time and effort into their roles (whether it was in the classrooms, on the praise team or as part of the drama production) so the little kids would have a meaningful week.
Here is the dress I made from scratch. My first "adult" piece. It was perfect for "Lark" with a vecro closure up the back for her quick change. Her brother "Jimmy" found his own wardrobe and I just tea-stained the shirt and spray painted the pants to look dirty. He was a pirate wannabe which got him in a little trouble and soon they both found themselves on a pirate ship called the Sea Wolf.
One of my favorite pictures after having read the comments on facebook is now this one. Specifically the young man praying over the nearly drowned Butterknife Bill. Luke said that he wasn't just acting here, he took this time to actually pray for the kids in the audience, that they would get the message. I'm so proud of the young people in our church. They really get it and do everything for the glory of God.
I have to give a hand to our director, set designers and techs. This picture is just all kinds of awesome because of their hard work. Josh did a good job too. ;)
There was singing and dancing...
(I didn't know pirates had such perfect teeth)
and a very clear message about God's Grace.
We show about 20 minutes of the play each of the 5 days and then the play in it's entirety Friday night. Seeing it all as one production was very moving. I found myself wiping away tears when Lark tells Butterknife about God's act of Grace and at the end when her father (Commodore Bunting) extends grace to him as well.
I snapped 1200 pictures throughout the week and here are just a few more of my favorites.
Aboard the Sea Wolf. Mr. Pigeon, in the middle, his costume came completely from the women's section at a thrift store. I added buttons and some bands around his cuffs to make it more nautical looking. His sash is a sari that I shorted down the middle and spray painted. I added elastic to his cuffs so they could be hiked up to his knees and bloused out.
Nelly NoBeard, our MC for the week and captain of the J.Crew praise team.
Our fearless leader, Dara, the writer and director of the play. She is crazy talented. Growing up I always thought of her as a Julie Andrews and that still holds true today.
Dara found all the pieces for the sailor's outfits. I just shortened and tapered the pants with buttons, made vests from basic tees, kerchief and sash from pillow cases and dirtied it all with black spray paint and tea-stained the shirts I cut the collar and sleeves off of. Dara made all the tri-corn hats from simple ladies felt hats she found at Penny's. The buttons down the vests aren't actually buttons, they are flatbacks and I used a sharpie to draw the button-holes on the other side. For this sewing perfectionist, it was a departure for me to make everything "costume" quality. ;)
I think all but two of these kids go to the same school my girls do. Love that they have so many good role models to look up to. Ahem...when they aren't being pirates that is.
I was blessed to be at every dress-rehearsal the whole week so I could move about the sanctuary freely and capture all the shots I wanted. This is definitely a fave.
Poor Jimmy got a little seasick. And yes, that's a butternife instead of a hook. There were so many clever touches to this play. Like all the character names were from birds giving homage to Jack Sparrow (Finch, the Longspur, Lark, Bunting, Mr, Pigeon, Shearwater, Thrush, Plover, Sixpense, Junco, Crowe, I'm missing 3 more I think).
The crew of the Sea Wolf
A little fun with dry ice after the performance.
Praying over Pastor Josh before he gave his message that day.
Pastor Mac announced how much the kids raised each day for their missions project. He's wearing a rented costume. All of the colonial period outfits you see were rented. They were a ton of fun to pick out. If you ever get a chance to hang out in a serious costume rental place do it. It's a hoot!
Every year, the kids have a special project that they raise money for throughout the week. Though VBS is free, kids are encouraged to bring an offering. They usually raise about $4000. This year our church partnered with a ministry in the Philippines. It's an orphanage for older children. The kids their make friendship bracelets to sell which makes them enough money to keep them off the streets and from being sold into the sex trade. We then sold the bracelets here and our profits went to an orphanage in India that was started by a man that grew up in an orphanage there. He will be coming to our church this year to speak. I can't wait to meet him. Our kids raised $22,000 last week!!! We also had an anonymous donor who gave $10,000 once we hit $20,000. It was quite amazing to hear about! I especially loved that kids in the Philippines, by way of kids in America, helped kids in India. Don't you just love how God works?
My kiddos held a lemonade/cookie/bracelet stand and personally raised $90 for the effort.
Their Auntie Julie stopped by on her way home from work to support their efforts. Love that!
My sister in law had her baby boy two weeks early so we'll be watching Bella for the next week or so to help her recover. I'm off to take some newborn photos right now.
The costumes were great! Congratulations on a job well done! Enjoyed the performance very much, too.
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