Fortune Teller Booth

When I was asked to be in charge of the Fortune Teller Booth at last year's school carnival, I thought it was sort of a risky idea! I thought parents would object to their children dappling in such witchcraft! :)

But I was told it would be one of the most popular booths there. (The PTO lady had previous experience.) And she was right!

Without spending any money, I decorated the booth with what I had and what I borrowed.

That blue stuff is butcher paper that I crumpled up. I should have made it longer, but was so short on time I couldn't redo it.

I cannot believe how popular this booth was! The kids were lined up to get in.

I just googled pictures of gypsy fortune tellers and printed this one. I made the paper look old...

We used one of those electric globe balls. It shoots all these bright currents around and they follow your hand when you touch it.

This picture isn't the best. My flash lit it up too much. In reality, it was much darker inside, only lit by a table lamp and the ball. So it looked a lot cooler than this.

That's me, Madame Rose. I started out giving their fortunes, but the Junior High students loved doing it, so I got booted and they took over most of the time. (Thank goodness. It was getting a bit tedious.)

Now for the fortunes. How was I going to give fortunes to these kids? We thought of Tarot cards, but I was afraid again about parent reaction to something like that. I mean, some people really believe Tarot card reading (and I have no idea how to do that) and some people have negative feelings about them.

We didn't need the controversy!

After looking around a bit, I decided just to make my own little Tarot-like cards. They would represent various themes like Love, Travel, Art, Wisdom...Nothing bad or negative.

Here's what I used to make my own Tarot Cards:

I cute up a bunch of cardboard - old cereal boxes. Then I modge podged some interesting/pretty scrapbook paper on one side of them.

On the other side, I modge podges various pictures I printed off the internet (using Google Images). The pictures had to do with the different themes. (I wiped a little stain on the edges, after this picture was taken.)

Clovers=Good Luck

Planes, cars, trains, boats, and a globe=Travel

Brain + an Eagle=Good education gives you power

Hollywood Star=Fame

Cupid=Love

Question marks=An inquisitive mind

Owl + Stack of books=Value of wisdom and good education

Theater Masks + Sun and Moon=Artistic, dramatic

Backpackers horizon/hikers on mountain=Adventure

The way we ran the booth:

1. One child would enter (or more if they were nervous to go alone).

2. Madame would welcome them. Let them touch the ball, because it was too fun for only her to do it!

3. She would have them choose 3-4 cards from the deck (pictures down).

4. Then she would spread the chosen cards on the table (pictures up) and give the fortune.

Fortunes were always positive and for the most part true.

For example: "Oh, This card tells me that you have a very inquisitive mind. Do you like to learn? Yes? I thought so. This card tells me you will have an adventure in your future. And this one with the owl says you will be very wise if you study very hard."

Or you could start with a question: "Do you like art? Oh What kind of art? I thought so because this card tells me you are very artistic."

We didn't want to give any bad fortunes. "You will die in three days." Hahaha... Could you imagine the calls the school would get?

It was amazing how many kids thought this was "for real." That I was a real fortune teller telling them their future! I told a few kids that it was all for fun. I didn't want them taking it too seriously.

So, if you need a good booth for the school carnival, I highly recommend this one. It was one of the most popular booths there. It was really easy to run. And I didn't hear one negative comment from anyone. What was I so worried about?