Watauga County Habitat for Humanity provides one more way to build an affordable home and one more excuse to get dressed up with Blueprints & Bow Ties, a new fundraiser, on Thursday, Sept. 20.

The event features a live auction and cocktail reception at Blowing Rock’s Meadowbrook Inn from 6 to 9 p.m. Tickets are $40 for a single ticket and $75 for two.

The event begins with a complimentary glass of champagne, and auctioneer Jesse Miller will start the bidding around 7 or 7:30 p.m. Heavy appetizers will be served, and a cash bar is available. The dress is business casual to cocktail attire, and the bow tie is optional.

“We rely on our donor base to keep us going so that we can build simple, decent houses for people that need them,” said Alex Hooker, executive director of Watauga Habitat. “All of our funding comes from donors and donated money. We don’t get any government money.”

Watauga County Habitat for Humanity works to provide decent, affordable housing to low-income county residents by building modest homes with volunteer labor as well as land and materials that are donated or purchased at reduced cost.

“In tough times like this, it’s never been harder to raise money,” said Hooker. “Events like this really help us out to keep our mission going.”

Auction items include a two-acre lot near Watauga Lake, a culinary package with cooking items and restaurant gift certificates, tickets to the 2013 Wells Fargo golf championship, a dinner party for six from Reid’s Catering, a guided fly-fishing trip, a Deer Valley pool membership, an outdoor package from Mast General Store and River and Earth Adventures, a “weekend warrior” package that includes an air compressor and tools, furniture restoration services and more.

In addition, Hooker noted, guests can bid on services and materials for future Habitat homes — whether it’s a box of nails or an energy efficiency upgrade. A similar fundraiser held for a Habitat for Humanity in Phoenix, Ariz., yielded a $17,000 bid for a box of nails, Hooker said.

For about 20 years, Watauga Habitat hosted Taste of the High Country, a ticketed event that allowed guests to sample food from area restaurants. But the event’s venue, Appalachian State University’s Broyhill Inn and Conference Center, is no longer available for community or private events.

“We put those efforts into something new,” Hooker said. “We hope to do Taste (of the High Country) again.”

Hooker noted that construction of the second home in the Habitat-built GreenWood neighborhood near Green Valley School is moving along.

“We do think that we’ll have her in by Thanksgiving,” he said, with construction of the third home in the neighborhood beginning soon after.

Tickets for Blueprints & Bow Ties are available online at http://www.wataugahabitat.org or at the Habitat ReStore on old U.S. 421 east of Boone. For more information, call (828) 268-9545.