The Makings of a Young Women Handout

I am often asked where I come up with the ideas 

for my Young Women handouts.  

While I do LOVE making them 

and I LOVE when they turn out better than I had envisioned, 

I don't know that I truly have a secret for coming up with the idea.

Usually, I start with the lesson. 

 All of my lessons are found at lds.org.  

This year we are on Manual 3.  

I usually figure out what part of the lesson I want the girls to remember 

and then I locate a thought, quote or scripture that enforces that lesson.

For Easter I knew I wanted to focus on the YW Values 

and so I went hunting for Easter candy.   

I bought oodles of jelly beans in YW Value colors 

(no such thing as gold jelly beans- hence the golden-Carmel filled egg) 

and I also knew I wanted to use the Lamb to represent the Lamb of God.

Later I thought about what I wanted them to think about who they are

 in relationship to the message of Easter. . .I wrote this:

This Easter place your values where your mouth is!  

Stand as a witness of God at all times 

and in all things and in all places 

as you bear witness of the divine mission of the Lamb of God.  

Be thou an example of the believers. 

 (All paraphrased from the YW Theme, YW Values and 1 Timothy 4:12)

I already had these Wilton disposable icing tubes which are

already ideally shaped for Easter!

I composed my text into the shape of the "carrot" and placed

it on this Cyrstal Wilkerson Houndstooth  digital paper.

Then I made the Happy Easter tag!  

I used CTMH Splendor paper and some 

miscellaneous CTMH Stamps.

Some green ribbon for the carrot -

all with a little help from my Freckle-Faced Strawberry

and there's the magic!

I aM nOt SUrE WhAt WiLl FRIgHteN YoU MOrE. . .

The art that I'm posting 

which is certainly SPOOKY! 

or the fact that I am posting at all! 

 I would love to say that my absence is all from lack of time, 

and while time certainly has been a factor,

 truthfully, its more FEAR; 

the fear of rejection. . . 

the fear that no one cares if I post,. . . 

and the fear that no one cares if I'm even here. 

It scares me. 

 I'm sure on the surface we all look like we have it all together,

 but I don't. 

 You see, lately, 

I've had more in my life 

and on my plate 

that I feel I can cope with and adding it to for any reason 

would be more than I am able to bear. 

 Sad, but true. . . 

I wish I didn't allow fear in my heart 

except for maybe an occasional spook house on Halloween.

Now, I've opened up. . . FEAR an All.

Hope I didn't Scare you all right away.

 Scared or not, here is my post. 

 This was my Trick or Treat class Friday night.

Boo Crew Board Book

Cover of Boo Crew Board Book

Back of Boo Crew Mini Board Back

12X12 One Sheet Wonder Box

Candy Box

Candy Box Back

Candy Box Side 2

Boo Bag

Agency Is a Gift

Another Set of Young Women Handouts.  
What I CHEWS to be is up to me.  Agency is a gift.  See 2 Nephi 2:27
These are from last week's lesson on Agency.
Young Women Manual 2, Lesson 28


They were a hit.  Just to carry the theme a bit
farther, I used different flavors of gum.


The lesson was on using our agency to make good choices.
When you make a choice,
 the consequence-
good or bad-
is fixed to the choice.


Not that any gum can be "bad," but some flavors
are definitely not favored by 12 and 13 year olds!


Enjoy!

Don't Fall Over Just Yet. . .

I know that if you are still out there, hanging with me,

you are most likely falling off your chair!

The thought of an actual post gracing the pages of my

 blog. . . I know I am!  Truly, it's not for lack of material.
 My life, is, as always, eventful and somewhat creative. . .
it's just also short on the time spectrum!  

On Tuesday we had a back to school swimming pot luck and party 

for the young women in our ward.  I had a cute idea to send them 

back to school with something to remind them of who they are. . .
 and that they are oh so important!  I hope you like them!  
The girls seemed pleased.  I also made one for each of my kids.
 I will attempt to sneak them in their backpacks the 

day they start school this year. . . shhhhhh, don't tell them!

Finished Project

Mini Squeeze - Drink Mix and Water

Cutesy Note
Hope you have a Beary Grand year.  Have a treat and a squeeze to get you through your first day.

Most of the product was CTMH,
but I did make the card using Digital Technology.  :)
 I'm so tech savvy!  LOL!

I won't promise anything, 
but I'll try to get 15 minutes of blogging
in a few times a week.  
Not that anything I have is worth your 15 minutes,
but as always, this isn't about you. . . 
(that was my 3 seconds of evil for the year!)

Love ya!  and if you are still around, 
you must really love me!

You Owe Me A Milkshake!

A little something for a friend that is very nice to me. To make one of your own you will need 2 small wash cloths, a clear plastic cup, a straw and decorations of your choice. Roll the washcloths and layer in the cup, decorate, cut the straw, insert and add a "cherry!" Supposed to have been for Valentine's Day about 2 years ago, but I finally got one done!

Candy Cane Bath Salts

I have long wanted to make this recipe, but I keep forgetting! If I post it here I can't not make it, so here is the recipe:

12-12oz canning jars with lids and rings

1-4lb cartons of Epsom Salts

4 lbs of sea salt or kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon of glycerin, divided

12-15 drops of red food coloring

12-15 drops of peppermint essential oil

Cardstock, Ribbons, etc., for decorating

Wash, rinse and dry jars. Empty one carton of Epsom Salts and add 3 cups of sea salt. Stir well. In a small dish Add 1/4 teaspoon of glycerin and 6-8 drops of peppermint oil and add red food color. Stir until blended. Mix with salt mixture until completely blended. A Kitchen-Aid works well for this on low speed. Don't use a hand mixer or small stand mixer. If you don't have a high powered mixer use a spoon and elbow grease! Set aside red salts. Mix remaining salts with remaining glycerin and peppermint oil using same method above. Holding canning jars at an angle, layer salts in the jar alternating the white and red mixtures.

Makes 12 gifts at less than $2 per jar! There are other ideas and recipes you can find similar to this here and here and here AND here! ENJOY!

Christmas Goodies and a Christmas Wish

Running out the door (again!) but I wanted to post a few Christmas goodies before Christmas is over and done for 2009! Thanks to the numerous artists who inspired these projects.

Perpetual Keeping Christmas Calendar

Gift Tag Gift Set

A Minty Kiss For You!

Key Chain Post-It Note (if your name starts with T, it may be for you!)

Christmas Cocoa for 4

Mini Milk Crate - MMMMMMMM Good!

Hope your holidays are the best and that you enjoy the true spirit of Christmas no matter what the circumstances in your life happen to be. Christ is alive and well and that is what Christmas is all about!

. . . a little something . . . Not Available at the "O"

This is a little gift that isn't available at the "O". I don't know about you, but that Overstock.com commercial is already on my nerves! This isn't that incredible, but a little gift for a friend - I have yet to make any of my own cards, but this is 16 cards to get her off to a slightly less stressful Christmas season. Money is tight around here this year, so chances are if I can't/don't make it out of my "I'm not a hoarder" stash, it won't be given.

If you would like to make a card gift box of your own, there is a very simple formula. Measure the length (L) and height (H) of your card. Measure the thickness (T) of your card pile. L + T + T and the H + T + T and cut one piece of cardstock to this measurement. For the top use the same formula adding 1/4 - 1/2 inch or L + T + T+ 1/4", cut. Now score both pieces at the THICKNESS measurement on all 4 sides. Cut one score line from each corner and for a nice flush edge cut a "V" from the cut score line. Glue tabs inside. For a standard 4 1/4 X 5 1/2 card with my pile of cards and envelopes meausring 2 1/4" I cut the bottom at 9 X 10 1/2" and 9 1/4" X 10 3/4". I scored on all sides at 2 1/4".

O, O, O. . . we'll let's just change that to HO, HO, HO and HOpe you are building up to a wonderful Christmas season with your family and those that are important to you!

Happy Halloween

I like Halloween. I'm not a Halloween junky like my friend Paula, but I like the cutsie side of Halloween. . . I'm sort of like the "Good Things" side of the Martha Stewart Halloween Issue. I think the "Bad Thing" side is fun to look at, but just not my style. Here are some Halloween treats from my recent Halloween themed classes. I know it's a bit late for Halloween, but most of these could be easily adapted to Thanksgiving or Christmas (or even Easter, the 4th and anything in between!) I made my very first computer template for the pumpkin box. I'm not tech savvy enough yet to know how to post a link for you here, but if you really want it, you can email me and I will send it to you. It worked for the class so I guess it's okay! I was able to print 2 to a sheet of 8.5 X 11 CS so it works for me! I made extras for my kids' teachers and they really liked them. The sisters that I visit teach enjoyed the goodie bags (along with my mom) and I gave the hats to a couple of friend's of mine for a little treat. If you'd like to see photos of my kids at the ward Fall Festival (translate Halloween Party) last night, pop on over to myMoments in Time Blog

we had a great time and my boys won Cutest Costume (again!) They have won the costume contest no matter where we have been every year of their lives!

Anyway you spend it; ghoulish or cute, have a very Happy and SAFE Halloween!

Repeat After Me. . . I Am NOT a Hoarder!

One of the things I've always said about my neatly organized, stuffed to the brim craft room (choke, gasp, cough, laugh), is that it is full of wonderful things that I can make and give and I don't have to go the store and buy something. . .  It's so much thriftier, isn't it?   It's not my fault that  clearance and dollar bins at Target, Michaels, JoAnn's,  Wal-Mart . . . are just brimming with bargains screaming take me home and make the most adorably cute gift out of me!!!   Most people would call this insane shopping hoarding, but I know my fellow craft sisters understand.   And you can never, never, never have too many flowers, ribbons, buttons, brads, papers, adhesives, stickers. . . you can just fill in the dot, dot, dots.    Here is a case in point;  I picked up several packages of gerber "whities" on clearance a while back. I knew that someday they would come in handy.    Here are the baby gifts that came out of them!  I didn't have to buy a thing and better yet, not even a ding in my stash was made! And no, you can not have the 2nd duplicate jar of flowers I just bought because I know I'm going to run out of the first two and then what?  LOL!!!

Onsie, Burp Cloth, Socks & Headbands.

The headbands are bought in the hair care section and are for older girls, 

but if they are new they fit perfectly on a baby's adorable head!

(These were also in my stash!)

The only kind of "Stationery" for me!

Have you ever ridden a stationary bike? I used to ride Aerodyn's. . . I hated it! If I'm going to exercise I need fresh air and not a stuffy, sweaty gym! I know some people are addicted to them, but this is the only kind of stationery I want to slave on! I know it isn't likely to help my abs or thighs, but my mom enjoyed getting this as a Valentine's Day gift!