PEEPS and Self-Reliance

Today was my turn to teach the Young Women. I LOVE teaching!! The lesson today was part one of Growing and Maturing in Self-Reliance. Just as a tiny chick hatching from its shell must break out by itself, so our growth in self-reliance requires our own effort and exertion. At times this growth may be painful, but these "hatching" experiences make us stronger! In Doctrine and Covenants 29:1-2 it tells us that being close to our Father in Heaven and the Savior, we can grow in strength. They have promised to gather us "as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings."

I thought it would be a perfect handout to use PEEPS to help the girls remember the lesson!

(I got the idea from HERE, but changed it around a little)

The handout reads:

We started this life as tiny PEEPS....

but as we grow and mature, we learn to do things
 on our own. some of that learning will be hard,
 but if we stay close to the Lord, we can find help and
comfort as He gathers us under His wing and
 protects us. That is what Heavenly Father wants
 from us. To make decisions on our own and do
things for ourselves, but always stay close
to His teachings and keep the commandments.

HERE is the link to the free printable! :)

I used rage font in the original printable, but for some reason it wasn't showing up when I tried to convert it over to a printable... any ideas?

Find Joy in the Journey

{Made By Me Monday}pinterest inspired

Here is my weekly PINspiration

I LOVE this quote! I was able to teach my Laurel class the lesson called "Finding Joy Now".   I wanted to create a centerpiece for my table and knew this quote would be perfect! Well let me tell you, this little board has had quite the JOURNEY! To create the final look, I ended up changing the whole thing about 4 times to get it just perfect! Here's the story...
It all started with this cute little cabinet front that I found at Goodwill on half off day!

 The total price was $2.00 so I couldn't pass it up! The glass front is perfect and it was just calling for some vinyl lettering to be added to it.

 First, I stained the front. I thought it would be cute to keep it white and just add a little stain. I found two pieces of scrapbook paper that I thought would work good for the back.

 I created my vinyl lettering for it. I thought the yellow was cute, it was wasn't "perfect".

 The black and white polka dot paper is adorable, just not the right fit with the black lettering.

  Then I found this SASSY fabric in my collection. I thought it would be cute to add the flowers around the edges of the frame. But of course I would need to paint the frame black.

 After the black paint dried, I cut out the flowers individually from the fabric so I could place them all around the frame. I love the 3D look it gives it!

 Then, with the frame being black and the lettering black, I knew it needed some softer scrapbook paper for the back. I found this blue and gold piece that is perfect!

I totally LOVE the way it turned out! And all for just about $3.00.

It looked great on an easel for my lesson. I wish I would have taken a picture at church with my table decorated... UGH! At the end of my lesson, we talked about how JOY is a CHOICE. It is up to US to decide if we will be happy today. One of my most favorite quotes from the lesson was this quote by Harold B. Lee -“Happiness does not depend on what happens outside of you but on what happens inside of you”. I made each girl a vinyl lettering to stick to their mirror to remind them that they are BEAUTIFUL! But the message isn't just that they are beautiful. It's to remind them to be HAPPY with and have JOY in who they are and THAT makes them beautiful!

"Happy girls are the prettiest!" 

Audrey Hepburn

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Keep Calm and Shine On

{Made by Me Monday}

pinterest inspired

Remember our Young Women's theme for the year 2012 is Arise and Shine Forth. I wanted to do something with the theme to give each of our girls this year for their birthdays.  I found this sign on pinterest and thought it was too cute! THUS, it became my weekly pinspiration. 

I love pinspiration!
 I love that it's not the traditional theme. I love that there's just a little bit of a "twist" to it! Keep Calm and Shine On! It still represents the theme, but just a little more SASSY! ;)_________________________I found an old piece of artwork at Goodwill for $1.99

spray painted right over it with white and distressed the edges just a bit. I then cut my vinyl lettering out. I went back and forth on my decision for what color to do. I'm happy with my choice of GOLD! It seems like ROYALTY to me!I LOVE the way the crown turned out! 

_________________________That's it! I think it turned out super cute... if I do say so myself! ;)Here's a look at the two of them side by side.The fun thing is, she used her lettering as a stencil. I love this look and you can make the letters look a little more distressed that way. I did mine completely with vinyl lettering. I love them both!

Do you want to order the lettering to make your own sign? It's just $10 for the 8x14 lettering. Of course, you can make it ANY size and ANY color that you would like. Just let me know what size (if it's other than 8x14) and I will email you back with the total. To order the vinyl lettering, send me an email or leave me a comment on this post. Happy Monday!

Arise and Shine Forth

The new youth theme for 2012 for our church is Arise and Shine Forth. I am SO excited for this year! As I have searched around different sites, blogs, and {of course}... pinterest- I have found so many amazing ideas that we will be able to use this year. 

—“Arise and shine forth, that thy light may be a standard for the nations” (D&C 115:5)—“When young women join us at age 12, they are given a necklace with a torch on it to remind them to arise and shine forth,” said Elaine S. Dalton, Young Women general president. “This will happen as they serve others, as they live the standards found in the new For the Strength of Youth booklet, and as they remain worthy of a temple recommend and use it to do the work for those who did not receive the gospel in this life.”  Young Men general president David L. Beck said the same is true of young men throughout the Church: “Christ is our light. His light shines through us as we arise and follow Him,” he said. “We invite the young men to arise and shine forth by fulfilling their sacred priesthood duty to invite all to come unto Christ.”

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 SugarDoodle

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ESTY

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ETSY

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Blooming Homestead

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ETSY

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Little Miss Suzy Q

printable

 

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the Crafting Chicks

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Lil' Luna

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Proclamation Pictures

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Hang a Ribbon on the Moon

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I LOVE this one!

pinterest

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ETSY

 

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lots of ideas from

LDS young women

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It's going to be a FUN year!!

TONS of Ideas for General Conference!!

General Conference is finally here! I thought it would be fun to share some of my pins that I've found on PINTEREST with you. These are some adorable ideas from people that help to make conference more enjoyable for the little ones.

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Fluffy Bunny Feet Designs came up with this cute Conference Companion to give each of her primary children. I love this idea!!

I love how she made the packets smaller than a full sheet. That way they are portable and easy to keep. Some of the pages in her booklet are Scripture match-up, Bingo, and Name that Apostle. If you would like a full PDF version of the booklet, she would be happy to email it to you.

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BINGO sheets from LDS Handouts 

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A Mama B came up with the cute idea of opening a conference store for her kids. Whenever they hear a "keyword" during conference, they get to add a penny to the jar. At the end of conference, they get to go shoppin'! Too cute!!  

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Janna makes up little conference baggies for her kids. When the Apostle on front of the bag speaks, they get to open that bag and have a treat or a prize! I LOVE THIS!!

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Brown Paper Packages fills these tin buckets with candy and each time the kids hear the keyword on the front of the bucket, they get the treat that's inside.

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Brandy's Crafts keeps these totes all year and just restocks them for each session of conference. I think this is genius!

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This cute kit from A Bushel and a Peck would be perfect to give to those you visit teach!

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Oopsey Daisy created these BINGO cards that would be perfect for even toddlers to join in on the fun with. Using some M&M's as markers, this would be a hit!

Then she printed off an extra set of prophet pictures for a matching game!

 

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Being LDS shared her cute idea with us that would be perfect for toddlers, she calls this her General Conference Wall. :)

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Cookie Nut Creations has lots of ideas on her blog :)

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Mamas Who Know listed a bunch a idea for making conference more meaningful.

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Check out these 15 fabulous ideas from A Year of FHE

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Blue Skies Ahead makes up these adorable waste baskets for her kids filled with lots of fun things to do and the cutest tag that reads "don't let one minute of conference go to waste!" I love it!

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Creativity, Musings, and Such makes these baskets each conference to give to her visiting teachers. You could add anything to your basket... candy, snacks, pens, gum, etc.

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This is a cute gift idea from Everyday Food Storage, perfect for visiting teacher, home teaching, or young women's.

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Let the Games Begin gave each of her Young Women this handout to get them prepared for conference!

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This is a super great conference journal put together by my cute friend over at Somewhat Simple

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And, of course you can always go to Sugar Doodle to find lots of printable General Conference packets.

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And LDS.Org has lots of great activities too! To find out more about what General Conference is, be sure to visit THIS link.

Do you know what President Monson's

...favorite color is?

...and his favorite treat?

...and his favorite hymn?