Women

A version of a craft that I made a couple years back....crafts have come a long way haven't they. This is one of my favorite sayings!!! I made these as Christmas gifts for some dear women in my life.

Pillowcases

This might have proven to be a slightly crazy idea - but FUN!!!I think I ended up making abot 20-25 pillowcases. I think picking out the fabric was half the FUN!!! We made these for our YW for Christmas and gave it to them along with this scripture:
yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God…...…” Alma 37:37

There are lots of free tutorials available online..just google it!!
I think these would be great gift ideas for my kids to make for their friends.

Primary Teacher Gifts

I always have a hard time deciding what to get for Primary teachers. I want to do something to thank them and let them know that I appreciate what they do for my kids - BUT money is also tight around Christmas and what do you get for a Primary Teacher.

I have made some of these for birthdays and thought - why not use them for Christmas?? Have you tried Warm Delights? If not, you should!! They are really yummy. I used a legal size of paper and designed a wrap to fit around the Warm Delight and then had each of my kids draw or write a note to their teacher. Calista drew a pic of her Primary class

Chance drew a pic of him and his teacher outside the church.

Hailey drew a pic of her sitting in class raising her hand.

My First Attempt At Skirts

I've had this idea for years about making a skirt using the rag quilt technique. I FINALLY got around to making one. I bought some cheap material and made the green and red skirts.

I used wonder-under to apply the material onto the shirts. It's available at all fabric stores and truly is a WONDER!! I have also used it to apply fabric cutouts onto wood.


S0, after making my "trial" skirts - I found some cute Christmas material and made some Christmas skirts. I also made a tie for Chance.

Aprons

I let the girls pick out some material and we made these cute aprons for them. We also ended up making some for their friends for Christmas. Very simple and easy to make...find the instructions here.

Fabric Bows

Came across the idea for these on THIS BLOG. Easy enough for anyone....these are super fun. You can make them as big or as small as you would like. If you are going to make a lot of them, I know that there is a circle fabric cutter that can be purchased that would make these a snap!

Paper Globes

I didn't take pictures of the ones that I made, but fortunately my sister made some and sent me some pics. We used these as centerpieces for one of our Relief Society meetings and then had a drawing to win them. Sometimes we use the drawings as an incentive to get sisters to show up on time..if they get on time, their name is entered into the drawing.

These are so cute and would be adorable in a little girl's room. You can find the instructions HERE:

B.E.A.R.S

Be
Enthusiastic
About
Reading
Scriptures

This is a handout that I did for a YW lesson on reading scriptures. I used Teddy Grahams in plastic snack bags and added THIS TOPPER.

Notebooks

We offered these as a FREE project at one of our Super Saturdays:

Instructions can be found HERE.

Organizer board

So the kids have been at school for just over a week and I got this crazy idea that I wanted to quickly make these 2 craft projects. Even though the kids are at school - it has still taken me almost 2 weeks to finish them between getting all the supplies and all the other little interruptions.

First, I had a VERY simple version of the following. It was basically just on paper and not very cute. I came across THIS BLOG and here's what I ended up with. I LOVE it because my kids know what they have each day and it shifts the responsibility from me to them to make sure they have library books or P.E. shoes. I'm all about shifting responsibility!! hahaha!

5 Little Gingerbread

The kindergarten teachers use a gingerbread theme the first week of school to help the kids learn their way around the school. They make a REAL gingerbread man (about 12 inches tall) and then it runs away while they are at recess. They spend the whole week looking for him - in the office, the gym, the lunchroom, etc. It's a fun way to show the kids around the school. The janitor usually finds h\the gingerbread man up on the roof and they are able to gobble him up.

The teachers do a lot of gingerbread activities this week and I made this for my son's teacher. It is a story of 5 gingerbread men. There is velcro on the back of each picture. I forgot to take a pic of them on the glove (oops) - but the teacher wears a black glove and then takes them off according to the story.

Five little gingerbread ran through the kitchen door,
One fell in the measuring cup and that left four.

Four little gingerbread baking cookies,
One went to hug me and that left three.

Three little gingerbread with so much work to do,
One looked for his baker's hat and that left two.

Two little gingerbread having so much fun,
One layed by the hot cooa, and that left one.

One little gingerbread left all alone,
He gobbled up the gumdrops and ran all the way home!

I got the clipart from HERE: It is called Gingerbread Joy by Carolee Jones.

Christmas Countdown

And just because Christmas is only 4 months away - I thought I better get a jump on this one - a countdown to Christmas. (I made something with this paper last Christmas and needed more to make this but I couldn't find any. So, I searched the internet and found it has been digitalized..OH I love my digital papers!!!) Instructions can be found HERE

Here are some activities that you could list on the back side of the square: Of course, I arrange them to fit my schedule!! :)

Donate canned goods
Deliver gifts to neighbors
Drive around & see Christmas lights
Open a gift
Make sugar cookies
Purchase gifts for a needy child
Read Christmas story
Sing or listen to Christmas songs
Camp out around the Christmas tree
Make an ornament
What do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire? (Frostbite)
Create a snowscape w/ shaving cream and action figures
What do snowmen eat for breakfast? (Snowflakes)
Make a gift for your teacher
Blindfold kids and guess holiday scents (pine, gingerbread, holly, mistletoe, cinnamon)
Write your letter to Santa
Get out of chores free
Write a Christmas story together
Watch a Christmas movies

Boot Camp

The theme for our youth conference was B.O.O.T camp..Building Our Own Testimony

I was asked to make the "dog tags". I have never used waterslide decals before so this was a new one for met but I think they turned out pretty good.

I got the tags from Oriental Trading..click HERE
I got the waterslide paper from HERE:

Simply follow the waterslide directions. Waterslide paper is also available in white..but I used the clear because I wanted to be able to see the metal behind.

You could also use the stamp idea HERE but I had to make 45 and that would have been WAY too much stamping!!

Bleached Out T-shirts

Here's what you'll need:
1 t-shirt
2 spray bottles
some bleach
some vinegar
newspaper or cardboard

Pour some bleach into one spray bottle and bleach into the other spray bottle.

I used my Silhouette to cut out the designs but you could also use things laying around the house or purchase the foam shapes with the adhesive back. I cut the out my shapes on cardstock and then used spray adhesive to stick the designs to the shirt. Place newspaper or cardboard in between the 2 layers so the bleach doesn't soak thru to the back.

Once you have placed your designs on shirt, spray the shirt with the bleach and wait until it reaches the desired look. This doesn't take very long - not more than 1 minute.

Spray the shirt with vinegar to stop the bleach's action.

Repeat on the back side if desired. Rinse with cold water and dry.

Forgiveness Flour

I made these for a lesson that I taught about Forgiveness. I used regular tea towels from the $1 store and cut them into a rectangular shape. I used iron-on transfers for the wording (pdf coming soon). Then I stuffed them with pillow batting and tied them shut with ribbons. I wish I had made a pocket on the back to hold a copy of the poem...maybe next time.

Forgiveness Flour

When I went to the door, at the whisper of knocking,
I saw Simeon Ganter's daughter, Kathleen standing
There, in her shawl and her shame, sent to ask
"Forgiveness Flour" for her bread. "Forgiveness Flour,"
We call it in our corner. If one has erred, one
Is sent to ask for flour of his neighbors. If they loan it
To him, that means he can stay, but if they refuse, he had
Best take himself off. I looked at Kathleen..
What a jewel of a daughter, though not much like her
Father, more's the pity. "I'll give you flour," I
Said, and went to measure it. Measuring was the rub.
If I gave too much, neighbors would think I made sin
Easy, but if I gave too little, they would label me
"Close." While I stood measuring, Joel, my husband
Came in from the mill, a great bag of flour on his
Shoulder, and seeing her there, shrinking in the
Doorway, he tossed the bag at her feet. "Here, take
All of it." And so she had flour for many loaves,
While I stood measuring.
Marguerite Stewart

YW Handout

This is a handout that I did for a YW lesson about finding JOY in our lives. I have used this technique in the past to cover all kinds of treats - Hershey Stix, M&M's, etc.

Depending on what you are covering, you will need to measure the distance around and the length of your item. Be sure to add a little extra for overlapping the edges. Design your project using your program of choice (I use Printshop)

Once the item has been printed and cut out - use a double sided tape runner and apply the tape to the long side as well as the 2 end pieces. Now you can you can wrap it around your item and secure with the tape. Be sure to position the item where you want it before securing the 2 ends.

Once you have secured the ends, use a paper crimper to crimp the edges. You can leave it here or you can use a zig zag pair of decorative scissors and trim the edge.

TA DA - you are done!!

Magnetic Cupboards

I don't really care for all the magnetic clutter that seems to appear on my fridge and my kitchen does not have a space for a magnetic board. So, I was trying to figure out how to fix this problem and I thought, "Why not put sheet metal on the inside of my cupboards? Then I can close them and no one can see all the papers."

I measured the recessed portion of my cupboard and had a place here in town cut them to theright size for me. Then I had my DH remove the cupboard fronts and I glued them in using E-6000 glue. I rested a whole pile of books on top and left it over night to dry. My DH installed them the next day and I put them right to work!!
Needless to say, I have LOVED this idea. I might add it to a few more!!

Camp Hats

Our theme for camp last year was "SHINE" and was focused on the stars. We headed up to the mountains in early June and knew that it may be a little chilly at night and in the mornings. We made these cute hats for our YW along with a SHINE pin that could be pinned to their hat hat or their shirt..whatever they chose.
The girls loved them! They all looked so adorable in them!!!
Remember this idea from a previous post...they are a perfect craft for girl's camp.


Each of us leaders took a day and made a handout along with a goodie for the girls. I used Starburst and attached a quote that said, "We can't all be STARS, but we can all TWINKLE."

Pancakes Molds

So this isn't really a craft BUT it is a fun idea. I found some pancake molds a couple of years ago - but they were flowers, hearts, etc. Just recently I found some pancake molds for boys at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I love the new additions - an airplane and truck.

Teacher Appreciation Idea

We had an amazing and fun teacher appreciation week. I am a co-room mother with another mom and we came up with this idea for Teacher Appreciation Week. We wanted to pick one of her favorite books and make it *come to life* for her.

So, we picked Pinkalicious (she loves that book) and we began planning.

Here's a picture of her door: (Looking at it now - I would probably change a few things but that's how it goes) What you can't see in this picture is that it is 3D. The arms have a wire inside of them and they stick out a bit.

This was also the 1st day of the week and we gave her pink cupcakes.

We continued with the pink treats on the 2nd day. We tried REALLY hard to turn her pink with a basket of pink goodies!
And then the next day, we turned the classroom into a "garden". We gave her a bouquet of flowers and the kids made butterflies and we hung them up around the room. OK - I have to admit that there was one bat! Haha!
On the last day, we filled her up with "green goodies" so that she could get back to normal.
We also made up a story about the week and called it "Miss Monty is Pinkalicious". It is in 6x6 sheet protectors and it detailed the entire week into a storybook. Here she is reading it to the kids..it was so cute and she teared up a few times while reading it.
Probably one of my favorite teacher appreciation weeks EVER. I'm gonna have to try this idea again..it was totally fun!

The Crayon Box

I found this pretzel crayon idea in the Family Fun magazine years ago. I have been holding on to it until I had time to get around to it. I have more detailed instructions HERE:

The crayon box template can be found HERE:

I also gave the teachers a copy of the book "The Crayon Box that Talked".

Wood Blocks

These were a fun project. I purchased a 4x4 post of wood and cut them down to 4x4 blocks. I found quotes that I liked and designed them into 3.75 squares. I painted the blocks and then used modge podge to adhere the paper to the block. Optional - you can use a damp sponge and dip it into your paint, and then dab it onto paper. Use the sponge to ink in the edges for a more complete look.

I made some blocks based on the Sister Beck's talk titled "Mothers Who Know" and gave them to the sisters that I visit teach along with a copy of the talk.

See here for another project that I made using the 4x4 block:

Did u think to pray?

I had to borrow these pics from my sister because I failed to take pics of my girls. We did this as a class activity.

Here's what you'll need:
12x12 wood board
12x12 scrapbook paper (variety pack)
Letters (use your cricut or silhouette) or find someone with glow-in-the-dark vinyl lettering
modge podge
ribbon

Paint the board your desired color.
Use modge podge to adhere scrapbook paper