Nativity Ornaments

I have been trying to find an inexpensive ornament for the children at our ward Christmas party. Here are the ideas that I have came up with so far.

YW Personal Progress Tracker

I've had this idea floating around my head for awhile and I've tried a couple of different ideas but I think I finally got it this time. Basically I wanted a way for my young women to track their personal progress - something they would see everyday that would remind them to be working on it....but I also wanted them to be part of making it and personalizing it. (Oh and did I mention that it had to be CHEAP!!!)

So, here's what I finally came up with - an altered clipboard. I got the personal progress tracking sheets from the distribution center (NO COST). The clipboards are about $1.50 at Walmart and then I will have the girls pick out their own scrapbook paper so it matches their bedroom. They will need two 12x12 pages. I already had clothespins but you can pick them up at the $1 store along with the post-it notes. You'll also need some modge podge and ribbon - but I also had that on hand.

I did debate laminating the paper on the bottom portion of the board so it could be used as a dry erase board and they could write down which goal they are currently working on...but it was too complicated so I simplified. I also thought about adding a box to the bottom corner to hold a pen but then decided on the clothespin and we can tie a pen onto the top with a ribbon if we want to. Remember I'm working with 12 girls on this. :)

So, here is the finished project. This can be hung up on their wall and HOPEFULLY encourage them to work on their personal progress.

Fall Festival Centerpieces

So, my cute Beehive Presidency decided that it would be fun to help with the Fall Festival. Usually our ward has a carnival so the girls thought it would be fun to plan a game for the night and be in charge of it. Well, they decided NOT to do a carnival this year so we asked if we could help with decorations and the activities chairman asked if we could make centerpieces.

Now comes the tricky part...we had to make 21 centerpieces with $20.

Hahahahahahahaha!! Pretty funny, huh??

Well, I set to work searching the internet for something inexpensive - but also something that the girls could help make. It had to be something that could be made at one night's activity.

So, after much searching, I decided that the paper strip pumpkins would be easy easy easy and cheap cheap cheap. We ended up making 63 of them. WOW!!

But I wasn't sure how to display them on the table - luckily my mom was in town. So, we ventured in and out of several stores and finally decide don these. Paper plate resting on a paper bowl...but they actually looked really good. I wish I had taken a picture at the festival because they look so cute on all the tables!!

Here are ALL 21 centerpieces!!!

Square Pumpkins

Chance's class has a Mystery Reader come in every week and read to them. I wanted to go in October so I could dress up. I decided to read the book "Spookley, the square pumpkin". It is a cute story about appreciating the differences in everybody.

Well - as you can imagine, I couldn't go empty handed!! I thought it would be cute to give the kids a little square pumpkin. Literally, I made 25 of these in less than one hour!! That includes cutting the wood, painting, and assembling!! They are super easy and the kids LOVED them!!

I used a 2x2 piece of wood and cut them into squares. I drilled a hole into the top and painted them orange. I used dowel pins for the stems. I like them because they are a little bit textured but you could use regular dowels as well. I painted them green. Then I stuck the dowel pin into the drilled hole and hammered it in.

I debated adding the raffia or drawing a face on them - but I ended up liking them just plain.

Father's Day gift idea....

You may be thinking..why is she posting a Father's day craft in the middle of October. Well, I can't believe that I forgot to post this craft - but then I realized that it was a crazy time of year. The kids had just got out of school and I was getting ready to go to girl's camp so this one kinda slipped by and then I was dusting off my hubby's and thought to myself, "Did I add this to my craft blog?"

I gave a YW lesson on the Priesthood and found out that you can request a copy of a priesthood holder's line of authority from the general church office. I immediately started thinking about what a great Father's day gift this would be for my husband, my dad, and my father-in-law. Just be aware that the line of authority will be mailed to the address on file - so I had to have my mother-in-law and my mother watch the mail and then send them to me.

Originally, I had big plans to make it all cutesy with digital scrapbooking and such - but then I saw this simple idea on someone's blog...and I'm sorry but I don't remember where and I can't find it. If you happen to come across it, let me know and I'll be sure to link over to it.

So, here is what I ended up with. (sorry it is not the greatest photo)


The frame can be purchased at Walmart for about $10. It is an 8x8 square shadowbox frame. I printed the line of authority onto vellum paper and cut a tie template out of scrapbook paper. So easy and so meaningful. I also printed a wallet sized line of authority for them to carry with them.

It has an awesome quote on the bottom that says: We in the restored Church of Jesus Christ can trace the priesthood line of authority exercised by the newest deacon in the ward, the bishop who presides over him, and the prophet who presides over all of us. That line goes back in an unbroken chain to angelic ministers who came from the Son of God Himself, bearing this incomparable gift from heaven.

FINALLY!!!

Sometimes it LITERALLY takes me YEARS to get a project done!! Hahaha..I'm not kidding!!

Years ago (I know this because we still lived in West Jordan) - I came across this blog that used rain gutters for bookshelves. I know ya'll have probably seen them. You can google "rain gutter bookshelves" and TONS of pages will show up.

Well, I finally got around to doing mine!!! I was getting overrun by books and needed to do something. (Getting rid of them is NOT an option! )

So, I put on my big girl pants and FINALLY got around to making some. They are SUPER easy and now I wish I had done it sooner. I actually used a metal one by my front door because I wanted it to be magnetic. I used vinyl ones in the playroom. I have one more piece of rain gutter and I just need to cut it up and I'll put some in my kid's rooms by their beds. They LOVE to read books at night before bed - but they usually end up just stacking them on the floor.

Without further ado....here they are!!!

Pumpkins

There are all sorts of pumpkins out there in the world wide web right now...and I have my eye on a few of them.

I started with these ones because I already had a spare 2x4 sitting around in the garage.

The original idea can be found HERE:

I'm not sure how she attached her stems but I drilled a hole in the top of the pumpkin and the bottom of the stem and then used a dowel to connect the two pieces. Does that make sense? So they are attached, but you can turn the stem to the side if you want to just for a different look.

Also, we painted ours different colors - except for Chance - he wanted ALL of his to be the same color.

Chance decided that he wanted to make faces on his - so his looks like this on one side and then he cut pumpkin faces out of black paper and glued them onto the other side...depending on what he wants..he can turn them either way. Smart little kid..

Here's the finished project!!!

Chance's Birthday Party

Chance wanted to have a karate birthday party. Luckily, we were able to do it at the place where he takes karate. They sell these sparring sticks for $15 each...and of course you know that I was like.."I can make that for less." And that's what I did....

Here's what you will need:
swimming noodle
old golf club or PVC pipe with cap
E-6000 glue
1/2 yard of black material
7-10 inches of flame material (I got mine at Walmart)

Step 1: Cut the swimming noodle into 18" lengths. I used my big butcher knife and it worked great!
Step 2: I found old golf clubs at a thrift store for $1 each and then my DH cut them down to size with a reciprocating saw. In the future, I would probably use the PVC with the cap. I think the PVC fits into the swimming noodle center hole better...we had to wrap the golf clubs with duct tape so there was no slop inside. Cut the golf club or PVC pipe to 24" length.
Step 3:As I found out, there are at least 2 different sizes of swimming noodles. Some have a smaller circumference than others. So, be sure to measure the circumference of your swimming noodles and then add 1" for seam allowance. Cut a piece of black material 18" long x "the circumference.
Step 4: Cut 7" x "circumference" of the flame material.
Step 5: Place black material and flam material right sides together along the circumference (shorter) edge. Sew.
Step 6: Lay sewn pieces flat and fold in half lengthwise with right sides together. Sew across the top of black material and down the entire open side. Turn right side out.
Step 7: Push the PVC or golf club into the hole of the swimming noodles using E-6000 glue.
Step 8: Slide the sewn slipcover over the swimming noodle and tuck the edges into the hole of the swimming noodle - securing with E-6000 glue. Allow 24 hours to dry.
Step 9: If using PVC pipe, you will probably want to wrap the end with tape or you can leave it white. I have seen it done both ways.
Step 10: Let the kids beat on each other! :)

Chance's karate class actually plays this game. It is used to teach the kids to make quick fast movements opposed to full big swings that the opponent and read and prepare for. Anyway, my total cost for the sparring sticks were probably about $2 each and they only took about 2 hours to make.

Back to School Party

Wow!! It's hard to believe that it's time for the kids to go back to school!! The summer just FLEW by for us!!

Well, the girls wanted a back to school party so we thought up a few projects and invited the neighbor girls over..we ended up with about 14 girls.

We ended up making:
1) washer necklaces I was going to just let the girls modge podge them on and call it good but couldn't do it. They really do look so much better with the epoxy on them. So the girls glued on the paper and I put on the epoxy and we delivered them to the girls 2 days later

2) Back Pack Tag - Just used excess scrapbook paper and the clear badge protectors than can be found in the office dept at Walmart. I also printed out each girl's name so they could either use the typed name or write their own name on it. I found some colored key rings and they used those to attach them to their back packs.

3) Bubble Rings - I found a kit at Shopko that had EVERYTHING you needed. It was only $4.79 for 10 rings. I thought they would be a lot of fun - they looked cute but I have heard that a couple of the girls have broken. The paper on the back of the bubble rips and does not stay adhered to the ring. BUMMER! I think I could probably fix this for future rings by adding a coat of crystal accents to the bottom of the paper before gluing onto the ring.

4) Personalized Pens - I bought some cheap pens from Walmart. The kind that have the top that screw off. I had typed up their names and they could choose between their name or patterned paper.

So after all the crafts were done, the girls went downstairs and watched a movie. I think I overkilled on the popcorn - THREE different kinds. (Screaming Yellow Zonkers, Caramel Corn, and Marshmallow popcorn)

Anyway - it was a lot of fun. I hope the girls had as much fun as I did planning it!

A picture of some of the washer necklaces. I had the girls write their name on a piece of paper so I knew whose was whose.

Here's a pic that shows one of the back pack tags, washer necklaces, the rings, and the pens.

Goody bags all tied up and ready to go. I got them ready while the girls were watching their movie.

Necklaces drying in the sun...I had to take this picture just in case the wind blew them off the paper - so I would know whose was whose. And guess what - they did blow off and I had to used the picture.

Baby Gifts

Seems like I have had a ALOT of babies being born in our ward...6 babies within a 2 month period to be exact.

My neighbor (CaraDee) and I made these adorable baby gifts for the women in our ward. We saw this somewhere on the internet and LOVED the idea. I LOVE the song "I am a Child of God" and if fits perfectly.

We were not able to get baby pictures for all the new babies so we used a picture of Christ holding a baby's hand for some of the gifts.

Six babies and only 2 of them were girls...

A close up of Dylan's

A picture of all SIX...and of course we HAD to make them all different (just because)

Tie Dye with Permanent Markers

I need to stay off the computer because every time I see something new...I'm like, "I need to try that!!"

So, I saw this idea of using permanent markers to tie dye...I didn't think it would really work but decided to give it a try. I made these for a friend who was having a baby boy. I think this would be a fun craft with my kids...

It's super easy.

You will need the following:
permanent bold tip markers
white garment (socks, t-shirts, bandana)
rubber bands
rubbing alcohol (in spray bottle)

Loop rubber bands tightly around your socks or t-shirt - bunch up the sections and rubber band about every inch.
Scribble with marker to make large areas of color around the areas of the rubber band. Limit your colors to two or three - too many colors get muddy.
Lightly spray the garment with rubbing alcohol. Set aside for 20 minutes. This will blend the colors to get a tie dye look.
To set the colors with heat, iron the garment or tumble in a hot dryer. Wash separately in cold water and tumble dry.

Not too bad for my first try - I think I would make sure that I had I colored more on the garment so there was less white..but still turned out OK...I think it was really cute with the frog blanket and I also gave her a pair of denim shorts to complete the outfit.

Wedding Gift Idea

We learned how to make these a few years ago for a Super Saturday and I still think they make a GREAT wedding gift.

My DH had a coworker that got married last week and he asked if I would make one of these for him. Trust me - no one is going to steal your dish with your name on it..unless it is someone in your family with the same last name.

Anyway - these are SO super easy now that we have Cricut and Silhouette machines!!! But you can also do it without them.

You will need the following items:
Cricut, Silhouette, or X-acto knife
contact paper or vinyl (I use contact paper because it is cheaper) :)
glass pan or dish
Q-tip
Etching Cream (one bottle will last you FOREVER!!)

To be sure that you get the right product, this is what the etching cream looks like:



Decide on a font that you would like to use...be wary of using fonts with small intricate lines. Be sure when you cut out the font that you MIRROR the image. Remove the paper backing from the contact paper and apply the contact paper to the bottom of the glass dish. (Not the serving side..but the very bottom.)

If you are using the X-acto knife method, you will need to print out your image (MIRRORED) on the contact paper. Be sure to use a laser printer for this..an ink jet printer will just smear. Remove the contact paper and center it on your pan or dish. Here comes the fun (haha) part..using the X-acto knife and the image that your printed, cut out the letters from the contact paper. (Now do you see why the Cricut and Silhouette make this so much easier!)

When you look at the dish, it should look something like this:


Apply the Etching Cream. I like to use a Q-tip for this part and I apply a fairly generous amount by just dabbing it on. If you brush it on, your pan with end up with a painted look.

This is how my pan looked:


Wait 5 minutes and then rinse off under cold water.


The first time I made these, I was worried that it hadn't worked because I couldn't tell. But when I removed the contact paper, it became visible. This is how it looks before you remove the contact paper..you really can't tell that the letters are etched in.
But remove the contact paper and VOILA!!! There are letters!!!

This is a pan that I did a couple of weeks ago..using a thinner cursive font. You can also add flowers, hears, doodles..whatever your little heart desires...have fun with them..they are sure super easy if you have a cricut or silhouette!!

Teacher Appreciation Gift

I have made these several times and I still think they are as cute as can be!! The original idea was found in Family Fun magazine.

Last time I made a cute little crayon box for the pretzels and gave them a book..see it HERE:

I buy the white vanilla bark and then use Candy Color to color it. Be sure to buy Candy Color and not the food coloring!!

These are the pretzels that I used. They work perfectly.


I've done it 2 ways
1) Dip the first end, let it set up and then dip the other end.
2) Dip both ends at the same time.

Once the chocolate it set up, then you can wrap it with the crayon wrapper. I found some really cute crayon templates HERE: I just printed them off onto colored paper.

Here is what they look like before the wrapper...not very cute.


And what a difference the wrapper makes.

Mother's Day Gift

We had to come with a Mother's Day gift for the ladies in our church. At first we had NO budget. What could we do with no $$$$.

I had received this poem from one of my kids for Mother's Day. We decided that we could each make cookies and that it would cost next to nothing. At the last minute, we received $$ from the bishop and we were able to buy Granny B's cookies!! YUM!!!

We did not have $$ to purchase bags for the cookies so we made them. I purchased a roll of packing paper from the Dollar Tree and measured the Granny B cookies. I doubled the height and added a little extra fore the seams. I ran the paper through my printer and added the clipart on the front. Then I folded it in half and sewed the sides on my sewing machine with black thread. I printed it off on white and then glued it onto black cardstock.

We put the poem in the pocket and added a cookie. I hope the Mothers liked it.

Here's a copy of the poem:

If you give a Mom a cookie
She'll want a cup of milk to go with it.
She'll pour herself some.
Her three year old will spill the milk.
She'll wipe it up.
Wiping the floor, she will find some dirty socks.
She'll remember she has to do some laundry.
When she puts the laundry in the washer,
She'll trip over some boots and bump into the freezer.
Bumping into the freezer will remind her
she has to plan dinner for tonight.
She will get out a pound of hamburger.
She will look for her cookbook
(101 Things to Make With a Pound of Hamburger).
The cookbook is sitting under a pile of mail.
She will see the phone bill which is due tomorrow.
She will look for her checkbook.
The checkbook is in her purse
that is being dumped out by her two year old.
She'll smell something funny.
She'll change the two year old's diaper.
While she is changing the diaper, the phone will ring.
Her four year old will answer it and hang up.
She remembers that she wants to phone a friend to for milk and cookies.
Thinking of milk will remind her that she was going to have a glass.

And chances are......
If she has a glass of milk......
Her kids will have eaten the cookie that went with it.

Author Unknown

YW Handout for Journals

I made this handout for a lesson that I was teaching about Journals. I LOVE writing in my journal and I love reading my grandma's journals. I wanted to give the girls some fun ideas to get them started.

These pens are super easy to make. I bought the pens and Walmart but I also saw them at Dollar Tree. Simply measure the length of the pen and cut scrapbook paper to fit. Screw off the end of the pen and roll the paper and insert it into the tube. Replace the lid. You can add ribbons but that is totally optional.

Teacher Appreciation Gift

I found this idea online and knew that I had do give it a try. My kids LOVED gluing the crayons on and was able to do it themselves - even my kindergartner!!

I found my frames at Walmart for $10. They are 12x12 shadow boxes. I used tacky glue to adhere the paper onto the cardboard backing and also used it to glue on the crayons. It's a little thicker than Elmer's glue and kept the crayons in place until they were dry. I used about 1 1/2 boxes of crayons for each letter - but it probably depends on what letter you are making.

I found the idea for this HERE:

Chance & Hailey working on theirs..

Hailey's finished project..

Teacher Appreciation

These are simply some ideas for decorating teacher's doors that I have gathered the last 2 years from our school. Some people think that I'm creative...I would have to be honest and say that I'm just good at copying!!! Take a look and see if there's something you would like to copy!

Find more ideas HERE: and HERE and HERE:

The slideshow kinda cuts off the picture..click on "view all images"

to see the complete pictures of the doors!

Baptism Gift

I made this for a friend of mine's daughter. She sent me a couple of pics and I tried a couple of different ideas and finally decided on this one. I hope she puts it in her room and it can remind her of the covenants she has made on her baptism day.

I found these frames at Walmart for $2.50 and used my Silhouette to cut out the flowers. Now my own kids are BEGGING for one of these.

Easter Dresses

These are the Easter skirts that I made for my girls this year. It's hard to find skirts for girls that are long(er). So many of them are made to wear leggings under them - which I personally don't think is appropriate for church. Sure wish I could sew better...but these did turn out fun and bright!

April Fools

I love April Fools Day!!! I got the idea for the spilled drink idea from Family Fun..click HERE: My kids made these for their teachers. They took a good 3 days to dry. It really scared one of the teachers!!


I also found the template for these on Family Fun. I had to modify it a bit to make the end longer so that I could crimp the edges. Click HERE for the template. I wrapped them around a package of Reeces Pieces. The kids gave these to their teachers who absolutely loved them!!!

I didn't take a picture but another good prank was to glue a magnet to the bottom of a cup and put it on the top of your vehicle and then watch all the people try to get your attention. My kids laughed all the way to school with this one.

American Girl Crafts

Calista had an American Girl birthday party coming up and I already had plans for my girls to make some jewelry for their dolls so we started early and made some for her friend.
We just threaded small beads onto stretchable beading wire for the necklace and bracelet.
The headband can be made by using ribbon and a rubber band. Glue one end of the ribbon around the rubber band. Measure the length needed to put it on the doll's head and add 1/2 inch. Cut the ribbon and glue it around the same rubber band as the first end. The rubber band gives the headband the stretch it needs to fit onto the head and hold it into place. I use my low temp glue gun so the kids could do it and not get burnt as easily. I'll take some pics next time and post them - I'm not very good at explaining things!

Valentine Box

Wish I could take COMPLETE credit for this idea but I saw this idea floating around somewhere on the internet and when Calista needed a Valentine box - it seemed like the perfect idea!
I used the medicine cups off the top of a couple of Nyquil bottles for the headphones. I wrapped them with tinfoil and use yarn to attach them to the box. The box is wrapped with pink wrapping paper and then I printed the face of the Ipod and Calista glued it to the front. I cut some music notes with my Silhouette and let Calista glue them on.