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Friday, May 05, 2017

Fiesta Daddy Daughter Date

Fiesta Like There Is No Manana!
For our 2016 Activity Day Daddy Daughter Date, we decided to do a fiesta theme. It was very colorful! Our guests ate Mexican food, and drank apple soda or water while listening to Latin American music in the background! The activity day girls helped us make many tissue flowers, napkin rings, and glued labels on soup cans. We planned simple activities such as fun photo booth with many props, writing postcards to our ward missionaries (even sent them pictures of our event too), played pin the tail on the donkey, broke a few pinatas, and learned a cha cha slide dance from a leader and youth volunteer in our ward! 

Invitations
I was inspired by Once Wed, which I found from Pinterest. I loved how the colorful fringe turned out! Supplies: We used a package of colorful tissue paper, card stock paper, gems, scissors, glue stick, and invite printouts. Credits: I used black chalkboard paper from Mediterranka, clip-art by Revidevi, and the following fonts: El Rio Lobo, Jicama, and Matador.
Decorations
Over a span of two months, we collected many toilet paper rolls and soup cans. I designed many soup can labels, made some picks, made a place mat, posters, a banner, thank you tags, poppers, postcards, etc. My co-leaders and I were inspired by Pinterest for our inspiration for many of our decoration ideas such as the papel banner tutorialcactus wire center piece, plastic table cloth doorway, photo booth backdrop, napkin ring tutorial, poppers tutorial, poppers thank you tag, etc. Credits: The stuff I used to design my stuff were from the following: Anchored By Love's fiesta papers, black chalkboard paper was from MediterrankaKate Hadfield's clip-art, chalk board tags are by, black button is by Zoe Pearn, banner template came from Shabby Princess, frames are by Allison Kimball,.  I also downloaded and recolored (to match my colors) some fiesta picks from The 36th Avenue and Crafting Chicks.
Colorful Papels "Banners" (My Co-leader made those)

Tissue Paper Flowers, Soup Cans, Picks, Wire Cactus Center Piece

Another Flowers, Soup Cans, Picks, Cactus Center Pieces (Co-leader made four of them), and Candle Holder (Co-leader made those)

Soup Can Labels

Doorway (Co-Leader made this beautiful entry)

Napkin Rings/Place Mat 

Banner, Picks, and Posters 
I made most of these decorations. I got the banner template from Pattern Universe, fiesta papers from Anchored By Love, black chalkboard paper by Mediterranka, clip-art by Kate Hadfield, frames from Allison Kimball. I printed out picks on card stock paper from The 36 Avenue and Crafting Chicks. I downloaded and printed on card stock the following posters and Let the Fiesta Begin and Fiesta Like There Is No Manana. The flag, maracas, sombreros, and guitar graphics came from Dating Divas.

Decorated Chalkboard and Sound System

Poppers and Thank You Tag
I failed to photograph the finished project but it was filled with lots of candy and had a colorful tissue top, which we hot glued down. I attached the tag at the end of the baker's string. I got the tutorial on how to make these Poppers from One Good Thing. Credits: Clip art is from Kate Hadfield, black paper is by Mediterranka, black button is by Zoe Pearn, and banner template is by Shabby Princess. I used mtbk and niagara solid for the fonts.

Menu
We did a soft taco/nacho bar. Appetizers were chips and salsa from Los Hermanos. We offered a warm flour tortilla and chips. We kept a bunch of crock pots warm with rice, beans (refried and black), and chicken, ground beef. As for the toppings, we had lettuce, tomatoes, chilies, olives, jalapenos, onions, green onions, hot sauce, salsa, soar cream, etc. For dessert, we gave them a dessert taco or drumstick ice cream (they look like maracas). Credits: Chalkboard paper was by Mediterranka, banner template was by Shabby Princess, black button was from Zoe Pearn, all clip-art is by Kate Hadfield from the Lily Pad, frames are by Allison Kimball. The Menu word art is by Graphic Fairy. I used MTBK for the font.
Games Booths and Activities 
Credits: Chalkboard paper was by Mediterranka, banner template was by Shabby Princess, black button was from Zoe Pearn, all clip-art is by Kate Hadfield from the Lily Pad, frames are by Allison Kimball. I used the following fonts: EL Rio Lobo, Matador, Bergamot Ornaments, Jicama, and chalkboard chum.
Photo Booth
We used a Polaroid camera. We thought it would be fun to have the photos printed out to have for a memory keepsake. I downloaded and printed on card stock some cute Fiesta Photo Booth Props from Dating Divas.  We had an Mexican poncho, sombreros, maracas, a pink guitar, lips, mustaches, etc.

Close Up of Photo Booth

Missionary Booth

Missionary Postcards
Credits: Hope Coloring Page came from Doodle Art Ally. Clip-art is by Kate Hadfield, paper is by Anchored By Love, frame is by Allison Kimball.  I used the following fonts: barcode font, Lucida Sans Typewriter, Rockwell Extra Bold, Pottery Barn, Bergamot Ornaments, Jicama, Legal Tender, and Chalk hand lettering.

Pin the Tail on the Donkey
My co-leader made this adorable banner and cute pin the tail on the donkey game. She had the game pieces laminated and had dry erase markers to write names on the tails. They got some candy as a prize.  In the corner, you can see my homemade poppers in a couple bags!

Last but not least the Pinata!

Thursday, April 06, 2017

Happy 18th Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Sweet Girl! 
On April 5th, 1999 at 10:16 PM, I became a Mother. It was one of those moments that took my breath away as I instantly fell in love with you.  In a blink of an eye, you grew up! Oh my heart is full of joy watching you transform into a beautiful, intelligent, and confident young lady. I'm honored to be your Mother. You are my radiant sunshine in my life.  I admire your courage, faith, patience, and kindness. You inspire me to become better each day! May your life be filled with many adventures, joy, love, and following your dreams. I love you! Happy Birthday, first born!
Credits: The template is by Rita from Coffee Shop Blog, Happy Kit (papers, elements, etc) is from various Lily Pad artists! The font was lucida calligraphy.

Monday, April 03, 2017

Another Fairytale Baby Shower

Fairytale Story Book Baby Shower
I did another Princess Storybook baby shower theme for a niece earlier this year. I basically used the same Princess stuff that I used for my friend in 2013 and changed things up a bit such as the menu and games. I was inspired by some ideas I found on Pinterst as well!
Credits: For my decorations and games, I used Kate Hadfield's happily ever after doodles and pink alpha from The Lily Pad. The papers are by Eva Kipler and Megan Farrow (Studio Flergs). The baby feet stamp is by Shabby Miss Jenn. The Star Frame is by. As for the fonts, I used love ya like a sister, hello chalk talk, Princess BV, and grumble. I saved some Little Golden Books and used a book template to make tiny books. I made a princess diaper cake and pink diaper babies.  I used the following FREE templates: onesies, scalloped circle, book template, purse, diaper and (circle, star, and heart are by Semana Maluca).  The framed girl word art is from Simple Scrapper.
Invitations
The Front of Invitation
Inside Invitation
The Decorations
Flowers and Framed Invitation
Diaper Cake and Babies
Banner
The Buffet Table 
 Princess and Pea Sandwiches
Ariel's Swedish Fish
Cinderella's Magic Wand

Rupunzel's Sugar Cookies and 
Elsa's Frozen Ice Water
Game: Guess How many Kisses? 
 Parenting Advice for Mom 
Baby Girl Subway Art and another game What is in Your Purse? 
For Baby Chloe

Thursday, March 02, 2017

Magnetic Fish Game

Magnetic Fish Game 
I made this darling fish game for my toddler son. I got the fish and worm pattern and tutorial from Homemade Gifts Made Easy. Supplies: material, brown felt, embroidery thread, strong magnets, parachute cord, wooden dowel, metal bucket, and metal washers.

He loves it!


Tuesday, January 31, 2017

2017 Activity Day Preview: Drawing Near the Savior by Developing and Sharing Our Talents

The past few years have been very challenging for me and my family. I have grown closer to the Savior while overcoming many personal challenges and was blessed with his loving grace. Along the way, I discovered in my healing journey some hidden talents that I ignored for many years. I decided to work on those talents and to my surprise my talents are multiplying as I have shared them with others.  I was inspired by the book 21 Days Closer to Christ by Emily Freeman, which I read and completed her journal challenges during 2016. I loved how she compiled many Christlike attributes to read and mediate on. She also encouraged me to read about the Savior's life and miracles he performed on the earth from the scriptures. It was an amazing experience for me, which I have been recommending others to try for themselves. After my wonderful journey, I decided to challenge my activity day girls and leaders to experience this journey as our 2017 Activity Day theme.
Invitations (my co-leader made these)
Preparations
For our first activity day before the preview, we did Article of Faith 13 game and a lesson on faith using The Living Christ document (to my surprise I found out the Young Women were studying this document this year too)! Now that is some true inspiration and no coincidence. We also had the girl each bring a rock to paint, which I was also inspired by Word Rocks from Dabbles and Babbles. The rock was left blank until our preview but I wrote down Christ like attributes/gifts on mine. Then wrapped a shoe box as gift to place the rocks in for an object lesson about Christ's attributes. We kept the rocks and gave them back to them during the preview a few weeks later.
The Preview Program
First, we had an opening prayer by one of the older girls and an opening song Faith on page 96 from the Children's Songbook. Next we introduced our activity day leaders and then I revealed our theme to the girls and their parents. I used the following church videos: Create by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf  and Christlike Attributes.  I also used Developing our Talents lesson helps from Embellish, which came from Gospel Principles lesson 34. I shared an example of my talents I have been working on the last few years layouts of my scrappy gospel topic journal (Christ's attributes layouts). I also used painted rocks with talents written on them as visual aids. I wrote down the following gifts on the colorful rocks: faith, hope, diligent, courage, virtue, charity, patience, obedient, humble, forgive, submissive, kind, grateful, love, knowledge, etc. Then I challenged the girls to find their painted rock and write down a talent/gift they aspire to work on this year. Lastly, I bore my testimony of my journey of discovering my hidden talents and increasing Christlike attributes. My co-leader then briefly discussed the Faith in God program and shared a summary of what to expect this year in our 2017 schedule. Then our Second Counselor in the bishopric shared some closing remarks. Lastly, we had one of our activity day girls give a closing prayer and bless our refreshments.
Decorations/Handouts
Sadly, I forgot to take photos of the event but it was decorated very cute with table cloths, table runners, many frames, flowers, rocks, refreshments, etc. We used colorful rocks, pictures of Christ by Greg Olson, framed The Living Christ document, and framed quotes came from the following sites: President Uchtdorf's quotes Deseret Designs. The Create handouts came from Deseret Designs and Activity Day Progress Tracker came from My Computer is My Canvas. We sent the girls home with a framed "create" quote, Faith in God booklet, 2017 attribute lesson plans and schedule.
Attributes Lesson Plan for Activities. 

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Recipe Box Keepsake

Recipe Box Keepsake
My daughter asked for a recipe box for Christmas, which she plans to fill out recipe cards as part of her Young Woman Value project. I found a bamboo recipe box at Bed Bath and Beyond. As my gift to her, I made scrappy dividers out of scrapbook paper, made labels, printed out recipe cards, bought stickers, printed out quotes, made a few layered recipe cards as note cards, etc. It turned out so darling! I cannot wait to make my own recipe box keepsake! 
Dividers Templates
I found the blank divider templates from Free Printables Online. I made my own labels  using a chalk board background paper and used I'm Bored font.
50's Kitchen Card 
These are the note cards that I made and I wrote a note on the back.  I got the complete kit for free. The 50's Kitchen Cards are from Paper Craft by the way they have many beautiful other free cards to download!
Recipe Card Printables
I collected a bunch of free recipe cards from many websites, which I printed out on white card stock paper. I also found some recipe cards at Hobby Lobby and Walmart. Here are some of my free printable recipe cards favorites: Cookie Exchange Cards, Kokeshi Doll Cards, Colorful Recipe Cards, and Black and White Cards.
 Baking and Cooking Cheats
I found a wonderful printable of baking and cooking cheats from Thrifty Homemade Days, which I cut out and put on paper from Paper Craft's  50's Kitchen Cards set. 
Supplies: Recipe box, scrapbook paper, divider template, embellishments, scissors, paper cutter, and glue stick  I used 12X12 Hopscotch double sided paper pack and baking stickers came from Walmart. I collected baking/cooking quotes, Julia Child Quotes, Baking Theme Stickers by Victoria Thatcher and random vintage images from Pinterest. I basically put the chalkboard quotes in a couple different journal card templates and printed them out on sticker paper. Here is my Recipe Box Pinterest Board with some pins for inspiration in making her recipe box.  The project was so easy and fun to make!