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 tutorial, cactus 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 Mediterranka, Kate 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!

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. 

Masquerade Daddy Daughter Harvest Ball

Masquerade Daddy Daughter Harvest Ball

Last year I helped accomplish a magical Daddy Daughter Date. It was a formal dinner, which we all dressed up in our Sunday best. I loved wearing my jeweled black dress and green mask! Each girl made a mask during Activity Days week prior to the evening. They also helped us make invitations, name cards, and napkin rings. Our goal was for it to sparkle that night by using lots of glitter, white lights, shimmery ribbons, and gems! We decorated the place in restaurant style each girl got their own table with their Father. We had servers (Young Women and Men from our ward) take their orders and serve them their food. We had a photographer take photos at a backdrop and provided some fun props. We asked a couple Young Women and Young men who were on the Ballroom team perform a couple routines for some entertainment. We then did three rotations of activities such as writing a letter to our missionaries, minute to win it games, and learn a waltz from the ballroom dancers. At the end, we did a group waltz dance all together. It was a fun night, which I hope the girls will never forget! 
The Invitations
We used 12X12 glitter scrapbook papers and embellished the invite with feathers, gems, ribbons, and black mask dye cuts (from silhouette machine). 

Close Up on the Invites
Credits: The Frames and graphics are from The Graphic's Fairy, the dancing couple from here and black paper is by Zoe Pearn and grey paper is by Shabby Princess. I used the following fonts: Francine Hmk, Old English Text MT, and Bergamot Ornaments.

The Table Setting
We cut some burlap fabric in squares, made name cards, napkin rings, masks (template here), menu, pumpkin party favor (filled with candy), spray painted pine cones, black lacy paper over glass container for tea light, and candelabras (silhouette machine which we spray painted them).

Another Table Setting

The Menu
We asked six Young Women and Men in our ward to be servers. They were dressed in black and white. Credits: Graphics and frames are from The Graphics Fairy, papers are by Zoe Pearn and I used Imperator, Goudy Old Style, Bergamot Ornaments, Old English Text MT, and Francine Hmk for the fonts.

The Place Mat (Activities to do while eating) 
Credits: I found misc games from doing a Google search Tick Tac Toe, Pumpkin Maze, and Dot Game. I typed out some ice breakers questions for them to talk about during dinner. The silhouette dance couple is from here. The oval frames and silhouette of girl are by Allison Kimbell Designs. The other Graphics are by The Graphic's Fairy. I got the silhouette dancing couple from here and the man silhouette here.

Photo Booth and Props
We used white lights over a white curtain and layered it with gold and cream material, bought a few pumpkins (put gold and cream ribbons on the stem) and balloons. I found the Photo Booth Props templates from here -----> Keepsakes Photo Props 

Banners and Pumpkins
As you can see we went with the color theme of black, orange, purple, gold, cream, and silver. When I planted my garden last year, I made sure we did pumpkins! I painted the pumpkins black, purple, white, etc. I used some glitter, ribbons, and masks to embellish them.  I was happy to decorate my front door with the colorful pumpkins after the event! I used gold and silver spray paint to make the pine cones (great for Christmas decorations, ha). As for the banner, I used the Goose Bumps kit from Shabby Princess, orange paper and alphas was from Zoe Pearn's Something Wicked Kit, and then I tied colorful ribbons on the banner.

More Pumpkins

Entertainment and Games 
We divided the guests into three groups and did three rotations. I made a map to show them where to go. We did Minute to Win it games, Learn a Waltz, and Missionary Letters to our current missionaries serving from our ward. Credits: Papers are by Zoe Pearn and Shabby Princess, graphics and frames are by The Graphics Fairy, compass is by Kate Hatfield from The Lily Pad, and the waltz dance couple silhouette is from here.

The Overview of Lights, Table, Chair Setting, and Disco Ball 
What a wonderful privilege to be apart of this magical night! I have the best church calling ever! 

Mission Possible

For our 2015 Activity Day theme, we decided to do a Mission Possible theme.  We were inspired by Pinterest with a lot of our ideas.  The mission we desired for the girls to accomplish this year is having them memorize the Articles of Faith.

Scripture Theme: 

Invitation:  I had the opportunity of designing and putting these cute invites together.  Supplies: manila folders, labels, paper clips, card stock for the cipher card, paper cutter, regular paper for the documents, scissors, glue,  Credits: The mission labels are from Inkablinka. I got the cool cipher alphabet card from Take the Side Street Blog, United States Seal, and office manila folder template is from Mirk Wood Designs.

Decorations:  We made a few signs:  A Mission Possible poster, Restricted Access Agents Only, Agents Report Here, 13 Footprints,  Welcome Top Recruits Level 8-11, Scan to Enter, and the United States Seal on podium. We set up a desk for check in and had each girl finger printed by the entrance. 

   Finger Print Decoding: We had the girls use their magnify glasses to read the tiny finger print which contained the 13 Articles of Faith, which was made by Linda. We also printed out the keywords worksheet using this Articles of Faith Puzzle.  Linda made a transparency of Jesus Christ for a visual aid while talking about having the light of Christ in our lives.

Secret Package: We gave each girl a bag filled with Special Training Devices such as: a tiny magnify glass, Articles of Faith music CD (Credits: paper is by Shabby Princess, Nancy Drew Silhouette but Linda put a hat on her, footprints Stock Illustrations , magnify glass, thought bubble, and reprise title font) an activity day schedule for the year, a calendar of each Article of Faith, Articles of Faith Memorization Cards are from Sugar Doodle. Badges: I made these badges for the leaders and activity day girls. The leaders wore lanyards around their necks while the girls had stick on badges. Credits: We Believe in Obeying the Law badges Mormon Mommy Blogs,  Spy clip art is from Can Stock Photo, and the fingerprints are from My Paper Crane .
Refreshments: Cupcake and water (made by Shannan and Amy). The cute cupcake toppers were designed by Linda. Article of Faith Match Up Game:  The girls had to match up the numbers to the right Article of Faith, which was printed under the footprints.

Scattering Service Jars

Service Lesson: Scattering Kindness Jars

A lesson on service is a perfect December achievement day activity.   For my lesson and discussion, I made an interactive visual aid. I taped a Christmas tree similar to an advent calendar using a brown paper bag, white card stock, scrapbook numbers 1-12, and hand written quotes inside.  I basically folded a rectangle into a square, used a glue stick to attach the circle numbers and quotes.  I got the Advent numbers from Pinterest: DIY Advent Calendar I also made a star and glued gold glitter on it. 

First, I had the girls take turns picking a number and reading the quote. Then I asked each of them how they could serve others? After they shared their idea, each girl helped me decorate a small Christmas tree with paper ornaments while my co-leader wrote down the ideas on the chalk board.  I got the Advent Christmas ornaments from Pinterest: Christmas Advent Wreath, which I used a needle and thread to hang them on the tree. These are the following quotes I used for my lesson:

Service Quotes:

1. “Our Savior gave Himself in unselfish service.   He taught that each of us should follow Him by denying ourselves of selfish interests in order to serve others.”  -- Dallin H. Oaks

2. “As we lose ourselves in the service of others, we discover our own lives and our own happiness.” --Dieter Uchtdorf

3. “The happiest people I know are those who lose themselves in the service of others.”-- Gordon B. Hinckley

4. “The greatest service we can provide to others in this life, beginning with those of our own family, is to bring them to Christ.” --Todd Christofferson

5. “When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.” --King Benjamin Mosiah 2:17

6. If we could look into each other’s hearts and understand the unique challenges each of us faces, I think we would treat each other much more gently, with more love, patience, tolerance, and care.” – Marvin J. Ashton

7. “As we give, we find that sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven, and in the end, we learn that it was no sacrifice at all.” -- Spencer W. Kimball

8. “He who gives money gives much. He who gives time gives more. He who gives of himself gives all.”  – Thomas S. Monson

9. “No one has ever become poor from giving” -- Maya Angelou

10. “Fill your life with service to others! As you lose your life in the service of Father in Heaven’s children, Satan’s temptations lose power in your life.”-- Richard G. Scott 

11. Find someone who is having a hard time or is lonely, and do something for him or her.” -- Thomas S. Monson

12. We can give the Savior gifts, by serving others. Fill a jar with slips of papers with ideas. Each morning, close your eyes and pull out your service idea for the day.” – Dieter Uchtdorf

Credits: Designed by me using Shabby Princess' Christmas kits. As for the fonts, I used That's Font Folks and 2 Pea's Heart Delight.

U LOVE WHO U SERVE

I summarized the lesson by sharing some of my favorite memories of serving others and reading the following quote: “Often small acts of service are all that is required to lift and bless another: a question concerning a person’s family, quick words of encouragement, a sincere compliment, a small note of thanks, a brief telephone call. If we are observant and aware, and if we act on the promptings which come to us, we can accomplish much good.” – Thomas S. Monson  (see above image that I made for this).  Afterwards the girls, decorated their jars with a label my co-leader made "U Love Who U Serve and wrote down several service ideas on folded pieces of hearts from pretty scrapbook card stock paper. We used markers to color them and tied ribbons on the top of the jar. Here are some service examples that the girls and leaders came up with.

Acts of Kindness Slips in a Jar 

Pick up trash

Give flowers

Help make dinner

Say “thank you”

Do an extra chore

Donate toys or clothes 

Write a letter and mail it

Hold the door open

Send a care package

Write to a missionary

Smile at 10 people

Bake cookies for a neighbor

Teach Family Home Evening

Call a relative

Make a card

Give a Hug

Make a new friend

Share a treat

Rake some leaves

Collect food for a shelter

Share your testimony

Read a book to a small child

Babysit for free

Feed the birds

Give a compliment

Send a card to a solider

Leave a surprise on the doorstep

Make a dinner basket

Visit a nursing home

Paint your Mom’s nails

Help an elderly neighbor

Donate hygiene kits to a shelter

Give a treat to your mail carrier

Pray for the sick

Make somebody’s bed

Write a note to your teacher

Make a fleece blanket for a new baby

Make breakfast for Mom and Dad

Clean the windows

Say ”I love you” to all your family members

Western Theme Daddy Daughter Date

Guess who recently got called to be an Activity Day leader and happily accepted? Yes, I was thrilled to join the Activity Day team for my new ward. During the months of August, September, and October, I helped planned and prepared for the annual daddy daughter date event.  I spent many hours designing paper decorations for picks, game signs, game map, watering hole sign, food cards, menu, etc.  I also designed the invitations, a fun activity place mat, and subway art.  Thankfully, we planned activities for the girls to help us out with cutting, assembling, coloring the backdrop, and putting other decorations together. On the day of the Hoedown, I was in charge of setting up the decorations, food prep, and was the photographer during the evening.  Since I had no cowgirl attire, I went shopping for some boots, hat, jeans, shirt, and belt. As for my belt buckle, I was honored to wear my great grandmother Ruby Coleman's belt buckle that was passed down to me.  It was fun to watch my husband and daughter interact with each other all evening! 

The Invitation
 I designed this invite using digital scrap book supplies, buttons, red thread, needle, glue sticks, and 3d foam adhesive stickers. The girls assembled the invite, stitched together the pockets, and placed the invite inside the pocket. 

Credits: I used The Happy Trails kit and other misc supplies by Shabby Princess and the wood and denim supplies are by Gina Cabrera. For the fonts, I used Hoedown, IFC Los Banitos, Three Dates One Night, Duality, Bergamot Ornaments, and WM Western1. 

The Decorations
Here are some examples of the decorations: food cards, picks, the invites, the DIY cow print cups the girls cut out from their own design using sticky black vinyl, the paper flowers wrapped around the mason jars, lots of raffia tied on things, rope, bandannas, denim and checkered table cloths. The Templates  Credits are the following: Sheriff Badge, Cowboy Hat, Boot Template, Napkin Template, Wagon Wheel, and Horse Shoe.
Another amazingly creative talented activity leader brought a fence to display other decorations (cow boy hats, rope, signs, boots, etc), she designed the vintage posters, made some picks, wanted posters, name cards, square hay bales center pieces, etc. She also helped the girls hammer a design in a soup can then spray painted them red, which we placed a light in the can, there were mustache and lip cutouts pulled through straws, and she designed the awesome napkin rings.

My Cowboy Subway Art: I downloaded several fonts from all over the internet. I found most of them off Pinterest, which had direct links!

The Photo Booth and Props: First, I took pictures of them while country music was playing in the background. As for the backdrop, cowboy/cowgirl hats, lips, mustaches, signs, sheriff badge, cowboy lingo, and robber eye mask were made by the other talented leader!  She also drew the backdrop which the girls colored with chalk for the photo shoot. I made the shooting booth sign red taped on the table.

The Menu: We tried to keep it simple...  We made BBQ Pulled Pork, bought Rolls, Baked Potatoes, Potato Fixin's, Salad Ranch, Broccoli and Cheese, water, and lemonade. For dessert: Root Beer floats and Smoky S'more Pops. The girls and their Dads enjoyed the cowboy table place mat games!  After they all ate their grub, we had somebody from our ward read a cowboy poem and a "real cowboy" did a demonstration on how to saddle up a horse, etc.

The Games:  Next, they played a few games. We split them in four groups. These are the game signs that I designed, which were hung on the doors. We had wheel barrow races, three legged races around a fake fire, potato sack races with a twist they had to dress up in random cowboy gear, pin the tail on the donkey, and they learned a western line dance.  Lastly, we had them gather together in the gym and do the country line dance that they learned and served root beer floats.  We sent the girls home with their wanted poster, name cards, etc. 

Yee-haw, what a rootin' tootin' night! It was a huge success because of the team work of the incredible activity leaders as well as other volunteers from our ward who helped us!