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!

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!

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.

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!

Stacy's Baby Shower

Recently my friend Trishelle and I hosted my niece's baby shower. Since Stacy (my niece) is not a huge fan of silly baby shower games, we did a simple open house baby shower with a theme of tan, blue, and grey. My duties were the following: designing the invitations, decorations, and diaper cake. My friend Trishelle made all the yummy food. She is an incredible cook and artistic with pretty cupcakes!

The Invitation:

Credits: For all my decorations and invitation, I used Kit by Shabby Princess I recolored some of it brown,  and used the following fonts MA Googly Bear, Print Bold OT, and Love ya like a sister.

The Decorations: Banner, diaper cake, door decoration, and cupcake toppers. 

Supplies: card stock papers, ribbons, scissors, paper hole punch, tooth picks, sticks, string, 
The Food Menu: blackberry lime chicken salad, chicken sausage soup, French bread, and cupcakes.

The Yummy Cupcakes and Cupcake Toppers

The Activities: Words for the Wee Hours and Guest Page!

 Words for the Wee Hours also known as late night diapers (I found the idea on Pinterest).

As for the guest page, I recolored a baby floating with balloons using some of my digital scrapbooking kits. I was inspired by something cute I saw on Etsy. Stacy and I thought it would be cute to add to her baby's scrapbook. It was a great turn out and I was happy to host it!

Love One Another

During the week of Valentines Day, some ladies in our neighborhood gave our front door a heart attack!  They also gave our family a box of sugar cookies and kisses!  What a fun surprise!
Heart Attack

I helped little sister make an iPod Valentine's Day box since she was having a contest at school for the best box.
iPod Valentine's Day Box

Credits:  I used the following: iPod template, Sweetie Pie Kit by Shabby Princess and fonts were love ya like a sister, and calibri. Supplies to make it: shipping box, paper, foam paper with sticky back Valentine's embellishments, stick, yarn, scissors, glue gun, and glue stick.
Our Valentine's Flowers, chocolates, and car!

I adore my lovely family!

I hope you had a Happy Valentine's Day too!