Minion Valentine Boxes

My daughter needed to bring a decorated box to school to hold her Valentines and she requested that we decorate her box like a Minion. I only have one kid in school at this point, but the other kids were so excited about the Minion boxes that we had to make one for each of them as well. I think they turned out pretty cute.

This is Stewart. We started out with an empty box and covered it in yellow, blue, and black cardstock. We added some yellow arms, black hands, and blue overall straps with some white buttons.

This is Bob. His eyes are made from cardstock cut with varying sizes of circle paper punches. His teddy bear was cut with my Cricut using the Doodlecharms cartridge. The teddy bear's eyes are made of buttons. His heart was also cut with my Cricut using the Plantin SchoolBook cartridge.

This is Kevin. His hair and smile are made out of black pipe cleaners. I attached everything together using a glue gun.

These boxes were easy to put together and are 100% kid-approved!

You Are An Important Piece Of The Puzzle

UPDATE (3/5/2017) You can now view and download the file for the puzzle gift tag. Scroll to the bottom of the post for the link!

This is a fun little gift tag/ handout I made inspired by this month's Visiting Teaching message (found here). I loved this quote by Sister Carole M. Stephen's:

" . . . We each belong to and are needed in the family of God."

This quote made me think of a puzzle, so I added a picture of some puzzle pieces and the words:

"You are an important PIECE of the PUZZLE!"

"Without YOU the Family of God is Not Complete!"

I found the puzzle piece ribbon at Walmart and used it to tie the tag to a bag of puzzle piece candy. I made the candy from vanilla almond bark mixed with some green, yellow, and blue food coloring and some red candy melts. I used this puzzle piece mold to shape the candy. I added some Rice Krispies cereal to the middle of the candy to give it a little crunch! My kids taste tested it for me and loved it!

I also thought it would be fun to attach the tag to a fun puzzle. Either one would be a cute little gift to give to the sisters you Visit Teach or anyone who you want to remind that they are important and loved!

UPDATE (3/5/2017) You can now view and download the file for the puzzle gift tag here! Enjoy!

The "Rolls" of the Holy Ghost Handout

UPDATE (3/5/2017) You can now view and download the file for the Tootsie Roll handout. Scroll to the bottom of the post for the link!

A couple of years ago I posted about the lesson I taught on The Roles of the Holy Ghost. You can find the details of my Tootsie Roll idea here. The post has been really popular and many, many people have asked for the PDF of the Tootsie Rolls to use for their lessons. Because I have received such a positive response to the idea, I decided to create a handout to go along with the lesson and here it is! You can use this handout if you want your students to remember the lesson even after the treat is gone!

The handout lists the "Rolls" of the Holy Ghost and is the perfect size to attach a Tootsie Roll snack bar!

I am currently working on adding my files to the blog so that they can be downloaded by my followers. In the meantime, if you would like a PDF of the handout, you can email me at addapinchofsparkle{at}gmail{dot}com

Enjoy!

UPDATE (3/5/2017) You can now view and download the file for the Tootsie Roll handout here!

Young Women in Excellence: Preserve Your Values

A couple years ago I was in charge of planning Young Women in Excellence for our Ward. I realized the other day that I never posted anything about it. Better late than never, so here are some pictures from that night!

The theme I came up with was "Preserve Your Values". Some of the definitions for "preserve" I found from the Merriam-Webster dictionary included, "to keep safe from injury, harm, or destruction: protect", "to keep alive, intact, or free from decay", "maintain", "to keep or save from decomposition". Not only does "preserve" refer to yummy foods, but it also has several definitions that tie in perfectly with what we teach/ are taught in Young Women- we want to PRESERVE our values! 

 I used mason jars and gingham print in a variety of colors to decorate for the night. 

The refreshments were Buttermilk Cupcakes in a Jar. These cute little cupcakes have a cream cheese frosting and are supposed to be served with preserves so they were perfect for the theme. Plus, they taste delicious! You can find the recipe here.

I printed off labels for the mason jars, tied a spoon to each with a ribbon, and added a flower. I think they turned out pretty cute!

Here is a closeup of the "Refreshments" banner and the variety of preserves we had. I chose Smucker's because the packaging matched perfectly with the theme.

Each girl in Young Women was assigned a value or theme and asked to decorate a table with what they had done over the year to learn and grow in that area. We had one Senior who was preparing to graduate in the Spring. Her table was about the Young Women program over all and how it helped her learn, grow, and gain a testimony.

Each table was decorated in a value color and the "Young Women" and "Personal Progress" tables were decorated in a light pink.

Each table had a banner stating the value or theme. I made the banners with my Cricut.

The banners were tied to wooden dowels I wrapped with green floral tape.

The dowels were placed in mason jars with flowers in value colors.

I used glass gems in the bottom of each mason jar to weigh it down and hold the flowers and dowels in place.

I also decorated the mason jar lids with a variety of fruit that I cut with my Cricut and then tied them to the jar with gingham ribbon in the appropriate value color. It was a little difficult to find fruits that matched the color of some of the values, but I did it!

Here is a closeup of the pink mason jar lid.

Each table had a white table cloth and then a square of colored fabric to match the value or theme.

I got the gingham paper used on the banner and lids and the gingham ribbon from Hobby Lobby.

I really like how everything turned out! The Bishop spoke on the theme of "Preserving Your Values", a couple of the Young Women spoke about their value and what they had done over the year to learn and grow in that area of their life, and all the Young Women sang, "I Walk By Faith". I love that song because it goes through all of the Young Women values!

This was such a fun theme to plan and decorate for! I hope you enjoyed the ideas I shared!

Halloween Pumpkin Bowling

For my daughter's class Halloween party I volunteered to bring a game. A quick little search on Pinterest and I got the idea for Pumpkin Bowling! Because my daughter's Kindergarten class loved it and because it was quick and easy to make, I thought I would share the details here!

Supplies Needed:

10 tin cans

Felt in a variety of Halloween colors

Scissors

Glue gun and glue sticks

Small pumpkin

Directions:

1. Wash out your empty cans

2. Cut a strip of felt to wrap around each can (I cut mine long enough to overlap the felt a little in the back)

3. Glue the felt in place around the can

4. Cut a circle of felt to fit the bottom of the can

5. Glue the felt to the bottom of the can

4.  Turn the cans over so the felt circle is now on top and decorate each can to look like your favorite Halloween character! Really, with just a few simple shapes anyone - whether you are "crafty" or not - can make a variety of spook-tacular Halloween friends!

Two black ovals and one black circle on a white background make a simple and perfect ghost.

Didn't this Frankenstein turn out adorable? He's my favorite!

Just some circles and triangles plus a couple wings make this cute little bat!

Here's a close-up of the happy Jack-o'-Lantern.

This cat was my daughter's favorite. Triangles, circles, and some simple strips of felt for the whiskers.

You can set the cans up like traditional bowling pins or, for a more simple game, you can stack them on top of each other. Roll a small pumpkin towards them and see how many cans you can knock down!

Happy Bowling!

P.S. If you haven't been saving your tin cans and you need 10 of them fast, you can try out my recipe for 12-can Slow Cooker Taco Soup found here.

12-Can Slow Cooker Taco Soup

Recently I needed several soup cans for a project and what better way to get those cans than to make this tasty soup?! I know there are a million versions of this recipe, but now there are a million and one because I am going to share mine with you! This recipe is really great because it is easy, you can customize it to fit your tastes, and it is delicious. In fact, my husband told me that this is his favorite dinner that I make! My kids love it too! So, there you go- husband and kid approved!

12-Can Slow Cooker Taco Soup

Ingredients

2 cans pinto beans

2 cans black beans

2 cans kidney beans

2 cans navy beans

2 cans corn

2 cans diced tomatoes

2 packets taco seasoning

2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts

*optional* your favorite taco toppings- avocados, sour cream, cheese, green onions, olives, etc.

tortilla chips

Directions

Put chicken breasts in the bottom of a slow cooker. Pour all canned ingredients over chicken breasts (including liquid from the cans). Sprinkle taco seasoning on top. Give everything a good stir to incorporate the taco seasoning. Cook on high about 4 hours or on low about 6 hours or until chicken is cooked through. Once chicken is cooked, remove and shred and then return to slow cooker. Stir the shredded chicken into the soup. Serve with your favorite taco toppings and tortilla chips.

*note* this recipe should be made in a 6 quart slow cooker or larger. If you are using a smaller slow cooker, cut the recipe in half and adjust cooking time as needed.

And there you have it! It's that easy! And if you don't like one of the ingredients, leave it out or substitute something else! You can substitute ground beef for the chicken or leave it out for a vegetarian option! You can also substitute your favorite salsa for the diced tomatoes. This is such a yummy soup! It's great for busy school nights and perfect on those chilly fall evenings!

Have you made a version of this 12-Can Slow Cooker Taco Soup? What's in your recipe?

DIY Kid-Friendly Kitchen Chair Makeover

This weekend I completed a project that I have been dreaming about for probably six months. It took quite a bit of time, but I am happy to report that all the planning and dreaming I put in (plus some actual hands-on project time) finally paid off and I LOVE the final result!

So here is a little before and after for you:

We have had these chairs for a little over three years. The cushion fabric was microfiber which is supposedly easy to clean, but add a bunch of kids and a little time and cleaning these isn't an easy task (you can see in the picture how gross they had gotten). There were many times I thought about giving them a good deep clean, but I immediately gave up on the idea when I remembered how messy my kids are and how all my hard work would be gone quickly, probably after one meal. 

One day as I was browsing Pinterest, I found this idea to cover kitchen chairs with a vinyl tablecloth so that they would be easier to clean. I thought this solution would be perfect! I wouldn't have to clean those cushions, I could simply remove them and replace them with something that would be easier to clean. I checked several stores and online, but unfortunately couldn't find any tablecloths that I liked. I started to research other options and came across this idea to use your own fabric and cover it with iron-on vinyl. Perfect! I set out to get my supplies. It took me a little time, but I finally found iron-on vinyl in a matte finish on Amazon (I found glossy everywhere, but matte was much harder to find and that's what I wanted to use). My next task was to find fabric. That took a little longer (like a month or two), but I finally found a cute print at JoAnn's.

Fast forward 3 months or so and I went to pick up my paint supplies. This colorful dining set was my inspiration behind using a different color for each chair. I followed this tutorial to spray paint the metal chairs.

It took most of my weekend to sand, prime, paint, finish, and re-do the cushions, but I think it was all totally worth it in the end! I now have totally kid-friendly kitchen chairs that I think are pretty cute too!

Here's another look at the finished project.

And a closer look at the cushions. I love all the colors in this print!

Have you worked on any fun DIY projects recently? What did you do?