4th of July Gift Basket

I wanted to share a really quick and easy gift basket I put together for the 4th of July. You can give these to neighbors, friends, or someone you Visit Teach. (Visiting Teaching is a program that my Church has. To learn more you can visit this site!)

Here's what I did:

First, I found a cute little 4th of July top hat to put everything in. I was originally looking for a basket or bucket, but this was cute and the perfect size for all the goodies.

Next, I added some tissue paper and some fun treats: pop, popcorn, and party poppers- do you see a theme?

Finally, I added a little card I made in PicMonkey that said:

Just "Popping" by to wish you a Happy 4th of July!

Easy and cute, right?

Do you have any fun plans for the 4th? I hope you have a safe and fun holiday weekend!

Red, White, & Blue Independence Day Wreath

This is my Independence Day Wreath. Usually I have an idea of how I want my projects to look before I start, but I had no idea with this one. I just started crafting, using whatever I had on hand, and this is how it turned out. I think it's pretty cute.

 

First, I wrapped a floral ring in blue yarn. Then I hand-stitched some felt stars and added some buttons and little bows.

Finally, I added some curly ribbon because I thought they kind of look like fireworks!

It kind of has an old-fashioned crafty vibe to it.

What does your Independence Day wreath look like this year?

Quick 4th of July Countdown

I have been wanting to put together a 4th of July countdown for my kids. They love counting down to holidays. With our previous countdowns we have read a book every night and then they get a little treat. I think this has made holidays so much fun! The 4th of July, however, has completely snuck up on me. Yesterday I ran to Michaels and grabbed a few things to put together our quick 4th of July countdown!

First, I found some fun books about the US/ the 4th of July at Barnes and Noble. We will read one each night of the countdown.

I got four cute little patriotic buckets for $1 each at Michaels and added some fun little sparkles and a flag.

I added some numbers . . .

. . . and the candy . . .

. . .  and it was done! It was quick, easy, and cute PLUS I think the kids will LOVE it!

Do you do anything fun to celebrate the 4th of July with your family?

Mickey and Minnie Treat Bag: Tutorial

I recently made some Mickey and Minnie Treat Bags for a Minnie Mouse themed birthday party. I got the inspiration for them by searching the Internet. Based on the ideas I found, I put together my own version. I used my Cricut, but this could definitely be done without one. Here are the details if you are interested in making your own Mickey and Minnie treat bags!

Here are the supplies I used:

Cricut with Mickey and Friends cartridge

Black, white, and red cardstock

Black treat bags found at Hobby Lobby

3/4" circle punch

1" circle punch

2" oval punch

Paper trimmer

I started both bags by cutting out a 5 x 6" rectangle from red cardstock.

Next, I cut ears for both bags at 7 3/4" using the "Mickey Icon Shift" key from the Mickey and Friends cartridge. I cut Minnie's bow at 4 1/2" using the "Minnie 4 Icon" key.

I saw lots of bags made with just circles for the ears which is a good option if you don't have a Cricut or similar cutting machine!

For Minnie's polka dots I used the 3/4" punch to make 9 circles for her bow and the 1" punch to make 8 circles for her skirt.

For Mickey's pants I used the 2" oval punch to make two buttons.

Finally, I glued everything together. I filled the bags with some fun little goodies like a coloring book, crayons, and stickers. 

There you have it! These bags were so easy to make and turned out so cute. The kids loved them!

Have you ever attempted to make your own treat bags? How did it go?

Cup of Inspiration

I'm really excited to share one of my favorite lesson ideas I've used in awhile. Our Young Women lesson was on personal revelation. When I am planning my lessons I read through the outline and then start searching the Internet for inspiration on unique and interesting ways to present the topic. As I was looking up ideas for personal revelation, I found several "recipes" for personal revelation. I liked the idea, but all the recipes made full batches of different treats. As I was thinking about this, I thought it would fit more with the lesson if I could find a recipe for an individual treat, after all it is personal revelation. From there, ideas just flowed. I decided that I would make one of the popular "dessert in a mug" recipes because they make an individual serving and I thought it would be super cute to decorate the mugs with the words "cup of inspiration" to go along with the lesson theme. Everything came together perfectly!

I first picked up a bunch of plain white mugs at the dollar store, then I set out to decorate them. I searched all over the Internet and found a bunch of tutorials for DIY Sharpie mugs. After taking all the best tips, this is what I did:

I washed the mugs.

Next, I wiped the area to be drawn on with some rubbing alcohol.

Then I decorated the mug with regular Sharpies.

Next, I baked the mugs at 450 degrees for 30 minutes. I put the mugs in a cool oven, then turned it on to 450 and once it was heated set the timer. After 30 minutes, I turned off the oven and let the mugs cool over night. Some of the colors faded during the baking process, but there wasn't really any rhyme or reason to it. Sometimes it was light colors, sometimes it was dark colors, some colors faded on some mugs and not on others. They still all turned out pretty cute in the end.

*note* I did a trial run with one mug at 450 degrees and didn't have any problems other than a little fading. When I baked the rest of the mugs they ended up with a little brownish tint to them, kind of like a toasted marshmallow. I am not sure why this happened. Maybe overcrowding in the oven, or maybe the oven was too hot. Next time I would probably do two batches and bake at 425 degrees instead of 450.

After the mugs were cooled, I baked a special individual-sized cookie in each one. The recipe is super easy and meant to be made in a mug and cooked in the microwave. You can find the original recipe here. This picture was taken right after the cookie was baked. It was still warm and a little gooey. It tasted great!

After I had made all the cookies and they had cooled, I put the mugs in some little treat bags I found at Dollar Tree and attached a recipe to each one.

I assigned each ingredient in the recipe to a piece of counsel that is important for receiving personal inspiration. I found this counsel in the book True to the Faith found here.

Here is what I put on the recipe card:

For: Personal Promptings

The following recipe will prepare

an Individual cup of Inspiration.

           Ingredients: 1 Tablespoon Prayer (Butter)

                                     1 Tablespoon Reverence (Granulated White Sugar)

                                     1 Tablespoon Firmly Packed Humility (Dark Brown Sugar)

                                     3 Drops of Keeping the Commandments (Vanilla Extract)

                                     Small Pinch of Partaking of the Sacrament (Kosher Salt)

                                     1 Regular Scripture Study (Egg Yolk)

                                     Scant 1/4 Cup Time to Ponder (All Purpose Flour)

                                     2 Tablespoons Studying it Out in Your Mind (Chocolate Chips)                                         

Directions: Combine ingredients necessary for personal promptings. Start by melting your butter in the microwave. Add sugars, vanilla and salt. Stir to combine. Add the yolk. Stir to combine. Add flour, then stir again. Add the chocolate chips, and give a final stir. Now your mixture will look like cookie dough. Cook in microwave 40-60 seconds, start checking for doneness at 40 seconds. Do not cook past one minute. Remember to be patient as you seek God's will.

Recipe adapted from www.number-2-pencil.com

I handed the cookies and recipes out to the girls and we discussed the importance of each "ingredient" in the recipe.

There you have it! A recipe for personal revelation that makes a single-serving treat in a special "Cup of Inspiration". What do you think? I think the girls enjoyed it!

Object Lesson: Follow the Prophet

Today I want to share a fun object lesson idea I found here. I used it for my recent lesson on following the prophet in Young Women. I think the girls enjoyed it.

I set out two identical boxes on a table. Inside one box I put some candy and I left the other box empty (I added the tissue paper so you couldn't hear the candy rolling around). I left the boxes closed and asked the girls to raise their hands to indicate which box they would choose. About half chose each box. When I asked them why they chose the box they did, they didn't really know. 

I then had one girl come up and look inside both boxes. I had talked to her beforehand, so she knew to choose the box with the candy in it. When I pointed to the empty box and asked the girls to raise their hands if they chose that box, everyone looked at the girl who had seen inside the boxes. Because she didn't raise her hand, no one else did. When I pointed to the candy box, the girl who had seen inside raised her hand and everyone else did too.

When I asked the girls why they had all chosen this particular box, they said it was because they followed the girl who had seen inside the box. I then told them that they had made a good decision and showed them that one box was empty and the other box had candy in it.

As I passed the candy around, I explained to the girls that the Prophet has "seen inside the box". Heavenly Father speaks to him and in turn he tells us what we need to know to stay safe, to have joy, and to return to our Father in Heaven. When we follow the Prophet we receive blessings, just like when they followed the girl who had seen inside the box they got a treat!

I like to use object lessons when I teach to help make the lessons more clear to the girls. I think this object lesson did just that!

One "Foot" In Front Of The Other

 

I made a quick and cute handout for our recent Young Women lesson on following the prophets. One of the talks in the lesson outline was President Monson's "Believe, Obey, and Endure" (found here). Near the end of the talk was a quote I really liked and I knew I had to use it for a handout:

"Life by the yard is hard; by the inch it’s a cinch. Each of us can be true for just one day—and then one more and then one more after that—until we’ve lived a lifetime guided by the Spirit, a lifetime close to the Lord, a lifetime of good deeds and righteousness."

I knew right away what treat would go well with the quote- a Fruit by the Foot! I put together a little handout with President Monson's quote on it and added the following to tie it in more clearly with our lesson:

Put one "foot" in front of the other as you follow the prophets and endure to the end.

I found some cute "ruler" ribbon at Hobby Lobby and used it to tie the quote to the Fruit by the Foot.

I think it turned out great! What do you think?