Personal Progress Helper....

We just had our PP fondu night...what better way to get your young women together to work on personal progress than by offering food!

Just to tell you what our night was, before getting into the reason behind this post, we had two different kinds of chocolate (dark/milk and white) and then we had a variety of foods that went with the colors of the YW Values (marshmallows for faith, blue gummy sharks for DN, strawberries and swedish fish for IW, granny smith apples for knowledge, yellow gumdrops for good works, orange slices for c&a, the leader who had purple wasnt there but you could use grapes or something, and then pretzels for virtue). We also had pp interviews with each of the girls (one on one) while the rest worked on their individual pp. We provide journal sheets, scriptures, magazines for the girls to use. It was great.

So moving on. I was searching all over the net for some ideas on how to encourage the girls to do pp. I saw that a lot of wards/leaders have the same problem, either the girls don't care for the pp program or they dont have time. I was one My Place for YW Stuff and saw this great idea. It was a spread sheet that laid out all the value experiences and how long you need to complete them. I recreated it using excel and then pasting it into word 2007 doc (I was trying to get it so I could get more than one on a sheet...yeah...I failed) but I also wanted to redo it because the original was so dark in color (and you really need to have it in color to work) that to print a ton of them out would go through a lot of ink so I lightened the colors up a bit.

Here is a picture, click HERE to download the word docx.

Oh the Joys of Summer

I just wanted to take a few moments and update you with what is going on and what you will see being posted on We Are Daughters of a Heavenly King.

Girls Camp- it has sort of become my life right at the moment as it is coming up at the end of the month and I sort of have a double duty as being camp director and the 2nd counselor in our YW presidency (long story there) but I am grateful for it as it keeps me busy while I wait for the upcoming school semester to start.

I have a project that I am working on and will be posting closer to the day we leave for camp. It is a four part process and I am trying to keep it underwraps from the rest of my leaders and girls. However if you would like to know about it (and are not from my ward) email me  @ wearedaughtersofaheavenlyking@gmail.com and I will share with you what I am doing along with a PDF so you can see it. It would make for a cute camp project/ idea and I can change some of the pages to adapt to your theme or what not.

Now to the UPCOMING stuff- we are doing personal progress chocolate fondu tonight for our mutual activity. It should be fun but during all of this, we are suppose to be holding or interviews with each of the girls. Last time I was in that posistion I had no idea on what I should ask or how to conduct it. Needless to say I probably made the girls a little uncomfortable because I was uncomfortable (hey I had only been called to the YWs for about a month...). So I did some digging and found some really cute ideas that I know I could recreate and hopefully make someone else who may be in the posistion that I was in job a little easier.  So keep an eye out for those items.

Also I want to thank all of you who have emailed with questions and requests and have posted comments. I also want to thank everyone who reads this blog. I had no idea that people would even find it interesting and keep coming back for more. It really creates a desire to be more on top of it and keep creating items. I am truly blessed to know that I am helping others with their callings in YW. Please continue to express interest and comment/email with what ever!!! Because of you I keep this blog going!

A Sneak Peek...

...into my almost top secret project that I am working on for girls camp. Lets just say that this is the start to what will be a very challenging but fun project to work on...will post pictures once completed and we have left for girls camp (because I want the other leaders who are going to camp to be surprised as well).

2nd Handout for Lesson 21...

So I finally was able to create something that I am satisfied with. I have spent the last two days trying to get this handout right...and by golly I finally did it!!! *Happy Dance*

So I know I wont get the finished pictures up until I get these put together which will be tomorrow but here is what I plan on doing with them. I have little votive candles in a variety of colors and scents that I got at wal-mart for like $2.00 if that and they came in a set of 4. Score for me! So now that I found the candles, I thought to myself how and I going to get a tag attached that the girls will actually keep on the candle. The light went off (it does that occasionally) and so I picked up some smaller size treat bags by Wilton (again walmart for like a $1.50). I got them home and ta-da! The bags don't exactly lend themselves well to being gathered and tied. SO this is when I came up with this crazy idea to create a bag topper.

So here it is...another pdf with four to a page

Click HERE for download

Handout 1 for lesson 21 YWM3

Woo hoo!!! I think my mojo is coming back to me...haha however I still have a bag topper to contend with (I gave up on it earlier today). But like the post title suggests, here is one handout for lesson 21 Learning to Share the Gospel. Its a set of 4 (if you couldn't have guessed that by now esp if you have been following me) and I have also provided a link to download it as a jpeg (4x6)

Oh that brings me to my next thought...I HEART COMMENTS, EMAILS AND WOULD LOVE TO HAVE YOU FOLLOW MY BLOG, I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE YOU LIKE OUR FACEBOOK PAGE as well as PASSING ME ALONG TO YOUR FRIENDS!!! Hint Hint....but in all seriousness I always love to get feedback from anyone who visits the site but like the Lord teaches...the choice is yours :) but I know that if you show some love you would be blessed beyond measure!

Anyway...here is what your really after...

Click HERE for download PDF

Click HERE for JPEG

ENJOY!

What is wrong with....

my creative flow? Ugh...I have spent most of the morning working on a treat bag topper (even though it is going to top a bag with a votive candle in it) for my lesson on Sunday...you know the one...Learning to Share the Gospel (#21). I know what I want it to say I just can get the design right.

I guess it is because I have this image in my head on how I want it to turn in out and I guess the nerve that transmit to what ever part of my brain/fingers is out of service. GRR...

I need to get my mojo back!!

Whose ready to play.....?

OK so I have seen a few sites that have had this little holiday jewel on their sites/blogs and I was like....HEY, I CAN MAKE THAT!!!

Well I did and here is what it looks like...

Here is what I used and what you would need to make one of these cute lil flags.

21 Jenga blocks

white spray paint (ONLY if you have the Jenga game version I had, Truth or Dare....I had to cover the black blocks up some how)

Acrylic Paint in RED, WHITE, and BLUE

Paint brush

Glue Gun and glue sticks

Star (I used vinyl and my cricut to cut the star but you could always stencil it on)

Felt (to cover the back after you attach your sting)

Twine/Jute/Ribbon/Wire (which ever you want)

Staple Gun and staples

Scissors

Acrylic Sealer

Sand Paper (if you choose to distress it. I didn't cause like I said I had some black blocks to cover and I didn't want to take the chance of the black to come through)

Paint each of your blocks to the corresponding color (3 blue, 8 white, and 10 red)

Once dry start to build your flag by gluing them together (refer to picture for pattern...you should be gluing them in rows of three across side by side)

Then attach/paint your star on the blue blocks

Cut your twine or what ever you are using to hang it up with to the desired length. Tie a knot at each end and attach it to the back of the flag  towards the top with the staple gun.

Once attached measure and cut your felt to fit the back and glue.

Then, if desired, if it is going to be hanging out side....apply your sealer.

There you have it....cheap, easy and cute. Perfect for a mutual for girls camp idea or if you are bored.

Eek!!! I think I am on cloud 9!!!

So I don't normally like to use my blog to share useless bits of my life and bore everyone....BUT since this kinda has to do with girls camp I just have to share my excitement. Ready???

OK so here it is...I was at our local DI the other day in search of a used Jenga game (will be posting about that next) and instead of finding a Jenga game I stumbled upon a steal of a deal...I found three boxes of a 100 count clear Christmas lights for only a $1.50 each.

Each box was tightly secured with packaging tape so I couldn't look in to see what the condition was so I was debating. I don't like to buy things that might not work and at the DI you can never be to careful, but they were only a buck fifty each so I said why not. I got home and opened them up...they looked brand new... BUT looks can be deceiving so I decided to plug them in....EVERY SINGLE LIGHT WORKED...ALL 300 of them. I was shocked. So you can only imagine my joy when I experienced this fine moment.

Now I did say that this would tie into girls camp...here it is. At camp we have a nice little patio/eating area with metal picnic tables. Well metal heats up in the sun...(I try not to use first aid when ever i can help it) so we bring a couple EZ Ups to provide us with some shade. You see we don't get cabins...we sleep in tents. LOL.  So at night it gets really really dark and is hard to see...and I haven't quite figured out why we don't use propane lamps (probably because we are all down by the fire instead of by the tables). Anyway...it gets dark so to lighten things up a bit, a few years ago we saw another ward in our stake use Christmas lights to give light since we get electricity up there. So last year we decided to copy them and use lights too. However we had lights that were on loan from the bishops wife (who also is our YW pres) and I thought...if something happens to them I would feel bad. So now the girls have their own set of lights to keep each year to use.  Can you see my excitement now??

Whoops!!!

I have been so spacy that I totally forgot that I had already created a book mark that accompanies lesson 20 from this years YW lesson manual 3, but if you have followed this blog then it should come as no surprise that I created a new one. So my mistake is your bonus!

Here is another book mark/handout for lesson 20. Again it comes from the lesson and is a set of 4.

Click HERE for download



Paper Bag Princess

I wish I could take credit for this activity idea....but I can't. It was borrowed from an idea suggested from Sugardoodle (you can click HERE to see it) but with some little adjustments made to it.

To start off the night we had a photographer come in (lucky enough our YW secretary and her hubby are photographers and were so willing to take our pictures) and photographed each girl with a tiara/crown. The girls were already excited by this point.

We popped popcorn (which I kinda burned because the church's microwave was unfamiliar territory to me) and had the girls gather round in a semi circle and my Beehive advisor read to them the story of The Parable of the Princesses by Jenny Philips. While she was reading this, I was in the back printing out all of the girls photos (if you do not have access to a photo printer...I would suggest that you take the pictures ahead of time, before the activity, and have them already printed and ready to go).

Next, I read to the girls the story of the Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch. Then we asked them questions about the qualities that these princesses had and which of those qualities are ones that the girls wanted to develop.  Next we helped the girls by getting their Paper Bag Time Capsule put together. We just downloaded the attachments that were on Sugardoodle for this activity because I didn't have time to create other ones, because it was literally put together hours before. We had the girls write down the qualities they wanted to have developed by the time they were married and what qualities they want their future husbands to have.

Then then wrote a letter to their future prince. Once these letters were finished they folded them up and put them into their paper bags along with a picture of a temple and the photo of them wearing the tiara. Once everything was in their bag, we sealed them up and told the girls they were to open them on the night of their engagement.

The girls seemed to have fun with this and it looked as if they put some real thought in the qualities that they wanted both in them selves and their future spouse. It was a great night!

Dr. Seuss Night

So I must apologize again for the absence...I have been busy helping my mom and her committee plan a state convention that was held this past weekend and I have only now begun to get my motivation back to do some things I have been meaning to do. Whew....its been a long week but I am back and have tons of ideas to share!

So let me start the next few posts with ideas that we have done for our YW and mutual. The first activity I wanna talk about about happened just this past week. We had our Dr. Seuss night and the girls (and leaders) had a blast!

The idea for this activity came from Sheri Dew's talk that she gave May 1, 2008 at the BYU Women's Conference. You can find a copy of her talk HERE and a talk that was given by the guy who is Famous for his cookies (Famous Amos) in a article he wrote for the Costco Connection a few months ago. This man compared the all time classic (and one of my favorite books) Dr. Seuss book:

to that of sales, Sam being the customer and the sales person being the other man in the story. How many times have you been bugged by one of those pesky sales people who just won't take no for an answer? Did you know that every time they get you to say no, you are one step closer to saying yes?? 

So the leader who came up with that idea compared that idea to that of the power that Satan has on the world. Are ya starting to see the connection??? If not let me explain our night a little more. We started off with a leader (and most of the girls) reading the story of Green Eggs and Ham. Then the question was asked, why we liked or didn't like the book. Then the leader brought up the idea that Satan is just the guy in the story who tries to get Sam to eat the green eggs and ham. He keeps pushing and pushing until he finally asks Sam to try them once. As we all know Sam gave in and found that he actually likes green eggs and ham. (Get where I am going now???)

So to get more into the whole understanding different ways how Satan influences us we divided the girls and leaders into two mixed teams. One team (which was the side I was on) played the "devil" and had to come up with different "ads" to get the others to do what ever the paper strip they were given said. The other team were the "angels" and had to promote a counter ad to persuade others to make the right choice (they had the same strips of paper).

So your are probably thinking what were some of these topics that our groups had to advertise? Well here were some of them (or at least the ones I can remember)...

*Modest clothes/swimwear

*Rebellious friends

*Pharming Parties

*Drinking Alcohol

*Making out

*Violent/sexual movies and music

The girls had fun presenting their ads for their different sides and here were some of the pictures that were drawn to emphasize their ideas....(SORRY THE PICTURES ARE NOT UP CLOSE)

The blue, white and red....

So after going through some of my camp stuff and evaluating what I had from last year to what I needed for this year and I realized I need lanyards. You see last year I typed up the days schedule and gave copy of it to each girl and leader so they knew what was happening through out the day. The schedules fit inside the badge holders and were hung from a lanyard. This year I wanted to do the same thing but incorporate our wards theme, France, so I chained (crochet) blue, white and red lanyards for every one and if I don't say my self, they turned out pretty cute! Check them out below!!

The chain was about 50" give or take a couple and were made out of three separate strands of yarn with all three being crochet together to form one united chain. I loved this yarn...it was Red Heart brand in the colors of red, royal and snow...the best part of it was that each skein of yarn sparkled!!!

"You've Been Kissed!!"

This year for girls camp, I have decided (and it has been supported by the other leaders) to go ahead and dispense with Secret Sisters this year at girls camp. I know I bet your SHOCKED that I just said that but this is why. Last year we had some issues with the girls not remembering to bring/do thier secret sister stuff and since the economy has been horrible here in my area that doing secret sister gifts would be a little hard for some of girls and possibly a burden for some of their families.

So in order to still get the girls to think of someone other than themselves, we have come up with a "You've been kissed" card. The concept came from the idea of candy kisses. Each of our girls will be given a certain amount of cards and "kisses" that they have to give out to someone in the camp. The only rule is they can't give one to themselves or to someone they have already given one to. 

Here is the card that I have created so that they can write a little note to whomever they decided to give a kiss to. We also thought that it would be a great idea that went well with our ward camp theme which is France.

Front

Back

This card is about the size of a credit card and there is 8 to a page (2 pages). I ran one page off first and then ran the second page to that they were front and back. Click HERE for pdf download.