Young Women in Excellence Fairy Tale Album

I work with the youth in my local LDS church group.  Once a year we have an evening devoted to showcasing the skills our young women (ages 12-18) have worked on during the year. This program is called Personal Progress.  The skills revolve around eight values.  Each value is represented by a different color.
Faith (White)
Divine Nature (Blue)
Individual Worth (Red)
Knowledge (Green)
Choice and Accountability (Orange)
Good Works (Yellow)
Integrity (Purple)
Virtue (Gold).
 The above picture is a hybrid (digital and scrapbook material).  We used it as a sign above a table where we set out objects that represent some of the projects the Young Women have worked on during the year.  
 
This year we used storybook characters to exemplify each value.  The idea for this event is found HERE on sugardoodle.net.  The pictures below show our interpretation of this evening.  I used the Stampin' Up MDS program for all the computer printing.  Instead of putting together big posters for each character, like you find on the sugardoodle website, we made a "storybook" album.  I tailored it to our young woman (we only have one right now, we live in a very small community at the moment) and gave it to her as a remembrance of who she really is as the daughter of a Heavenly King and her true home above.


I took a picture of the Salt Lake Temple and put it on the front cover to represent a "castle" in our fairytale book. 

Opening cover has all the values and colors represented.  All the printing I did was on clear velum.  The effect turned out really nice but you can't use any kind of tape without it showing so I used brads instead.  It was nice to use the MDS program as I could size things really close to what I wanted and didn't have to print a million times to get the right fit.  I remembered at the last minute I had a "fairytale" paper stack for scrapbooking.  The pages were perfect, sparkly and swirly. 

Title page (it looks better in person:)

For each value our young woman chose four words that she felt represented that value.  We stamped the words on each page.  For our Young Women in Excellence evening we invited members of our church group to come and "be the character" for each value.  They read a small script found on the above link that talks about how each character exemplifies their respective value.   Then they shared a short personal testimony about the value and how it has effected them in their life.  Everyone did a great job and came up with inventive costumes.   I don't want to put up everyone's picture without asking their permission so I will just put up mine as Wendy.

Here is me as Wendy.  At the last minute we decided to dress our kids up as Tiger Lily, John, and one little lost boy from Peter Pan as Wendy's entourage.  Our toddler was dressed up as Michael but was not cooperating when it came time for us to go up.  We weren't going to push the issue as it was already past bed time:)

I paper crafted the pumpkins and they turned out really cute.  I wasn't sure if they would work being in an album since the green vines are little swirls of paper but it didn't smash down too much so it worked.

 After all the characters were done, I told our young woman there was one more fairytale in our "storybook".  She didn't know about the last couple pages.  I had written a "fairytale" with her in mind the day before.  This is what I wrote for the fairy tale:

 "Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful Princess that shined with Light.  Her father was King of all the Land and very wise.  The King loved His daughter so much, He made a beautiful new Kingdom for Her to live in.  When the Princess was just a baby, the King sent Her to learn and grow in this beautiful Land.  In this new Kingdom was an Evil Sorcerer.  He wanted to capture the Princess and take Her Light.  The King worried about the Princess and knew She would forget Him, so the King sent Her to a Family that knew Him well.  For the King trusted them to protect the Princess from the Evil Sorcerer and teach Her how to remember Him.  To aid Her new Family the King gifted them with many Treasures.  Among these gifts was a Powerful Book and a Guarded Castle.  Inside the Castle is a Map showing the way back to the King.  The Princess must study the Book for many years before She will be ready to enter the Guarded Castle.  Someday, these gifts will lead the beautiful Princess back to Her true Home and She will live Happily Ever After."

In this fairytale, the Princess is every Young Woman and her father, the King, is God.  The New Kingdom he made is Earth.  The two treasures, the Powerful Book and the Guarded Castle, are the Scriptures and the Temple.  

After reading the "fairytale" to the group, I told our young woman that she is the beautiful princess.  I then turned the book so she could see the pages with her picture along with her family and the fairytale I had just read.  I told her the blank page on the right is for her to add a picture of herself when she is older and goes to the temple for the first time. 

 The last page says "the end" in the background and has a little note "Much Love, Sister Hess and Sister Cannon".  As I gave our young woman the book, I told her that we were giving it to her because we wanted her to remember that her Happily Ever After begins with the temple.  As I said this I closed the album so she could see the picture of the Temple on the front cover.

The book is the collaboration of our young woman, the other leader and myself.  As I finished the album, I decided I really liked it and I wanted to do my own version that is basic enough to use for Young Women lessons in the future.  If I actually do another one, I will make it 8X8 as I think 12X12 left a lot of blank space we couldn't fill.  I will use the same basic design but will choose other papers and accessories that have a little more consistency with each other.

Stampin' Up Matchbox Die

I love the Big Shot machine and all the things it can do.  This is such a cute little box and is made with the Matchbox Die.  I've had a great time filling them up with Hersey nuggets but I'd love to find another candy that fits it just as perfectly.

A friend came over and made a few boxes for her children's teachers.  She did such a great job picking out colors, papers and stamps.  (So glad you came over Marla!)

 I liked her choices so much, I copied her and made a few of these for my kids teachers.

Then I made twelve of them for the civilian's my husband works with.  Too cute that the toughest guy of them all (think long hair and beard down to his waist) appreciated the homemade gifts the most.  So cute, I totally worried they'd think these were lame and girly.  Funny how people can surprise you.

 To make the candy wraps you take a sheet of letter labels and stamp it up.  Then wrap the candy with the labels.  You'll have a little extra to cut off.  They are also really cute wrapped in patterned paper.

 I like to wrap the boxes in string.  It's cute and keeps the boxes closed. 

Add a gift tag and you are done:)

12 Days of Christmas (Days 9-12)

This post is a continuation of a 12 Days of Christmas project that my family is doing for a special family.   You can read about it here.

Day Nine:
On the Ninth Day of Christmas, my true friend gave to me Nine Gold Coins, Eight Gifts for Giving, Seven Candy Canes, Six Pack of Soda, Five Golden Rings, Four Sets of Gift Tags, Three Christmas Candles, Two Movie Tickets, and an Advent Calendar.

I added some mint chocolates to fill in the extra space of the jar.


Day Ten:
On the Tenth Day of Christmas, my true friend gave to me Ten Packs of Cocoa, Nine Gold Coins, Eight Gifts for Giving, Seven Candy Canes, Six Pack of Soda, Five Golden Rings, Four Sets of Gift Tags, Three Christmas Candles, Two Movie Tickets, and an Advent Calendar.


Day Eleven:
On the Eleventh Day of Christmas, my true friend gave to me Eleven Christmas Ornaments, Ten Packs of Cocoa, Nine Gold Coins, Eight Gifts for Giving, Seven Candy Canes, Six Pack of Soda, Five Golden Rings, Four Sets of Gift Tags, Three Christmas Candles, Two Movie Tickets, and an Advent Calendar.

Here are the handmade ornaments hanging up.  I got them from an old Stampin' Up ornament making kit.

Day Twelve:
On the Twelveth Day of Christmas, my true friend gave to me Twelve Christmas Cookies, Eleven Christmas Ornaments, Ten Packs of Cocoa, Nine Gold Coins, Eight Gifts for Giving, Seven Candy Canes, Six Pack of Soda, Five Golden Rings, Four Sets of Gift Tags, Three Christmas Candles, Two Movie Tickets, and an Advent Calendar.  (Will update photo once we make the cookies.)

12 Days of Christmas (Day 5-8)

This post is a continuation of a 12 Days of Christmas project that my family is doing for a special family.   You can read about it here.

Here are the gifts we are giving for Days 5-8.

Day Five:
On the fifth day of Christmas, my true friend gave to me Five Golden Rings (Donuts or Bagels, not sure which we will use yet), Four Sets of Gift Tags, Three Christmas Candles, Two Movie Tickets, and an Advent Calendar.  (Will put up a picture once we do it.)

Day Six:
On the sixth Day of Christmas, my true friend gave to me Six Pack of Soda, 5 Golden Rings, Four Sets of Gift Tags, Three Christmas Candles, Two Movie Tickets, and an Advent Calendar.  (Will update a picture once we do it.)

Day Seven:
On the seventh Day of Christmas, my true friend gave to me Seven Candy Canes, Six Pack of Soda, Five Golden Rings, Four Sets of Gift Tags, Three Christmas Candles, Two Movie Tickets, and an Advent Calendar.

 This is a sweet poem I found to give along with the gift.

Day Eight:
On the eighth Day of Christmas, my true friend gave to me Eight Gifts for Giving, Seven Candy Canes, Six Pack of Soda, Five Golden Rings, Four Sets of Gift Tags, Three Christmas Candles, Two Movie Tickets, and an Advent Calendar.

 

 Each gift has four Hersey nuggets inside.  The candy covering is a handstamped address label.

A Homemade Wedding Gift

 
A friend of mine got married recently.  As my gift to her, I took her wedding colors, (pink, white, and black) and made a notebook out of a decorative file folder. 

Matching pink pen and paper clips.

Back cover.

 The second project is one of my favorites.  I love making home decor out of little squares and accessories.  I took the paper from my friends wedding invitation and bridal shower invite to make the home decor project.  I added some stamp ink and accessories then added the year of her marriage.  I think it turned out really cute and I can't wait to give it to her.   The square to the left of the heart is very plain.  I left it that way so that if she wants to replace it with a photo of her wedding she can. 

 The invites I destroyed to make my gift.  :)  I love the color combo she used for the wedding.  Clean and bright. 

* Update:  I have made a second wedding invite framed gift.  Click HERE to see the new addition.

Stampin' Up Curled Paper Wreath

Here is a paper wreath I made using some old Stampin' Up paper.  I found the link on how to make this here.  I really love how it turned out and can't wait to try some other papers.  Maybe something cute for Easter or Halloween.  This is made with the small wreath mold, I'll have to do a larger one and see how that works.
 
This is a project I would like to try for super saturday next year.  Cheap, easy and mindless.  Mindless is better so we can all chat while we craft.  I loved doing the advent calendars but it was a bit hectic as we were all trying to figure out what to do next.

I added a flower made out of ribbon to cut through the color and pattern.  Also to add a little focus.  It's the first I've tried and I think it turned out okay. 

The video I followed said the paper would curl like ribbon.  I wasn't able to get the paper to curl very much so I mostly wrapped it around my bone folder.  That worked well enough.  If I tried to curl it too much the paper began to break down and ripple.

12 Days of Christmas (Day 1-4)

When I was a child my family did the 12 Days of Christmas for a family that needed some extra Christmas cheer.  It is my all time favorite Christmas Memory.  Each night we got to ding dong ditch the family with a new treat.  When you're a kid, there's nothing better than ding dong ditching.  Some people get upset if you do the 12 Days of Christmas leading up to Christmas Day.  I know it begins after Christmas but for me it's far more exciting to culminate the experience on Christmas Eve.

The last few years my kids have been far too focused on the "getting" part of Christmas.  I've tried to think of a few ways to shift their focus to "giving".  My first plan of attack is the 25 day Advent Calendar in previous posts.  Each day gives you a different scripture to read about Christ.  Since the kids are old enough this year to attempt a decent ding dong ditch, we are going to try the 12 Days of Christmas.  I am hoping it will help them get excited about thinking of someone else.

Here are some pictures of the different gift we are going to give.  With each gift we are also giving a few pieces for a nativity set.  By Christmas Eve the family will have a full nativity to remember the experience in future years.  I wanted something unique but small.  That way it can be a sweet reminder in the future without taking up a lot of room.  I found this nativity puzzle on Etsy from Arts of the Heart.  You can leave it in the case or each piece can stand up on it's own to form a nativity. 

I tried to make the gifts as homemade as possible for several reasons.  Keeping down expense and making it more personal for all is among them.  Here are the first few days.  I will update the others as I take pictures.

Day One:
On the First day of Christmas my true friend gave to me One Advent Calendar.
Each flap hides a scripture or activity that is Christ centered. 

Day Two:
On the Second Day of Christmas my true friend gave to me Two Movie Tickets and an Advent Calendar.


Day Three:
On the Third Day of Christmas my true friend gave to me Three Christmas Candles, Two Movie Tickets and an Advent Calendar.


To make the candles I used the Mini Milk Carton Die from Stampin' Up with clear velum.  I folded the bottom and sides but not the tops.  Then I added paper to the outside that had a decorative piece cut out.


 
 


Day Four:
On the Fourth Day of Christmas my true friend gave to me Four Sets of Gift Tags, Three Christmas Candles, Two Movie Tickets, and an Advent Calendar.


 

The giving starts on the 13th of December to end on Christmas Eve.  Of course it's always more fun to give anonymously.  Hope you enjoyed the photos. 
Merry Christmas and Happy Crafting.

**Update on this project.  My sister and niece (thank you Cheri and Mikale) have been delivering the first couple gifts for us since we are out of town.  On the second night the families' little girl squealed and jumped up and down when she opened the door to see another present.  So excited that they are enjoying the Christmas Cheer!  Here's to hoping we can do the whole 12 days without being caught:)