Hello World!!
Apologies for my absence, seriously who knew this writing in a blog could be so hard!! But then again, I never was one for journal writing...
So, my (mid) years resolution is to get on top of everything - Home, Church, Work, Blog, etc.
I've been printing out and laminating handouts for my Young Women at Church today, we have a Personal Progress night coming up in two weeks and I've found some super cute handouts to encourage the girls to do their Personal Progress. I'm trying to be a better, more organised leader and make sure I am a great example and doing as much as I can for them all.
Last week was my Birthday (YAY!) and I used up all my courage and went to the hairdressers and had my hair cut, no not a regular, routine cut, THE CHOP! Goodbye 35+ cms of hair, Hello gorgeous new bob! I LOVE it! Its cute, light and SO easy to manage, it takes me a whole total of 1 minute to blow dry my hair now and 5 mins MAX to style it... A nice way of welcoming Spring early!
A few months ago I signed up as a Tupperware Demonstrator, in addition to my already full time job, to try and earn some extra cash and pay off bills/debts. At the moment its died down a lot, but to start with it was SO busy - training classes and sales meetings every Monday, 2+ parties every week, online ordering and packing orders. I'm mixed emotions at the moment, happy that its calmed down, but sad that its almost to a halt! The new Spring/Summer catalogue comes out in September though, so hopefully that will get the gears into motion again. I am definitely loving all the free and discounted Tupperware though. My house looks like a Tupperware factory at the moment, but my pantry is going to look FANTASTIC once I've finished with it.
Well, that will be all for now - I am definitely going to try and keep this up to date, with at least a post fortnightly - monthly. Depending on how many exciting, creative things I get up to...
♥D xx
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Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Saturday, May 19, 2012
CAKE POPS
On to another topic - my new obsession is CAKE POPS, I know I'm just a bit behind the times... But they're so cute and chocolatey! I found some amazing cake pop makers (& cupcake makers) from baby cakes online, the cheaters way of making them - but much to my demise they don't ship to Australia and if I could somehow get one to Australia I would need to buy a transformer for it to work here, so that let me down a bit. So then I googled and googled how to make them from scratch, except the thing that's got me is are cake pops better made from smashed cake & frosting or just baking cake mix into balls to start with??? The frosting one sounds like the original cake pop from what I googled, and it sounds delicious but also rich, whereas plain cake balls you could eat DOZENS of them... this is my dilemma.
I haven't actually baked any yet - the problems of living in a unit with a tiny kitchen - not enough room to bake a lot and leave a mess! But I do have some AMAZING plans for them when I do get around to it, can't wait to show you some pictures. Chocolate covered, sprinkle covered, coloured sugar covered - exciting stuff!!
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YW M1 L16 - Women & Priesthood Bearers
Sorry, I've been a bit slack and not dedicated lately, busy with work, church & home and then to top it all off I was sick for at least a week!
Saturday, April 28, 2012
YW Lesson 15: The Melchizedek Priesthood
Last YW's lesson (which was a few weeks ago, due to General Conference & Stake Conference) was on the Melchizedek Priesthood. We followed the lesson in the manual and talked about how the Priesthood was restored to the Earth to Joseph Smith & Oliver Cowdery by Peter, James & John. We discussed the different Offices, Quorums & Responsibilities in the Melchizedek Priesthood, we read the scriptures that went along with them, to answer some of the girls questions about why they were called a certain name, e.g. Patriarch. Finally, we talked about how receiving the Melchizedek Priesthood is such a great blessing and how important it is, we talked about how every young man in the Church should be preparing to receive this blessing and the oath & covenant the young men take upon themselves when they receive the Melchizedek Priesthood.
There was an amazing quote in the manual that I think struck home for the girls AND myself about how important it really is for the girls to encourage the young men to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood and stay true to the covenant they make.
From YW Manual 1 - Elder Marion G. Romney has taught us of the responsibilities that come to those who hold the Melchizedek Priesthood. He said:
"The status of one who receives the priesthood and then breaks the covenant is explained by the Lord in this language: '... whoso breaketh this covenant after he hath received it, and altogether turneth therefrom, shall not have forgiveness of sins in this world now in the world to come.' [D&C 84:41]
"With such a penalty prescribed for breaking it, one might be prompted to question the advisability of accepting the obligations of the covenant; that is, he might question it until he reads the verse which follows the statement of the penalty. There he learns that those who do not receive the oath and covenant are not much, if any, better off than those who receive it and break it. For in that verse the Lord says: 'And, wo unto all those who come not unto this priesthood which ye have received...' [D&C 84:42]
"Such is the sober import of 'the oath and covenant which belongeth to the priesthood' " (in Conference Report, Apr. 1962, p.18; or Improvement Era, June 1962, p. 416).
I think that really stuck with the girls about how much of a HUGE responsibility the young men are taking on and how important the Priesthood is.
To go along with this lesson the handout I made was of KEYS (below) - 3 keys, Priesthood, Aaronic & Melchizedek. Then a small circle keychain that had D&C 124:123 on it.
"Verily I say unto you, I now give unto the officers belonging to my Priesthood, that ye may hold the keys thereof, even the Priesthood which is after the order of Melchizedek, which is after the order of mine Only Begotten Son." [D&C 124:123]
I have gone to the liberty of attaching the PDF document I created for the keys (as my Mother-In-Law has already asked for a copy of it to use for Primary). I printed my keys on Photo paper so they were a bit sturdier and shinier, so the settings are for 4x6" Photo paper. PDF Here
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There was an amazing quote in the manual that I think struck home for the girls AND myself about how important it really is for the girls to encourage the young men to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood and stay true to the covenant they make.
From YW Manual 1 - Elder Marion G. Romney has taught us of the responsibilities that come to those who hold the Melchizedek Priesthood. He said:
"The status of one who receives the priesthood and then breaks the covenant is explained by the Lord in this language: '... whoso breaketh this covenant after he hath received it, and altogether turneth therefrom, shall not have forgiveness of sins in this world now in the world to come.' [D&C 84:41]
"With such a penalty prescribed for breaking it, one might be prompted to question the advisability of accepting the obligations of the covenant; that is, he might question it until he reads the verse which follows the statement of the penalty. There he learns that those who do not receive the oath and covenant are not much, if any, better off than those who receive it and break it. For in that verse the Lord says: 'And, wo unto all those who come not unto this priesthood which ye have received...' [D&C 84:42]
"Such is the sober import of 'the oath and covenant which belongeth to the priesthood' " (in Conference Report, Apr. 1962, p.18; or Improvement Era, June 1962, p. 416).
I think that really stuck with the girls about how much of a HUGE responsibility the young men are taking on and how important the Priesthood is.
To go along with this lesson the handout I made was of KEYS (below) - 3 keys, Priesthood, Aaronic & Melchizedek. Then a small circle keychain that had D&C 124:123 on it.
"Verily I say unto you, I now give unto the officers belonging to my Priesthood, that ye may hold the keys thereof, even the Priesthood which is after the order of Melchizedek, which is after the order of mine Only Begotten Son." [D&C 124:123]
I have gone to the liberty of attaching the PDF document I created for the keys (as my Mother-In-Law has already asked for a copy of it to use for Primary). I printed my keys on Photo paper so they were a bit sturdier and shinier, so the settings are for 4x6" Photo paper. PDF Here
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Friday, April 20, 2012
Sock/Bib Bouquet
As promised, below are a couple of Sock/Bib Bouquets that we have made as gifts.
The one above has a couple of pairs of white baby socks and an Elmo bib and Elmo onesie.
This one above includes a few pairs of socks - hot pink, light pink and white - and a couple of bibs.
To make these super cute Sock/Bib Bouquet's you just need a few pairs of socks (in whatever colour you like), a couple of bibs, and possibly a small onesie (preferably sleeveless) - if you want to add more to your bouquet, it just needs to not be TOO big and fat when rolled up.
You can grab a bunch of fake flowers, preferably connected at the bottom in a bunch, from the local $2 shop and some green (or white) florist tape.
Now, grab your bib or sock (do ONE sock at a time, NOT a pair) and roll it up nice and tight and down the bottom half of the rolled up bib or sock wrap florist tape around it nice and tight. Get your bunch of fake flowers and you should be able to pull a couple of the flower heads OFF of their stems, now you can push a few of the finished socks onto the stems with no flower heads. You can also pull a few leaves off the bottom of the fake flower bunch and attach to a sock or bib when you've rolled it up and wrap the florist tape around the bottom of the leaf and the sock - this helps to blend the flowers/leaves/socks/bibs together.
Once you have a couple of socks/bibs on stems, the rest of the socks/bibs can just be pushed in amongst the others and then to make sure they stay in place and don't fall down, wrap it up in some cellophane, tissue paper or similar and wrap it nice and tight around the top to ensure they can't move around/fall down etc. Then tie a nice, tight ribbon around the bottom to complete the look!
It's actually quite simple once you know what you're doing and it is such a cute and fun way of giving your gift.
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To make these super cute Sock/Bib Bouquet's you just need a few pairs of socks (in whatever colour you like), a couple of bibs, and possibly a small onesie (preferably sleeveless) - if you want to add more to your bouquet, it just needs to not be TOO big and fat when rolled up.
You can grab a bunch of fake flowers, preferably connected at the bottom in a bunch, from the local $2 shop and some green (or white) florist tape.
Now, grab your bib or sock (do ONE sock at a time, NOT a pair) and roll it up nice and tight and down the bottom half of the rolled up bib or sock wrap florist tape around it nice and tight. Get your bunch of fake flowers and you should be able to pull a couple of the flower heads OFF of their stems, now you can push a few of the finished socks onto the stems with no flower heads. You can also pull a few leaves off the bottom of the fake flower bunch and attach to a sock or bib when you've rolled it up and wrap the florist tape around the bottom of the leaf and the sock - this helps to blend the flowers/leaves/socks/bibs together.
Once you have a couple of socks/bibs on stems, the rest of the socks/bibs can just be pushed in amongst the others and then to make sure they stay in place and don't fall down, wrap it up in some cellophane, tissue paper or similar and wrap it nice and tight around the top to ensure they can't move around/fall down etc. Then tie a nice, tight ribbon around the bottom to complete the look!
It's actually quite simple once you know what you're doing and it is such a cute and fun way of giving your gift.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Disney Inspired...
Last year one of my friends who was pregnant with her first child, a girl, wanted a "Disney" themed Baby Shower, so we got to work and created (top image below) what I think is a SUPER CUTE baby shower invite - a little onesie slipped inside a Minnie Mouse head with a little nappy type slip. We downloaded "Disney" font and printed out the text and then cut out the onesie (using a onesie template we found on Google images). On the front is a cute little poem "Once upon a time in a far away land a girl name KRISTEN had a baby shower planned..." and on the back we printed out the details of the baby shower.
For the Minnie Mouse head we printed out a Mickey/Minnie Mouse head template from Google images again and traced them out of black card stock, once we'd cut them all out we traced out the half-circle nappy size that we wanted and using one as a template traced them out on pink card stock.
The buttons - we went to Spotlight for buttons, and I always thought buttons were cheap, I mean you lose buttons ALL the time. Much to my surprise it was like 20c a button or something ridiculous and for two buttons per invitation and lots of invitations, it was going to cost something like $40 for buttons! So we improvised, we found a packet of MIXED pink buttons for $5-$10 and then went sorting, we had almost enough pairs in the mixed buttons to make up all the invites, but the few we didn't we put buttons that looked almost alike or still looked cute together and then super-glued them on.
(We glued buttons on BEFORE putting the pink half-circle on the black mouse head to make sure the glue didn't go through and stick them together.)
We then attempted to GLUE the pink half-circle onto the Black Mouse head, we tried all types of glue but as soon as we tried slipping in the onesie it would start to come undone. Then the genius idea - we stapled (about 4 times I think) the bottom of the pink onto the black, then with a sharpie/permanent marker went over the staples and added sewing dashes in between to give it a sewed on, real cute look.
The bow was purchased in a pack of 6 from Spotlight also, we bought pink bows with white spots and purple bows with white spots, just to mix it up. To match the bottom of the mouse head slip sewing dashes we added sewing dashes to the onesie, black dashes on the front side with the rhyme and (mother to be's) NAME in pink and on the back side with the details in black we had the dashes in pink. All the dashes were done by hand with a sharpie.
As a Baby Shower gift to the Mother to be my Mum & I to make the gift Disney Inspired. My Mum loves making baby gifts, (she's a self-taught at-home-for fun-florist and did an amazing arrangement for my Wedding and flower's for a friends wedding also), especially NAPPY CAKES, she makes them whenever someone is having a baby shower she's invited to or whenever one of my siblings or cousins has another baby. She normally does fairly simple, modestly priced ones for non-family baby shower gifts, but since I was helping her with this one and chipping in half the costs, we went a bit all out and got a bit over-excited about it as you can see.
Firstly my Dad made the board at the bottom of the Nappy Cake (you can't see it too well, but it's a wooden board that's been shaped like the Mickey/Minnie head of the invite), then painted it half black and half pink to match the invite slip. The Nappy Cake was then made up of around 65+ Newborn Huggies Nappies. Around each layer we wrapped a muslin wrap and then a ribbon to hold it in place. On top we put a couple of pairs of socks, wrapped into sock roses, and then sitting right on top is a gorgeous pair of pink ballet slipper socks. I then bought a Mickey & Minnie soft-toy set off of eBay to sit one on each of the Mickey/Minnie head board ears.
They're quite a bit of work, but it was fun to make and even funner to see how it turned out in the end! Mum has tons of these that she has made over the year, I've told her to take photos and start selling them, but she doesn't think anyone will buy them... I think she's crazy!
We've also made some baby sock & bib bouquets, which we've given as baby gifts. I will post some pictures later.
Friday, April 13, 2012
Easter treats
Easter's been and gone but I just wanted to share a little something I created this year and am pretty proud of!
I was recently called to the Young Women's program in our Church (LDS Church - Mormons) and have such have had lots of fun creating little handouts to go with the lessons. It's great making handouts for someone who actually appreciates them (unlike the 5 year olds I used to teach, who really only enjoyed FOOD handouts).
I found lots of inspiration for handouts and ideas from Pinterest (a fairly recent obsession) and also found an AMAZING blog called Holy Handouts - which I'm following on my blog. Amazing woman who makes amazing handouts, she's a graphic designer (correct me if I'm wrong) with an obvious LOAD of talent!
Alas, I thought should start using my own hands and do something myself instead of stealing everyone else's finished products! I decided instead of stuffing the YW (Young Women) with chocolate I would give them something crafty & cute! In the photo below is my finished and after-finished product.
I blew out an egg and then attempted to dye the egg, which I then discovered its not that easy dying a normal orangey coloured egg, you need to use WHITE eggs. So, I improvised and covered the dyed egg in glitter! Which I thought worked out pretty well in the end, looks very girly, pink & pretty. I then wanted to put the eggs in cardboard boxes so I could write on them, but could not find any anywhere, so resulted in buying small chinese takeaway boxes (.40c from Bargain City) which didn't look too bad in the end. I sprinkled a little bit of angel hair to soften the bottom, and added a few chocolate easter eggs (you need to have SOME chocolate). Next step was the little surprise that made the glitter egg and the more better. A teeny tiny rolled up note that said "Happy Easter to an Eggstra Special Chick!" once the note was finally pushed inside the tiny hole of the egg (where the yolk was blown out) I covered the rest of the hole with more glitter. As seen in the picture when the egg was cracked you find the little secret note! I popped a little note on the takeaway boxes that said "Crack Me".
Things I would do differently: 1. DON'T TRY DYING A NORMAL COLOURED EGG! Firstly, it didn't work properly (except for BLUE dye, and that didn't look that nice) and secondly some dye got inside the blown egg and made the inside of the egg and the note soggy - so when you cracked the egg it more crumbled as the inside was soggy and the note was blue and was a bit fragile and started to fall apart.
Apart from that I think it worked out well... I was pretty impressed with myself, but my darling husband wasn't very impressed with the mess. Pin It
I was recently called to the Young Women's program in our Church (LDS Church - Mormons) and have such have had lots of fun creating little handouts to go with the lessons. It's great making handouts for someone who actually appreciates them (unlike the 5 year olds I used to teach, who really only enjoyed FOOD handouts).
I found lots of inspiration for handouts and ideas from Pinterest (a fairly recent obsession) and also found an AMAZING blog called Holy Handouts - which I'm following on my blog. Amazing woman who makes amazing handouts, she's a graphic designer (correct me if I'm wrong) with an obvious LOAD of talent!
Alas, I thought should start using my own hands and do something myself instead of stealing everyone else's finished products! I decided instead of stuffing the YW (Young Women) with chocolate I would give them something crafty & cute! In the photo below is my finished and after-finished product.
I blew out an egg and then attempted to dye the egg, which I then discovered its not that easy dying a normal orangey coloured egg, you need to use WHITE eggs. So, I improvised and covered the dyed egg in glitter! Which I thought worked out pretty well in the end, looks very girly, pink & pretty. I then wanted to put the eggs in cardboard boxes so I could write on them, but could not find any anywhere, so resulted in buying small chinese takeaway boxes (.40c from Bargain City) which didn't look too bad in the end. I sprinkled a little bit of angel hair to soften the bottom, and added a few chocolate easter eggs (you need to have SOME chocolate). Next step was the little surprise that made the glitter egg and the more better. A teeny tiny rolled up note that said "Happy Easter to an Eggstra Special Chick!" once the note was finally pushed inside the tiny hole of the egg (where the yolk was blown out) I covered the rest of the hole with more glitter. As seen in the picture when the egg was cracked you find the little secret note! I popped a little note on the takeaway boxes that said "Crack Me".
Things I would do differently: 1. DON'T TRY DYING A NORMAL COLOURED EGG! Firstly, it didn't work properly (except for BLUE dye, and that didn't look that nice) and secondly some dye got inside the blown egg and made the inside of the egg and the note soggy - so when you cracked the egg it more crumbled as the inside was soggy and the note was blue and was a bit fragile and started to fall apart.
Apart from that I think it worked out well... I was pretty impressed with myself, but my darling husband wasn't very impressed with the mess. Pin It
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