Amanda

YW Camp Treasure The Truth Re Cap

January 10, 2015 by Amanda 6 Comments

It’s time to start preparing for this year’s Young Women’s Camp. I thought I would write about our 2014 camp for any of those Camp Directors out there looking for ideas. Our camp was AWESOME! We had fabulous leaders, a great camp, and super fun activities. Our theme was “Treasure the Truth”. It was fun to use the idea of “treasure” for inspiration. As you scroll through this post you can click on each section for more ideas – I didn’t want this to turn into the world’s longest blog post. I hope you enjoy learning about our camp.

Our camp is a traditional camp in the mountains with a lodge and cabins. We had access to a small lake and canoes, rock wall, archery, BB guns, volleyball, swimming, hiking, and crafts. Below are ideas we added to enhance camp.

This is our camp logo. Click HERE to download a high resolution version, you are welcome to adapt it to your needs.

Each level was a Gemstone based on a Young Women Value. Click HERE to download all the gemstone printables.

1st Years: Diamonds, 2nd Years: Sapphires, 3rd Years: Gold, 4th Years: Amethyst, YCLS: Emerald, Leaders: Fire Opal, Nurse: Ruby

Every level received a lanyard based on the color of their level with a gemstone name tag. Click HERE for more pictures of the lanyards, tutorial, and printable name badges.

Attached to the lanyards was a camp itinerary and a camp song book.

I love reading other camp’s itineraries – here is ours. Click here for the PDF.

When we got to camp we had a treasure hunt where the girls received their bandanas, itineraries, songbooks, and other camp goodies like CANDY! I went into LA and bought colored lace the colors of the values. I cut them into triangles. They were super cute.

The Young Women Camp Manual has been around for a while and I know some years girls don’t even bring them to camp. I wanted to breath new life into the camp manual so we turned them into scrapbooks or smash books. The treasure hunt ended in the lodge where we had tables set up and tons of scrapbooking & paper crafting supplies. The girls got to decorate their camp manuals! I had also printed out photos from the past few years. The girls were encouraged to carry their manual with them at all times at camp. Throughout the week we had handouts and quotes they could glue in their manuals. This is mine:

I put tabs on the sides so I can easily find each level and other requirements. Mine is loaded with pictures. I love looking at it!!!

I think the girls had fun with this project!!

I love the lanyard idea because throughout the week the girls received pins for different devotionals or activities. It was so fun to see everyone’s lanyard at the end of camp!!

Name Badges – I made these by gathering streamers – click HERE for the tutorial and printable.

When we kicked off our theme on the first day, we introduced our “Treasure Board”. The leaders had made this before camp. It’s a HUGE frame with a collage of material treasures. The goal during the week was to cover the material treasures with spiritual treasures. By the end of the week the board was covered with religious pictures, quotes, and uplifting pictures. I love the idea of visualizing what our heart treasures.

T-Shirts – We tried to save on cost by not having official camp shirts. We gave each level a white V-neck shirt and they were to create their shirt based on their value gemstone. I love this idea! It was so fun to all the creativity!

Of course I tie-dyed the leader’s shirts

The YCLs did a kind of reverse spray paint technique

The 4th Years did an ombre inspired technique with words on the back

The 3rd years had gold 3s on the back and their name in cursive gold sequins

The second years did a tape/paint technique

The first years had a diamond ring printed on the shirts

Crafts: Our crafts were the best so far. Again, money was tight. We asked for donations and then created crafts out of what we received. The girls had a BLAST! Click HERE to see all the crafts we made.

Meet Gemma Diamond our Camp mascot. Every evening at dinner the stake leaders did a silly skit/dance with Gemma. Gemma got to go home with a different level each night. She brought with her a letter, something for each girl to wear, and an owl pin to add to their lanyards. The first night she brought tiaras, the second night large YW paper medallions, the third night capes, and the fourth night missionary badges.

Here you can see Gemma at the end of camp – she really learned a lot!

Here is a sample letter from Gemma. If you are interested in all the letters, click HERE

We had “Treasured Value” rotations where the girls rotated listening to an uplifting message based on a value. At each rotation they received a handout to put in their camp manual and a gemstone bead to put in their bottle necklace. The necklaces were really cute, but many of the girls played with them and they broke. I would hand these out at the end. But I love having a bottle necklace with the value gems in it!

In the lodge we had an area designated for “Treasured Sisters”. This was to replace our traditional “Secret Sisters”. Instead of shopping and bringing gifts to camp, we drew names at camp and encouraged the young women to make something for their sister at camp. The sisters were not secret and the girls introduced themselves at the beginning. For the most part it worked, some of the girls were shy and didn’t approach their sister for a few days. We were inspired by the Frozen movie’s Elsa and Anna 🙂 Click HERE fore the treasured sisters form. Every day we had paper and pens where they could write notes and we had a little item they could give their sister, like candy or a pin.

I typed my own certification table so we all could keep better track. If you would like a copy click HERE

One night we had a Faith Walk. I have seen many versions of this but ours was AMAZING! We had 5 vignettes around the camp. A Nephite woman who was there when Jesus came, Mary the mother of Jesus, the blind man who Jesus healed, the young Joseph Smith, and the woman who touched Jesus robe. Many of our actors also sang a song that went with their character. The young women were asked not to talk while they walked on the journey. It was very powerful. We lit the whole camp with paper bag lanterns, 500 to be exact. And then at night we turned them all off, and we liked them so much we turned them on each night!

Camp was amazing and I did not want to come home. The young women in our stake are so AWESOME! The Sunday after camp we have an awards night and slideshow. All the families are invited, we watch a slide show of all the pictures. Then each girl who completed her certification received an award. We give them a level charm that they can add to a bracelet or necklace, a certificate, and a camp photo to add to their manual. Click HERE to download a generic certificate. I like that the certificates are smaller so they can be glued into the camp manual.

If a girl has completed 6years of camp she gets a gold or silver pinecone to wear alongside her Young Womenhood Recognition Medallion.

Filed Under: FEATURED, girls camp, LDS Printables, young women

Our New Bengal Kitten

January 7, 2015 by Amanda 5 Comments

My life has been turned upside down. On December 20th we adopted a Bengal kitten. We lost our beloved Marbles the Bengal Cat last March and our family was finally ready to bring a new kitten into our home. Once we found a breeder we liked we couldn’t wait for him to come home. As any expectant mother would do, I decided to better prepare myself for the arrival of the kitten by reading – I choose the book “Think Like a Cat.” I purchased it from Amazon and felt a little silly in doing so as I have had cats in my life for 40 years – why do I need to read how to parent a cat?
This book is AMAZING and I recommend it to everyone who has a feline or who hopes to adopt one. Pam Johnson-Bennett addresses so many issues we fear as cat owners – the litterbox, furniture scratching, aggression, etc. I now follow her in FB where she gives tips and advice for cat owners. After reading this book I was a little nervous about bringing the new kitten home – worried I wouldn’t raise the kitten properly and follow all the guidelines to achieve a well-adusted happy cat! I was more nervous about getting the kitten than I was about bringing my 3 babies home from the hospital!

We did everything to prepare: we created a “sanctuary” in my daughter’s room where the kitten would live for a few weeks. It included a place for the litter box, place for meals, a soft bed, and lots of things to scratch and play with. I firmly believe in the idea of a sanctuary for the first few weeks of kitten introduction.

We were ready and we drove to Pasadena to pick him up.

He could not be any cuter. We can already tell he has a nice disposition and loves to be around people.

The poor kitten didn’t have a name for almost a week. It is very difficult for 5 people to agree on a name. Some of the suggestions were: Napoleon, Leopold, Thor, Zulu, Stuki, Mowgli, Bagheera, Marvin, Harvey, Wasabi, Obi Wan, Fuzzy, Waffles, and the list went on and on. We finally agreed on Mufasa from the Lion King. We still call him fuzzy though.

The best way to insure a happy cat is to have lots of interactive playtime. I ordered every cat toy known to man from Amazon. Let me tell you which ones are Mufasa’s favorites.

Neko Flies – ordered from Amazon

You purchase a rod and then you can select interchangeable “bugs” to attach to the end.

These bugs are very realistic. Mufasa loves the Kittycada the best. He also loves the Kattipede, and the Kragonfly.

The instructions say not to let the cats chew on the toys. This is hard to do because part of the fun of chasing a bug is getting to catch it and chew on it. Mufasa bit off the antenna of the Kattipede. I quickly trimmed the antennas off the Kitticatterfly. With any toy like this, when you are done playing the toys should be put away.

The next toy we love is from Go Cat called Da Bird – I also ordered from Amazon. This toy has a feather teaser at the end and also comes with 2 replacements feathers. For some reason we like this better than other feather teasers – maybe it feels more like a real bird? What ever it is, Mufasa LOVES it!

All my kitties have always love the Cat Dancer or Cat Charmer. Mufasa is no different – again, I ordered from AmazonA new kitten in the house feels a lot like having a new baby in the house. I find myself whispering and tiptoeing around when he is sleeping. When he’s up, he’s up and it is time to play and interact. If I need to the leave the house I have to time it with his naps so he is not left home alone while awake. He eats on demand and cries when he is hungry. When he is tired I can hold him and he purrs and I know he’s ready for bed. We clean the letterbox every time he uses it – much like diaper duty! I want him to have a positive experience with the litter box so we keep it extra clean. We make sure to give him fresh water several times a day. It’s a lot of work having a new kitten. We have gotten so attached to him already and we think he’s the cutest kitten in the world!!

Filed Under: bengal, cat, FEATURED

Corgi Pillow

December 30, 2014 by Amanda Leave a Comment

I made this Corgi Pillow for a Christmas gift for friends who have a Corgi. The wonderful fabric artwork is from Ginger Eyed. I found her on Etsy and it turns out we live 2 miles apart! She has lots of other designs with different breeds of dogs. A few years ago I made this cat pillow from one of her cat designs.

I used some coordinating fabric from Blend’s Harmony line and added borders around the fabric art so it measured 20″. I used the same fabric to add a zipper flap on the back. I added some decorative trim and inserted a 20″ down pillow. Super quick but super cute!

Filed Under: Blend Fabrics, pillow

Salt Air Quilt with Lucy’s Crab Shack Beach Blanket Pattern

December 29, 2014 by Amanda Leave a Comment

I purchased this pattern Sweetwater’s Lucy’s Crab Shack Beach Blanket over a year ago. Along with it I picked up some pre cuts and yardage of Moda’s Salt Air line. I love this line of fabric and I knew it would be perfect in my parent’s home.

I hoped to sew it for my parent’s anniversary, then Christmas, and then time just went to fast. So, finally, this past summer, I finally put it together and had it quilted. I wrapped it up and gave it to them for Christmas. It’s the cutest!

This pattern is super fun to sew and fairly easy. The half circles are drawn on Heat n Bond Lite appliqué paper and then ironed on and top stitched. I changed the pattern a little bit by omitting the inner boarder and adding a few more half circles so my quilt was a larger throw size.

My quilter, Janika from Springville, Utah did and AMAZING job on the quilting! When she gave it back to me, thoughts of keeping it for myself entered into my head 🙂

It’s extra cozy with this soft gray minky on the back.

My favorite print in this collection is the whale’s tails…..see if you can spot them!!

Filed Under: FEATURED, gift, Heat n Bond, quilt, Therm O Web

Fun with Richie our Elf on the Shelf Christmas 2014

December 24, 2014 by Amanda Leave a Comment

Life was too hectic to write about our sweet Elf Richie everyday. I thought you might like to see some highlights of his antics this year. We will miss you so much, Richie! We hate to say goodbye to you tonight. Until next year….

Richie arrived at our home in a sealed Santa’s Workshop Lego set. We were all so surprised and we didn’t know he was inside for quite a while!

All the children had so much fun putting the Lego set together. We used the tongs to put Richie on the little tree so he could watch.

We found Richie and his reindeer in a roll of TP

Richie is somewhat of a cardshark, sporting a full house in this game of Tripoley.

Richie gathered all the stuffed cats in the house an placed them on the stairs. He was found reading my “Think Like A Cat” book.

Sugar Angles

Hanging in the bathroom

This one was a little questionable 🙂

Bows all over the kitchen and stuck to any solid surface!

Hot Hot cocoa date with Anna

A little mischief with Snowflake Sally’s non-magical girl elf

Helping out with St. Nicholas Day

Chillin’ in the freezer with some North Pole Fat Boys!

Setting the table and serving everyone gingerbread men for breakfast.

Peppermint cotton candy for breakfast

We are saying our goodbye’s to Richie today. I love the photos. I can’t believe we have to wait an entire year to see him again…..pass the Kleenex!!

Filed Under: Christmas, Elf on the Shelf

More Zipper Pouches

December 22, 2014 by Amanda Leave a Comment

What do you get when you cross “My Favorite Zipper Pouch” with “Full Access Zipper Pouch“? Last minute Christmas gifts! I sewed up 6 of these and filled them with some Bath and Body Works goodies. I think the ladies in my husband’s office will love them!

I used the dimensions from My Favorite Zipper Pouch and then added the full access zipper using this tutorial. It’s not to late to sew a few!

All the fabrics are from Blend’s Harmony collection by Jessica Swift. They are amazing!!! This pattern uses Heat n Bond fusible fleece to give the pouch a little stability & softness; add touch of lace and these coordinating fabrics and you’ve got a darling gift. (I need a few for myself!)

Filed Under: Blend Fabrics, FEATURED, Heat n Bond, zipper pouch

The Harper Stocking Tutorial

December 16, 2014 by Amanda Leave a Comment

When I was little, my mom made everyone in our family “quilted” stockings with appliqué motifs on them. To me, all stockings must be quilted 🙂 I made my husband and children these quilted stockings many years ago.

The fabrics are a little dated but we still love them! Here are a few more peeks at stockings I have made over the years with this same pattern.

There are so many wonderful fabrics out there to make stockings with. I love this line from Blend called Treelicious. I’ve made a few other projects with it, here and here. Below is the pattern and instructions for making this “Harper” stocking which I made my friend’s baby’s first Christmas. You can change the fabric piecing to be more intricate or you can use a plain piece of fabric and quilt it. It’s fun to customize each stocking to your children’s personalities.

Supplies:

fat quarters of 3 fabrics for stocking and stocking tab

1/2 yard for the stocking lining

piece of lace

1/4 yard faux fur, fleece, or I used a type of cloud fleece with a diamond pattern…anything soft and white

Heat n Bond EZ print appliqué sheets or heat n bond appliqué transfer paper

quilt batting

Stocking Pattern, Click HERE

Note – the length of the cutting measurements are approximates, you just need enough to fit the stocking pattern on

Begin by cutting the pink trees 9″ x 12″

Gray deer 5″ x 12″

Pink 8″ x 20″

Piece together using 1/4″ seams, press

Try to place the pieces like this – it’s just rough background to quilt then cut the stocking from.

Using Spray n Bond spray basting (or pins) baste the fabric on a scrap of cotton batting – I love projects like this that use batting scraps!

Quilt as desired – I sewed loop de loos.

Print the pattern out (here). It’s in 4 pieces. Assemble them together like this. I added some dotted lines to help with matching up each piece. Don’t laugh at how rough my pattern is, it’s the middle of December and who has time for perfection!! Cut out the pattern.

Next, pin the stocking pattern to the quilted piece and cut out. If you want the stocking a little larger, cut out 1/4″ away from the pattern and the finished stocking will be the size of the pattern. Just make sure to cut the same for the lining.

You can add some lace embellishment if you want. Choose a font you like and print it in reverse on the EZ print sheets, or print in reverse and draw onto the Heat n Bond appliqué paper. Press the letters to the wrong side of the white fabric. Cut out each letter. Peel off the backing and press into place. It’s always a trick to get the letters to fit – I like to make them as big as I possibly can. Top stitch in gray thread.

Here is a close up of the letters. You can see my white fabric has a little silver detail in it!

Now do the same process with the back of the stocking. Only remember the stocking will be opposite.

Instead of cutting the stocking out again and trying to match it, I pinned the appliquéd part to the newly quilted piece, matching the seams along the sides. Sew using 1/4″ seams all the way around the stocking leaving the top open. Cut around the seam.

For the lining of the stocking, cut the same pattern out of a coordinating cotton (2). Sew right sides together all the way around the stocking.

Prepare the fur cuff. Cut the fur 18.5″ x 11″

Fold it in half fat ways, right sides together and sew about 1/2″seam along the side:

Turn the cuff right side out like this:

For the stocking holder, cut a strip of fabric 10″ x 3″. Folding in half lengthwise with right sides together, sew 1/4″ seam and turn right side out. Press the seam in the center like this:

This is how it will look from the outside:

Place the stocking lining inside the stocking, just how you want it to look, with the right side of the lining facing out.

Baste the stocking holder by bringing both raw edge ends together and pin it inside the stocking centering on the seam. Sew about 1/8″ to keep it in place.

Next, place the cuff inside the stocking & lining, aligning all raw edges:

Pin all the way around matching the seam in the cuff with the side seam in the stocking. Sew 1/4″ to 1/2″ seam all the way around using a walking foot – it gets pretty thick by the seams but it will work. Turn the cuff right side out and it’s done! Kind of magical!!

Filed Under: appliqué, Blend Fabrics, Christmas, FEATURED, Heat n Bond, patterns, sewing, Therm O Web, tutorial

The Cottage Garden Baby Quilt Tutorial

December 15, 2014 by Amanda Leave a Comment

Today my pattern for The Cottage Garden Baby Quilt is over at Riley Blake Designs. This quilt is the perfect baby quilt size (38.5″ x 45″) It also sews up pretty fast and really shows off the yummy fabrics. Don’t you just love this fabric line by the Quilted Fish? Hop over to Rile Blake for the full tutorial!!

I branched out in my quilting and added this little flower/swirl thing in with the loop-de-loos. Thanks Molly Hanson for your free motion quilting book ideas 🙂

I can’t wait to wrap this up and give it to my friend who is expecting her first baby!!

Filed Under: FEATURED, quilt, Riley Blake

Jar Lid Applique Christmas Ornaments

December 6, 2014 by Amanda 1 Comment

I love Christmas ornaments and every year I try and come up with a new ornament to make. These are my favorite so far!! These make great little gifts and they can be personalized! Using the Therm o Web Iron-On Transfer sheets you can print any word you want and iron it onto the ornaments.

On this one I added some clear glitter to the jar lid by painting it with Mod Podge and dusting it with glitter. I LOVE clear glitter! I could clear glitter my entire home! It gives such a warm yet sparkly feel!

Supplies:

Wide mouth mason jar lids

5″ square background fabric

5″ square Therm o Web HeatnBond® Fusible Fleece

Small pieces of green fabrics and brown fabrics

spool of ribbon

button

Heat n Bond® EZ print Transfer Sheets

Heat n Bond® EZ Pressing paper

Tree Pattern, click HERE

Words, click HERE

Piece of Christmas card stock cut into a circle the exact size of the jar lid

Begin by cutting a 5″ square of background fabric and fusible fleece. Fuse the fleece to the wrong side of the background fabric. This gives the fabric a little stability and softness.

Print out the tree patterns and roughly cut them out and iron them to the wrong side of the tree and trunk fabrics. Cut on the pattern line, peel off backing paper.

Center the tree on the background fabric and press into place.

Top stitch around the tree and trunk three times in black thread. I like the stitching to look “sketchy” but it’s hard to not sew along the same line each time – you need to purposefully not follow the pattern.

Print out the words in REVERSE on the EZ Print Transfer Sheets for light fabric. Cut around the words and heat set in place. Let cool then peel off the paper.

Punch 2 holes in the mason jar ring – I used a crop-a-dile.

Thread the ribbon through and knot it in a loop. Cut a second piece of ribbon and tie a bow. Center the design and push through the mason jar ring. Trim off excess and hot blue into place. Hot clue excess fabric down and glue all the way around the inside as pictured below:

Place the card stock circle in the back to cover the mess!

Hot glue the bow to cover the holes. Finished! Now go make one for all your friends!!!
I sewed a button to the top of this tree. You could easily sew buttons to each tree or add other embellishments. I love being able to add a word to a fabric craft! I’m off to make more – think cats, owls, gingerbread men, and birds!

Filed Under: appliqué, Christmas, FEATURED, Heat n Bond, sewing, Therm O Web, tutorial

Christmas Jingle Bell Key Chain Tutorial

December 4, 2014 by Amanda 2 Comments

December is well underway and there is so much to be done! Is anyone else going crazy!!! I love these fabric key chains – they make it super easy to find your keys in your purse and you can slide your keys on your wrist. I wanted something festive for the holidays so I made candy cane stripe ones and added a jingle bell. I love the fact that I jingle where ever I go!! These make great gifts and you can whip up a bunch in an afternoon.

Supplies:

10″ red cotton webbing 1.25″ wide, I bought mine here

10″ x 2″ strip of striped fabric

Spray n Bond

Key fob hardware, I bought mine here

Jingle Bell

strip of card stock 1″ wide

Begin by cutting the fabric 2″ x 10″. Center the 1″ strip of card stock in the center of the wrong side of the fabric. Use the card stock as your guide to press the sides in evenly. Remove the card stock.

In my previous keychain tutorial I suggested using fusible hem tape to fuse the fabric to the webbing. While this works great, I choose to use Basting Spray – it’s faster and goes farther. A few tips about the basting spray: put down a disposable protective surface because there will be some overspray. I made quite a few so I used some old wrapping paper which could be rolled and discarded to give me a clean surface. If you are doing a lot I would wear gloves because you may get it on your hands.

Open the folds and spray a line down the center of the fabric. Pat the folds in and smooth to hold in place. Spray the folds again with the basting spray and center on the 10″ strip of webbing.