Reusable Table Centerpieces

I was asked to make some table centerpieces for our Relief Society 100 Dresses activity.  I decided to make something I could reuse, so I came up with these plain white wood panels.  The base pieces are 1x4s cut 12 inches long.  The upright piece a 1×8 cut to 8×10 pieces.  They are screwed together on the bottom and painted white.  I used my Silhouette to decorate both sides with vinyl to match the theme.  My plan is to reuse these for future activities and holiday decorating by just removing the vinyl and replacing it with whatever vinyl designs I want.

I can only take credit for the centerpieces, but the ladies on the RS committee did a beautiful job decorating with vintage and special occasion dresses hung around the room and beautiful table settings.  And check out those cupcakes!  Amazing!

Update:  I did this event again, in anther ward.  Here’s a few of the pictures.  The favors are wedding favors from Amazon and I just cut out a dress and glued it over the wedding dress.  Lifesavers are inside.

Forget Not Post It Note Gift

 

This week I am getting ready for a Visiting Teaching Conference at church.  Our theme is “Forget Not the Importance of Visiting Teaching”.  I needed a cute hand out for under a dollar a piece.

I decided on post it holders:

This blog was where I got my inspiration (i.e. copied) to do the post it note hand out.  Her tutorial is great, but gives measurements for holding two post it note pads.  Since I had to make 150 of these things, I chose to save a little money and only do one pad.

In case you are wondering, the mini gel pens are from Staples and the cheapest post it notes I could find were the generic brand from Costco.

The card stock is from Joann’s (the lavender “pearl” pack) and the plastic packaging is also from Joann’s.

My tutorial:

 

Want to see how we decorated the Relief Scoiety room?  Forget me not flowers are small and weren’t in season, so we printed of these prints from Costco photo gallery ($3 each) and put them in frames we already had.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Welcoming Young Women to Relief Society

I feel its really important for Young Women to feel welcomed in Relief Society!  Our Relief Society does all the normal things to get to know the girls on a regular basis; inviting them to activities, opening exercises together, joint lessons.  Also, once a year close to graduation, we take a 5th Sunday and use the whole Relief Society meeting to welcome the girls.

In years past, I’ve taught a lesson with young women in mind (making choices, overcoming fear) but this year we had so many Laurels graduating, we spent the meeting having each mother take a few minutes and introduce her daughter.  For those that didn’t have moms there, we had a women who was close to them speak instead.  At the end, both the YW President and I shared a few thoughts about Relief Society and how it has blessed our lives.

We gave each Laurel a packet with a little poem inside.  The packets are made out of fabric place mats (nice, heavy fabric) just folded up and sewn into pockets.  Ribbon is sewn around too.  Poem is at the bottom of the post with all items listed.  It folds and ties nicely.

I decorated the room with these signs.  Its foam board covered with fabric, white paper, and vinyl words cut with my Silhouette.
We also made cupcakes for ALL sisters to take home.   All cupcakes were packaged in plastic cups for easy transport.

Each cupcake had this message tied on it.  I designed the tag with clip art from Shabby Princess.

Poem (I’m sorry, I don’t know where it came from!)

When you decide to join us, we’ll be glad to welcome you,

into our worldwide sisterhood and to a group that is new.

S o here’s a little something to help you on your way,

as you head of for Relief Society and to a brand new day.

You’ll need a lesson amnual with precious truths inside.

The lessons stregthen testimonies as they are taught worldwide.

Now when you find the meeting great and not a bit absurd,

just use the pad and pencil to weite down every word.

The tissues are for wiping tears when lessons touch your heart,

and we know you will love them all, reight from the very strart!

Here’s a bookmark for your scriptures, please take them every week,

We’ll study then together as guidenace we will seek.

You’ll benefit if you will “chews” to mingle with your sisters,

by attending activites , you’ll gain more than hot glue gun blisters.

And last, an invitation in which every word rings true,

cause you should know that Relief Society has a special place for YOU!

(If you know where this came from, please let me know!)

Relief Society Birthday Visit Gifts

When I was called to be Relief Society president in our ward, I felt very strongly that we should visit every sister on our ward lists on their birthday.  Two plus years into it, we’ve had great success in getting to know the ladies of our ward with these simple front door drop bys.  My presidency and and I rotate months, so we each do visits once a quarter.  We always bring a little gift with us.  I’m going on my third year, so here are the three gifts we’ve done so far, all under a dollar and all using coupons from Joanns, Michaels, and Hobby Lobby for all purchases.  We have a bout 150 ladies on our roster, so at the beginning of the year, we just make all 150 and then they are all ready to go each month.

The first year we did these “love blocks”.  They are the most labor intensive, but also the cheapest (about 35 cents each).  The wood is 2x4s cut into blocks painted various colors (seasonal) with a Silouette or Cricut paper cut out “love” modge podged on (layer over the top too).  On the back is a little note with a signature from each of us.  Finish with a tulle bow, and you’ve got a “gift of love”.  The next year we did these little flower vases.  We got the bottles from a local bottle distributer, filled with sand and got various flowers (again, seasonal) from the craft store.

Currently we are delivering these little book marks made out of a large vintage-looking clip and clay flowers, both from Pick Your Plum.  The flowers I purchased were a variety pack, so I used the big ones for this project and the small ones for this project.  This is just printed on 4×6 photo paper with a slit cut with a razor blade to attached the clip.

All wrapped up:Clip up close:We’ve also given out the adorible note pads that JB Designs has on her site for a little over a dollar.  We gave them out at our Christmas program, but they would work for birthday visits for sure.

Do you do birthday visits?  I would love to hear what you bring along!

Welcoming New Members to Relief Society

Summer time is coming, and for me that means its moving season.  Over the next few months, we’ll have many new sisters and families move in.  As a RS presidency, we try hard to make them feel welcome.  During our new member’s first Sunday in Relief Society, we have her fill out this information sheet you can download here:

New Ward Member Information

It is especially helpful to share this info with the ward clerk if he doesn’t already have their records.

We also make sure each sister is visited the first week they move in.  I bring a current ward directory and a cute sheet of “important numbers” to hang on their fridge.  These numbers include Bishopric, presidents, missionaries, and the temple.  Need a clipart for the top of your sheet?  Use this:

And of course, on our initial visits, I bring along a gourmet cupcake (bought, not made, so worth the $2.50)  because nothing says, “We’re glad you’re here” like an amazing cupcake.  Yum!  And just a reminder, don’t forget to assign a visiting teacher as soon as possible; this is the BEST way to make a new member feel loved and welcome!

Menu Planning for LDS Funerals

LDS funerals have traditions all their own!  Although there are many other options for the meal usually provided for the family and out of town guests, at least in our ward, as older members pass away, the request is for traditional ham and funeral potatoes.   I usually only cook ham on Easter, so I’m always unsure of how much to assign out.  My amazing Compassionate Service leader gave me this.  I don’t know where she got it, so I can’t give credit where credit is due!  With this plan there’s plenty of left overs too.

Funeral Meal Guidelines

Menu and amounts for 12-15 people, multiply as needed

-boneless ham 4-5 lbs cooked and sliced

-potato casserole or “funeral potatoes”, 9×13 pan

-jello salad or fruit salad, 9×13 pan or platter

-green salad

-rolls and cube of butter, 18

-cake, 9×13 pan

Remember to:

-assign out set up, serving, clean up

Make sure to have:

-table cloths, centerpieces, paper products

-left over containers, ziplocks, foil

-tape, marking pen to mark dishes

-dish towels, sharp knife, serving utencils

General Conference Idea for Relief Society

At church, I’m currently working with the women in Relief Society.  We have a very important world wide meeting coming up called General Conference.  It truly is a wonderful opportunity to hear from our church leaders.  I don’t know about you, but I have a great time watching Conference, get really inspired, and then promptly forget everything I learned.  Sure, I remember some things as they are presented in talks and lessons later on, but I have a hard time remembering the words of the prophet on a day to day basis.

So, with that in mind, I decided to had these out to the ladies in my ward Relief Society.  Its very simple; just a sign to hang anywhere in their house (the fridge maybe?) where they can write a list of what President Monson says.  My hope is they will involve their families and the women they visit teach.  A copy of the letter from myself and my presidency is below.

If you’ve done something in your ward that has worked, I’d love to hear about it!  I have so many fun Relief Society stuff to post, I’ll get to it all soon!

Dear  Relief Society Sisters,

General Conference is coming up on March 31^st  and April 1^st .   In our Relief Society lesson this past Sunday we discussed how to remember and implement what the prophet has taught us.

 We hope that this sign will help you and your families write and remember what President Thomas S. Monson teaches us in General Conference.  We hope you can find a place in your home to put this to help you remember his counsel in the upcoming months.

 If you feel like this can be beneficial to any of the women you visit teach, please deliver it to them.

 Thinking of you,