YW Value Signs & Class Signs

For those of you who don't know, I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes known as the Mormon Church).

In our church, we have a program for Young Women that starts when girls turn 12. Part of this program is an event called New Beginnings that usually takes place at either the beginning of the calendar year or the beginning of the school year. This event is intended to welcome new young women and introduce them to the Young Women's (YW) program.

This year, we had our New Beginnings in September. We decorated our Young Women's room with a colorful banner, and signs about Young Women. I had fun designing signs that represent the Young Women Values (Faith, Divine Nature, Individual Worth, Knowledge, Choice & Accountability, Good Works, Integrity, Virtue) and the YW classes (Beehives, Mia Maids, Laurels).

I would love to share my designs with you! Each sign is designed to fit a standard 8 1/2 x 11 inch piece of paper or cardstock.

For the YW Values, I printed each one, then cut a 1-inch border on each of the sides (leaving me with a 6 1/2 x 9 inch paper). I then mounted each of these on an 8 1/2 x 11 inch piece of colored cardstock. For the value of virtue, I found some really awesome sparkly gold poster board. We covered our bulletin board with it, and we happened to have a piece left over that measured 8 1/2 x 22 inches. I cut it in half, and voila! gold border for my Virtue sign. How serendipitous.

The background pattern extends to the edges of the page, if you would rather not cut and mount them. You could also cut or print these to be 8x10 and display them in picture frames.

Find the YW Value signs here (this is a link to a google doc, which you should be able to download).

I printed the YW class signs on white cardstock. There is no special background for them, and the text extends closer to the edge of the page than the YW Value signs. These also could be printed and displayed in 8x10 inch frames if you so choose.

For the YW Class signs, click here (also a google doc).

Even if you aren't having New Beginnings at this time, I hope these will be helpful to you for YW room decor. Our girls loved the new decorations and asked that we leave them up.

Stamped Washer Bracelets

Tonight, with the young women at my church, we made stamped washer bracelets. The girls had a good time with them, and their bracelets turned out really cute.

If you want to make your own, you'll need to gather a few supplies:
 • hammer
 • needle-nosed pliers
 • anvil (or you can go outside on the sidewalk)
 • metal stamps (1/4 inch)
 • washers (we used 2 different sizes--more on that later)
 • braiding cord and/or suede lace
 • cord clasps
 • beads or charms (optional)

I started out by going to the hardware store for some washers. I didn't pay much attention to the sizes, I just picked out some I liked. Washers are measured by the diameter of the hole in the middle. My washers are 1/2 inch and 3/8 inch.

On my big washer, I stamped my name. For this step, you'll need a hammer, metal stamps, and an anvil or sidewalk. Don't attempt to stamp your washers on a table, counter, or other surface. Lay your washer on the anvil or sidewalk, and proceed to stamp whatever combination of letters and/or numbers you like.

In the above picture, my name is a little shaky. That's because I've never used metal stamps before, so this was a case of trial and error. For my name, I made a series of taps with the hammer. Obviously, that wasn't wise.

For the small washer, I decided to stamp decorative lines. I used the capital letter "i" in my stamp set. The best way to make clear indents is to give each stamp one good, hard whack with a heavy hammer. My hammer was lightweight and girly, so I gave it 3 good whacks while holding the stamp steady. It worked much better than the sissy taps I tried on the large washer.

All the girls at church put the year they will graduate on the small washer. If you'd like to put something else significant to you, feel free. You could also leave this washer plain, if that is your preference.

To string the washers together, you will need braiding cord and/or suede lace. I found these in the craft section at Walmart. I'm sure somewhere like Hobby Lobby would have more selection, however. Measure your wrist (accounting for excess length due to the clasp), and cut your cord/lace accordingly. You'll want at least 3 or 4 strings of cord or lace. On my bracelet above, I used one strand of suede lace and two strands of braiding cord.

Lay your washers side-by-side, stamped side up. Separate your cord/lace into 2 groups. For the first group, I'll be using brown suede lace. You'll want the lace to go over and under the washers as shown in this picture:

My second group consisted of 2 strands of pink braiding cord. You'll want to string them the opposite as the first group, like this:

If you string your washers on your cord/lace like this, they will lay flat against your wrist.

If you would like any bead or charms on your bracelet, add them now. I didn't add any to mine, but I'm a simple girl.

Next, get out your cord clasps. Mine came in a package like this:

Again, I found these at Walmart. For my cord clasps, I fed the ends of my cord and lace into a small metal closure. I then used needle-nosed pliers to pinch the closure shut, trapping my lace and cords. These closures are attached to clasps, which I use to get my bracelet on and off.

After you pinch those shut, your bracelet is finished! Pat yourself on the back for making a piece of custom jewelry.

Here are some the girls made:

Enjoy!

baby hair bows

My sister is having a baby in March. We're throwing her a baby shower this weekend, and I am giving her some homemade hair bows!

I followed the instructions on the Make it and Love it website for hair bows with no slip grip (for fine baby hair).

I think they turned out really cute:

The tutorial was easy to follow. The no-slip grip is probably the best part. These clips are supposed to stay put in baby-fine hair, but they also work to clip back flyaway strands for older girls.

Cute, cute, cute!

Christmas Ornaments

It absolutely made my day to see this on Facebook!

I made that beautiful ornament for some newlywed friends of mine. I found the idea on this website, and I loved those monogrammed ornaments as soon as I saw them. I thought they would make an excellent gift for newly married couples sharing their first Christmas together. I got my ornaments and letter stickers from Hobby Lobby, then I simply put them all together!

I should have taken pictures before I sent them out for Christmas, but I guess my oversight was corrected when my friend posted the picture she took on Facebook :-)

Halloweening

This year for Halloween, I totally copped out on my costume. I wore an owl t-shirt sporting the phrase "Happy Owl O' Ween." I did spent some time doing owl-ish makeup, however, so maybe that makes up for my lack of costumage?

(Makeup somewhat inspired by this tutorial)


I also had some fun making Halloween lanterns for my li'l sis.

So cute, right? I found the idea on Our Best Bites.


I hope you have as much fun in your Halloweening!