Sunday Best

I read (or skim) a LOT of blogs. Mostly craft and cooking blogs that I have found over the years. There are also a few websites that I frequent as well. One of those websites is Sugardoodle! If you are a member of the LDS church it is a wonderful resource for lessons, activities, crafts, etc. This time of year in our faith we are preparing for General Conferece~two days of listening to our General Authorities speak, teach and inspire us. It also consists of 12 hours of watching church for our children! Getting them to stay interested and entertained can be a challange, but here are some helps. Sugardoodle posted a few great conference packets to help us out:

Here are the links for: A Youth Packet, Senior Primary, Junior Primary & Nursery . There is also a wonderful page devoted to General Conference.

So break out the snacks, cuddle up on the couch and be inspired as you listen to our Prophet speak!

family values craft...

In my blog stalking I came across the cutest idea for a sign with words to describe your families values. Kierste over at Brown Paper Packages made a darling version that I then modified to meet my own needs.

I started out by shopping around at our local thrift stores for a canvas. I knew I could find one cheaper than buying one new. I found that you do NOT want to buy "artwork" at our local Goodwill. The cheapest one I found there was $29 for an 11x14 ugly piece of work! I was able to find this one for $5 at DART. It measures 15x20 inches. Wal-mart also carried blank canvas.

When I got it home I painted is all black!
Then I started picking out all of the papers I wanted to use. They don't all necessarily match, but I think they all coordinate. Some of the paper I used was from a 6x6 fat book, so my top strip measures 2 1/2 x 12 and the short strips are 2 1/2 x 6.

After I knew where I wanted each of them I started modge podging them down.Be generous with your modge podge! You want to make sure that each strip is stuck down well. Continue to lay out and stick down all of your strips. Once there all down, do another quick coat over the top just for good measure!

Then let you canvas dry. I was somewhat impatient with mine and only let it dry for about 30 minutes or so! While it was drying I chose my words and cut my vinyl (I used black). I used a variety of fonts, but they all fit in the 2 1/2 x 6 inch strip of paper.

I also added some little vinyl flowers to jazz it up. Then I applied all of the vinyl and it was done! I love how it turned out. I put it on a wall that the kids see while sitting at the kitchen table. I hope to make these words a part of our family discussions during dinner.

If you don't have access to a piece of canvas a wide piece of wood would work great for this project too. Also if you don't have access or don't want to use vinyl, you can print from your home printer onto your scrapbook paper or use paint pens to write your words.

Articles of Faith Cards & Apostle Cards

Looking for a way to get more out of General Conference?

I wanted a little something for Bud to follow to help him maybe get a little more out of conference. I found a few conference packets on Sugardoodle.net at the conference page. But I found one that was my favorite here: General Conference Activity Cards. After printing it out I decided that I'm going to print one for N8 and I as well. It has a place to put the choir info, a word search, a page for each apostle, color the ties page and your testimony(16 printed pages that you cut in half). Hopefully this will help us all get a little more from conference this year!


While I was searching on Sugardoodle I also found 2 other "quiet" type books to make. The first is an article of faith book. Each article of faith has a image to help you remember the basics of that particular article of faith. Then on the back it has the entire article of faith. I laminated them and put a colored piece of card stock to make them more colorful. Benjamin at one point in time could say all of his articles of faith and can still do them with a little bit of help, but it's great practice.


The other is the 1st Presidency and Quorum of the 12's pictures then on the back a little info like: birthday, mission, marriage and interesting facts. I though this would be great for the kids to be more familiar with their faces and learn a little more about their lives. These I also laminated (I love my laminator!) and put some colored card stock with them as well. You can find it here.