Welcome

I wanted to let everyone know that I am in the process of making a Photoshop Elements Scrapbooking Tutorial.  I am working on it for a class in my church for the end of August, so I should have it ready sometime before that or posted just after that.

It has been a while, but I am also planning on making some new backgrounds.  I may also do some embellishments and headers, but I'm not sure at this point.

I hope you'll enjoy!

Scrament Book by Becky

I loved this idea because it's a great reminder.  She posted this on her Crafting Chicks blog for a visiting teaching handout.  This is something that is good for all of us.  For young children, you could tone down the quotes for easy reading.  You could have the sacrament prayers, John 3:16, or even simple words like Christ, garden, and other relevant words to the atonement, death, and resurrection.

Obviously, for younger children, I would suggest putting it into something a little more protected.  I would recommend putting it in one of those 4x6 mini photo albums.  For her instructions and quotes, visit here.

Journal Jar by Tricia

I loved this idea for a lot of reasons.  I think this would be great to do on a yearly basis with our kids individually or as a family until their old enough.  All you have to do is answer one question a day and...voila...you have a journal!   How easy is that?!

Below are some questions that Tricia had to go in the jar.  This would need to be added to if you wanted to have one for everyday of the year.  And the questions would need to be tailored to your family and/or each individual.

Noah Mini File Folders

I made these two mini file folders games and both happen to be Noah based. The first one, I took a coloring page and deleted a lot of extras, added a bigger rainbow, and colored it.  BTW - I cut my rainbow colors by two (red/orange, yellow/green, and blue/purple) it would be too hard to cut out each color, and place on velcro or magnets on such a small space.

                                 Front                              Inner

                                                        Game

The other, I can't take credit for.  I found it for FREE at Mormon Chic.  I only put on my insert page and cover page, since I wanted mine to look similar to my others.  If you want to make it a mini file folder, you will just need to make sure that instead of a full page, you minimize it to half a page.  Click here to make you own as well as many other file folder games.

                                 Front                              Inner

The Testimony of the Book of Mormon

During the October General Conference, Jeffery R. Holland gave a powerful talk...which was really an amazing testimony of the devinity of The Book of Mormon.  I have always love Elder Holland's talks and I have a strong testimony of Joseph Smith and The Book of Mormon, but his message struck me.  It struck us all.  I don't believe that any honest person could deny his resolve and his powerful words when they were spoken.
My posts are geared towards teaching our children, and this is no exception.  I encourage everyone to have a FHE lesson on the truthfulness of The Book of Mormon and to show them this video.  I think that it is imporatnt for our children to see the testimonies of the apostles and prophets, especially one that is geared to an important key of the gospel.

Watch the video, and I know you will enjoy it.


I will be posting a new File Folder Game soon!

The Creation Mini File Folder Game

I have a new mini file folder game. For those who have 'My gospel ABCs Book', this may look a little familiar. I figured, why not make a file folder game for a little bit older children.

Take a file folder and cut it at the crease. This way I can get two file folder games out of one folder. I also used magnets. I like velcro, but file folder games make it louder than if it's on fabric. I like magnets because they're quiet. I used the magnet roll where you can cut you own size (very cost effective).

Just click on the images (will take you to larger version), right click and copy the images below into photoshop or even a word document and print them off. Cut them out. Paste the filer folder game cover, scripture clue page, and the game board page into the file folder. Cut out the individual Day game pieces and laminate them. Take the file folder to get it laminated at FedEx/Kinkos, Staples, etc. Be sure to fold the file in half and get a really good crease before you get it laminated. Staple a plastic bag to the back to put your pieces in. Hope you like it.

Popcorn Popping Mini File Folder Game

I created this mini file folder game and I'm really happy with the way it turned out. I love file folder games, but I am trying to make my church bag a little bit smaller...so I went smaller.

As you can see, all I did was take a file folder and cut it at the crease. This way I can get two file folder games out of one folder. I also used magnets. I like velcro, but file folder games make it louder than if it's on fabric. I like magnets because they're quiet. I used the magnet roll where you can cut you own size (very cost effective).

Just click on the images (will take you to larger version), right click and copy the images below into photoshop or even a word document and print them off. Cut them out. Paste the filer folder game cover, Popcorn Popping song page, and the tree page into the file folder. Cut out the individual popcorn game pieces and laminate them. Take the file folder to get it laminated at FedEx/Kinkos, Staples, etc. Be sure to fold the file in half and get a really good crease before you get it laminated. Staple a plastic bag to the back to put your pieces in. Hope you like it.

I made these images, so if you want to share these...link them back to my blog.

The Christmas Story

Now that December is right around the corner, I thought that we would start it off with this. In the Dec. 2004 issue of The Friend is this nativity scene. I collect nativities and thought that this would be good to make into a felt and flannel board for the kids. You could also laminate them and put magnets on the back, make a diorama, or just about anything. Have fun.

Click here for the pdf file

Remember the Sabbath Day

I found this in the November 2004 issue of The Friend. It is specifically for FHE but would do great for sharing or scripture study. It's about how the Israelites had to gather additional manna for the Sabbath Day. I can't wait to do this one. I love fun ways to teach bible stories and the instructions are already on it.
Click here for the pdf file

November Friend

11/09

The November 2009 Friend has a great Happy Home puzzle. This would be awesome for Family Night. It is an activity and a lesson, but it would be awesome as a quiet activity for Sacrament Meeting too. Click here for the pdf file.

The November 2007 Friend only gave the idea, so I made it easy for you. This is a great craft for the kids. I'm doing my own twist. Instead of just stuffing it with newspaper, we are going to leave it hollow and put a slit in the top. The weeks before Thanksgiving, put in strips of paper with something you're thankful for. Whenever you think of something new, put it in. Open it up on Thanksgiving Day and read them.

My Family Tree

I found this in the October 2009 Friend Magazine. It's pretty straight forward. It's a family tree with places for pictures. I love this because it's not just names, you and your family get to look at pictures and feel connected to family. If you want to print it off, click here.

General Conference Recap

My son brought this home from church on Sunday and thought it was an awesome idea especially for older children. It has a list of all the conference talks (even the ones from priesthood) and gives the gist of their talk with a small snippet. It would be great to tape on the bathroom mirror to give us a little reminder of what the brethren have instructed us. It would be great for a lesson on remembering what the prophet and apostles have said or maybe use it for (modern) scripture study.

Nativity Cube

Christmas is coming much sooner than we think. Here's a great idea, submitted by Mckay. She has come up with a new take on the nativity. I have seen wood/vinyl nativities before, but I absolutely love this idea.

You could use this for FHE, you can take it to sacrament meeting, use it during your Christmas scripture study, or add it to your collection of nativities. It's unique and kid friendly. It's a 4x4 square block with separate images of the nativity scene on it's 6 sides.
The vinyl cost is $5. Pleasant Sunday viewers receive FREE shipping, just type in promotional code 'Pleasant'.

Thanks Mckay for your wonderful idea.

Click here or in the sidebar to purchase.

Priesthood Organization

The Gospel Principles manual is another great FHE tool. The lessons are geared to introducing investigators and new converts to the gospel principles (hence, the title). This is why the lessons in this manual are great for teaching our children. Unfortunately, there aren't ideas to keep the children occupied. This requires a little planning and creativity. However, Chapter 14 is on Priesthood Organization. This can be a loaded topic for our children, but the manual give this diagram which can be done in a couple of ways. You could simply print this image off and have the children color it. For a little older children you could remove the words and have the children find which space goes with which name. Or you could do what I did.
I printed the image on to three different color papers. Brown for the "roof", cream for the "walls", and gray for the "steps". Then I cut out the images and laminated them. This way the children can put it together like a puzzle or can build it starting with the "foundation".

Latter-day Go Fish

My kids love playing our Latter-day Prophet Memory Game. Our oldest has even started to remember some of their names. It easy to match pictures, but we thought it might be fun to try something else. We take the same cards and play Latter-day Prophet "Go Fish". We still show the pictures because they are still learning, but it gives us the opportunity to say the prophets names. Instead of saying, "Go Fish", we say, "Follow the Prophet". The kids have a blast with both, so we get two games for the price of one!

"Felt" the Spirit

Felt stories and flannel boards is something I always remember from my primary experience growing up. These are great for FHE, but have you ever thought to take them to church? You could easily make a small flannel board or you can stick it on the back of the pew. That's right, if your pews are the ones that have the fabric on the back, the felt will stick.

There are places you can buy LDS felt stories for, well, not cheap. This is a time to be creative! Felt is a very cheap fabric. You can find free images all over the net. An iron and some iron on paper and vuala! Just make sure not to make your peices small because they don't work as well.

Or you can always copy the images onto cardstock and laminate them. The kids love playing with them as well.

The story on Noah is a good place to start! Click here!


I also found this awesome tree of life clip art here!
And some for the First Vision. Sorry that they aren't on one page.

• Click here for the images of Joseph speaking to his preacher, reading the scriptures, and praying.
• Click here for Joseph looking up at Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
• Click here for the images of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
• And click here for the image of the sacred grove!

The First Vision

In The Friend (April issue) , is this great teaching tool. I have a strong testimony of the Prophet Joseph. It is important for our children to gain their own testimony of the first vision at an early age. This article is perfect for FHE or you can even make it your family scripture study. There are 9 questions it asks and gives the references of where to find the answer in the Joseph Smith-History.

For the Strength of YOU

I just attended a women's symposium for my stake. The theme was "For the Strength of You" and we all received our own pamphlets. These have been made specifically for the Young Men and Young Women's program, but it's standards are for all. As I was looking through it, I thought that this would be a great tool for FHE. They have several topics that can be taught to all ages. Sexual Purity and Dating are topics that can be held off until they are age appropriate. There are pictures, they are short, and they are gospel essentials. For the next 16 weeks, I will be teaching my young children the vital values they need not only in their youth, but throughout their lives.

"We promise that as you keep these standards and live by the truths in the scriptures, you will be able to do your life’s work with greater wisdom and skill and bear trials with greater courage. You will have the help of the Holy Ghost. You will feel good about yourself and will be a positive influence in the lives of others. You will be worthy to go to the temple to receive holy ordinances.
These blessings and many more can be yours." - The First Presidency, For the Strength of Youth.

Click here for the pdf file. Click here to for a free pamphlet from the Distribution Center.

Trying to be Like Jesus

"What would you do if Jesus were here?" Instead of asking our children what they would do, invite the Savior in your family prayer. Get a picture of the Savior praying and have it near when it's prayer time. The Savior is "the light and life of the world" and has set the perfect example. Let your children see it!

Plan of Salvation Diagram

It's always a great idea to have a plan of salvation diagram. It's a great missionary tool. But how fun would it be to make it a game. Using age appropriate gospel trivia, this game can be used for any age group. Divide into two groups and make your way from the Pre-Mortal life all the way to the Celestial Kingdom. If you want to use the arrows, make sure you print off enough.
Special thanks to Camie!