Girl's Camp "Flashlight" Devotionals {Light Bulb}

#2 - The Bulb
The second thing you need for flashlight to shine is the bulb.  The bulb represents the light that each Young Woman shines forth.  This is their testimony, their service, and the example they give to others.  It is the component that actually admits the light.

Here's what I did for the handout.

You can buy these adorable bulbs at Hobby Lobby for $1.49 each.  I also got them with the 50% off glass promotion, so hold out for that.

Then I went to the local candy store.  Where I purchased pearl Sixlets.  Do not try lemon heads, they are too big.  I wanted them to be white, but yellow would be great too.

Then I simply filled them with candy and made this handout.

Girl's Camp "Flashlight" Devotionals {Battery}

#1 - The Battery  
First you need a battery which represents the things we need to do to keep our spiritual batteries at full charge.  These things are scripture study, prayer, and Personal Progress.

Here is what I did for a handout.

I bought these containers from Walmart.  They are called 'Darice Organizer Jewelry Design Bead Storage System 12 Containers'.  These containers were the perfect size and shape for my battery handout.

Then I made and printed this to go around!  I looked at the Duracell battery really closely to make it look as similar as possible, but in cuter paper.

Inside I put this necklace, but you could also do some candy.   Then I taped the paper around it so that it could be slipped on and off.

Girl's Camp "Flashlight" {Shirts}

Well, now that summer is way over, I better return back to posting.  It's been pretty busy with that move and then a few projects that I started, but I guess that I should start with where I left off; Girl's Camp.

So next up, the camp shirts.  The previous year, they had done two shirts.  This was good because some girls wanted pink and some wanted blue, so we got both.  This was bad because it was a little overwhelming until I saw that Jodi had made an adorable bleach shirt, and I just had to try it.  But first, the printed shirts.

Shirt #1:

I made this image and sent it to a shirt printer.

I love how it turned out.

Shirt #2:

(Note: You must use 100% cotton to give the splattered effect.  These shirts are from Hobby Lobby, but only the Fitted Shirts were 100% cotton.  The normal t-shirts are 50/50 cotton/polyester.  This doesn't produce the same effect.)

I made this image, cut it out, and pinned it down to the shirts. Make sure that you place a towel or liner inside the shirt to prevent it from bleeding through the back as well.

Then spray it with bleach.  A little can go a long way, so be sure to keep it light and wait to see how it looks.  You can always do more later.

 All in all, they turned out great, and the girls were wild over them.

Girl's Camp "Flashlight" {Flag}

Shortly after I called to a Beehive Adviser, I was also called to be the Ward Camp Director.  I LOVE Girl's Camp.  I have been wanted to serve in Young Women's for a long time mostly so that I could go to camp.  I just wanted to kick back and enjoy it, but that doesn't happen when you need to get paperwork, collect money, and come up with all the fun ideas and devotionals.

The Young Women's theme this year has been "Arise and Shine Forth".  So, it wasn't surprising when our Girl's Camp theme was "Ignite the Light".  Our stake assigned each ward a light source.  Our ward was the flashlight.  When I first heard it, I thought "BORING!"  But when the wheels got turning, things started coming together and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

The best thing about this, is that it is totally something that would work for any Girl's Camp because you always have flashlights.  This would be a great idea for mutual as well.  I will totally use this sometime in the future.

First off, I would like to show you the design for the ward flag.

Flag:

With a projector and a sheet, we blew up the image and penciled in the lines.  Then all it took was a little fabric paint and some gems to turn it into something fabulous!  And yes, we used a little bit of glitter fabric paint.  Glitter fabric paint is a little more opaque, so you need to do several coats.

Retro Chic Digital Kit

Introducing my first digital kit, "Retro Chic" (who knows, it might be my last).  For years I searched digital scrapbooking sites to find the perfect kit with the perfect colors.  There are many out there and most are beautiful color combinations that I would never have thought of.  However, I still couldn't find what I was looking for, so I made it.

I do not claim to be a professional.  In fact, the truth is that I am extremely armature if not elementary, but I have done a few projects with this kit and I think that they turned out great.  Here's a couple of samples:

The "Retro Chic" Digital Kit is available for purchase and is priced at $1.  It's located in the Cookie Nut Creations 'Shop'.

My Take on Map Art

When Leah posted her Friday Feature {Map Art}, I really liked the idea, however, I wanted something that looked a little more vintage.  So I did a little research and found this image from the same blog she featured, Creative Juices Decor, but in a separate post.  And this style was right up my alley!

I found this image online (sorry, I can't remember where) tweaked it in Photoshop Elements. I still haven't done this project because I'm working on a few other projects currently, but I thought that I would share my plans for Map Art.

For more map decorating ideas, go check out Junk Garden Girl {Decorating with Maps}!  She has a beautiful collection of ideas.

Christmas Block Ornaments

I made these block ornaments last year as birthday gifts for my mom and mom-in-law.  I wanted each of them to have some ornaments of representing their grandkids and after seeing this tutorial I knew these blocks would be a big hit...and they were!

I did change things up a bit with the ones that I made.  Instead of using a cup hook I decided to use an eyelet hook.  I didn't want the ribbon falling off each time they were packed away into storage.  I also wanted to differentiate between boys and girls ornaments, so I made sure to print all of the girls names onto a red paper while the boys were on a green one.  Then I made sure the ribbon color cordinated with their name colors.  In other words, the boys blocks were green with green ribbons while the girls were red with red ribbons.

I fell instantly fell in love with them and decided that I wanted to have a set for my own tree, but I didn't want to just stop there.  I decided that I wanted to have a block representing each year.  One for each of our kids and one of the family.  So, I went back into our photo archives and dug up some past pictures representing a family photo for each year we've been married.  Then, I made one for each of my girls.  I know that may seem like a ton of blocks hanging on one little tree, especially as the years go by, but the goal is to give my girls their set of blocks to hang on their own trees some day and keep them family blocks for myself. 

I finshed all of them, but I have not taken the pictures yet, so here is the file of my pictures to give you an idea of what you can do with these fun ornaments.

HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A GREAT THANKSGIVING!!!!

Turn Your Photo into a Coloring Page with PSE

Photoshop Elements is awesome. There are so many things you can do to your photos to make them even more fun, and turning them into coloring pages is one of the easiest. 

Step 1: Open your image in PSE
Step 2: Click on Enhance, select Convert to Black and White
Step 3: Choose your preferred Black and White style, click OK
Step 4: Click on Filter, scroll to Sketch, select Photocopy
Step 5: Add a outlined font to create a title

From this...

To this...

To These...

The kids had so much fun with this, and they can't wait for me to make more.

Custom Artwork Made Your Way

I love having "one of a kind" art pieces in my home.  Granted, I can't afford to pay someone to create unique artwork for my home.  Don't get me wrong, I have my fair share of massively produced paintings and prints, but I wanted something that was truly unique and mine.

I made this image through Photoshop Elements.  This took a long time, but it was worth it.  You can also find images everywhere and there are plenty that can be purchased.

Once I had my image the way that I wanted it, I printed it off and cut it out to make a template.  Then I grabbed a stained board that I was going to use for another project (but found out I didn't need it) and started painting!  So much FUN!

Then I placed the template over it and used a pencil to trace the image so that I could erase any remaining marks.  Then, I painted some more.

Once I had my painting the way I wanted it, I put on a coating of Modge Podge to seal the wood and protect it.

I LOVE IT!  It's something that is totally unique and my own.