Wednesday 20 June 2007

It's all been done before

On Saturday night Ken asked me what I was working on and I said, "Guess." He knew what that meant - I was working on something for the young women. He then suggested I was adopting the philosophy (which he knows I disagree with) that Everything worth doing is worth over doing. That wasn't it at all, I just had some inspiration and made the time to follow through with the ideas. In this post there are 5 ideas I've seen elsewhere all folded into 2 projects.


I was really inspired by the *full plate* idea from Kelly's blog and I decided to apply it to my YW and use the concept to encourage them to reserve some time for working on their personal progress. I cut and punched a green paper plate, and then nested it in a blue one to make it pretty - a Martha Stewart idea. The little scroll of paper says:

Is your plate too full to fit in some personal progress? Take a close look at what's eating your time!


The double paper plate creates an opportunity for a secret message, which I'm curious if any of the young women will find. Will they separate the plates after they eat the cookies? I know I would.

*


On Tuesday this week we invited mothers to join their daughters at YW's to watch this DVD about dress and appearance. It was an interesting documentary involving some history of changing women's styles and interviews with young women and adults of various cultures and backgrounds on the topic of modesty.


One of the special features on the DVD was titled 'Pockets of Resistance', which made me think back to Kristi's St. Patrick's Day card, and I knew I had to do a hand out for each young woman on the subject of modesty.




I printed out some points from For the Strength of Youth that I thought were important for the young women to keep in mind this summer as they make decisions in what they wear.




And I made pockets from construction paper because construction paper is so cloth like. I divided each sheet into thirds, folded each piece, sliced off the corners, and sewed them up to look like pockets. If you have never sewed construction paper on a sewing machine, you really have to try it just to hear the sound it makes.



I went with multi colors because Elizabeth's multicolor blogger's cookbooks were so pretty!


18 comments:

jenny said...

So many great ideas. I will have to keep your things on the back burner if I ever am called back to YM. You did a fantastic job.

melanie said...

Your YW must LOVE you! I always miss the time I have away from them when I am in another calling (like right now), even though they require so much time and energy.

Thank you for the good mail! A great surprise in my mailbox!! We are going to base one of our activities off of it. A half year reminder that we are working on our faith to follow Him. Perfect timing!!

Marie said...

I did the double plate thing for a baby shower and it turned out so soft and pretty. I didn't realize how hard it would be to use decorative scissors on the plates thought and by the end my hand was killing me.
I like the sound of sewing constructions paper too.
The DVD sounds interesting. Where did you get it?

Michelle Alley said...

Love the full plate idea, so creative. I can just see myself as a young woman loving these! Thank you so much for the goodmail - you are so so good about that. I must get better!

Kelly said...

Wow, great projects. I love how you can find so many different ideas on blogs and kind of meld them into your own. Very fun. The plates turned out cute! I imagine that would make your hand hurt.

I've never sewn construction paper, but I love to sew other paper. I'll have to try that. The sound is pretty great.

Anonymous said...

And now I have the "it's all been done" song in my head.

Mandy said...

great projects! It's nice to have outside inspiration!

Ortensia Norton said...

Amazing! They are such great ideas. And they look so great. The YW will love it!

Price Cream Parlor said...

Love these ideas, Barb! I will have to remember them in case I am ever in YW again! Loved it!

Jill said...

Oh Barb, I'm inspired. I love it that you credited the sources for your ideas and love it even more that you said you "made time to follow through with the ideas." That is so true. I always think we make time for the things we really want to do so I hate it when people say they don't have time for things. I know that I often don't make the time and then end up feeling like I ran out of time to execute my grand ideas, but deep down I know there were plenty of things that I could have given up instead.

These ideas are great. How did it go over with the girls?

Where do you do all your creative projects? I need photos.

Barb said...

Jill:
The great thing about young women, at least my young women, is they really appreciate anything we do for them, and this time one of the beehives specifically said to me, "Sister Leader, that must have taken a long time to make 25 of these." When she was looking at her Pocket of Resistance.
As for a picture of where I do my projects, I guess I could post a picture of my kitchen, but I don't have a craft room or even a specific space, so I have to clean up whatever I'm working on before dinner, and then get it out again after the kids go to bed. A better/more revealing picture might be the bookshelves where all my scraps are stuffed above the books right now - what a mess!

Jill said...

Thanks for answering my questions. I'm glad the girls appreciate your creative efforts, 25 is a lot of girls to make these for.

I'd love to see pictures of your kitchen set up when you're in the middle of a project.

everything pink! said...

wow they look great. thanks for posting.

everything pink! said...

i meant to also say, i love how you love the construction paper like me too, it is yummy to the fingertips.

annalisa said...

You have the cutest ideas. If I ever get a calling where I need to be creative, I know where I'm heading for ideas.

Elizabeth said...

What great ideas. They turned out wonderfully. I just started a word document with all your YW ideas. Just in case.

carlo said...

awesome, awesome ideas. you are so talented, barb!

Jennifer (mom of four) said...

I love all of these! You are so crafty!