A Few Cuties!

I know I've talked about how we are doing a superhero theme this year in YW. And this clever woman, Marquette LaRee, created some amazing logos for a superhero theme she's done. We loved hers so much, and she had them available for download, so we took them and made buttons that the girls can earn throughout the year. Each month, if they complete a value experience or begin a project, they get the corresponding button for the month. 

The cool thing is that the girls can put them on their lanyards for girls camp. My lanyard is the one pictured above, from many past years at camp. The girls love them, and trade them with each other. They earn them for various certification items they complete. The nurse even has one she gives out to girls who are caught "drinking water"! :) The buttons were my good friend, Britt's idea. She is so creative!

Here's a closer look at the buttons. I want to think of one the girls can earn from the Bishop. Gotta brainstorm!

Another thing that came in this week were these little beauties! I just love them. They are little post-it notes for girls to stick on their mirrors to remind themselves of the goal they are working on for their Personal Progress. So cute & helpful! (I got the idea here.) 

That's all for now!

Happy spring break!

DIY Water Balloon Launcher & YW Honor Bee Printable

Over Valentine's Day weekend, we had an awesome young woman get baptized. Since she is 17, and a junior in high school, she won't need to complete the entire personal progress program. I believe the book specifies that instead of completing the 3 requirements and the 3 elective requirements of each value, she only needs to complete the 3 required ones and then complete a 10 hr. project for each value. This is still a lot if you are 17 already. We recently had a young woman complete her Personal Progress and she is a junior as well. We paired these two up to help each other, but to complete your honor bee, there is still some documenting that needs to happen that the book doesn't really give space for. The printable below are what we are going to use. Feel free to use them as well. (If you click on the pages below, it will enable you to print them. They are half sheets...fyi)

The sheet on "How to be a personal progress mentor,"  I did redo to fit our look. The original was found on inkablinka.com.  It just gave some really great ideas. Take a look! Love them! 

On another note, isn't it wonderful when a child asks at 9:30 at night if you can help them build a water balloon launcher before 10:30 the next morning for their college physics class? I guess I am just glad she asked. :) We had a great time and I can envision quite a few uses for this little baby after she is done with it!  

Supplies needed:

2 - 2x4 - cut into 4 pieces 36" long & 2 pieces 24" long

2 -1x3 - 6 ft long - cut into one piece 24" & 2 pieces 36" long

1 1/2" drywall screws

drill

3/8" drill bit

latex tubing

funnel

2 washers big enough to cover the bottom of the funnel

thin nylon cording

Instructions:

1. Screw the rectangular base together by  putting the 2 - 24" pieces of 2x4 inside 2 pieces of 36" 2x4 using your drill and drywall screws. I did pre-drill my wood because the 2x4's are generally very hard.

2. Drill 2 holes using the 3/8 in drill bit into one end of each of the 36" 2x4's that are left. This is where you will be inserting the latex tubing. 

3. Screw these 2 - 36" pieces upright into the base as shown in the picture above, making sure that the holes you drilled are at the top.

4. Connect the 1x3 measuring 24" across the front of the 2 upright pieces. This brace keeps them stable. I used my nail gun but you can easily use your drill and some screws.

5. Connect the braces on the sides (using the last 2 36" pieces of 1x3). Prior to doing this, I held them up and marked off the angles where the wood would hang over. Then I trimmed those pieces off. I used my nail gun to also connect these braces but you can use your drill here as well.

6. Drill 2 holes into the sides of the funnel on each side. Run the latex tubing through these and through the upright 2x4's as shown in the pic above. Tie a knot to secure. Do this on each side.

7. Tie a knot in one end of the nylon cording. Run this piece through the funnel and on the other side of the funnel run a washer and tie a knot. 

8. Now you are ready for a water balloon!

Easy!

A Simple YW in Excellence Night

We recently had our YW in Excellence Night. It was a simple evening, with the girls singing some songs they had learned throughout the year for various things. We had a videography committee that had made videos of girls answering various questions about personal progress. Some of their answers were so amazing. I loved all of them. We combined those into a video presentation.

And then the girls showed off their amazing projects they had worked on. But we got this idea from Jenny Phillips at http://www.jennyphillips.com/ to go through old Ensigns and cut out various pictures of Christ and mod podge them onto blocks of wood. They were basically free. The only things is when you are using magazine pages, the paper is different than if it were scrapbook type paper, so when it dries, it is a little bumpy. I did not mind this. I thought it looked as if the picture were old and was really lovely. We displayed them all on a table and let the girls choose which one they would like to take home. A simple evening, but nice.