Boring Walls...a room in progress

My son Caleb has been complaining because his walls are "boring". I agree, but it has taken me a while to decide just what I want to put up in his new room. He wanted his and his brother's names up. (They share a room.) I decided to mod-podge wooden letters for them. I think it turned out pretty good. This room is NOT done yet, I am still working on a project to incorporate their favorite animals- monkeys!  (I'm sure there will be more pictures in the coming weeks...)

 My happy Caleb

(Levi was too busy to stand in for the photo, he's just too busy -as a 2 year old boy is- to be "bothered"!)

Individual Worth Frames

In continuing with our theme of Individual Worth this month we had an activity about recognizing the worth in others. We took a few minutes to think about each girl in the class, and recognize what qualities make her special. We then took a few minutes and wrote down those qualities on pieces of paper with their names on it. When that was done, we decorated wood frames with scrapbook paper and Mod Podge. (The frames were a steal at $1 each at Michaels) The girls were really thoughtful and enjoyed this activity, they even wanted to fill out cards for the girls who couldn't be there last night! I have to hope that in taking the time to notice the good qualities of each girl they are learning to notice, love and care for each other.

(I was hoping to get a picture of all the frames together, but some of the girls were still working on them and some of them had to go early... so this is just a small sampling of the frames.)

On Sunday our lesson was on Talents so we followed up with IW Personal Progress Goal #7, which is:

Heavenly Father has given you special gifts. Read 1 Corinthians 12:4–12; 13; Moroni 7:12–13; 10:8–18; and Doctrine and Covenants 46:11–26. Ask a family member, a Young Women leader, and a friend to write down positive qualities the Lord has given you. List your gifts in your journal, and write how you can continue to develop these gifts and use them to serve your family and others.

Valentine Personal Progress

Our theme in Young Women's this month is INDIVIDUAL WORTH, so we came up with several activities committed to that theme. Last week we had a class activity where we started out reading Individual Worth Personal Progress goal #3, which is:

Read Doctrine and Covenants 18:10 and 121:45. Do all you can to build others and make them feel of worth. Every day for two weeks notice the worthwhile qualities and attributes of others. Acknowledge them verbally or in writing. In your journal write what you have learned about the worth of individuals and how your own confidence grows when you build others.

We read the scriptures together and then discussed what kind of qualities we should be looking for in others, and why it is important to recognize not only our own value, but the value of those around you.

We then gave them the assignment to look for the good qualities in others and acknowledge it. We made some Valentines for them to give away to those they had recognized. Here's a few of the examples... (sorry they are a little blurry...)

 (this one says "go ahead and BURST my balloon")

inside are some jolly ranchers and little rolled up personal notes

 Swedish fish

 Pencil and sucker valentines

(We got most of the Valentine ideas from scouring the internet and Pinterest)

Girly Room...

So this isn't exactly a handout or lesson idea. I think I would categorize it under the "and everything else in between" category. I have been in our new house for about 6 months now and have really only attempted to accessorize a few of the rooms.We only have one daughter- and she has been one of the lucky ones who has a semi-decorated room. Here's what I came up with:

 I took some frames I found on clearance at the craft store and painted them white. I took out the glass and covered a cut piece of wood with pink fabric, which fits perfectly inside the frame. I secured the fabric to the back of the board with a staple gun. I then found these adorable thumb-tack like butterflies at Target. They are three dimensional and look like they are popping off the board. (Admittedly, it did take a hammer and a bit of willpower to get them into the board. I think they would go directly into a wall much easier.)

 Matching pink curtain...

and matching butterfly curtain rod.

 The finished product:

My 5 year old is happy. It's fun to have a girl!