New Beginnings: Don't Give UP...

First what is New Beginnings? 

"Young women who will reach the age of 12 in the coming year are also invited to attend with their parents. It may be held during Mutual. This event provides an opportunity for leaders to express their love for the young women, encourage parents to help their daughters in Personal Progress, and introduce new young women to the young women program."

I am a Miamaid Advisor and we were asked to plan the night. At first I came up with several ideas and let the girls choose what they would want. After some debating we all decided we loved the UP theme. 

So for the next two months the planning begun. My fabulous sister Kelsey drew some amazing pictures of the house. She even made the cool graphic balloons that would attach to the house. I loved what she made for me & did I mention she is pretty RAD!

My other sister Marci, got roped into this ordeal as well. I called her before Valentines Day to see if her daughter needed an idea for a V-day box. Well, schools don't do that anymore so instead we planned to start something once she came up for a weekend. After my collection of boxes & a few hours of duct taping, cutting. This was probably the longest and most time consuming thing.. but it made the night!

Next I probably watched this show another 10 times to get the details of the show. I also watched to get an idea for a theme of bringing the movie to part of that night.

I went to work on the bottle cap pin that Ellie gives Carl in the movie. At first I was going to make them into necklaces for the girls & after I already had made 10 or so of them I just wasn't in love with them. So, things changed I ended up getting them to look just perfect. 

(I will be honest I am a Hobbly Lobby shopaholic so I got all my supplies there.) I will post pictures because I think its easier to understand & find in a store when you have a picture.

Supplies:

Bottle Caps 1 1/4" (Collect and then spray paint or buy them)

*the package at Hobby Lobby gives you 24 in a pack

Safety Pins (Make sure you get a bag that is 1" to 2" in size)

White Cardstock

Foam brushes 1"

A 1.8" mm Bottle Cap Hole Punch. 

Glossy Accents 3D Medium glue

Krylon Workable Fixatif 

Modge Podge Matte 

*if you are a serious crafter you may already have Modge Podge. If not they do have a smaller 4oz. bottle that will be plenty.

                                                   

First, I printed out my grape soda design on Cardstock. Before you cut them into circles spray them with the Krylon Fixatif spray. Let them sit overnight or up to 4 hours. This helps with the ink not bleeding.

Second, while they are drying you can take out your bottle caps and start punching the holes in them. I would make one hole then stick the safety pin and line up where I want the other hole to be. (Make sure you punch it close to the top of the bottle cap so your safety pin can be seen at the top.) Punch your second hole & fasten the safety pin and you are ready to begin the next part.

Once you have coated the page of circles with Fixatif and let it sit; you can then cut them out. This may take some time depending on how good you are at cutting a perfect circle out. You then will be able to begin to put your badges together.

Dip your foam brush in the Modge Podge and coat the top of the bottle cap. Then center and stick your circle to the bottle cap. Rub it around so you won't get bubbles and let it dry.

Once you go through and finish gluing your circles on you will be ready to use your Glossy Accents.

Next, take the Glossy Accents and start around the edges of your glued paper. Go slowly around the edge in a circular motion and work your way into the center of the cap. It will be cloudy looking. It's best to wait overnight for these to dry & cure. 

Be sure not to shake the Glossy Accents. If you happen to get bubbles take a lighter next to it and they will pop. Also another tip don't get on to the very edge of the cap because the glue will slide off and can create a mess.

After all of those steps you will have made an adorable pin!

Do you remember the adorable Mailbox from the movie?!

Now, I have about 40 girls in my ward not including the leaders. So with that being said I couldn't have that many handprints on a mailbox. But, with the help of my Sister in Laws Silhouette Cameo machine I was able to cut all of their names onto vinyl.

This was by far one of the crazy dreams I had while planning this activity. I wanted something that would unify the girls throughout the rest of the year. That is when it hit me.
Come Unto Christ. That is the theme for the LDS youth this year. So, I decided that every Sunday the mailbox will be sitting out for them to write a letter to Christ.
As leaders we will keep all of there papers & at Evening of Excellence they will get them back.
We want them to work on becoming closer to Christ. So if they helped a friend on a bad day, prayed morning and night, read their scriptures, completed a Personal Progress, shared their Testimony.
They can write those things down and stick it inside the mailbox.

Our theme was: 

Don't Give UP the beginning is always the hardest.

On the Program it said the famous saying from the movie: Adventure is out there!

Along with the bottle caps & mailbox the girls each got a goody bag.

I honestly lucked out on these little things! 

Since everything is about UP we used:

A can of 7up

Mentos Up2U gum

7 ways to have an uplifting day (These were laminated and we stuck magnets on them so they can stick them in their lockers, mirrors etc.)

                          7 ‘UP’ lifting ways to start your day 

1- WAKE UP & decide to have a good day

2- DRESS UP. The best way to dress up is to put on a smile!

3- CHEER UP and say nice things & have a positive attitude

4- STAND UP for what you believe in. Stand for something or you will fall for anything.

5- LOOK UP to the Lord. He is only a prayer away

6- REACH UP for something higher. Set some good goals.

7- LIFT UP, be a good friend and help those around you.

The girls also could pick up a YW theme card, a 5x7 picture of the Youth Theme and a fun coloring picture of their very own UP house. (My sister had made one with just pencil and my YW love to color!)

Our YW were assigned to bring the cupcakes. They are all so talented and every cupcake I had was delicious! We have some mini chefs in our ward!

A big thank you to my sisters who helped with my crazy ideas! 

Remember It's Better to Look Up!