Nephite vs Lamanite game

This game is basically naughts and crosses but with Nephites and Lamanites on the reverse side of the relevant symbols.  I made a drawstring bag to keep the playing pieces in with the square grid printed on one side and the title of the game on the other.

This is what it looked like on my computer screen.  I then printed them off onto my calico fabric using my 'How to print onto fabric using your printer' post as a guide.  Just a note when making yours, make sure you leave enough space around the edge to allow for seam allowance and more space/fabric at the top so that you can make it into a drawstring bag.  I also used the same technique for printing the cartoon images and lettering.

Unfortunately I can't share my file of this as I got my pictures from a disc I bought years ago called 'LDS Clips 10,000' by Inspire Graphics :(  But hopefully there might be some free ones that you can download on the web??

I made this for my sister's family for Christmas and they love it, now I've just got to crack on and finish making the one for us.  It makes a great family gift and doesn't cost too much for the materials etc...just takes a bit of time (and love) to get it made :)  It's also super for a FHE game and a Sunday activity.

I am a Child of God tote

Sugardoodle posted a link the other day to a wonderful blog entitled 'My Computer is My Canvas' that has a load of free printables and cute stuff????????  She's done some really cute images for the Primary Theme this year 'I am a Child of God'.

My Computer is My Canvas

From this site I downloaded the 'I am a Child of God' SUBW...6x20.jpg (1022KB), when I went to print I noticed that because of the American sizing I would miss some of the lettering, so I right-clicked on the image to copy it and then opened up Microsoft word and pasted it onto my page...I had to shrink it a whole lot to get it to fit, and then centred it and left more of a gap at the top of the page to accommodate for seam allowance and attaching handles (see picture below).

I then printed the above onto calico fabric using my 'How to print onto fabric using your printer' post.  I then used the printed fabric to make a cute little tote and drawstring bag, but you could make a cushion, frame it etc.  My little tote bag worked out to be the perfect size to fit a Book of Mormon in :)  And yes, I am still squealing with delight every time I print onto fabric, haha...what am I like!!?!!?

Sunday 'cans'

I was buying for my sister (and her family) this Christmas, and she said she'd like some 'reverent' toys and activities for a Sunday.  So I looked through my pins on Pinterest to get some inspiration, and got loads, now which ones to choose!?!??! 

I decided to do some Sunday 'cans'...a small 'can' full of ideas of activities that can be done on a Sunday, plus a big 'can' that can be used to store games/book/activities etc.  I used the tutorial below from 'Shabby Beach Nest' blog to help with the general idea for making my lollipop sticks for the smaller can.

Shabby Beach Nest

101 Idea 'I'm Bored' Jar

I used some ideas from the Friend magazine to help come up with a list of activities that were appropriate for a Sunday....

20 Things to Do on Sunday

Flannel Board Sunday Box

Sunday Box: Sunday Can  

The 'Sunday Cans' labels and list of ideas can be downloaded below and then printed on your chosen paper or card.

Sunday Cans File

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

Cut the paper into equal strips, then apply lots of DIY Mod Podge to the back of the paper/card strip...

Hold the large lollipop stick and the wet paper/card strip up to the light/window and line them up so that the words are central and push together hard, smoothing all out bumps.  Then lay them out to dry.

Once dry, trim off any excess paper using scissors and then brush around the edge with sandpaper, it gives them a nicer finish as you can see from the lollipop sticks as the top of the photo below.

I made some blank sticks as well so that my sister could write on activities/ideas that I hadn't listed.  

For the cans, I used my DIY Mod Podge again to stick the card to them, and then I brushed the Mod Podge all over the top of the card too, just to make sure they were stuck on real tight...and they're done!! :)

Grab a Date gift bags

I made these 'Grab a Date' bags for my niece and her husband for Christmas as I thought they might enjoy them :) 

I've included the title of the each bag and what was in them just in case you want to use the idea(s) yourself.  Every bag had a heart tag with instructions on the back or a quirky saying.

DIY Indoor Camp out

clothes pegs

fairy lights 

chocolate digestives

marshmallows

(the latter two are for making s'mores)

DIY Movie Night
Popcorn
Blockbuster Gift Card
(or you could just include a dvd)

DIY Love Notes
A jar full of 'love heart' sweets
chalkboard heart magnets
heart notepad

DIY Star Gazing

Travel mugs

hot chocolate sachets

star constellation chart

DIY Spa Night

his and hers moisturisers

lip balm

nail files

you could also include a home made salt/sugar scrub

make your own simple exfoliating body scrub

by One Good Thing by Jillee

Here are some other ideas you could use for 'grab a date' bags...

DIY Chinese

Chopsticks

Chinese Noodles

Stir Fry Sauce

Stick-on Mandarin moustaches

DIY Ice Cream Sundaes

Ice cream sundaes glasses

Sprinkles

Syrup

I've really enjoyed thinking up and putting these 'grab-a-date' bags together and hope the gorgeous couple have just as much fun.....the possibilities are endless, so please feel free to share any of your ideas below.

Roasted butternut squash and red pepper soup

adapted from recipe by andyh

posted on allrecipes.co.uk

My mother in law found a recipe for 'roasted butternut squash soup' on allrecipes that was delicious...and as usual we were all fighting for seconds!!  I thought it might be extra yummy with some roasted red pepper in, so I tried it when I got home...and it is :)

Ingredients
serves 4

2 medium sized butternut squash
2 medium size onions
2 cloves of garlic
1 red pepper
a couple of sprigs of thyme
1 litre of chicken stock 
salt and black pepper to taste
a splash of vegetable oil

Preparation
1. Roughly chop the squash flesh, onion and red pepper into large chunks, and crush the garlic cloves.

2. Put all the chopped vegetables and thyme (I pull all the leaves off and sprinkle them on) on a roasting tray/tin and pour a small amount of oil on, tossing them till they are all covered in oil.

3. Roast in a pre-heated oven at 180C/Gas  for 30-40 minutes, or until all the ingredients have a nice caramelised colour on them, but not burnt...sometimes parts of my onions get burnt and I just chop those bits off :)

4. Pick out the roasted red pepper chunks and put in a ziploc bag while you make the stock (this is to help the skin of the pepper peel off easier)

5.  Put the rest of the vegetables in a blender, with half of the stock and blend.  

6. Now peel the skin off the pepper chunks and add to the blender, then gradually add the rest of the stock to the soup till it gets to the consistency you like.  Serve with crusty bread (smothered in butter if you're anything like me!!).

I forgot again to take a photo of the above soup...I think I was too hungry to stop and take a pic, but here's one I took earlier of the original Roasted Butternut Squash Soup.

photo of 

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Reverence Marble Maze

I'm currently chuckling to myself at my photos above, you can't see the maze on one and the ultimate thing is you can't even tell that there is a marble in there, but there is I promise!!  Sorry to sound repetitive but this was another idea that started from another of my pins on Pinterest.  Here's my original 'pin'.

Trajectory in Fabric

by lilla-a-design

I liked the idea of getting from one point to another, and thought what better than trying to get to the temple.  I printed onto some calico fabric (click here for 'How to Print on Fabric using your Printer Tutorial'), and put our temple near the top right and some children further down in the opposite corner.

I got a matching size of soft fabric and trimmed it down to a rough square (but you can do any shape you want), sewed it together right sides facing each other, leaving a gap to turn it the right way, then turn it the right way :)  Popped in a marble and sewed up the gap nice and tight.

I used the sewing machine to make a 1/4" 'frame' around the whole edge of the fabric/maze to make sure that the marble had no chance of escaping.  I then sewed the walls of the maze using my tailor chalk marks as a guide, pushing the marble out of the way as I went.

I'm hoping this entertains my kids as much as it has entertained me...only time will tell :)

Adapted words to 'A Happy Family'

I'm one of those people that makes up crazy random songs about anything to sing to myself or to my children...you either know what I mean or you're now saying 'huh!!!!!'

Anyway, I started singing 'A Happy Family' from the Children's songbook to one of my children and I couldn't remember all the words...I know it's a really, really short song, but it must of been one of those days where my brain was mush!!  So of course, I made up my own words and now we sing it like that all the time...apart from when we are at church of course :)

We change the words just like in the original song to mummy, and we use our children's names too, and they love it....I know this sounds really cheesy but we have often sung it as we have sat around the dinner table waiting for people to finish or for pudding.  The children (and us) can't help but smile as everyone around the table is singing the song just for you, it never grows old!  Hope you like it too :)

Mum's trifle

I know I'm biased but my mum's trifle is the best, just typing this is making me salivate!!!  The ingredients below are for a raspberry trifle but if you prefer strawberry just substitute all the relevant ingredients with strawberry ones instead :)

Ingredients

8 trifle sponges

8 tsp raspberry jam

300g can of raspberries

2 raspberry jellies

1 pint of custard

20 fl oz double cream

optional - evaporated milk

optional - chocolate shavings/sprinkles

Cut the trifle sponges in half and spread jam on both sides, then put back together again like a sandwich and put in the bottom of your trifle bowl.  

Pour all of the raspberries and juice over the sponges, making sure that you get all the trifle sponges wet, then let it just sit for half an hour or so to soak it all up.

While I wait for the sponges to get super soggy, I make up the custard.  I have two ways of making custard, quick and easy - is to use instant custard packets and just add the boiling water....or not so quick and easy is to use Bird's custard powder following the instructions on the tin, but to do 3 parts milk and 1 part evaporated milk to make a really creamy (don't think about the calories) custard.  I've listed the ingredients for this custard below, just in case my jabbering didn't make sense.

Creamy Custard

2 heaped tbsp custard powder

2 tbsp sugar

3/4 pt milk

1/4 pt evaporated milk

Just make the custard as you would normally but substitute some of the milk with the evaporated milk instead, then cover the top of the custard with cling film while it's still hot to stop a skin from forming.

Now back to the trifle base...I now this probably seems like alot of hassle but it's soooo worth it and once you've made it once it's really quite easy.  So here goes with the rest of it...

Make the jellies slightly stronger by not adding so much water, this helps to compensate for the juice from the raspberries....so instead of making it to 2 pints/1.1 litres of jelly, make 900ml of jelly and pour it straight away onto the trifle sponges.

Mix well, mashing up the sponges as you go.  It should hopefully look something like the picture above??  Then cover it with cling film and put it in the fridge to set.....I generally make my custard and base the night before or the morning of, so I have no idea how long it takes to set but I'm guessing about 4-5hrs??!?!

Put custard on top of set trifle base, then whip up the double cream till stiff and spoon it on top.  Sprinkle with chocolate shavings or sprinkles, now sit back and enjoy, yummmm!!!

See Others As They May Become

President Monson gave a wonderful talk during the Priesthood session at Conference which I was asked to teach and discuss in Relief Society...unfortunately two of my children were sick the night before and then I became ill too, so I never got to teach it :(

It has a wonderful message (as expected), and as I was preparing my lesson this sentence popped out at me.  Now weeks later, as I looked over it again I noticed that it was also the summary heading of the talk...and it reminded me of the image that came into my mind.  So I designed it, and now I'm sharing it...hoping that although I didn't get to teach my lesson, somebody may be touched by this wonderful statement of truth.