Patriotic Sign with acrylic transfer

I love the acrylic transfer technique that I used on these signs.  I needed to make a red, white, and blue item for a swap that I do, so I decided to try my hand at acrylic transfer with color.  I first tried with the same paint I used for the other signs.  The color came off a little more than I would have liked.

I went in search of a higher quality medium.  I found this matt medium at Walmart and tried it.  The color held perfectly! None of it wore off at all.  Unfortunately, it took off a little of the paint in the bottom corner.  

So, what did I learn with color acrylic transfer? It really depends on the look you are going for.  I love that I found a medium that doesn't wipe all the color off, but I am actually partial to the weathered look.  If I were doing a photograph or something else like that, I would go with the matt medium again, but for this sign, I chose the more weathered one.  I added a vinyl heart and some burlap ribbon to finish it up.

Do you want to know the best part? This cost less than $1.00 to make.  I cut a $1.88 piece of MDF into 6 pieces.  The ribbon cost me $0.25. The vinyl was less than $0.25.  The paint was $0.50 for the whole bottle and I used very little per sign.  Then, all I needed was a color laser print.  Not too bad for a nice summer decoration.

Menu Board

This is one of my first creations with my Silhouette Cameo.  I cut the shapes on regular vinyl and then spray painted them with chalkboard paint. DON'T do it that way. Just buy the chalkboard vinyl!  I ended up with tiny bits of paint all around each shape that made the lines look not very crisp.

 I used a wingdings font for most of the shapes because I couldn't find what I needed anywhere else, and bonus: they were free shapes :)  I used a pre-cut piece of wood from Home Depot that was already finished on the edge.  

Train Big Brother Shirts

So, I have 2 big brothers in the house now and I wanted to make them some special shirts.  I looked all over online for just the right shirt, but none of them spoke to me. Well, my older boy LOVES trains! So, I thought, I'll design a train shirt myself and use my handy dandy Silhouette Cameo to create it.  I'm so glad I did! It's super cute and cost me pennies compared to buying one.  Since I already had blank shirts of each size in the closet, I only paid for the heat transfer vinyl (which was ridiculously overpriced because I bought Cricut brand at JoAnn's rather than buying online, but oh well).  I have more than half of the HTV left, so all in all, I spent maybe $10 on all 3 shirts.  I think they are pleased with them too.  Now, little brother just has to come out so he can wear his too.

FHE lessons from the Friend Magazine

Have you ever scoured the internet for something that has been right under your nose the whole time?  I feel that way with Family Home Evening lessons.  I always felt overwhelmed by the idea of putting together FHE, especially for younger children.  Recently, I made a huge discovery! FHE lessons have been coming to my mailbox every month for a few years now.

In the Friend magazine, they have a section called "Bringing Primary Home", and guess what?  They have a little story, scripture, song, and activity on each one.  And if that's not enough, some months they have a section called "Family Fun Time" with more ideas for Family Home Evening!  Here is a list of all the ones I could find:

1. The Scriptures Are the Word of God- January 2011
2. The Scriptures Teach of Heavenly Father’s Plan- February 2011
3. Heavenly Father Speaks to Us through His Prophets- March 2011
4. Jesus Christ Is My Savior and Redeemer- April 2011
5. The Church of Jesus Christ Has Been Restored- May 2011
6. The First Principles and Ordinances of the Gospel Make It Possible for Me to Live with God Again- June 2011
7. The Temple Is a House of God- July 2011
8. My Body Is a Temple of God- August 2011
9. The Gospel Will Be Preached in All the World- September 2011
10. Prayer Is Reverent Communication between God and Me- October 2011
11. Reverence Is Love and Respect for God- November 2011
12. The Scriptures Teach Me about the Savior’s Birth and Second Coming- December 2011
13. Agency Is the Gift to Choose for Ourselves- January 2012
14. When We Choose the Right, We Are Blessed- February 2012
15. Living Prophets Teach Me to Choose the Right- March 2012
16. Jesus Christ Teaches Me to Choose the Right- April 2012
17. I Choose the Right When I Am Baptized and Confirmed a Member of the Church- May 2012
18. I Choose the Right by Living Gospel Principles- June 2012
19. I Choose the Right by Living Gospel Principles- July 2012
20. I Choose to Fill My Life with Things That Invite the Spirit- August 2012
21. The Ten Commandments Teach Me to Love God and His Children- September 2012
22. Blessings of the Priesthood Are Available to All- October 2012
23. I Can Choose to Be a Missionary NOW- November 2012
24. Jesus Christ is the Son of God- December 2012
25. Heavenly Father Loves Me and Has a Plan For Me- Jan 2013
26. The Earth Was Created for Heavenly Father’s Children- Feb 2013
27. Jesus Christ is My Savior- March 2013
28. Jesus Christ Restored His Church in the Latter Days- April 2013
29. Prophets Teach Us to Live the Restored Gospel- May 2013
30. I Will Follow Heavenly Father’s Plan by Being Baptized and Confirmed- June 2013
31. Families Are Part of Heavenly Father’s Plan- July 2013
32. Heavenly Father Hears and Answers My Prayers- August 2013
33. I Will Serve God with All My Heart, Might, Mind, and Strength- September 2013
34. I Will Share the Gospel with All of God’s Children- October 2013
35. We are to Thank God in All Things- November 2013
36. I Know That Jesus Christ Will Come Again- December 2013
37. Heavenly Father Prepared a Way for Me to Return to Him- January 2014
38. Heavenly Father Has a Plan for His Children- February 2014

Cute Pregnancy Announcement

I saw this idea on Pinterest and had to recreate it.  I didn't even have to pinch the little guy to get him to cry.  He did it as soon as I put him in his crib.

Anger Family Home Evening (FHE)

My little guy is a typical toddler boy. He lashes out whenever he gets angry. So, we are going to have Family Home Evening about anger. I created this packet from a lot of different resources I found online.

Anger FHE Outline

Jesus is Our Savior FHE Packet

I really have loved having Family Home Evening recently.  We have been trying to do it every week for the past few months and our son is a completely different child!  I've been using a lot of FHE packets that I've found online and they have been so awesome!  But, this Sunday as I was teaching Sharing Time, I realized that all this time I have had FHE packets at my fingertips with the Sharing Time lessons.  So, I made a packet based on the lesson I did this past week.  It is about Jesus Christ being our Savior.  Hope it helps you and your family as much as it has helped ours!

Jesus Christ is Our Savior