YW 2013 study journal for Stand Ye in Holy Places and logo download

Each year, the Church has a new theme for the Youth to focus on during church activities and through their daily life.  This year's theme is the scripture "Stand ye in holy places, and be not moved, until the day of the Lord come."  D&C 87:8

One of the symbols the church uses to signify a holy place is the temple where sacred saving ordinances are preformed.  But they also are using images of youth.  Through the videos they have produced and materials provided, it is clear that having their own ordinances done in the temple is the goal but it is not the end.  Being temple worthy at all times is paramount.  We each do that by staying clean and obeying the commandments.  As we make right choices we can make our surroundings a holy place.  But standing in holy places starts in our hearts.  

So I had this image in my mind that I actually saw someone else do but I can't find the link anymore.  I decided to make a logo that signified the idea that our heart is the first place we can make holy which in turn can make our surroundings holy and lead us to the temple.  The scripture also entreats us to avoid filth and seek out all that is good. It's such a big concept so the logo doesn't really capture everything the scripture entails, but it's an image that takes an step in that direction.

I then put the logo on $1 notebooks for the girls to use as study journals for class this year.  With the new curriculum, there is a lot of studying and teaching on their part.  So I thought it would be helpful for them to have someplace to write everything down.

I also made sure they had cute colored sharpies to make the note-taking more fun.  

The girls seem to really enjoy them last year when we used them.

They were so excited to get their books.  We used them as I taught, writing down scriptures,

glueing in a quote, and writing down any impressions they might have had.

Then at the end of the lesson they wrote down their study challenge to prepare for next weeks lesson.

I'm including the logo below.  I forgot to save the original so this is the second try.

I made the heart a little bigger.  It's saved in a 4x4 inch format.  It you try to enlarge it, it might 

look pixilated.  I haven't figured out yet how to smooth that out.  Once I do, I'll post it again

so that you can make any size you want.

But for now, here it is.  Just right click then save.

Young Women's Birthday idea

Below is something I've been working on for Young Women's.

I wanted to do something for the girls' birthdays that had a connection 

with the organization so that it had meaning to them.

So I chose the 8 values, different fonts and each in their respective colors.

This is my first attempt at "subway" art that seems to be popular right now.

Rachel thought it was cute, but wasn't overly impressed.

Bekah likes it too so I hope the others do as well.

I printed it off on card stock them placed it in an inexpensive frame (to stay in budget)

then applied a sun to the frame to connect to the year's theme of "arise and shine".

Sorry, I forgot to take a picture but will include it another time.

For now, I'm just sharing the free printable.

YW Arise & Shine activity

I love this year's theme for the youth of our church.

"Arise and shine that thy light may be a standard for the nations"

The imagery is so inspiring.  So much so that I really wanted to

make an impact with the girls by taking one of our activity nights to introduce it.

I found the program on the blog The Three Sweet Peas and tweaked it for our group.

The girls came into a dark room with little flashlights.

We slowly (kind of) turned lamps on with their flashlights to show how each light adds

to the others and brightens the room.  But even one small light can dispel the darkness.

The youth have great opportunities to share their light with their peers through small

everyday acts of kindness.  Their love of the Savior will shine through and influence others.

There was a short video that I couldn't get to work, so I just bore my testimony.

I think they got the point.

I knew the program wouldn't take all the time, so I came up with something that the girls

could make and take home.  

Here it is! 

Most of the picture was designed by Dianne Rigdon Design at Two Peas in a bucket

but the words are mine.  I chose this backdrop for the words because it was so cheerful.

Below is the image that is sized for 6x6 inches.  You are welcome to use it any way you'd like.  If you do the blocks,  I would suggest playing around with the size before you start cutting your wood.

Below are the instructions

My wood is 1.5x7".  I just bought it in the lumber section of the hardware store.  

I measured and cut at 5.75".  It gave me about 12 blocks.

Sand your wood and smooth the edges.

Make sure you cut your corners of your picture so the paper will have square edges after being glued down.  Cover one side of your block with a layer of Mod Podge (glue), then center your picture, place it down on the block and smooth out bumps.

Now turn your block over and put Mod Podge on the sides.  Fold the sides of the paper over making sure everything is smooth.  I chose to paint at this point instead of before, so that I could kind of blend the paint into the colors of the paper.  Once your paper is secure, and your paint is dry, turn it back over and paint the Mod Podge on top of the paper to seal it and give it a nice sheen.

Once it is dry, just glue a flower or whatever your heart desires onto your block.  Below are a couple that were finished by the girls.  Some of them didn't use the yellow paint.  Also, be careful not to brush the picture for too long or the colors will smear.  You can see it in the lower block a little.  The girls got to talking and just kept brushing on the glue.  

It was really inexpensive and the girls had fun.  We served sun cupcakes (so cute, but candy corn was hard to find so we used jelly beans) and some lemonade.

It was a good night.