Atonement Advent Calendar

One of my most popular posts is The Last Week of Christ which I did for my oldest son when he was serving in the Ohio Columbus Mission a few years ago.  I wanted to come up with something for Matt which was spiritual as well.  I had a great time researching quotes on the Atonement from our church leaders as I put together this Atonement Advent Calendar.  I think he and his companion will LOVE it and enjoy pondering upon our Savior's Atonement during this Easter season.  Hope so!

Supplies:

Little Bitty treat bags

(mine are 2.75"x 4")

number stickers

washi tape

mini clothes pins

jute, twine or ribbon

2 push pins / thumb tacks

small Easter candy

Atonement quote cards

(see below)

#1

 Number your bags.

#2

Print the quote cards onto white card stock.  Cut out on the dotted lines.  

(click here for cards)

Note: The quotes are in no particular order.  There are 30 of them.  

Use only as many as you need i.e. if Easter falls on the 20th of the month, 

you would only have 20 bags.

#3  

Insert one quote card and two small pieces of candy into each bag - 

one for your missionary and one for their companion.

#4  

Seal bags closed.  

I used some bicycle Washi tape that I found at Staples 

quite some time ago but anything will work.

#5

Using mini clothes pins, attach your bags to jute, twine, ribbon, yarn, etc...

I used some white jute that I found at the craft store.

There you have it!  All done!  So cute...I made 2 sets in blue and one in yellow because I have three missionaries that we mail things to.  They are going to LOVE it!  Don't forget to include a small baggie with two push pins or thumb tacks inside so they can hang their banner in their apartment.

This isn't going to fit in the small Flat Rate box...and the medium size was too big for what I wanted to send so I opted for the 6"x 7" Priority Mail box.  Just ask the postmaster to get one for you.  They are usually behind the counter.  The box is free but it costs a bit more to send because it goes by weight.  If I keep the weight down it should only be $10 to send.  Don't know what I'm going to do when I start mailing packages to my niece in Bolivia...I've got a month to figure it out.  Any ideas?

I made this topper to go on the top of my package along with a little instruction sheet.  Thanks to Nat at www.scrappynat.com for the digital scrapbook embellishments!  She makes adorable scrapbook kits and it was fun to use a couple of her elements to put this together.  You really should check her out!  Happy Easter everyone!

(scrapbook elements used and posted with permission by Scrappy Nat www.scrappynat.com)

St. Patty's Day - Mint Patty Wrapper

Thought I'd fill you in on what I dropped off at the post office this week.  I designed a wrapper to go around a king size peppermint patty and it turned out SO cute!  I looked everywhere for these mint patty's when Mason was serving in Ohio and couldn't find them anywhere.  Found them at my local CalRanch store.  Go figure.  I can find the York brand everywhere but I liked how the Pearson's brand comes in a green wrapper. Probably doesn't really matter...I'm just anal like that.  (Note:  my printer prints SUPER dark!)

click here or on the image above to download this free printable

I've been trying to come up with package ideas on a somewhat smaller scale lately.  Those of you with foreign missionaries know that the price for postage can be astronomical.  I've labeled these as '4 lbs or less!' - hope it helps!

Click here to see the finished package...

Happiness - Get luckier in 2018...

...how to boost your good fortune and happiness this year.  I recently read an article in January's issue of Good Housekeeping magazine entitled, Get Luckier in 2014 by Betsy Rapoport (pg. 90-91) which really intrigued me and I've spent a lot of time pondering the idea of 'luck' since then.  Can we really bring ourselves more luck...and happiness?  I came up with ten ways that you can bring more luck and happiness into your life and...in honor of lucky St. Patrick's Day, I thought I'd share my research with my missionary and his companion...and all of YOU!  Enjoy!

Print onto white card stock.  

Cut out around the outside of each card and tie with string or ribbon.

AND...

Now in Spanish!!

Spanish version:  page 1, page 2, page 3

English version:  page 1, page 2, page 3

Thanks Lisa Jeppson for the request and to Taylor Ward 

for translating the whole thing into comprehend-able Spanish...

I thought I could just cut and paste from Google-translate...yeah...no.

Click here to see the finished package...

St. Patrick's Day 2014

Here's what I sent out to our missionaries this year.  In a small Flat Rate box from the USPS so it was only $6 to send to my stateside missionary and around $25 to send to my international missionary.  Trying to give small package options to all of you foreign missionary moms out there!

Package Contents:

King size Peppermint Patty

click here to view

Get Lucky in 2014 printable

click here to view

Hershey's Nuggets

Rolo's 

green tie (Elder)

green jewelry/nail polish (Sister)

St. Patrick's printable

click here to view

Still looking for more ideas?

click here or here
...or here or here

Music: A Green Hill Far Away

A Green Hill Far Away

Sacred Hymns on Acoustic Guitar

performed by:

Michael Dowdle

Mardk Small

Ryan Tilby

Robert Torres

& Jake White

There Is a Green Hill Far Away

Lead, Kindly Light

For the Beauty of the Earth

Sweet Hour of Prayer

Come, Follow Me

Sheep May Safely Graze

If You Could Hie to Kolob

Rock of Ages

I Stand All Amazed

'Tis Sweet to Sing the Matchless Love

Abide with Me; 'Tis Eventide

I Need Thee Every Hour

O My Father

From All That Dwell Below the Skies

One of Mason's favorite CD's from when he was on his mission.  Very peaceful.  Reminds me of what I in-vision hearing and feeling when I imagine the perfect Sunday morning.  While this won't have your missionary 'tapping their toes and bursting into song,' it will definitely bring the spirit into their home and heart.  Almost 100% hymns from the hymnal.  Sheep May Safely Graze is not in our current hymnal (or the hymnal before that) but, believe it or not, From All That Dwell Below the Skies is.

Hugs & Kisses

My friend, Kristen is a new missionary mom.  In fact, her son just arrived in Finland a few days ago. She put together an awesome Valentine's Day package for him when he was in the MTC and was kind enough to 'share the love' with us other missionary moms.   She made this adorable 'Hugs & Kisses' printable to fit inside a regular snack size reclosable baggie filled with Hershey Hugs & Kisses...of course.  So cute!

One is missionary specific...
(click here to download)

...and one is for all the other people that you love!
(click here to download)

Here's Kristen's finished product...Isn't it adorable?!  I absolutely LOVE the doily on the outside of the box.  So cute!  I love the polka dot cookie canisters (to find out how to create your own, click here; don't want to send quite that many cookies?  Click here and scroll almost to the bottom of the post).  Kristen used wrapping paper instead of scrapbook paper on her canisters.  Lots cheaper especially if it's some that you already have laying around.

Check out the blog of this amazingly, talented mom at Birthday Blueprint (birthdayblueprint.blogspot.com). She has a million creative ideas! Thanks for sharing, Kristen!

God's Conversation Hearts

This idea came from Julia Bettencourt at Creative Ladies Ministry (www.juliabettencourt.com) via Pinterest, of course.  All I did was cutsie it up a bit with things that I already had, added some Valentine cards from the family and popped them in the post.  Quick, inexpensive and CUTE!  

Supplies:

cellophane bags

ribbon or tulle 

Conversation heart candy

(1 large bag = 3 cups of candy)

french fry boxes

coordinating paper

decorative elements, if desired

My cellophane bags were 3" x 11" and I think are designed for chocolate/caramel dipped pretzel rods. They were the perfect width for my french fry boxes so I just cut them down a bit after filling them.Each large bag of conversation hearts will do three boxes.  Put one cup of candy into each cellophane bag.  Allow a bit of head room so they don't all settle down to the bottom and make your box bulge. No one likes a bulgy bottom!

Tie with ribbon or tulle or jute or whatever you choose then cut off the excess cellophane.

Print out the free printable from Creative Ladies Ministry (www.juliabettencourt.com) by clicking here or on the image above.  Each copy will have six images (see above).  I printed mine onto pale pink paper, mounted it onto white card stock, then cut around the outside edge with decorative scissors.  Easy.  You could just attach these as a tag around your baggie of candy if you wanted to.  I had purchased these adorable French fry containers from Pick Your Plum* (www.pickyourplum.com) quite a while ago.  I buy a lot of containers for my missionaries through them...sometimes I get my inspiration for a package from the container.  Strange, I know.  I found the exact ones that you can purchase from ETSY by clicking here or you could Google 'French fry box template' (images) and there were about three million to choose from...or you could treat yourself to some French fries and then take apart the container to use as a pattern but you'll have to treat yourself to at least a medium size to get a box instead of a little sack.  Yeah...I'd go buy some fries if I were you.  Oh, the sacrifices we make for our missionaries!  They're worth it though, don't you think?

Attach the tag to your container using double sided tape.  You could use glue...but...it might not stay 'stuck' because the boxes are so slick. Embellish if desired.  I used a flower punch and coordinating paper with a 'pop' of bright yellow for the center.   If you 'crimp' each petal with your fingernail (see arrow at left) you can make your flower look three dimensional.  Cool huh?  Julia also has directions for a cute cover for the boxes of conversation hearts. You can see it by clicking here. Adorable!


You can fit two of these little treasures into the small Flat Rate box from the post office.  One for your missionary and one for their companion. Because these were so inexpensive to make AND mail, I called our local mission and asked for the names of some missionaries that don't receive mail and we're sending a package to them as well. Makes me smile and I hope it brightens their day!


And...just in case you want to 'man it up' a little...here's one that I did with red tulle and washi tape.  How did I make the bow?  Just tie a regular bow and then cut the loops and 'fluff'.  Even easier than the above tutorial.  Love it!

Every missionary loves letters from home, right?  I found this free Valentine Card download from MUFN Inc. (www.mufninc.blogspot.com) in coordinating colors - I just love it when things work out like that! You can find it by clicking here or on the image on the left.  We cut them apart and had the whole family write little 'love notes' on the back of the cards and included them in our care package.  Your missionary will love it!

*What is Pick Your Plum?  It's like a way cool, deal of the day site.  Every day at 7 a.m. MST a new deal will be delivered to your email.  The deals will be available until the item is gone and sometimes they're gone super FAST!!  They have a little bit of everything from well...French fry containers to maxi skirts (just bought two last week, thank you very much).  You really should check them out.  Way fun. Way inexpensive.  Way cool.  Promise.