Summer Lemonade

I wanted to do a little thank you gift for our awesome neighbors who are always doing so much for us. We know we could call on them at anytime for anything. I just wanted to do something a little summery since the Talbot's love the sun. I bought this great one gallon container at Wal-mart for $2.50 and it included the 6 cups! I then included this great simple, yet yummy lemonade recipe along with the ingredients to make the lemonade. I bought the citric acid at a gourmet kitchen shop here called Gigi's. It's about $3 for a pound. This little jar took about a third of a pound to fill. I also included Lemonade Mint lip balm for my friend as a seprate Thank you for a recent gift she gave me.

Here's another version of the same gift with mugs instead. I bough the mugs at IKEA and I can't remember how much they were, but they were super inexpensive.

Lemonade Recipe:

One Gallon water
2 Tbls. Lemon Extract
1 heaping Tbls. Citric Acid
2 cups Sugar

Teacher Appreciation Gift

This is just a fun little bucket to tell your children's teacher thank you! It's just filled with school supplies with little notes attached to each item. You can fill an entire bucket or just pick a few items to use from it.

A Sharing Time on inviting the Holy Ghost

My CTR 7 was in charge of sharing time and the topic was on the Holy Ghost.
I made a large invitation just out of 2 poster boards tied with ribbon. We talked about how it feels to be invited to a party or any other kind of event. Then we talked about how important it is to invite the Holy Ghost into our lives. Before all the classes came into the primary room we stuck pictures of how to invite the Holy Ghost underneath random chairs. When it came time we had everyone look under their chairs to see who had a picture. Each person with a picture, took turns sticking the picture on the inside of the invitation. Each member of my class talked about the picture and gave details to how this helps to invite the Holy Ghost into our lives.

We also wrapped up a box with multiple layers of wrapping paper. We had the pianist play songs about the Holy Ghost while each child passed the present to the next. When the music stopped, the child holding the present unwrapped a layer of wrapping paper. This continued until the box was completely unwrapped. Inside the box was a blanket and a poem about the Holy Ghost being a special gift to us.

At my local scrapbook store I used a little miniature die cut to cut out all these little boxes. They were so cute since they where only about the size of a quarter. We filled each box with white jellybeans. We gave these to each of the primary children as they exited to remind them about the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Thank You, Thank You, to my awesome SIL Ashley who made a FHE packet on all of this. I stole everything from her FHE packet and just made it larger. My SIL had invited me to be a part or a FHE swap with her. I have some of the greatest FHE's because of it. Thanks Again Ashely!

Countdown chain to an exciting event

My SIL just recently quit her job a couple days ago. She had her first baby, little Anna, about 15 months ago. She has juggled work and motherhood beautifully. However, my SIL and BIL are making a few changes in their lives and that included Ashley putting in her notice at work. I knew that she was excited to start a new chapter in her life, and I was excited to come-up with a gift that I could give to her, to show my support.

Don't you remember how exciting it was to make a countdown chain to an event you where excited for as a little kid? I had to make a countdown chain for Ashley. Each link had a quote about the importance of mothers printed on the back. I also included a little chocolate treat with numbers counting down to one. Chocolate is of course a womens best stress relief. I figured Ashley may need a little shot of chocolate for each day she had left at work.

A Fathers Day Gift

When I found this tin I had to do something with it for my dad. It was white and I spray painted it black. My dad always packed his lunch everyday to work. His lunch box looked exactly like this. He must have packed thousands of lunches in the lunch box that looked like this. This tin was a reminder of the sacrifices my dad made to provide for his family.
I filled this container with items that reminded me of him. I burned a CD with songs that made me think of him. I included some John Denver songs since he took me to this concert when I was 8. It was a very special date for me. My dad lived off tuna fish sandwiches for lunch so I included a can of tuna fish. I attached a note to each item to explain some of the great memories I had of him growing-up. It was the best feeling when my dad called and told me how much this gift meant to him. There are so many memories we have of our parents that we don't even stop to tell them about. I hope my kids will share their memories with me.

Newly Wed Survival Kit- A wedding Gift

This is a very practical yet, cute wedding gift for anyone at any age. Honestly, do you remember all the exchanging you had to do after your wedding?
This is a Newly Wed Survival Kit. It's actually a pretty small tin. It's only about 4x5 inches. I perfect size that you can through in your purse or tuck underneath the seat of your car. Inside is divider tabs for the following categories-

Dates- i.e. movie tickets
Out to lunch-i.e. fast food restaurant
Out to dinner- i.e. a little nicer restaurant
Dessert- i.e. Cold Stone
Gas- a gas station (no not for uncomfortable bloating)
Grocery
Home Decor- Target
Home improvement- Home Depot

All you do is purchase gift certificates for each of the categories, throw them behind each tab and your done.
I also love that you can be in total control of the amount you want to spend. Just divide up the increments to equal the amount you budgeted. Who doesn't need even a $5 break for lunch? You can also take out any tabs that you wish not to include.

45 Fast and Easy FHE lessons

This binder and tin hold 45 FHE lessons in a flash. I got together with a group of girls and we all brought a couple objects for the tin that coordinated with a FHE lesson. You take an object from the tin and read the coordinating story and lesson in the binder. For example...There's a compass in the tin and the lesson is on Lehi and his family and the Liahona.