Cocoa & Conversation Relief Society Activity

For January, we wanted to keep it simple and we just decided to have a get together.

And we decided that the get together was going to be a hot chocolate party.

I mean, after I found these printables at {Upcycled Treasures} it was a must in my mind, cause Baby, it IS cold outside, and everyone wants hot chocolate when it's cold. 

And when I found this quote from Eliza R. Snow, it made me feel even better.  What makes you feel better than warm chocolate along with warm conversation?  Nothing.  The answer is nothing.

So, we got a lovely sister in our ward to host the party at her lovely, inviting house, and brought in all the fixins for a real party!  And this one was A LOT of fun to put together! 

I found these awesome little wooden scoopers and drizzlers on Amazon and prime got them to me right on time. We used the scoopers for most of the toppings, but to make the fudge and caramel sauces easy to apply, I actually put them on electric candle warmers to keep them warm and stuck a honey drizzler in them.  It was perfect.

The jars all came from the dollar store...and they were the perfect size!

I found the stir sticks in the craft section at Walmart, and glued snowflake buttons to the top...and I LOVE how they turned out!

I found these little labels on {Upcycled Treasures} as well, and because I loved them so much, they kind of dictated what we served as toppings, but the list was pretty extensive and I couldn't think of anything else I'd want anyway!  We had white chocolate chips, tiny marshmallows, crushed peppermint, mini marshmallows, chocolate chips, cinnamon sticks, carmel sauce, and chocolate fudge sauce.  And of course whipped cream to top it off!

A little red and white bakers twine was just the thing to hold these labels in place.  I loved the way it all looked!  I brought in my snowballs, my snowmen, and my mini trees to round out the display, as well as some apothecary jars filled with pinecones and berries. 

My favorite purchase for this party is a toss up between the scoopers and these awesome cups, which I also found on Amazon.  I just loved them so so SO much better than foamy cups.  And they came with that awesome cardboard sleeve!  Then, these labels made them just theeee cutest!  I think everyone else appreciated them as well.  Plus, they had lids so sisters could take some for the road.  

Because one serving of all this just wasn't enough!  Gotta do at least two different versions of toppings, right? 

If anyone came to this party cold, they definitely left feeling warmed up. :)

I used {this hot chocolate crock pot recipe} which I found on Pinterest and everyone liked it, plus it was easy to make, serve, and keep warm in the crock pot. 

 We all just had a grand time visiting with each other.  Sometimes it's nice to just get together without a program!  

We are all sisters, after all.

Thanks & Giving Relief Society Activity

I got the inspiration for our End of the Year activity from this image I saw on Pinterest.

The holiday season is a great time to offer thanks for all that we have, but it's also a great time to serve.  And that's just what we did.

We started out the night by having a "Thankful Dinner" which consisted of 3 yummy fall soups: Butternut Apple, Cauliflower, and Potato Bacon.  We also served a bunch of different salads and some rolls.  I decorated using Thanksgiving decor including my {Thankful Banner I made and posted about here} which I love so much!

We set up the round tables in the Relief Society room and used real tablecloths and the real dinnerware out of our church kitchen.  We wanted this night to be special and using the real stuff just made it feel so much nicer! 

Different sisters brought centerpieces with the Thanksgiving theme for each table . 

And then we had several pies for dessert. 

Each place setting had a napkin tied with a dried grain of wheat and a tag that said, "So Thankful for You." 

So, the sisters came and ate and visited.  We invited the Young Women in our ward to join us for this activity which was great!  

And then we moved into the gym for our service project.  I found this great idea on Pinterest from {this Little Dresses for Africa blogpost} to make pillowcase dresses for {Little Dresses for Africa} an organization that makes and sends these pillowcase dresses to little girls in Africa and other countries all over the world who have never had a dress.  Thier mission is to give these little girls some self esteem.  I loved the idea of making things for some fellow sisters in need, and I thought there would probably be many sisters in our ward who had extra fabric they could donate to make these dresses. 

I was right!  We had more fabric than we could use!  Maybe we'll have to do it again sometime.  The {Little Dresses for Africa website} has a lot of information on how to make the dresses and how to determine sizes and package them up, etc.  

Here are the measurements we used for the pillowcases donated.

And here is the pattern for how to make these pillowcase dresses using just fabric donations.  Most of our dresses were made out of fabric scraps.  

Then, we just followed the instructions from this: 

{Little Dresses For Africa Pattern}

So with the fabric scraps we were pretty much just making a pillowcase first by sewing up the sides before we were able to follow the rest of the instructions.

So, we had a cutting station, where sisters determined what size the dresses could be accourding to the size of the fabric or pillowcase donated.  Then we had an ironing station with tons of irons where the sisters prepared the pieces for sewing. 

And then we had a sewing station where ladies who had brought sewing machines stitched away and mad as many dresses as we could!  I called them my little sweatshop because they were working so hard. 

A lot of the dresses ended up being really cute! 

We strung them all up at the end just so we could see how many we had made. 

I loved how colorful it was!  So many fun fabrics made so many fun dresses! 

It was kind of slow going at first as the sisters got the hang of how to make them, but I was so impressed with how many dresses we were all able to make!  At the end my feet were killing me!  But my heart was happy!

39 Little Dresses for Africa.

Tennis Guy Gift

For Grandpa this year, we made a little Tennis Guy.  He's great for holding all kinds of stuff in his mouth like

Chapstick

Pens

Shavers

Washcloths

Toothbrushes

And keys...with funny faces...

But it's mostly just good at sitting somewhere, looking at you, and reminding you of your grandson.

Merry Christmas, Bonka!

It's Christmas Time

I love this time of year.  It's all so magical.  

Merry Christmas!

Snow

I know Christmas is past, but I just love winter time!

All that snow!

I love how it glistens and sparkles.

It's so pretty at night as a light shines on it.

What a fun time of year!

Joy

Rarely do I want to keep an order from my {Little Craft Shoppe} for myself instead of sending it to the customer. 

That was not the case this time.

I am completely in love with these letters.  With the color - her idea, not mine - with the pattern, with the message.

Aren't they just so pretty!?  I hope the recipient of this gift loves them as much as I do.

Don't they just complete my Christmas mantle?  I may have to make a few of these for myself!!

 

Joy to You