Blog Index, page 4

Family Records

Family History
Family Reunion Calendars
Heritage Albums
Not Your Grandma's Journal!
A Book of Remembrance
Book of Remembrance FAQs
Kid-Sized Personal Histories
Family History Albums

Scrapbooking
Holiday Photo Tips
Photo Preservation Tips
Fast, Beautiful Album Pages
Be Organized And Do Fast Pages
Awesome Family Vacation Albums and Journaling!
Photo Capturing Your Pets
Fabulous Journaling and Merger Layouts
Baby Album Page Layouts
Touch of Class: Graduation Layouts
Family Albums
Simple Hand-Drawn Scrapbook Borders
Page Layouts with Hearts, Stars and Circles
Scrapbook Layout: The Balance Game
Fast, Beautiful Album Pages
Family History Albums

Women's History
They Shall Call You Blessed (Grandma)
Homemaking Journals (Aunt Phala)
10 Things I Learned from My Mom (Mamma)
Country Girl (Grandma)
A Time to Die (Grandma)

Family Night
Do You Know Your Family?
Family Reunion Calendars
Christmas in July
Resurrection Eggs
St. Patrick's Day FHE
Including Family History

Newsletters
Church Newsletter Ideas

Clove-Studded Fruit

"Aunt Eliza had brought Ma a large red apple stuck full of cloves.  How good it smelled!  And it would not spoil, for so many cloves would keep it sound and sweet."  Little House In The Big Woods, by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Little House In The Big Woods is my most favorite of the Little House books.  I love the descriptions given of daily pioneer life.  Clove apples are a very simple craft to make with children.  They don't have to make a pattern at all, but some will want to and they smell wonderful!  They also taste very good too (after cloves have been removed).  I found a small bottle of cloves for little more than a dollar at the local store, though they can be quite costly--I had to shop around.  The number of cloves per child can be limited if necessary.  Handi-wipes would be good to have on hand since the fruit is very juicy.

Press the sharp point of each clove into the apple.  Push it in until only the head of the clove shows.  you may need a toothpick to help you get started.  Continue until the whole apple is covered with cloves, (you can limit the amount of cloves if necessary).  To display your apple, place it on a dish or in a bowl out of direct sunlight.  You can also make clove oranges and clove lemons the same way you make clove apples.  These taste great in hot cider!  (instructions from My Little House Party Crafts Book, ISBN 0439060052)

Our family hosted a Library Story Time and we did this fun craft.  To see the lesson plan go to my Christmas Traditions, part 3 post.

Church Newsletter Ideas

Simplest Newsletter

I once had a church assignment where I sent a list of seldom seen sisters a message in the mail each month.  I started writing a newsletter to them.  My goal was to keep these less-active sisters connected with our church.  I wanted it to be an easy transition for them when they returned by knowing what was going on.  As a church secretary, I expanded on the idea.

This example shows you the simplest form I've used, but most of the last year I had a spotlight where I took a picture of a sister and wrote a paragraph about her (including her church assignment).  Hopefully, this helped folks old and new, get to know people. This SugarDoodle link was my inspiration: http://www.sugardoodle.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6532:relief-society-newsletter-template&catid=2650:-sp-801&Itemid=200411

I have also included regular short "articles" entitled Pursuit of Excellence which encouraged goal setting, Provident Living a preparedness feature, as well as Today's Family and a 3-Month Clip & File Food Storage Recipes.  Interspersed were really good quotes.  I put in phone numbers for the church leaders and contact people. 

For better viewing of the newsletters, click on each picture to enlarge.  (Graphics are Dazzle Daze by D.J. Inkers at www.djinkers.com). 

Spotlight and Today's Family Example



July page 2 - Clip & File Recipe Example



July page 1 - Provident Living and Pursuit of Excellence Examples