"Dad's White Shirt"

   Here is the poem I wrote for my dad for Father's Day. I put it in a little 4"x6" photo album and added pictures of me and my sisters' weddings, baby blessings, and baptisms. My dad is very involved in our church, and he's always willing to do whatever is asked of him. I'm very fortunate to have such an awesome Dad! Happy Father's Day, Dad!

“Dad’s White Shirt”

My father has a special shirt
It’s white as white can be.
He wears it for those special times
Like when he blesses me.

He wears it on each Sunday,
As we take the sacrament.
He wore it when he baptized me,
And for his own Endowment.

He wears it to home teach
The many families in his care.
He wore it on his mission,
So the gospel he could share.

He wears it as he serves the Lord
Whatever task he’s given.
He wears it whether doing work
For the dead or for the living.

He wore it to the temple
On the day he wed my mother.
And on that day he promised her
That there would be no other.

This shirt is very special
To my family and I.
It is a symbol that my dad
Is one terrific guy!

∼ by Kim Bennett ∼

   This would be so cute with the Origami white shirt and tie!

Donuts for Dad

   I'm always looking for cute ideas for Father's Day! This is one I came up with to give to all the Father's at church. I wrote the poem myself, and the sweet owner of LDShandouts.blogspot.com took my poem and turned it into a cute tag!!



   I wish I had taken a picture of the finished product, as they were so cute! We punched a hole in the tags with a 1/8" hole punch, and used some green or burgundy raffia to attached the tags to our package of donuts. We used the individual packages of the Little Debbie powdered sugar donuts.

   Please feel free to use this idea for personal, non-commercial use only. Please refer any posts or pictures of this idea back to my blog post! Just click here to download or print the tags.

Peep Pops

I saw the cutest Peep Pops in the store! But they were $1.78 each, so I decided that I would try to make my own for a lot less money!

Items needed:
   Yellow chick peeps
   Blue chick peeps
   Pink chick peeps
   Purple or green chick peeps
   8"-12" sucker sticks
   2¾” x 2½” x 9" Gusset Cellophane bags
   ⅝” sheer pastel ribbon
   Cute tag

Take one of each color peep being sure that one of the peeps is from the end of a row with white marshmallow showing on only one side.
Line the peeps up side by side so that the sides with the white marshmallow showing are touching. They will stick together nicely.
Now insert a sucker stick so that the “end” peep will be at the top of your sucker. The stick should go all the way through each peep except the "end" peep. It should go into the end peep, but not all the way out the top.
You can use your fingers to spread the peeps out a little, as they are now kind of squished together.
Insert peeps into a gusset bag.
Tie with your ribbon and add your cute tag.


Now make several and you have a gorgeous Peep Bouquet!!


Note:
Look online for cute tags to go with your Peep Pop! There are many cute ones to choose from.

Creepy Crawly Spiders

   This idea came home with my daughter from an activity she attended at church. They used big Tootsie Pops and four full size chenille stems. My daughter wanted to make them for her class, so we modified the idea slightly by using mini Tootsie Pops (because I already had a lot of them) and two chenille stems each cut in half.

Things you will need:

• Mini Tootsie Pop
  
• 2 chenille stems (same color as Tootsie Pop)
  
• Scissors or wire snips
  
• Clear tape
  
• White craft clue that dries clear

Instructions:
First, fold both chenille stems in half.
Cut in the middle.

Now you have four halves.

Place the sucker in the middle of chenille stems.

Fold the chenille stems on one side of sucker up and around the sucker stick.

Fold the chenille stems on the other side of sucker up and around the sucker stick.

After folding both sides up and around, you have four chenille stems on each side of your sucker stick.

Now, with one hand, hold the stick and chenille stems in the middle. With the other hand, shape one set of chenille stems to make spider legs.

Repeat the process to shape the other side of legs.

Still holding the middle, separate the spider legs on one side.

Repeat for the other side.

Now, see that funny piece of sucker wraper that sticks out of the spider's head.

Use a little piece of clear tape to tape it under the head. (I did find that this step can be done first, and it is probably easier to do it first.)

Now, cut off that ugly white part of the sucker stick off.

You might notice that the sucker can slide quite easily out of the chenille stems. To prevent this, turn the spider upside down and place some white glue right by the chenille stem and stick.

Leave the spider on it's back to dry overnight.

In the morning, you have a cool, fuzzy spider that stays together!

You can make them in a variety of colors!

My children's classmates enjoyed playing with these cute treats!

Edible Bird's Nest

   So I was looking for a cute Easter gift for the girls I teach at church. I found this adorable little bird's nest!

   Here are the instructions for making the nest.

Bird's Nest
Ingredients:
   2 cups miniature marshmallows
   ¼ cup butter
   1 (6-ounce) package chow mein noodles
   36 Mini Cadbury Eggs (or any egg shaped candy)

Place the chow mein noodles in a large, plastic mixing bowl and set aside.

Butter each cup of a 12-cup muffin pan.

Place the butter in the Pampered Chef large micro-cooker (or you can use any medium sized microwaveable bowl), and microwave until melted (about 60 seconds). Add the marshmallows to the melted butter and microwave for about 45 seconds. Remove from the microwave and stir marshmallows and butter together until smooth and mixed well. (Use a plastic scraper or spoon to do the stirring, so the marshmallow doesn't stick as much.)

Pour the marshmallow mixture over the noodles, and fold gently until all the noodles are coated evenly.

Butter your fingers, and press mixture on bottom and up sides of each buttered cup leaving a well for eggs. Place 3 Mini Cadbury Eggs in each nest. (It looks better if you use three different colored eggs.)

Refrigerate at least two hours or until firm. Remove from refrigerator. Let nests sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes; remove nests from cups.

   I placed my nests in a cellophane bag with a twist tie. I wanted to have a cute poem or saying attached, but could not find the right one... so... I wrote my own.

Spring is the time life starts anew,
A time to think more about things that we do.
Do the things that you think and do each day,
Lead others to Christ to learn of His ways?
∼ by Kim Bennett ∼
   I think the poem was the perfect touch to make this gift special!! You can print out the tags I made with the poem here.

   These are so cute! I can't wait to give them to my girls!

Notes:
If you want to make the nests using the stove top, combine marshmallows and butter in 2-quart saucepan; cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until melted (6 to 8 minutes). Stir in noodles until very well coated. Proceed as above.

Cookie Gift

   This an easy but yummy gift idea! Who doesn't like homemade cookies? What makes this gift so special is the cute poem attached!
   I helped make these for all the father's at church for Father's Day last year. We made Chocolate Chip Cookies using the Pampered Chef medium cookie scoop (2 tablespoons). We baked them at 375 degrees on parchment covered baking stones for about 15 minutes.
   After cooling completely, each was wrapped individually in pastic wrap. We then attached our cute cookie label with the poem I wrote. The tags were printed on ivory cardstock and cut out using the FISKARS Shapecutting blade and the Vacation-1 (#4863) template (Lens/Sun - 1⅞ inches circle) shown below. (You will need a cutting mat with this as well.)
I think a 2 inch punch or circle cutter would also work since the cookie labels are 1¾ inch in diameter.

   Here is the cute poem! Please include "by Kim Bennett" if you use it!
A special cookie just for you,
To thank you for the things you do.
It's made with love and tender care,
Both of which you often share.
A little gift which helps us say,
We hope you have a special day!
∼ by Kim Bennett ∼
   Here is another poem that would be cute to use if you make peanut butter cookies with Hershey kisses in them. I found this one online... not sure who wrote it.
On this special Father's Day,
We want to share this treat.
A cookie and a kiss for you
Because we think you're neat.
∼ Author Unknown ∼
   I hope you enjoy these gifts ideas!

Oragami Shirt & Tie

   I found a cute handout that I wanted to use to go with my lesson next week at church. It was made using an Oragami shirt and tie. I searched through many YouTube videos until I finally found a pattern for a shirt and one for a tie that I really liked. Because it took me so long to figure out how to do this, I thought it might be nice to make an instructional video on each to help out anyone else in my predicament!
   This would be an adorable card for Father's Day as well!!
   Here is the video showing how you make an Oragami shirt.

   Here is the video showing how you make an Oragami tie to go with your shirt.

   I used some double stick tape in a few places to help my shirt an dtie hold thier shapes really well.
   For those who want to use this as a handout for YW Manual 3 Lesson 13, you can view the handout idea at Tales of a Trophy Wife's Blog. I just wrote the words on my tie by hand, but I did make a PDF file of the "Father's Responsibilities" to put on the inside.

Other posts you might like:
   "Father's White Shirt"

Pizza Cookie

   I love to give these as birthday gifts!! They can be pretty expensive to buy at the store, but very inexpensive to make. And who doesn't love a personalized giant cookie?

Things you will need:

• 1 recipe of Chocolate Chip Cookies dough
  
• 15 inch baking stone
  
• Parchment paper
  
• Scissors
  
• 15 inch pizza box
  
• Milk chocolate frosting, canned
  
• Star decorating tip (#14)
  
• Mini M&M's, milk chocolate ones

Begin with your 15 inch baking stone.

Cover it with parchment paper.

Place cookie dough in center of parchment covered stone.

Using your fingers, spread dough in a circular shape until dough is about ⅜ inch thick.

Bake cookie at 375 degrees F for about 15 minutes.

Trim parchment paper to fit into pizza box.

Lifting parchment paper, lift cookie and place on cooling rack. Once cooled, place parchment and cookie in pizza box.

Using the #14 star tip and chocolate frosting, write your desired message on your cookie. Add star dots around the edge of the cookie.

Place one mini M&M on each chocolate dot around the edge of the cookie to add more color and fun to your message!

Your Pizza Cookie is complete!! These really are as much fun to make, as they are to give away as gifts!