Service Boot Camp: Show a Little Love

Letter from Basic: Day 9

Today's service activities:

Fortune Cookies as far as the eye can see!

I've baked 18 dozen so far

and currently have 13 dozen more to make.

Thankfully, a friend of mine is coming over to help

me bake and wrangle the kids.

If you are looking for a fun something to make today,

you might try this pin cushion.

I made this for my Mom,

but you might whip one up and take it to someone

who needs a visit and a little reminder that they are loved.

Here is the tutorial for the Sweetheart Pin Cushion.

Day 9:

Platoon-mates, you are all doing great!

Don't get psyched out or think that you can't make a difference.

Just try to show love any way that you can.

Even being friendly to a stressed and tired

check-out girl can be a sweet service that you can render!

SEWING SMACKDOWN (Part 2) Please Vote

Welcome to Part 2

of the

Sewing Smackdown!

After you vote for your favorite project...

Please stop by Gremhog's blog to wish a very

Happy Birthday to My Mom!

Here are today's projects & tutorials:

The Birthday Girl's Travel Tissue Pouch

Homemade Fortune Cookies

(You know I love this!)

Check out Dawn's Birdies too while you are there.

She has awesome Valentine's Day gift ideas...

A Boy's Tie

(Great for Easter!)

Service Boot Camp: Just Keep Trying

The Savior is the best example of service.

Even though He came to earth as the Son of God,

he humbly served all those around him,

"I am among you as he that serveth." (Luke 22:27)

I want to teach my son about the service he can do

some day as a priesthood holder, but so far

I am still just trying to convince him to stay

in Primary for the duration of church!

I thought that making him

his very own tie might motivate him to do this.

It didn't.

But it did help me to fulfill my second project

for the Sewing Smackdown.

(Click here for the tutorial.)

And it did make my son break out into dance...

Nothing strange about that.

We also colored some pictures for a friend who is in the hospital

before church this morning.

Service Boot Camp - Day 7:

We do what we can to serve others.

Sometimes it works out. Sometimes it doesn't.

But the key is to do what you can do.

We colored pictures.

Friends of ours, on the other hand,

stripped down and jumped in the Susquehanna River

to raise money as part of a Polar Bear Plunge.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

PS - I borrowed this photo from my friend Liz's blog.

She has a link to some very "cool" video of the event.

Service Boot Camp: Envision Those We Serve

We had planned on attending the temple today,

but the snowstorm changed those plans.

However, we did go to the Lewisburg Ice Festival

yesterday, and one of the local newspapers

published this picture of Scarlett peering through

the snowman ice sculpture above.

Here are a few pictures that I snapped

before we ran off to play (read: freeze) at the park.

This huge Teddy Bear Chair is a yearly favorite at the festival.

There are tons of sculptures to check out all over Market Street.

Autumn would have sat here all day if I had let her.

That's Guy in the yellow jacket.

Joined by her sister Scarlett, these two made a very sweet pair.

I baked eight batches of fortune cookies last night,

delivered them today...now to bake some more.

My husband reminded me late last night as I was finishing up,

that I was wasn't just baking cookies...

I was clothing a child who had lost his parents in the earthquake...etc...You get the picture.

Day 6: Remember that when you are serving,

the actual job at hand doesn't always fully encompass the service that you are providing.

Work to see through the sometimes tedious task in front of you...to really see the person you are helping.

Service Boot Camp: The Unifying Effect of Service

Letter from Boot Camp: Day 5

...12 hours of sleep later...

I'm ready to tackle my big service project to raise money for the Haiti relief effort.

Today is the last day that I will be taking orders for these Valentine's Day Fortune Cookies.

And now it's time to GET BAKING.

I've been baking and filling orders already this week, but next week, all of the orders will be due.

It has been very enjoyable having friends come by to chat and to help me bake.

That has been, by far, my favorite part of Service Boot Camp...serving with others.

There is something unifying about it, for sure.

A friend of mine recently said this about service,

"When you serve someone, you are so exquisitely blessed,

because you create a bond with them.

That helps you strengthen and better understand

your relationship with your Savior,

because He served you."

Do my fellow recruits feel unified?

Who can you involve in your service efforts today?

Day 5: Friends who serve together, stay together.

(Maybe that should be one of the fortunes in my fortune cookies?)

Service Boot Camp: Making It Happy & Making it Happen

Letter from Basic: Day 4

I am exhausted.

As I write this, my children and husband are waiting to tuck ME in to bed.

So this will be quick.

Here is some play dough that we made to take to a friend's little girls.

It's called "Sunshine Clay" from a book my mom passed on to me called

"A Family Raised On Rainbows"...catchy title.

Here's the recipe:

Knead together:

3 cups flour

1 cup water

1 cup salt

1/3 cup oil

Add: desired food coloring

Store in air-tight container and keep refrigerated.

Day 4: Serving others keeps me from pulling my hair out when my kids decide to decorate the house with Halloween (and Christmas) decorations...ten days before Valentine's Day.

Service Boot Camp: Your Real Mission - Follow the Spirit

Letter From Basic: Day 3

Service Boot Camp started today with a little bit of this...

...and a little bit of that...in our neighbors driveway...

...and ended with a lot of this.

We managed to serve a neighbor before most of us had even had our breakfast.

That's life in the service, I guess.

Guy was so pleased to help shovel and remove snow from our neighbor's truck.

He loves that kind of stuff.

I was proud of him for going at it with gusto.

The part that I didn't like was that all my neighbors saw me with absolutely no make-up on.

(gasp!)

Why should I care?

Pride and vanity, mostly.

But there's no room for that sissy stuff in "the service"!

Had I gone inside to get all ready for the day and then come back out to shovel,

I would have missed my opportunity to help.

My neighbor would have had to do it himself

before going to his doctor's appointment today.

And that just wouldn't do!

Day 3: So far...Seeing firsthand that some opportunities to serve expire very quickly.

We might have only seconds to decide whether or not to act on a prompting.

Also, a note to my fellow recruits:

I am not providing you with specific daily tasks to do at Boot Camp.

I might talk like I'm your Drill Sergeant, but that's just me being...well, me.

However, YOU must get your marching orders

directly from Central Command...

and your field directions directly from the Spirit.

Day 3 is not yet over, not by a long shot.

Still need to run errands and check in on some friends.

I have a feeling that more adventures await us.

Service Boot Camp (Day 2): We're All In This Together

Today, it was apparent to me

that often the best type of service we can give

is just being there for one another.

To listen, to encourage, to build each other up.

Our house was graced by the presence of four different friends today.

All of whom brought a smile to our faces and really lightened our load.

We also had a surprise visit from a cousin today.

"Flat Joseph" arrived in the mail.

He is a life-sized representation of

Steve's nephew Joseph who lives in Idaho.

The funny thing is that just a day or so earlier

I made this life-sized outline of my kids.

It's meant to be a "Service Growth Chart".

I thought the kids could put hearts on it each time they serve

in order to illustrate how serving

fills us with love for others.

Only by serving others can we truly grow up unto the Lord

and reach our full potential.

That was my thought anyway.

I was admittedly lukewarm on the idea.

And apparently so was Guy,

because he preferred to fill his in with multiple mouths and eyeballs,

a very realistic rendition of a rib cage

and germs, speckled throughout his body.

When "Flat Joseph" showed up at our house,

he immediately fit right in with the whole gang--

all flat and papery.

It was such a sweet gesture. (One of many we received today.)

And I am thankful to my SIL (and to my other friends) for extending this service to us today.

Day 2 of Boot Camp:

Easing into this with a little help from my friends and witnessing that an email, a phone call, a letter, a visit, a smile at just the right moment can be a priceless gift.

You don't have to do anything more extraordinary or labor-intensive to serve than this:

Be a friend.

Service Boot Camp: The Courage To Serve

Well Soldiers,

what can I tell you about Service Boot Camp?

It's 28 days of serving others.

It'll have you up out of bed and down on your knees

at the crack of dawn each morning,

and working your tail off each day to help someone other than yourself.

And frankly, new recruits,

it's got me shakin' in my boots!!

Why?

Well, putting others first is hard work.

And I'm not as good at it as I want to be.

And seeing as I am from a long line of people who

have "honorably served"...

I decided it was my time to enlist.

And let me clarify one point, Platoon-mates.

Unlike other recent Tours of Duty my family and I have been on,

this Boot Camp is not for my children.

They will serve right along with me, this is true.

But really, I'm the one who needs to do this.

I can't very well teach them what charity is

until I've got it right down deep inside of me, you see.

So here, we go.

Fall in line, troops,

and look alive.

We've got 28 Days of early wake-up calls

praying for guidance,

and hopefully following through on

promptings to help.

Will I survive Service Boot Camp?

Will I thrive?

Will I keep my boots spit & shined,

my uniform pressed,

and my bed-corners tucked

(Just had to throw that one in for my grandpa!)

Will they put me on K.P. duty?

Or worse yet...latrine duty??

Can I find some way to serve

and actually carry it through each day

for an entire month?

What will I learn?

How will I change?

Only the Lord knows.

And what He knows needs fixin', He's gonna fix.

(Insert a big "Eeek!...but OK, I'm ready." here.)

Courage.

No sappy words of encouragement in the comments section today, please.

All I want to know is:

Are you IN or are you OUT?

Letter from Basic: Day 1

I came downstairs to find my son and daughter salivating over the pages of "Hello, Cupcake".

So, I made these Petits Fours (found on page 139).

Changed plans a few times, but finally settled on one person who needed them.

Delivery of the goods had us shooing cats and chickens out of our van and listening to Scarlett sing what she deems to be the only correct rendition of "Huck MacDonald".

Today's work also left my kitchen a complete wreck,

but it might have been that way to start with...the details are a little fuzzy.

Oh, and I also got totally Smacked Down by my sister Dawn

in Part 1 of our Sewing Smackdown.

She's good...What can I say?

(And a LOT of people out there really like jean purses...who knew?)

Day 1: surviving...so far.

SEWING SMACKDOWN (Part 1) Please Vote

Sewing Smackdown

Welcome to our first Sewing Smackdown.

(Yes, because of popular demand,

there will be others in the future!)

Please check out our first project entries listed here

and leave a comment with your

Vote to decide the winner of Round 1.

(Follow the links to see the great tutorials for each project.)

The Adelle Bag

Betsy Buttons Doll

Ruffled Service Apron

Psyched Up to Serve

February is our family's month to learn about service.

So, to kick it off, I decided to get myself "psyched up to serve"

by making this sweet little ruffled apron.

(It's also my first sewing project for the "Sewing Smack-down"

that I'm having with my Mom and Sister this month.)

Make one of these for yourself and follow along with us

as our family goes through our own "Service Boot Camp".

To make this apron you'll need the following fabrics:

(1) 15 1/2" x 20 1/2" piece of fabric for the back of the apron - Piece A

(4) 6 1/2" x 33 1/2" pieces of fabric for the ruffles - Piece B

(2) 4 1/2" x 24 1/2" pieces for the apron strings - Piece C

(1) 4 1/2" x 20 1/2" piece of fabric for the band - Piece D

Start by creating a 1/4 inch hem all the way around piece A.

Then create a 1/4 inch hem around three side of pieces B,

leaving one long side unhemmed.

Using long stitches, sew along the unsewn side of piece B,

approximately 1/4 inch into the fabric and again at 1/8 inch,

as shown.

Gently pull the threads to gather and create your ruffle.

Repeat for the other three B pieces.

Starting on the bottom, pin the top edge of the first ruffle

to the wrong side of piece A

at about one inch from the bottom.

Adjust the gathers to fit all the way across piece A.

Pin down and sew across to secure.

Sew the next ruffle at about four inches above the first ruffle

making sure that the top ruffle overlaps the one beneath it by about one inch.

Repeat with the remaining ruffles,

leaving about 1 1/2 inches of piece A at the top.

Next, hem around pieces C, leaving one short side open.

Take piece D and create a 1/4" hem all the way around it by folding and ironing.

Fold piece D length-wise over the top of your apron. Press.

Insert pieces C into the sides.

Pin this all together.

Sew, taking care to tuck all unsewn edges under.

Whew!

I love, love, love this apron.

So does my daughter, who has asked me to make her a "tutu", too!

I guess I'll be making another one of these on a miniature scale,

since I plan on having my kids serving right along side of me.

I will post the child apron pattern soon.

If you have any questions about the directions above,

see the tutorial on One more Moore for more details.

Strengthen Families, Strengthen Society

"We call upon responsible citizens and officers of government everywhere to promote those measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society."

As the "fundamental unit of society",

the family is also the "building block" of society.

So, it was fitting that we made these

family photo blocks

for the final day of our

"30 Days for the Family (Proclamation)".

Family is everything.

Family is where we all begin,

and where we will all return.

I believe that this world is only as good

as the families in it.

That is why we must strengthen and celebrate families

beginning with our own.

I am so thankful for the prompting that lead me down

this path of teaching the principles found in

The Family: A Proclamation to the World

to my children.

As Sister Julie B. Beck has said,

"'We talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ', and His full doctrine which is based on the theology of the family. We are 'not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ' or His doctrine. We are willing to defend it and teach it with clarity. And we know that as we do so we will have heavenly help."

I have felt that heavenly help during the last 30 days

as we have studied this inspired document.

I hope that everyone reading this will take

up the challenge to study The Family Proclamation

together, purposefully, thoughtfully, and prayerfully.

I promise, it is worth every investment.

Disintegration of the Family Brings Calamities

"Further, we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets."

A Calamity is defined as a great misfortune, disaster, grievous affliction, or misery.

We can avoid experiencing this misery

by heeding the simple truths found in

The Family: A Proclamation to the World.

The Wacky Feet that we made together today,

and the way that my kids stomped around in them like Godzilla,

really brought home the idea of "calamities" for me.

And I think that my children understood it too.

Being careless about our family relationships is destructive.

But for the sake of play,

our Wacky Feet were a total blast!

Here's how you can make some with your own family:

Draw some fun wacky feet on a flat piece of cardboard.

We made "ghost feet", duck flippers, and clown shoes.

Cut out your shape.

Then trace and cut a second foot to match.

Then cut out two, two-inch wide straps.

Paint.

When the wacky feet have dried completely,

have your child stand with feet in position.

Mark the cardboard close to the sides of each foot,

where you will cut slits for the straps.

Cut slits.

Insert strips.

Be sure that the strap is positioned correctly to fit the child's foot snuggly.

Trim and fold the straps flat in the back.

Secure with hot glue.

And you're in business.

We all really enjoyed playing with our Wacky Feet,

but it was very difficult to get pictures of the kids,

because once they had their wacky feet on

they were off and running!

We Will Be Held Accountable for How We Treat Our Families

"We warn that individuals who violate covenants of chastity, who abuse spouse or offspring, or who fail to fulfill family responsibilities will one day stand accountable before God."

Through the scriptures and through modern-day Prophets,

the Lord has taught us the way to live "after the manner of happiness".

The way is to follow Christ's example,

to love and treat each other tenderly,

especially within our families.

During our day-to-day interactions,

we each might benefit from small reminders,

like the ones pictured here.

Why not put your reminders in places you'll see

when you might need them most...like when you are

crawling around picking up bits of toys for the 100th time,

or when you are doing laundry

or choosing what to watch on TV or the internet?

I love these outlet covers,

because besides being nice to look at,

they are very functional!

Here's how I made these decorative outlet covers:

First, I created my designs online, using a free service called Wordle.

Just enter the words that you want

and see what it comes up with.

Or if you are very crafty/artsy,

draw or paper craft your own designs.

(If you are interested in using the design above for

"manner of happiness", I saved it here.)

Trim your design to fit your piece of wood by tracing and cutting to fit.

I used plain wood pieces measuring about 5x6 inches.

That way it covers the entire outlet.

I decoupaged the design to the wood.

Then using a glue gun, I applied hot glue to a plastic outlet cover already in the wall.

Working quickly, I placed the wood onto the plastic cover,

sizing it up to make sure it was straight and even.

Wait a minute for the glue to dry/harden...and voila!

I love our little reminders...

And you will be very pleased

when your outlet cover comes off without a struggle

(but still too difficult for a small child to remove.)

For some very cool examples of how to do this project

up right, check out Whimsy-Girl.

A Mother's Mantra: Nurture

"Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children."

I can think of a thousand words to describe

the great and sacred responsibilities

rolled up in the job of Mother.

It's interesting that the Lord chooses just one:

Nurture.

The Proclamation goes on to say that

"In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners. Disability, death, or other circumstances may necessitate individual adaptation. Extended families should lend support when needed."

For today's project, I created a "Mother's Nurture Bag".

It's patterned after a no-sew make-up bag that I saw online yesterday.

Their pattern is easy enough for an eight-year-old child to make,

using fabric glue. I chose to sew mine and add a few personal details,

but it's still very easy to make.

Here's how I did it, if you'd like to make one of your own!

Cut a piece of sturdy material measuring 14 x8 inches.

Then cut it into two pieces measuring 9 x 8 and 5 x 8.

Place right sides of the fabric together and sew along the bottom/8 inch side.

Fold over the edges and iron to create a finished edge.

Sew all the way around your piece.

Using a complimentary fabric, cut a 13.5 x 7.5 inch piece.

Fold, iron, and sew around to create a finished edge on this piece as well.

Then place the wrong sides of the fabric together and pin.

Sew across both 8 inch sides.

Now fold your project from the bottom up to create the pouch.

Carefully sew along the sides to enclose the bag and attach the rest of the liner.

To keep things easy, I used velcro for the enclosure,

but I sewed a decorative button on the front.

(Note: If you are beyond my remedial sewing level,

you can also combine these steps and sew it all together at once to avoid extra stitches.)

I love the liner fabric,

but I decided that my bag needed a little something extra...

So, I hand-stitched the word "nurture" where only I would see it.

And my basic make-up bag suddenly became my "Mommy's Nurture Bag".

I filled the pouch with things that I typically use to nurture my little ones:

band-aids and Neosporin for my boy,

lip gloss for my little girl,

and some mini-love notes (made by my sister).

Maybe your bag will also contain:

a small sewing kit, tissues, candy,

and more items to nurture yourself as well.

Tuck this in your bag and you're good to go.

You never know when your superhero Mother-skills

will be called upon to save the day.

("Is there a Mother in the house?")

And now, I'm going to do something really nutty, because I'm just crazy like that.

I am officially challenging my sister Dawn, my mother Susan, and my SIL Hillary to a

SEWING SMACK-DOWN.

Here are the rules for the Smack-Down:

1. Sew three different projects.

The projects can be new or ones you've already started,

but not one you've already finished.

2. Post a tutorial for each on your blog on the due date.

The projects are due on these three Mondays: Feb 1, 8, and 22.

3. I'll post photos and links to all three of the projects on the same day.

4. The project that receives the most votes is the Smack-Down Winner,

and will earn herself bragging rights within the family.

(I know that by challenging some very awesome seamstresses,

I am just asking for a Smack-Down...but I already told you, I'm just crazy like that.)

The gauntlet has been thrown...will they accept???

(Ha! In a post about "nurturing" I just used the word "Smack-down"!

Life is so full of inconsistencies! I'm still working on mine...)