How to make a Thank You Card!

I've done crafts and made cards for people in the past.  It is a fun activity, and it is always nice to do for others. 

The first step is to decide who to make the card for.  Whether it be for a friend in need, a family member whose always helped, or a leader who helped you learn something, it doesn't matter who it is for as long as you make it meaningful and worth giving someone. 

Then you need to gather your supplies.  You'll need craft paper, either colored or designed, writing utensils (Sharpie, markers, pens, colored pencils, or crayons), some type of adhesive, scissors, stickers, stamps, ribbon, and any other item you would like to use to design your card.  You can find these things at your nearest craft store, or even somewhere as simple as WalMart. 

Anyone can make a card, it doesn't have to be extravagent.  You just need to add your personality and creativity, and it will come out fabulous no matter what!  I've never really been artistically inclined, so I like to think this when my cards don't come at as perfect as I want them to. :)

Next, you have to begin actually putting together the card.  It can be any size you wish. Choose your paper, and cut it according to size.


Once cut you just fold it in half with the top side up.  This top side is the part you will be decorating, and you can also decorate the inside too, but make sure you leave room to write your thank you note. 

When I decorate a thank you card this is what I do:  I first start by getting another sheet of solid colored paper that will look well on the base design of your card.  I cut a small square out of that paper, and write "Thank You" in a cute font.  I would reccomend you practice writing before so you don't mess up your cute font. 

Then I glue that paper onto the actual card,  you can center it, slant it, or get creative! 

 Now you can add the BLING!!! 

I love putting ribbon tied in a bow across either horizontally or vertically along the sides of the card.  I also think flowers and buttons are cute decorations.  Stickers can also be used to add to the design. 

Write the thank you note, and sign your name unless you  want it to be anonymous. 

Deliver to the person and hopefully they will think it is as cute as you thought.  :) 

P.S. Don't forget to actually say Thank You!!! :)

Here is an example of a finished Thank You card!

~Kenzie Jane~



How to make the best birthday cupcakes for a friend!

I great way to celebrate your friend's birthday is by making cupcakes. They are fast, easy and cheap especially if you use a cake mix and prepared frosting.

The first thing you do is decide on a flavor combination.. Don't have your flavors be simple or don't be afraid to try different flavors together.

For example, try chocolate cake with lemon frosting, strawberry cake with lemon frosting, strawberry cake with chocolate frosting or rainbow chip cake with rainbow chip frosting. This last suggestion, I think this is the ultimate cupcake combo!

At this point, I go to my food storage and choose the combination I have picked from the HUGE cake mix/frosting section, but for others who have a normal mom, you can go to the store and pick from that selection. Make sure you get fun cupcake wrappers and candles. You can even buy sprinkles if you want.

Once home, get out a bowl, a cupcake pan, measuring cup, spatula for stirring, ice cream scoop and all the ingredients that are listed on the back of the cake mix you have chosen.

These usually include water, oil and eggs.

Follow the directions on your mix.

 Before you begin preheat the oven.

 Use the temperature suggested in on your mix.

Add the quantity of ingredients listed on the back of the box into the bowl. Use your spatula to stir.

The back of the box will tell you how long to stir. Usually it is 2 minutes by hand.

Once thoroughly mixed, use your ice cream scoop the cupcake wrappers that you have placed in side the cupcake tins.

 If your ice cream scoop is small, like mine put two scoops into one cup.

 If it is a large scoop only use one!

The rule of thumb is fill the cupcake wrappers 2/3 full, that gives you a nice rounded top!

Need to know info: When putting your batter into the cupcake liners, do not let the cake mix fall on the pan. If it does clean it off. If you bake the cupcakes with batter on the tin it not only turns your tin black, but the cupcakes will cook unevenly.

After all the cupcake wrappers are full, put them in the oven to bake.

Bake them for 18 to 22 minutes or until you touch the top of a cupcake and the batter springs back, not leaving a finger print.

While you are waiting for your cupcakes, you can clean up the area and prepare to put in the next batch.

Be sure to watch them so they don't burn. When they are ready take them out of the oven.

Let them cool on the stove or counter for 15 minutes.

Then take them out of the pan and let them cool for 5 more minutes. While cooling, put the other batch in the oven.

Once cool, you are ready to frost. You open the frosting container retrieve a butter knife and stir the frosting inside the container.

Place a tablespoon of frosting on top of the cupcake and spread it with a knife. This is a starting point. You can add as much frosting as you would like! Spread it with the knife across the top until it looks nice and you are happy with the thickness of the frosting.

If you so desire, sprinkle you sprinkles on top of each cupcake. You need to do this right after you frost, so they will stick. If you wait to long, the frosting will harden and they won't stick.

I recommend you use sprinkles lightly as too many takes away from the real flavor of the cupcake.

Arrange the frosted cupcakes on a decorative plate. Then deliver them to the birthday friend!

Great Blogs; I would suggest looking at!

 These three blogs are very interesting and I suggest reading them because they are super entertaining, cute, and one that is very thoughtful!

http://byudates.blogspot.com/

There are five authors to this blog, all lovely young single Brigham Young University ladies.  They share their love for Jane Austen and their experiences that are similar to her novels.  They are clever writers, and their writing is entertaining. 

 Each girl has their own story with a “Mr. Collins,” they are all waiting for their own Mr. Darcy to come sweep them off their feet.  The focus of this blog is all about how dating at BYU is for girls, they tell the cute, the awkward, and the ugly. 

They keep their identities a secret, but you know them by their signature names: The Lady, The Romantic, The Bluestocking, The Closer, and The Coquette.  They give a small description of themselves with a Jane Austen vintage painting. 

If you’re looking for a smile or for twitterpation, read this blog!

http://picketfencefilms.blogspot.com/search/label/Love%20Stories

This next blog is called Picket Fence Films. It is a blog about a lady named Lily, who is a videographer for weddings and relationships. This site is mainly publicity for her business.

 My favorite part of her blog is the section called “Love Stories.” Here, she posts videos with couples stories of, how they met, their first kiss, and their proposal, etc.  

Something interesting that she does is she gives both sides in the love story.

I think the name of her blog is clever because it gives her viewers the idea of a perfect marriage, hence the name “Picket Fence.”

 I really recommend this blog it has a lot of cute stories and if you need a videographer it’s for that too.

http://www.prayersforrachel.com/

The next blog I reviewed was a blog entitled “Prayers for Rachel.”  It is written by a 17 year old Utah girl who was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor. She tells about the day she was diagnosed, her feelings, and her health issues.

Each post focuses on what she is facing and how she is dealing with it. You can tell she is scared, but she really tries to be positive and uses humor a lot. She is very personal and is willing to share a lot of things.

 Her blog is really plain. Meaning there aren’t any fancy backgrounds, but considering this is such a serious subject, that is okay and it works. She uses a lot of pictures of herself and her family, especially her twin. It is very touching.

I think this blog is great for anyone because it reminds us life is fragile and we shouldn’t take it for granted. I think for kids our age it is especially great because she is our age and we can relate. She is from Utah and she goes to Primary Children’s a lot, although she does decide to move to St. Jude’s hospital. It is familiar to us and we can really learn for her. She is amazing.

 

Personal Reflections

Last week I had the opportunity to go to Mexico on a service trip to a school. It was an extraordinary experience. I grew a lot as a person and really learned. I loved serving the people and creating friendships with the students. My favorite thing that we did would be when we went to the Homeless Shelter and gave the old men the blankets we made. I loved interacting with them and sharing the spirit to let them know they are loved children of God.They were very difficult at times to understand but the Spanish students were able to translate and then we could all communicate. It was great. When we first came in we sang "I am a Child of God" and even with the difference in language I know it touched their hearts.

On this trip I not only got to know other people but I got to know myself. I am a friendly, outgoing, and confident girl, who adapted well into another culture. I learned that I need to serve others and do the Lord's work. That helped me see the importance of missionary work which is what I was born to do. In fact every one in this life was. We should all try to share the Gospel with others through the spirit. If we come to know the doctrine and words first for our selves then we will better be able to be missionaries and share our testimony with others. We can do this on a full time mission or just as a member, but for me I have a strong desire to serve the Lord through missionary work.

I have no doubts in my mind about going on a full time mission, but the things that could prevent me from going on a mission would be the temptations of the world or if I had a different direction I wanted to take in my life, like college or something, but I'm pretty set! The only thing that could totally stop me from going is if I die and go to heaven. Which I guess is kinda like a mission because you get to be with Heavenly Father.