When you Wish Upon A Star

It has been months since my last update. I apologize sincerely. Holidays and living in a separate state than my husband is anything short of distracting. I promise I will try to do much better this year.

So what do I have for you lovelies today?

Wishing Stars!

For the new year, my girls and I decided to make Wishing Stars. Now these are the same as the origami Lucky Stars, but I thought why not make a wish, write it on the inside and make it a Wishing Star? At the end of the year we are planning on opening the stars back up and see if our wishes came true.

 We made ours with left over holiday Christmas wrapping paper, and yes, before you even ask, this stuff get's glitter everywhere. But we're a glitter, sparkle, fantastical kind of family, so no harm. ;D

Now I cut my wrapping paper into strips about 2 inches x 40 inches. This way I had larger stars. The paper itself is rather thin, so you may want to back it with another layer of paper, perhaps kraft paper or something slightly thinner just to give your star some stability. (Trust me, your stars will puff better if you have a slightly stiffer paper.) You could always add about 20 inches to the length as well and it will achieve the same purpose.

So supplies needed:

• scissors
• wrapping paper, or kraft paper, or even star paper (if you want small stars) these can be found all over, but I like to order some of my pretty star papers from here plus they have glow-in-the-dark. (I love Etsy don't you?)
• Ruler. - I used a quilting ruler due to length, and the fact that I had it handy, but this is not a necessity.

Steps: (after paper preparation...cutting strips)

Now I'm not going to try and re-invent the wheel to much here. A fabulously easy tutorial for these stars can be found here. I am enclosing a few photos though of my own, to give a quick tutorial if you don't feel like clicking through to a different site.

1. Write your wish on the back of your paper strip.
   
2. Tie paper in a knot. WHAT? I know, this part can be a little tricky. Don't pull to tight, just get it to where the edges line up, and then smoosh (technical term). Flatten out the paper and you should have a pentagon shape. Try to keep the knot off to one side, and just fold the extra in the back over, you'll wrap it up later.
   
3. Now begin wrapping over...
   
   4. and over...
   
   until you are left with about this much of a tail.
   
   
   

5. Tuck the tail under the V shaped opening like this. Continue to slide the paper into the star until snug.

 6. Last but not least press the sides of the star in towards itself gently. Your star should begin to puff up and you will be left with a puffy star.

Simple right? (Don't worry if you don't get it correct at first, it took me a little bit of practice before I figured it out on the small paper let alone jumbo sized).

Good luck with your stars. <3

Mormon Monday

                image courtesy of https://www.lds.org/church/news/triple-combinations-available-in-indonesian,-thai?lang=eng

How's everyone doing on those New Year resolutions?

Good I am hoping. All is well here. Managed to get everything organized and planned out accordingly, now just to keep this momentum up through the rest of the year. :D

So for Mormon Monday's I am going to be sharing the things I have learned through my previous week's scripture study as well as posting questions, so please feel free to interact with me. I will also be posting some Family Home Evening ideas as they come to mind, and perhaps even a quick comic sketch of things that I may relate to, or things that stand out to me while reading.

I will be focusing on the Book of Mormon as well as Doctrine and Covenants (D&C, we're studying this in Sunday School) for now, but will let you know if I change it.

Again, it is not my intent to cause hard feelings, or confusion, just to open doorways for communication.

So in Sunday school this week, we discussed the introduction to D&C as well as a few of the sections. I personally have found this fascinating as I haven't studied D&C on my own before now. (And really it has been years since I've dusted off my scriptures and read them-but keeping with my resolution of spiritual enlightenment I am now).

The main thing I found so impressionable was that D&C is modern revelation, and (this is the kicker for me) it is meant for ALL PEOPLE and I quote, " Although most of the sections are directed to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the messages, warnings, and exhortations are for the benefit of all mankind, and contain an invitation to all people everywhere to hear the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ," (D&C, explanatory introduction). How amazing and wonderful for me to find out, and to encourage my heart and mind that I am doing the right thing in my spiritual journey and wanting to share with you all.

In the Book of Mormon, I read all through the introduction as well as 1 Nephi Chapters 1-7.

One of the things that sticks out most in my mind is the unwavering faith that Nephi has. What great faith that has to take, even before he sees angels of the Lord, Nephi's father would ask him to do something and he did because he trusted in his father and his fathers beliefs.

With children of my own, I can only pray that I will raise my children correctly and that they will turn out as obedient.

The other thing that stands out is Laman and Lemuel's rebellion. I can only picture them in modern time as teenagers going "Now what did he forget?" for the times they had to go back to Jerusalem and retrieve things. Again, with children I can understand from a certain aspect where they were coming from, but once an angel had shown himself to them. Sorry guys, now your just being deliberately hard headed. I do have a rough sketch in mind for this and will add it later.

I look forward to hearing your opinions on the subject, and hope I haven't bored you with my ramblings.

If you are not familiar with the Book of Mormon and would like a FREE copy please visit this site and request one: http://mormon.org/free-book-of-mormon

Reflection and Resolution

I sit and reflect on the year past. Though only the outdoor lights and wreath upon the door are left to remind that Christmas has just passed. My children and I still work on a few of there Christmas vacation to-do lists, such as long lasting mini gingerbread houses, and lounging in our PJ's.

 I am reminded how blessed I am with three adorable angels that I have, and how (though I have to constantly complain about listening, doing what they are told, and cleaning up their room) I have wonderful children. Not to brag, but these are children that I do not have to worry about when they are staying at a friends house because I know without doubt they are well mannered and behave. These are also the children that when Mommy is sick, tuck the blanket back under her feet as she tries to watch them and is falling asleep on the couch from medication. I am blessed with the most wonderful husband who is quite simply a genius in the kitchen. He could more than likely make a PB and J fit for royalty in a matter of seconds.

Some days it can be very hard to remember all of these blessings, and the many more I have been given which leads me to Resolutions for the New Year.

For myself it will be becoming a more organized in attempts to better multitask as well as getting back in shape. People often think how nice it must be to be an artist and writer...Well in way's it is, we get to do the things we love, but if we aren't careful, we end up with fat pudgy waistlines that won't let us fit in our favorite jeans. (lol) So I browsed through my spirituality and well being Pinterest board and decided I would use a couple of neat finds to attempt my own version of weight watchers as well as share with you in case you also have get in shape bulleted on your own Resolution list.

So a quick breakdown for New Years resolutions:

• Become organized
• There are a multitude of places that have helpful advice on becoming organized. One I particularly love is A Bowl Full of Lemons which is over all home organization.
• Simple Dimples has a neat binder organization system that I love and think would be fab.
• The Complete Guide to Imperfect Homemaking also has a great weekly planners for general as well as food planning available for free download.

• Get fit
• As I said before I will be trying to get into some sort of fitness routine, starting with changing how I eat. I spoke with my husband and he said he had had good weight loss on weight watchers before, but in these times, who can afford to pay to loose weight? Perhaps I'm being a cheapskate, but my favorite word as of late is FREE!
• So I found a great tracker/log over at Freckleberryfinds both a weekly meal tracker and a fitness tracker. This will help with monitoring food intake and daily point balance.
• Calculators: Points calculator , Activity calculator
• I have also located a really neat site called Fatsecret which allows you to find the nutritional values of the foods you eat if it is not available on the package.
• No one program is right for everyone, so find your own if this doesn't work for you.But please feel free to use any and all of the enclosed links. And let them know who sent you. ;)

• Become accountable
• If your a stay at home mommy like me accountability can be a difficult task. I am accountable for my own actions, but this proves tricky as I tend to let myself slack.
• Since I know without deadlines I dally, I will be making myself accountable through the use of a weekly binder system with check-offs, such as the above fitness and food log, but also creating one to ensure that I allow myself time to do the things I love such as scheduling in play time with the children, and personal craft time for myself.
• I already belong to a writing group Blooming Late which meets bi-weekly in my area, and have to tell my writing progress which helps ensure I am actually writing, but I will also be joining one on Google+ which is a specific accountability group for writers in order to accomplish my writing goals for this year.

• Complete a journal and write
• Personal journal as well as a spiritual journal
• This is for posterity's sake. I want my children to know what I was like as well as what they were like. So my intent is to write at least once a week, and jot funny happenings or sayings down as they occur to compile in a hardbound printed book for each child at the beginning of the next year.
• A spiritual journal is one for personal use. It is a way for me to become more enlightened though scriptural study as well as personal reflection.
• Write on my novels at least once a week and have one finished before the end of the year.

• Be Magical
• Remember to do fun just because activities that make me smile.
• Encorage others to remember that kid-like happiness and innocence
• Blowing bubbles outside on a sunny day
• Blowing bubbles with Strawberry Bazooka Bubblegum if its raining outside
• Watching dandelion seedpods blow in the breeze and looking for fairies dancing between them
• Wish upon falling stars and talk to the man in the moon

I apologize for the rather lengthy post. I'll try to have a shorter one next time. :D Please feel free to use the above links, and ideas for your own journey into 2013. Don't forget to be kid-like at least once a week and let the magic flow.