Random Acts of Momness

The Road To Emmaus; An LDS Easter Program for Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

2025-04-08T18:54:00.001-06:00

The Road To Emmaus; An LDS Easter Program for Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

I wrote this Easter Program a year or two ago and am excited to share it here. With our leaders inviting us to celebrate Easter more intently, I thought it might be helpful. The musical numbers are only suggestions. Any number of inspiring hymns may be used instead. Enjoy!

Speaking parts:

Narrator (Sits near a microphone set up somewhere front right or front left)

Speaker 1 (Speaks the words of Christ)

Speaker 2 (Speaks the words of a disciple on the road to Emmaus)

Speaker 3 (Speaks the words of another disciple on the road to Emmaus)

Narrator (Background music playing):

Upon the first day of the week following Jesus’ death, two of His disciples went to a village called Emmaus. (Speaker 2 and 3 walk to the podium) And as they walked, they talked together of all the things which occurred since Jesus died.

And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. (Speaker 1 joins Speaker 1 and 2 at the podium, standing between them)

But their eyes were holden that they should not know him.

Speaker 1: What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad?

Speaker 2 (With Surprise):

Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days?

Speaker 1:

What things?

Speaker 3 (With Sadness):

Concerning Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified. Today is the third day since these things were done.

Speaker 2: Yea, but certain women also of our company which were early at the sepulcher; found not his body.

Speaker 2 (Shaking his head with doubt):

They came, saying, that they had seen a vision of angels, which said that Jesus was risen!

Speaker 1 (In gentle rebuke):

O thou foolish of heart and slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken.

Narrator (As speakers 1,2, and 3 all walk from the podium, silently “conversing,” and take a seat):

And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

Musical Number Suggestion: “He Sent His Son"

(Speakers 1,2, and 3 return to podium)

Speaker 1: Hearken, and hear the words of the prophet, even the words of Isaiah. Yea, hear the words of the prophet, ye men of Galilee.

"Who hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed...? (Waiting for them to finish):

Speaker 2 (Speaks up):

Yea, I do remember his words, "For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground; he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him there is no beauty that we should desire him."

Speaker 3 (Remembering the rest of the scripture):

“He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.”

(Speakers 1,2, and 3 all walk from the podium, silently “conversing,” and take a seat)

Musical Number Suggestion: “Jesus Once of Humble birth"

(Speakers 1,2, and 3 return to the podium)

Speaker 2 (Turning to Speaker 1):

Yea, truly these things do speak of our Lord.

Speaker 3: He was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people:

(With sorrow) And the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him.

Speaker 2:

But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel:

Speaker 1:

Remember well what it says in the law, "For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul."

Speaker 2 (Remembering excitedly)

Yea! And we'll doth the prophet say, “I have given my back to the Smithers and my cheek to them that plucked off the hair.”

Speaker 1: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and rise again?

(Speakers 1,2, and 3 all walk from the podium, silently “conversing,” and take a seat)

Musical Number Suggestion: “Behold The Great Redeemer Die”

Narrator:

And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further. But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them.

Musical Number Suggestion: Abide With Me

Narrator:

And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them.

Musical Number Suggestion: “Reverently and meekly Now”

(Speakers 1,2, and 3 all walk to the podium)

Narrator: And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight (Speaker 1 walks from podium and sits down).

Speaker 2 (In reverent awe):

Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way?

Speaker 3:

Yea, and while he opened to us the scriptures!

(Speakers 2 and 3 walk from the podium, and take a seat)

Musical Number Suggestion: “I know That My Redeemer Lives” or " He is Risen"

Narrator: And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them, And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread. (Speaker 1 walks to the podium)

And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them.

Speaker 1: Peace be unto you.

Narrator: And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet.

Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,

Speaker 1 (To audience): Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations. Amen.

Musical Number Suggestion: “Glory to God on High”

Family Portrait Wall Tree

2013-11-19T21:53:00.001-07:00

I just finished this wall display the other day. The parts of the tree are made with joint compound. I cut leaf and branch stencils out of card stock with a pair of scissors and then printed out a picture of a bird from computer clip art and cut around it for the bird stencil. It was an easy project that took surprisingly little time. Oh, I also rubbed the design on the frames with joint compound so that the frames match the tree. It cost me very little money, and I am very happy with the way it all turned out!

Fun Ways to Use Old Friend Magazines

2013-09-25T16:30:00.001-06:00

I enjoy collecting fun articles and pictures from the Friend magazine and making presents for kids from them. So far I have made a recipe book, a book about Christ, and a book with Book of Mormon pictures, but I have ideas for more than just books. The instructions these things are below, but first....

Here's how I collect the pictures:

After you get the new "Friend" magazine, open the old one to the middle of the magazine and cut it down the spine to separate all the pages.

Next, sort the pictures. I do this by having a three ring binder full of page protectors. Each page protector is labeled with a different category.

Notice that I don't worry about making this cute. It is just to keep things sorted. It is amazing how many pages you can stuff into a page protector.

Here are the categories of friend articles and pictures that I have sorted:

Activities
Book of Mormon Pictures
Christmas
Church History
Coloring Pages
Crafts
Easy Reader Stories
Flannel Board Pictures
Games
General Conference
Jesus Christ
Jokes
Holidays
Miscellaneous Pictures
Missionaries
Piano Music (For Beginners)
Pioneer Stories
Prophets (Latter-Day)
Recipes
Stories
Sunday Activities
Temples

Once you have been collecting articles and pictures for awhile, here are some ideas on how to use them:

Small Books:
My favorite books are made using a little photo book for 4"x6" that I buy at Walmart for $1. This worked great for the recipe book I made for my nephew, Jesse, and the book with pictures of Jesus that I made for my grand daughter, Lily to look at during the sacrament. The plastic pages make the books easy to clean and hard for a two year old to destroy.

Big Books:
For bigger books, like activity books, buy a binder and fill it with page protectors. Slip the pages in the protectors, and your book is complete. Try making one of the following: "My Gospel Piano Book," "My Gospel Story Book," etc. For activity books, include a dry erase marker with eraser so that the activities are easy to do over and over. For coloring books, include multiple colors of dry erase markers. Alternatively, buy a sketch pad in the art section of a discount store, and glue one coloring page to each sketch pad page. This makes it possible to use crayons or markers to color the picture.

Book Kits:
With a craft book, a game book, or even a recipe book, consider attaching a Ziploc bag with materials to make a book kit. Look through the book to see what materials are needed to complete the activity and include them in the bag.

Magnetic Story Boards:
Glue flannel board figures collected from Friend magazines to magnetic sheets and cut out. Let children tell gospel stories by displaying magnetic pictures on a metal cookie sheet or tray.

Gospel Fun Calendar:
Cut out month-specific recipes, activity ideas, stories, etc and form them into a collage on a 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper and display above each month's calendar.

Popsicle Stick Puzzles: Make popsicle stick puzzles from pictures you cut out of the Friend Magazine.

I hope you have fun making these ideas and also coming up with ideas of your own!

Gifts from the Heart

2012-11-26T11:29:00.000-07:00

Every year for Christmas my family draws names and gives gifts, but these gifts are different than most, because the only requirement in choosing the gift is that it can't cost any money. We have found that removing buying from gift giving increases the thoughtfulness behind the gifts. We exchange gifts on Christmas Eve, and always record the giving since many are one-time experiences.

Here are some of the things we have given over the years made by the giver and always featuring the recipient:
Funny songs
Poems
Story books
ABC book
Games such as "Who wants to be a Millionaire" with trivia questions about the recipient
Drawn Portraits
Coupons
Stories about when they were young
Photo Collages

Zucchini Mozzerella Chicken Rolls

2012-09-09T18:40:00.000-06:00

First, the real recipe that I found on Pinterest:

Here's the picture. Click on it if you want to see the site.

Next, my version, made with stuff on hand:


	A bit dusy on top. Not very uniform in size, but then, everyone can choose just the right sized piece for them.


		Not very spiraly, but, hey, its all about taste anyway, right?

I like the original recipe because it's healthy, and I had similar ingredients in the house tonight.
The original recipe is called Chicken Rollatini Stuffed with Zucchini and Mozzarella
What is rollatini?? My version isn't fancy enough to be called rollatini.
Besides, I could barely roll the chicken. I'd have to call it "foldatini")

Zucchini and Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken Rolls
(Gotta love the conflicted format)
1 tsp olive oil--I added more like 2 Tbsp in order to saute.
4 cloves garlic, chopped--I planned on mincing the garlic instead, but I couldn't find the microscopic piece that for some strange reason is not permanently attached to my garlic mincer. It enjoys hiding from me. So I actually did chop the garlic and it turned out fine.
1 1/2 cups (1 medium) zucchini, shredded --Rather than zucchini, I had summer squash. Not as colorful, but every bit as delicious and nutritious, maybe.
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp Romano cheese (or parmesan) --I used parmesan because that's what I keep on hand In the freezer.
3 oz part skim shredded mozzarella--a nice low-fat cheese, and I have tons of it because Costco sells a giant bag of shredded mozzarella.
salt and pepper to taste
8 thin chicken cutlets, 3 oz each --What is a chicken cutlet? I used three breast halves.
1/2 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs --I have two kids who can't digest wheat bran and a husband who shouldn't eat white flour, so I opted for oats instead of bread crumbs. I put them in the blender with seasonings.
1 lemon, juice of--I didn't have any lemon, so I didn't use any.
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and fresh pepper--Fresh? As opposed to frozen, or what?
olive oil non-stick spray.--I didn't have any olive oil spray, so I used canola oil spray. Sorry.

First I preheated the oven to 450 degrees. Then I had to defrost my chicken, then I filleted each piece in two. I say "filleted" because I don't know how else to describe the way you cut the chicken. Let's see...turn the blade of the knife parallel to the cutting board and slice through the chicken till you have 2 pieces half as thick as the first. There.

I sauteed and seasoned the garlic and squash and spread it over the chicken. I realized at that point that I'd forgotten the mozzarella so I sprinkled it over each piece. Then I rolled up the chicken. I dipped the chicken in egg instead of lemon and olive oil for no particular reason. Then I rolled the rolls in the oat mixture and put it seam-side-down in a baking pan sprayed with cooking spray. Next, I sprayed the top of the chicken. I should have sprayed it more so that the chicken wouldn't look dusty after being cooked. I cooked the chicken at 450 degrees for 30 minutes.

I served it with salad. Made by Thomas.

TYOL

(Tear Your Own Lettuce--Not noticed by Mom until it was too late.)

Served elegantly in the spinner

I have heard that you should have at least 3 dishes at the dinner table.

Can I count salad dressing as a dish? We had 3 kinds to choose from...

First Reactions to the chicken:

Brian: "What is that?

Thomas: "What is this?"

Miriam: "What is it?"

Katrina didn't mention it. Didn't eat it. She just sat and decorated her plate instead--

Beautiful!

In the end, everyone besides Katrina enjoyed the chicken and cleaned their plates. It was a delicious, nutritious meal.

How to Make Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Sauce with Mushrooms

2012-04-26T16:35:00.000-06:00

I saw a recipe like this on the Food Nanny, and thought I'd try my own version, I also consulted my favorite recipe website, allrecipes.com . We served the sauce over pasta. Brian, who is a food snob, absolutely adored it, and the kids loved it, too except for Katrina who refused to try it. Here are step by step photos and directions. Happy roasting!

Ingredients
2 peppers (I used orange, but I figure red, yellow, or even green will do although green will be more strong and less sweet. I'm all about using what you have and what you can afford.)
Olive Oil
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1-1/2 tsp dried basil or 1/4 c. fresh
1 c. milk
1c. cream
1/2 lb mushrooms washed and quartered
1 tbsp bullion (chicken, beef, or veggie)

For this sauce, start by roasting your peppers. This part seems hard, but was amazingly easy! I just did it this morning as I was working in the kitchen. The roasting process took only 15 minutes. Here's what I did.

1. First, I turned the oven to BROIL. Then, I rubbed the peppers with olive oil. Next, I put them on a foil lined baking sheet. Then I took a lousy picture with my messy stove in the background so that you, my dear reader, could visualize the process.

2. I Broiled the peppers till they were somewhat black on top. Without preheating the broiler, this only took 5 minutes for the first side.

Actually, these are a bit too lightly browned. You may want to get them a bit darker. See pict below.

3.Next I took a pair of tongs and turned the pepper one turn. Then I broiled again. This time it only took 3 minutes, so be warned. Keep an eye on your peppers and don't burn them completely black! I just set the timer so that I don't have to think about it while I am busy doing other very important things.

Finished product. Beautiful! (the pepper, not the picture)

4. Here, I stuck the peppers in lunch bags so that they can sweat awhile. This makes them easy for peeling.

5. The peppers take very little time to cool (5-10 min). When they were cool, I peeled them with my fingers, removed the seeds, and cut off any inner membranes. The whole process took about 5 minutes.

Peeled and De-seeded!

That's it for now. I'll do the rest closer to dinner time.

****

Okay, it's time to kick into high gear for dinner. I put the water on the stove to boil the pasta and went to work on the sauce.

6. I diced the roasted peppers and saute'd them in olive oil with some minced garlic and basil. Fresh basil would have been divine, but I didn't have any, so I used about 1-1/2 tsp dried. Saute' for about 10 min on med heat.

7. Next, I put the saute'd mixture into a blender, added a cup of milk and a cup and cream and blended till smooth.

8. After that, I washed and cut the mushrooms up, added the bullion, and saute'd it all in olive oil.

9. Next, I poured the blended pepper mixture into the mushrooms, added about a half cup of parmesan,

and let it cook down till the sauce was thick and yummy.

Arrgghhh!! I forgot to take a picture of the sauce over pasta! That's the second time I've forgotton to take a picture of the finished product for this blog! Sorry! Imagine it drizzled over pasta. Enjoy!

2012-04-23T13:47:00.001-06:00

I found these cute lollipops while on stumbleupon.com. So cute! Directions Here.

How to Make Tissue Paper Blossoms

2012-04-23T11:09:00.002-06:00

Easy enough to make with the kids, beautiful enough to be displayed anywhere! Find step by step instructions on spoonful.com .

How to Make a Dishtowel Easter Bunny

2012-04-05T14:59:00.001-06:00

I just found this towel bunny and I'm so excited to give it to my neighbor for Easter! All it takes is a dish towel, two dish cloths, and a bit of ribbon. Find instructions

from Family Corner by clicking HERE

Folded Flower Pop-Up Card

2012-03-29T19:41:00.000-06:00

If you liked my folded flower card post, you'll love this idea, too. It comes from: http://vimeo.com/9848893

Waffle Wednesdays

2012-03-29T19:06:00.001-06:00

If you are looking for a fun, informal way for your kids to socialize with your friends in your home, read on.

Brian came home one day and told me about a mom who treated all her teenagers and their friends to a waffle bar every Wednesday. Since we've always wanted to be that kind of parent, we decided to try the same thing. This last Wednesday was our family's first Waffle Wednesday. We served waffles and the following toppings: Nutella, strawberries, syrup, and whipped cream. The waffles were delicious, and the kids seemed to have lots of fun. It promises to become a firm and delicious tradition!

Gospel-centered children's gift ideas for LDS Parents and Grandparents

2012-01-10T12:11:00.002-07:00

Since I am just beginning grand parenthood, a condition of which I am ecstatic about, I am putting together a list of things that I want to give as gifts to my grand kids. First of all, I am planning to give them store-bought, church-related gifts for their birthdays and home made family-related gifts for Christmas. I think. Let's see how it all pans out:

Birthdays
First birthday: A big picture of Jesus to hang on their wall.
Second birthday: A small photo album with pictures of Jesus in it to look at during the sacrament.
Third birthday: "Picture Scriptures"--illustrated stories of the scriptures.
Fourth birthday: A Book of Mormon full of picture inserts cut from church magazines to take to primary.
Fifth birthday: Framed gospel art for their wall.
Sixth birthday: A nicer ctr ring.
Seventh birthday: A soft cover set of scriptures and a home-made scripture carrier
Eighth birthday: Boys--A cub scout shirt, neckerchief, slide, book, and belt. Girls--white baptism dress.
Ninth birthday: A small hymn book of their own.
Tenth birthday: A pack of Mormonads to hang on their wall.
Tenth birthday: Boys--Webelos shirt, neckerchief, and book Girls--
Eleventh birthday: An even nicer ctr ring.
Twelfth birthday: Boys--A new suit. Girls--A new dress.
Thirteenth birthday:
Fourteenth birthday: A bonded leather set of scriptures and a scripture case for seminary.
15
16
17
18
19: A genuine leather set of scriptures.

Christmas
Family Tree wall poster, framed
Ancestor memory cards, game mat, and game instructions.
Story book of an ancestor
Family Calendar

Well, that is all I can think of so far, but stay tuned! I am posting a page of these ideas under the header on the top of my blog, so keep checking it out, it is a page in progress!

How to Make a Cloth Napkin Rosette

2012-01-03T20:37:00.001-07:00

I came up with the idea for these cloth napkin rosettes at Christmas time when we were setting our Christmas Eve dinner table. This is the one time each year where we use cloth napkins!

Fold your napkin into a triangle.

Fold down one corner.

Begin to roll along the folded edge, turning the edge back a bit as you go.

Keep rolling.

Keep rolling

Good job!

Fold up the bottom.

Perfect shape for a goblet.

Place the rosette in your goblet.

Separate the two "leaves."

Cute, huh?

Rice Pudding

2011-12-15T08:35:00.001-07:00

My husband Brian's favorite Mexican fast food place and his favorite teriyaki grill have one thing in common, they both serve little deli tubs of rice pudding that taste incredible. They're so good that we eat often eat the rice pudding first, while waiting for the rest of our meal. I tell you all this because my daughter Katrina and I found a recipe that tastes just like it. It takes a long time to bake, but it's worth the wait!

Rice Pudding
1 cup whipping cream
3/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup uncooked white rice
4 cups milk
Cinnamon

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Combine all ingredients except cinnamon in a 9" square pan. Bake for 2 hours without stirring. Pour into bowls and chill. Garnish with nutmeg.

How to Make No-Bake Treats on a Stick

2011-12-06T17:57:00.001-07:00

Who needs an oven with these cute no-bake cake and cookie pop ideas?

COOKIE POPS

Oreos are perfect for making no-bake cookie pops. Use double stuffed Oreos-- regular lollipop sticks are too fat for the regular ones. Second, use a fork to lift the Oreo pop out of the chocolate. If you use the stick, the pop will break. Let the excess chocolate drip off before placing on the waxed paper. Add decoration. Let harden. Fun stuff!

I decorated my Oreo pop with marshmallow flowers.

I dipped the petals in colored sugar for embellishment.

Mini Oreo kebabs are also fun to make. You may want to decorate yours to look like the little snow men in the picture at the top of my post. Find out how at "Edible Crafts by Craft Gossip"

But why stop at mini kebabs? Why not make big Oreo kebabs stacked on 10 inch bamboo skewers?
If you use skewers, clip off the tips with scissors or tin snips.

Other no-bake cookie pops

Filling
You can sandwich any two identical store-bought cookies together using this sandwich cookie filling recipe based on Martha Stewart's Cookie Sandwich Filling.
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk (you may add two drops of any flavored extract you would like to the milk before adding in the sugar.)
Mix

I also discovered a quicker, more effective filling for sandwich cookies on a stick--marshmallows! Take two of any store bought cookie you'd like--I used two little gingerbread men. Cut a big marshmallow in half, or use a few mini marshmallows. Put the marshmallow(s) on the top of one cookie. Cook in microwave till marshmallow puffs. Remove and place the stick in the marshmallow and then top with the other cookie. Quick, sturdy, and yummy!

Here are my gingerbread man sandwiches with marshmallow filling, sprinkled with cinnamon.

Be sure to check out the bottom of this post for dipping, decorating and packaging ideas.

CAKE POPS

Why go to all the trouble of cooking, crumbling, and smooshing a cake with frosting when you can just stick donut holes on a stick? Dip the stick into melted white or brown chocolate first before inserting it almost all the way through the donut hole. Let the chocolate harden. This will keep the stick firmly in the donut hole. Now dip and decorate.

Here are doughnut hole cake pops from "Cooking With Sugar"

I dipped my cake pops in melted white chocolate and crushed candy canes.

Be sure to check out the bottom of this post for dipping, decorating and packaging ideas.

MARSHMALLOW POPS

Haven't had enough yet? How about marshmallow pops from The Seven Year Cottage . Remember to dip the sticks in melted white or brown chocolate before inserting in the mallows.

Be sure to check out the bottom of this post for dipping, decorating and packaging ideas.

BROWNIE POPS

Yep, just buy brownie bites from Costco or wherever you shop, dip a stick in melted white or brown chocolate, and stick it into the side. Now you've got a brownie pop ready for dipping and decorating.

Sorry, I couldn't find a no-bake brownie pop on the web to show you a pict. Maybe it doesn't work. No promises.

Be sure to check out the bottom of this post for dipping, decorating and packaging ideas.

KEBABS

Remember that anything you can make into a pop, you can make into a kebab by stacking them on a skewer. A variety of pops makes a cute gift for a family. A kebab makes a great gift for an individual. Try these sparkly rainbow kebobs by The Decorated Cookie Blog

They sugared the marshmallows first by skewering one and dipping it first quickly in and out of water and then in candy sugar. They say you can also use sprinkles. Do this to all your marshmallows. Let dry several hours. Stack on skewers. Cute!

DIPPING

Dip your pops in white chocolate, dipping chocolate, or my hard-drying sugar cookie glaze. The glaze is hard enough not to smear when you cover the pop, but soft enough to enjoy eating. You can add any color and flavored extract to the glaze that you would like.

DECORATING

After that come the embellishments. While the dipped cookie is still wet, decorate with candy sprinkles, crushed candy cane, or my marshmallow flowers (make them pink with yellow candy sprinkles in the middle for poinsettias).

PACKAGING

If you made kebabs, buy cellophane bags, insert your kebob in the bag, and tie with ribbon. To cover pops, buy those little lollipop bags, insert the pop, and tie a ribbon. If you are making a pop bouquet, use a cute container like little mason jars or small yogurt containers filled with red hots. If your container is heavy enough not to need something inside to weigh it down, try this idea from Land o Lakes to separate your pops in the container.

They wedged plastic canvas in the container to separate the pops. Once your pops are inserted, cover the canvas with curled ribbon, scrunched tissue paper or whatever.

Or just lay them on a plate!

Have fun creating your own custom made no-bake treats!

How to Make a Family Memories Board Game

2011-12-01T09:33:00.003-07:00

I'm so excited about this wonderful family memory game, I can barely stand it. The game is brought to you by Family Fun Magazine, the best magazine on the planet. This link will take you to the basic instructions.

I took the basic instructions and turned this game into a one of a kind story-telling fest that is custom made for my family. The object of the game is to go around the board sharing memories and learning more about your family while trying to collect all five treasures so that you can head Home Sweet Home. I gave the game to my parents for Christmas, and it was a real hit at our family reunion the next month. I will tell you what I did here so you can use, tweak, and enhance the ideas to fit your own family. It may be a bit of work, but it is totally worth it. BTW, when you play the game--make sure you have the camcorder running!

THE BOARD:

Theirs Mine

Make your game board by covering an old candy land, chutes and ladders, checkers, or whatever old board you have laying around. I covered mine by cutting red wrapping paper the same size as the board, gluing it on with glue stick, gluing on the spaces, covering it with contact paper, and sticking black electrical tape around the edge.
Check out Family Fun's site to see how they made theirs. Here's how I made mine:
Spaces
My board has 5 spaces on each edge, a space in each corner, and 4 more place spaces going up the center. The edge spaces consist of 3 place spaces and 2 card spaces.
Place Spaces: (15 in all) Each place space names a place you've been with your family. I added a fun picture on each space just to make the board more fun. When you land on this space, you are required to share a memory that happened in the named place with your family. I tried to use places that would conjure up many memories for many different people, not just one or two.
Card Spaces: On each edge of the board is one trivia card space, and one "Who and What" space. If you land on a trivia card space, you draw a trivia card and answer the question. If you land on a "who and what" space, you draw a "who" card and a "what" card. See below for more about these.
Corner spaces: 1 start space, 1 take a treasure (from the treasure box) space, and 2 snitch spaces (take a treasure from a player of your choice).
To Mark The Spot on the Board Where the cards are placed: Glue each card on the board with the title side up (mine are "Who the Hops" "What the Hops," and "Hops Sakes.")

THE TRIVIA CARDS
Check out Family Fun's site to see how they made their cards. I did mine a bit different. My main goal in making the cards the way I did was to insure that the cards can be used over and over again since with Family Fun's trivia cards you can only be use each card once before everyone who played knows all the answers.

My Cards:
Trivia cards (I call mine "Hops Sakes" cards on my game board because that is an old family saying. Remember to tailor your game to fit your family.): These cards ask family trivia questions and are designed to bring up more memories. Here are some of the questions I used on the trivia cards:
"Quote a line from ________." (a favorite family movie)
If your family uses silly words or has a special language, make a card that tells the player to say something in that language or to say something that only someone in the family would know the meaning of.
"Impersonate Grandpa by doing something he would do." Make another card for grandma.
"Tell something about Great Grandma ________." Make a card for each great grandpa and grandma
"Name something fun you can do in __________." (Name a favorite family destination).
Tell about a play, performance, or concert in which Grandpa and Grandma's kids have performed.
"Name one of Grandma ____________'s hobbies." (Make this card for each grand parent)
"Name something that most people in this family like to eat."
"Share only one of the following words with the group and define it." Add silly or special family words to the list.
"Name a movie that most people in this family like."
"Name something that most people in this family would never do.
What is something you might eat at Great Grandma _________'s house (make one for each great grandma that the family knew)
Name one thing that Grandma ________does not approve of
Recite one of Grandpa _____________'s sayings
Name the town that Grandpa (or Grandma) _________ grew up in. Tell something about it.
Repeat a family saying
Tell something about Grandma ________________'s house.
Name a favorite family game and explain the rules.
Name one thing this family doesn't approve of
Name a pet that Grandpa and Grandma have owned

THE WHO AND WHAT CARDS
Who cards and what cards are to be drawn simultaneously. The "who" tells you who you will be guessing about and the "what" card tells you what you will be guessing about the player (see my rules for examples).
Examples of "who" cards:
Person to the right
Person to the left
Last person to draw a card
Last person to obtain a treasure
Person with the most recent birthday
Person with the shortest hair
Person wearing the most white
Person most recently baptized
The person who last stood up
The person who laughed last
The person who last ate a burrito
Person with the curliest hair
Person with the darkest hair
Person with the lightest eyes
The person smiling the biggest right now
The person who last talked

Examples of What cards:
Favorite color
A favorite story
A favorite song
An important day in their life
A past or present pet
Favorite color
Favorite hobby
A favorite game
A favorite sport
A favorite movie
Name one of their talents
What grade are they in?
A favorite book
A favorite place to visit
A favorite holiday (besides Christmas)
Are they a morning person or a night owl?
What year were they born?
One thing they are afraid of
Their favorite breakfast cereal
Their favorite dessert

Schmooze Cards (In my game I call them "Hootzle" cards because that word better fits my family).
Schmooze cards just say "Schmooze" on one side. The other side is blank. See rules for their use.

THE GAME PIECES

Theirs Mine

Make a Game piece for each player. I made six. Usually more players than six want to play, so I have them partner up. Family Fun used pendants. I made the pieces for my game out of wooden clothes pins, shortened and glued on a wooden base with a wooden "head" on top. If I'd had more time and inclination, I would have made them look more like little people. I made each game piece to represent one of the six kids my parents had. On the base of each piece, I painted one of the kid's nick names.

THE TREASURES:

Theirs Mine

Family Fun's Treasures represent important elements of life like health, happiness, wealth, etc. My treasures represented quirky things that would only be special to my family such as a pot of beans, a bottle of cayenne pepper, etc. I took a picture of four treasures, but you actually need five different treasures for each of the six player (30 treasures in all. To make my treasures, I bought large clear pebbles from the craft store. Draw or print off your pictures the size of the pebbles. Cover the flat side of each pebble with tacky craft glue and press the picture face down onto the glue. Leave the pebble flat-side-up to dry (This is important. If you lay it flat side down, the pictures will smear).
When dry, trim the picture if it sticks out beyond the edge of the pebble.
Family Fun has you make treasure boxes out of Altoid (mint) tins for each player to stash their treasures in. I did not do this, but it is a fun idea.

THE BOX:
Cover an old game box that will fit your gameboard and decorate any way you wish.

Theirs Mine

The box lid is actually the last thing I did. At that point I was too tired to do anything except cover the box with red paper, print out it's name in fun font, and line the name with electrical tape. I like family fun's idea of a picture collage--I just didn't have time.

Inside the box: I used jewelry boxes and lids to organize my game pieces.
Remember to include dice.

THE RULES

Click here for Family Fun's rules: http://familyfun.go.com/playtime/family-games/preserving-family-memories-a-game-of-stories-706955/4/

My rules are custom made to the quirks of our family. Here they are to give you an idea of how you can make yours:
Family Memories Game

Object of the game:

If you are sharing memories, learning more about each other, and having fun, you are winning. The ultimate winner is the player who collects all 5 treasures and gets to HOME before anyone else.

Set up:

Each player chooses a game piece. Place the game pieces at "Start." Shuffle and place the three decks face down in their correct spaces on the game board. Deal three "Schmooze" cards to each player. Set the Treasures off to the side of the board. Roll the die to determine the order of play: High roll goes first; play proceeds clockwise around the board.

How to play:

1. Spaces Each player begins on "START," rolls the die on his turn, and moves around the board. More than one player can occupy the same space. Follow these instructions for each type of space:

Start space. Each time a player passes start, he or she collects a treasure. If the player neglects to collect on his turn, he is out of luck UNLESS he is under 8 years old OR over 50 years old. If a player lands on start, he or she collects 2 treasures.

Share a Memory space: tell a brief memory about yourself with family at the location mentioned. No memory can be repeated during play unless enough new information is provided as to render the repetition worthwhile (the success of a repetition attempt is determined by vote. If voted down, players deliver the reprimand discussed later in step 3.

Trivia space: take the top card from the trivia card pile read the question then answer it. At no time in the game can any player repeat any information already given in the course of the game unless it is to embellish the already provided fact.

Who and What??? space: take the top card from both the "Who???" and What ???" deck of cards. Read your "Who??" card to determine which player you will be guessing about. Read your "What??" card to find out what you have to guess about that player. Example: If your "Who??" card says, "Person with the longest hair" and your "What??" card says, "favorite food," you need to determine which person has the longest hair and guess their favorite food. If you get the answer wrong, the person you guessed about delivers the reprimand discussed later in step 3 and then provides you with the correct answer. Now you are wiser and smarter. All players should be liberal in their acceptance of any close answers about themselves.

Treasure space: choose a missing treasure.

Snitch space: This space gives you special permission to snitch a treasure of you choice from another player of your choice.

2. Schmooze Card If a player is unable to answer any card or space correctly, he or she may use a Schmooze card to scmooze the answer from another player of his or her choice.

3. Reprimand Choose a reprimand to be given when a player fails to provide a memory or incorrectly answers a question. Give your reprimand a silly name. It should be something funny and relatively painless.

4. In-law reward If you are not related to this family by blood you are welcomed and encouraged to play. All such person's are rewarded for their bravery by being exempt from the Reprimand during the entire game.

5. Path to Home Sweet Home Once you've collected all 5 treasures, you can turn up the path to Home Sweet Home. If someone snitches a treasure from you before you arrive, however, you must go back around the board until your collection is again complete.

6. Home You do not have to roll the exact number to land on HOME. The first player to land on HOME is the winner. Choose a way to commend the winner such as doing a family cheer, singing a favorite family song, etc

How to Make Harvest Shaped Dinner Rolls

2011-11-17T18:20:00.001-07:00

Don't you just love Fall? Of all the holidays, fall for some reason makes me want to do season crafts like this wonderful dinner roll turkey. But why stop there? Bread dough is the perfect medium for all your harvest bread needs.

Rhodes Bake and Serve is a great site if you are looking for something autumn-ish to both craft, display, and eat. I will start with a link to Rhodes Bake and Serve turkey dinner rolls because I taught eight and nine year old girls how to make them just yesterday, and they did a wonderful job. I bought the Texas sized rolls so that the turkeys would be bigger. I can't wait to try making one for each of my Thanksgiving dinner guests. I thought I would put a turkey on each dinner guest's plate to start the meal. Do they still sell those alphabet noodles? It would be fun to stick the names of each guest on their turkey with alphabet noodles so that they double as place cards. How ever you use them, they are sure tol add fun to your family feast!
P.S. In the video, it is unclear if they are brushing butter or egg white on the turkeys. We used egg white and it worked wonderfully.

If you are feeling extra creative, you may want to try ears of corn,

fall leaves,

or pinecones.

Fun fun fun!

How to Make Poinsettia Flowers out of Crepe Paper Streamers

2011-10-14T08:28:00.003-06:00

After searching the web and not finding what I wanted, I came up with these cute flowers made of crepe paper streamers. These flowers are very easy to make and are a great way to use up streamers left over from birthday parties. Make one with the kids for a present topper, or make lots of them with stems and give a bouquet to Grandma.

Materials:

1 sheet card stock

12 ft. piece of crepe paper streamer

Scissors

White glue

For a flower with a stem: Green Pipe cleaner or wire florist stem,

For a present topper w/o stem: wire or bag tie

1) Fold a piece of card stock horizontally (hamburger, not hot dog, as my kids would say)

2) Hold up vertically, and starting from the top, wrap your streamer 8 full times around, so there are 8 layers

in front and 8 in back of the card stock. Wrap each layer over the top of the other, nice and neat.

3) Slip the streamers off the cardstock. Keep wrapped nicely. Fold in half and make a hard crease. Unfold.

4) Cut each end of the folded streamer into a point. Now you have 8 pieces cut in to points on each end.

5) Crimp and twist each piece at the middle.

Only ten are shown, but you should have 16.

6) Stack the pieces together, holding them in the middle.

7) Secure with one end of a pipe cleaner or florist wire, twisted underneath if you would like your flower to have a stem. If you want your flower for a present topper, etc, you can just secure it with a wire bag tie like I did or a short piece of wire.

8) Now arrange the petals to look nice. Don't worry, this step is way easy.

9) Gather the scraps left from cutting the points and smoosh them into 6 balls the size of garden peas.

10) Squirt some white glue onto each ball.

11) With your fingers, smear the glue all over each ball. Place the balls in the middle of your poinsettia and let dry. That's it.

So easy, a child could do it. So what are you waiting for? Get the kids and get started!

How to Unwrinkle Clothes While Traveling

2011-10-12T07:48:00.001-06:00

Miriam and Katrina discovered this method while on tour with their children's choir this summer.
1) Spritz the wrinkles and fold lines with a spray bottle.
2) With a blow dryer, blow dry.
This works best with lightly wrinkled polyester and polyester blends.
For heavily wrinkled, or cotton clothes, spritz and tumble in a clothes dryer with a clean dry towel for 5 minutes.

Easiest Pumpkin Cookies Ever

2011-10-10T07:08:00.000-06:00

If you are like some people I know, this time of year you are craving anything pumpkin. If that is the case, you will love these simple pumpkin cookies.

All you will need is one spice cake mix and one 15oz can (the small can) of pumpkin.

You may also want chocolate chips or a container of cream cheese frosting.

Begin by preheating your oven to 350 degrees.

Next, mix together the pumpkin and the cake mix.

If you would like chocolate chips in your cookies, mix them in at this time as well.

Spoon the cookie dough onto cookie sheets and cook for 10 to 12 minutes.

Remove from oven and cool on a rack.

Serve immediately, or frost with cream cheese frosting if you'd like.

For pumpkin sandwich cookies, spoon frosting on half of the cookies, and top with the cookies remaining.

I hope you enjoy eating these delicious pumpkin cookies!

How to make a Ric Rac Rose

2011-09-20T12:24:00.001-06:00

These are so cute! I found them on "The Crafting Chicks." Click on the picture to go to the tutorial.

Crochet Pod for Baby Sweet Pea

2011-09-13T19:03:00.002-06:00

Isn't she cute? The pattern for baby is here to download.
I came up with the pod, myself.

Crochet pattern for Sweet Pea in a Pod:

Make a chain as long as the baby or doll make the number of links (?) evenly divisable by 4. Turn. Chain 4, skip 3 stitches, single stitch, chain 4, skip 3 stitches, single stitch, repeat till the end. Don't turn. Flip. Now you are crocheting on the bottom of your original chain.
Chain four. skip 3. single stitch. Repeat to end. You should be single stitching in the same places you single stitched on last row. Chain 2. Flip. single stitch in first loop. Chain four. single stitch in second loop. Chain 4. Single stitch in third loop. Repeat to the last loop. single stitch in last loop. Chain 4. Flip. Single stitch in first loop. Repeat to the last loop. This is your little loop. Single stitch in that loop. Chain 4. Flip.
Keep doing the 4 chains, single stitching in loops until your pod is the right size to fit your sweet pea. Tie off.

Here is little Lily snuggled in her own little pod, next to Sweet Pea. We tied the pod so that it wouldn't come off her dolly.

How to Make Flower Pancakes

2011-09-07T08:08:00.000-06:00

Aren't these pancakes the cutest? I found the instructions on the wonderful blog "Not Martha" and thought I'd post a link. Here's the Link. Enjoy!

How to Make Mini Berry Pies in Muffin Cups

2011-09-07T08:03:00.001-06:00

Katrina wanted to make something besides cake to go with her ice cream this year and I had been wanting to try mini pies. When I suggested she make them for her party, she loved the idea. too. Here's how we did it.

For 12 mini pies we used:
Pastry for 2 double crust pies.
Fruit filling
Muffin tins

We rolled out our pastry and cut it in circles. We used the bottom of this peach can to make circles because we wanted the pastry big enough to make a lip along the edge of the muffin cups.

Next we lined the muffin tins with the pastry circles and pressed it along the sides.

After that we filled our mini pies with berry filling. Use one or two tablespoons per pie. They should be no more that 2/3 full. We over filled ours and they leaked!

We cut 3" rounds of pastry crusts to cover our pies. We slit the rounds with a butter knife before placing on the pies. Press the edges together. Do a good job on this part so that the pies won't leak.

Crimp the edges. It's hard because the pies are tiny, but you can do it!

Just for fun, we added the initials of everyone coming to Katrina's party.

Brush the tops of your pies with egg white if you want.

Bake in a 400 degree oven for 15-20 minutes.

Cool. Eat. Yum.

Happy Birthday, Katrina!

Playroom of Dreams II

2011-08-30T13:49:00.004-06:00

In my last post, I announced my intention to "build" a playroom of dreams in honor of my grand baby, Lily. This post highlights the playroom I have created. I hope it gets the old creative juices flowing.

DISCLAIMER: I do not present this as a decorating masterpiece! I don't have the time for that, and I think that as long as it's a fun room, kids don't care about the rest.

A picture of Jesus over the bed to remind the kids that He loves them. A pile of old, loved teddies at the head of the bed are ready for snuggles

A permanently set up play house, and a tea party in progress invite little girls to have fun.

They can find more dolly clothes for the pictured Posie dollies in the drawers below,

sewn with love by Great Grandma Jenny.

The bulletin board becomes a puppet display just begging to be used.

I look forward to the day I can update this magnetic calendar each month

with my grand kids!

My old baby doll, Elizabeth, and Katrina's baby, Alice, enjoy a seat together. The bookcase holds my picture book collection--all the old books I used to read to my kids. On top is a busy Noah's ark display ready for adventure. The "Tawny Scrawny" picture is really a giant picture book hung with tacks.

A closet full of old Halloween dress-ups, drawers of board games, and a bin of sports equipment inspires more play.

Girl dress-ups are easy to make, to sew, and to find. Little boy's dress-ups, not so much. That's why I hit my dollar store at Halloween time to stock up on helmets of all kinds and the accessories to go with them. I usually buy two of each so they can play with a buddy.

This little bin holds 2 knight costumes complete with helmets, breastplates, swords, and shields,

2 space ranger costumes including helmets, chest plates, and arm shields,

2 fireman hats (I need to sew 2 fireman coats),

1 Construction helmet and belt.

Pretty good amount of stuff for one little bin; pretty good amount of stuff for $20.

Add some super hero capes, and the little boys in your life are totally equipped to do big things.

Also in the stacking bins, my boys' old wooden train set, and Thomas's old Bionacles. Notice they are in easily removable tubs.

A stationary drawer in the desk works well for magnetic and wood paper dolls as well as my drawstring bag full of calendar magnets.

Every grandma should have a wooden puzzle collection.

I keep mine up in the closet, to be used with permission to avoid losing pieces.

Wooden blocks are definitely a playroom must

Lincoln Logs, the old kind.

An under-the-bed-box full of the boy's old Hot Wheels along with extra track I bought at DI (thrift store).
A bin full of Legos is also a must. Gotta get me some of those!

The penny hockey board Matt made in wood shop. My big kids still play with this!