Olivia's Travel Inspired Room

This room has been something I wanted to finish and share so long ago, before Olivia even came really!  Dallin did such a good job painting and putting up new trim, he finished the room before Olivia arrived.  You should've seen this room before!  Bright blue and green paint!  It was fun but not what we were going for.  I love how it looks now.  There are still a few things I'm needing to complete this room but I had to document it before it changes too much.  These pictures were taken randomly over a few days as you can tell by Olivia's outfit, everything isn't perfect (you never saw her cute gold dot pillow) but that's ok!  This is how it usually looks and I love it!  Like I'd love a new small nightstand, small lamp, need to hang her bow frame and get a new one for all her bows, I've got a super cute idea for Olivia's Christmas present that will be going in her room hopefully at Christmas too. ;)

For Olivia's room I knew I wanted to have a book wall.  For one of the Baby Showers I had it was a book  theme so I was given loads of these books from family.  Which is so amazing and incredibly nice because Olivia loves books-I think she always has!  My sweet friend gave me the paper roses at the top from a baby shower she threw for me.  I used a picture ledge for the book shelves.  They were perfect to display the books and easy access to read them-even for Olivia on the bottom shelf.  

Olivia LOVES book!  I'm hoping to make post soon with her absolute favorites! 

The gold dot pillow, gold tray and pink flowers in a pink vase, even the night stand similar linked (I want to switch out)-all are from IKEA!

I'm so, so obsessed with this wall.  I had these prints since I knew I was pregnant with a girl.  I was so happy when we finally hung them in her room!  I got 2 different sets of 4 on Etsy, one with a little girl traveling (linked Etsy shop) and other of different memorable landscapes. I found white frames that were fairly reasonably priced at Walmart.

I love the pop of pink from the rug (found on rugs.com) and polka dots from the pillow and curtains (also love that the curtains are black out curtains so they help darken the room when Livy is asleep!)  Some essentials in this include:  crib (that I love!), mattress, protective sheet, decorative sheets, beaver proof crib pads, I needed THIS one too ;), comfy chair, sound machine ( I hide it on the bottom of her night stand).

I have been looking for a cute way to display Olivia's name and I LOVE this wood cut out I found on Etsy!  Also obsessed with the hot air balloon garland I also found on Etsy!

Olivia's closet is one of my favorite things!  It's not perfect by any means but its so cute to me!  I didn't even fold her blankets perfectly or de clutter before I took this picture so there's that!  Here are the links or sources to everything in her closet:  Be Kind sign-Hobby Lobby, pink and polka dot bins-Babies R' Us, pink hangers, hamper, white storage containers-IKEA, and pink decorative luggage.  The gold and pink book, bow frame, flower suckers, Olivia Ruth sign and pink basket were all given to us as gifts.

I have a different thing I store in each bin.  For instance I have toys that she'll play with soon, seasonal accessories or outfits, bedding and sheets, to put away in storage, extras, and toys I'd like her to use with some supervision (puzzles, crafts, etc.).

She has always loved her closet because she knows she can always find something to play with here.  We left the sliding door off so it's easy access for her and I don't have to worry about it falling on her. One day we hope to get a better closet door for this space.

My favorite part of Olivia's room is her changing table wall!  It's packed full of my favorite pictures and prints.  I love the idea of a gallery wall shelf.  It's less busy and so fun to mix and match frames and get the unique look of a gallery wall still.  I got the frames from Hobby Lobby and IKEA.  I had my sweet friend take newborn pictures of Olivia and I knew I wanted to have a travel inspired room so she helped capture some adorable pictures to go with the theme.  If you need pictures taken Gabby is your girl!

The large print, O, hot air balloon print and globe are from Hobby Lobby, the little girl in the hot air balloon print is from Etsy, decorative luggage cases, changing pad, changing pad liners, and changing pad sheets are from Amazon.  These items have passed the test because I've been using all of them for almost 2 years now.

We were given the little walker and elephant scooter, but Olivia hasn't been using them recently so we finally switched it.  Find out what we changed that corner to after some close up shots!

I was washing her little fur rug when I took the first set of pictures but had to document how cute it is!  I found this rug at IKEA for super cheap! 

And finally the new addition!  Her donut stand!! Dallin did such an amazing job and made this for her birthday gift last year and she has loved it ever since.  We've kept it down stairs where we'd only go occasionally but now she can play with donuts all day long! 

We got the plastic donuts from Amazon and the cash register at IKEA!

Bet you can't guess some of my favorite stores!? ;)  I've been wanting to share her room for so long I'm so happy to finally get this post done!  If you'd like to know the source of anything that I missed let me know-and if you find a cute side table! :)

This post may contain affiliate links, but all opinions are my own!

Back to School Decorations

I've been MIA for a while on this cute little blog and I thought I'd jump back in by sharing a few fun new home decor things!  

I have been loving this chalkboard sign!  It's so fun to customize each season, month, whenever really!  I followed cute Cherie on the chalkboard design this month, hung up a little DIY apple banner I made out of felt and some new wreaths on the doors.

I've also been baking up a storm.  This cake was for a "Thank You" to my sweet cousin.  It was a a Reese's lovers dream with chocolate layers, peanut butter chocolate ganache, chopped Reese's in between each layer and topped with chocolate ganache and extra peanut buttercups it was hard to give away! ;)  I'd love for you to follow my baking instagram page @ruthannebakes!

We've been slowly getting new home decor throughout this year and another recent addition are these open shelves I found on Etsy!  I can't find the direct link anymore or even the store, but they've got tons of options if you're in the market.  

Here's the sources for everything on the shelves:  ABC decoration, ceramic crayons and pencil, green apple sign, white cake stand-Target Dollar Spot (all old), mason jar apples, apple block and apple banner-made by me,  chalkboard with ruler frame-can't remember :/ but would be a super easy DIY with THIS chalkboard and wooden rulers!

This was taken before I wrote on the chalkboard on the top right corner.  I am LOVING these chalkboard markers-I even use them at church!

Another adorable shelf thats new is this coat wrack/shelf!  You can find it HERE!  Seriously sweetest people to work with and I've wanted a shelf like this for so long!  Here's whats on top:  ceramic crayons-Target (old), apple block-made by me, crayon vase-made by me but easy DIY!  You can make the crayon vase with the base of a a circle cardboard box, Crayola crayons, hot glue and fake flowers!  

Here was my recent chalkboard/wreath/cake situation previously.  This was a s'mores cake with chocolate cake layers, graham cracker crust, toasted marshmallow filling, chocolate ganache and chocolate buttercream.  Topped with chocolate covered marshmallow bears for my sweet Grandma because she loves them and we were celebrating her birthday!

You can find these dark green wreaths HERE!

I'm loving the new staple decor items in my house that make it fun to decorate and switch up the space whenever i'm feeling it!  Next will be Halloween decor! 

This post may contain affiliate links, but all opinions are my own.

Search for Gold in the Scriptures

How can studying the scriptures help me learn about Heavenly Father?

Throughout the ages, prophets have revealed truths about the nature of God.  As we diligently study their testimonies in the scriptures, we can learn about Heavenly Father’s attributes and increase our faith and testimonies.  The better we understand the nature of our Heavenly Father, the better we understand our own divine potential as His spirit children. 

Questions I asked during this lesson:  

What happens to those who do not have or do not use the scriptures? 

Why are scriptures important in helping us understand God?

Read: Alma 37: 8-9, Mosiah 1:3-7

We watched the video-The Blessings of Scriptures.  Which talks about people that went to great lengths so we could all study and have the scriptures.  We then wrote on the board truths about God.  I had the class find a scripture and then write what it teaches us about God.  

The central purpose of all scriptures is to fill our souls with faith in God the Father and in His Son, Jesus Christ.  -Elder Christofferson

We are blessed with so many different kind of scriptures:  the Holy Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, the Pearl of Great Price, and even words of the prophets from General Conference.  I hope that we realize how lucky we are to have all of these. 

Studying the scriptures kind of reminds me of searching for gold.  You can’t just go to any old place and search for gold right.  Just like learning about the Godhead you have to search in the scriptures to learn more about them.  You have to have a purpose when you are searching for gold and you have to have a purpose when your studying the scriptures.

When we search the scriptures we find GOLDEN information about the Godhead.  How to find gold in the scriptures:  Prepare with prayer, Ask questions, Study the words, Search for testimonies, Be diligent and always keep learning.  Think of what others ways we can find gold in the scriptures.

I’m so grateful for the scriptures and for the blessings they are in my life.  They have helped me learn about Heavenly Father and have made it so I have a testimony of His love for me and the rest of His children.  I hope and pray that we can keep searching the scriptures for this golden information about Him and learn to become more like Him.

How cute are these little bags of gold?  I loved how it had an old fashioned feel with the drawstring bags.  I filled them with chocolate gold nuggets and wrote on the front GOLD with a Sharpie to get the look I wanted.  I also had a little printable cut out for them to take along with a little bag of gold.  You can find the free printable below.

Find the 'Search for GOLD in the scriptures!' printable-HERE!

This post may contain affiliate links, but all opinions are my own.

Book of Mormon Youth Sunday School Lesson

How can the Book of Mormon help me strengthen my faith 

in the Atonement of Jesus Christ?

This outline/handout is from so long ago that I can't even find it on the Church of Jesus Christ's website!  Whoops.  Hopefully this will still be helpful and honestly we always need the Book of Mormon and need to realize how it can bring us closer to Christ so I think this lesson is applicable any time!

The first thing I try to remember to do is write something relating to the lesson on the board.  Most of the time I write the lesson topic or main point of the lesson.  It's a great way to get the class thinking about the topic and keep their minds focused on the topic throughout the class.

We watched this Book of Mormon Intro Video.  I shared a story about others asking me about the Book of Mormon and asked them how they would react and what they would say to their friends if that happened to them.  If you're stumped luckily it says right on the cover- The Book of Mormon Another Testament of Jesus Christ. The primary purpose of the Book of Mormon is to convince all people that Jesus is the Christ.  It is packed full of examples of faithful disciples who had faith in Him and received the blessings of His Atonement.

We also read the Introduction of the Book of Mormon as a class. And I asked them-Why would another testament of Jesus Christ be so important for our day?

“We need our own secure and settled faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and we need help in strengthening our families so that this faith flows into the hearts of our children and grandchildren.  Faith in Jesus Christ, when solidly anchored in our souls, brings true conversion, and in its wake come repentance, honest discipleship, miracles, spiritual gifts, and enduring righteousness.  This is an important part of the divine mission of the Book of Mormon.”

Elder Andersen

I then asked them to find a scripture that testifies of Jesus Christ and His Atonement in the Book of Mormon then be ready to share it with the class.  We then discussed how the Book of Mormon strengthened their testimony of Jesus Christ.  I'm so grateful for the Book of Mormon.  My testimony really started growing and thriving when I read it sincerely and learned more about Jesus Christ and Joseph Smith.  

 I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, 

and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding 

by its precepts, than by any other book.

Joseph Smith

I loved this topic!  It's a great intro for the Book of Mormon.  Another super fun idea would be to challenge the class to read the Book of Mormon for a class party, or even to give out a reading schedule to help keep them on track.

I went the route of chocolate as I usually  like to do! :)  These adorable chocolate Book of Mormons look tricky but really they are a breeze to make once you get the hang of it.  Cut black cardstock paper a little bit larger than the white page (printable you'll find below) you'll glue on, add two Hershey's chocolate Nuggets side by side on the black cardstock with glue tape (this stuff makes the whole process go SO much faster.  Then use the glue tape to attach the cut white paper to the chocolate, they will fit perfectly on top, crease down the center a little with a credit card to leave an indent.  Use tacky glue to attach the ribbon, sometimes I would attach the ribbon to close to the middle top before I put on the chocolates so it would sit nicely when I could fold it over and glue it again on top of the pages.  Let dry!  It's a process for sure but I love the end result!  

If you'd like the free printable for the Book of Mormon page you can find it HERE!

This post may contain affiliate links, but all opinions are my own.

Donut Forget to Pray

How can I make prayers more meaningful?

If you don't know that I love donuts yet, I think I might be doing something wrong. ;)
I just think they are so cute-it's just a bonus they are fun to eat too!

So that I hadn't used donuts yet in a lesson or handout was pretty shocking to me.
So I decided to change that!  And this YW lesson topic was perfect for that!

I want the girls to get use to writing in their journals so I encouraged them to take them out right at the starting of class and write down impressions or promptings they get throughout the lesson.  I started with asking them some questions I just wanted them to think about:  Are my prayers sincere?  Do I say prayers that are repetitive or without meaning?  Do I treat prayers like a wish list?

I told the girls to remember that Heavenly Father is our Father, He wants to help us and loves us so much.  He knows our needs and desires.  He wants us to communicate with Him, He's always just a prayer away.  I hope we pray as if He's there and is listening because He is!

As we make a habit of approaching God in prayer, we will come to know Him and draw ever nearer to Him.  Our desires will become more like His, we will be able to secure for ourselves and for others-blessings that He is ready to give if we will but ask in faith.

We talked about how we can make our prayers more meaningful so I passed out a little sheet of paper that is the perfect size for them to put in their journals and to read!  Here's how you can add some SPRINKLES to your prayers and make them more meaningful!

We talked about what we could add to this list like:  preparing our minds, listening, faithful effort, praying out loud, pause, ask forgiveness, ask questions, keep a prayer journal, traits we'd like to work on, who can we serve or help-someone who is sad/sick or in need, gospel topics we are trying to understand, family concerns, etc.

We also talked about meaningful experiences we have had with prayer.

Sometimes when we pray, it's like we're picking up a phone, ordering groceries, and then we hang up the phone-we put in our our order, and we don't think any more about it than that.  

But if we take a few minutes just to think about our particular need in a given moment, 

then prayer becomes more meaningful.

President Gordon B. Hinckley 

I've learned that when I make a habit of praying it becomes natural and more meaningful for me.  I encouraged the class to make a habit of praying.  Prayer isn't just for times when we are in trouble or in need.  We should have constant communication with our Father in Heaven.  We always need to be in connection with him and know what He'd like us to do.

The next activity we did is A Dozen of Meaningful Prayers.  I told the girls to think of something or someone that has been on their minds lately.  I wanted them to write it or the persons name under the donut.  Once you pray and ACT/do something to help with your prayer, you can color it in. The goal being a whole dozen prayers that you've prayed about and can see how you have helped with those prayers. 

Which brought us into the next topic of acting and helping with our prayers.  We usually wait entirely on our Heavenly Father for answers to our prayers and I think we forget that we can do our part and help.  

Often, the answerr to our prayer does not come while we're on our knees but while we're on our feet serving the Lord and serving those around us.  Selfless acts of service and consecration refine our spirits , remove the scales from our spiritual eyes, and open the windows of heaven.  By becoming the answer to someone's prayer, we often find the answer to our own.  President Spencer W. Kimball taught this concept when he said:  "God does notice us, and he watches over us.  But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs."

Elder Uchtdorf

I have seen this SO many times in my life.  Especially when it's something simple but incredibly kind, usually it just makes my day brighter-so hopefully we can be in a position to make others happier and make life more enjoyable for them!

We talked about how our prayers can be answered in a different way

than we expected and shared stories.  

Heavenly Father hears your prayers.  He may not always answer as you expect, but he does answer-in His own time and according to His will.  Because He knows what is best for you, He may sometimes answer no, even when your petitions are sincere.

True to the Faith

God is eagerly waiting for the chance to answer your prayers and fulfill your dream, just as He always has.  But He can't if you don't pray, and He can't if you don't dream.  In short, He can't if you don't believe.

Elder Holland

Our Heavenly Father wants to help and bless us.  Those blessings require effort and work on our part.  The first being to pray!  So DONUT forget to pray!

As you can tell I got really into this lesson!  I gave little 'DONUT forget to Pray' tags with a donut eraser along with the Dozen of Meaningful Prayers activity, a 'Donut forget to pray!' sticker for them to put in their journals, how to make their prayers more meaningful paper, and a quote page (which makes it super easy to get anyone to read quotes out loud during the lesson and skip quotes if necessary, I also love that they get to keep all the quotes/scriptures/etc. for later pondering and study), and of course for a treat I gave Donettes!

I have LOADS of donut decorations from Olivia's birthday party so I just pulled a few out of our donut party box.  I made some donuts out of cardboard and painted them to look like donuts, then used them for the chalkboard decoration, I had mini popsicle sticks painted to look like sprinkles, a small picture of Christ with a small girl is always ideal for Young Women lessons I think,  a small donut decoration from the Target Dollar Bins and a super cute cake stand full of a variety of the Donettes.  I love to keep all my supplies or handouts all in one place so THIS tray was the perfect size for that.  I also love to do something fun and memorable on the chalkboard.  Even if it's simple I know that I look at the board a lot during class so this is a great way to give some inspiration for what they can put in their journals and to keep their mind on the topic at hand.

Even if you don't teach or are in YW, feel free to do this for a primary, FHE, a summer activity or ministering handout/love note!  There are so many options with these lesson ideas.

If you'd like any of these FREE printables feel free to find them below:  

'DONUT forget to PRAY' tag [page 1]

'A Dozen of Meaningful Prayers' activity

'DONUT forget to keep your prayers meaningful!' print [page 3]

'Donut forget to pray!' stickers (Need to print on sticker paper!) [page 2]

DONUT forget to Pray Quote Page

If you are interested in more Young Women lessons, I have several you can find HERE!

This post may contain affiliate links, but all opinions are my own.

Commandments Lesson

How do the commandments help me learn to be more like Heavenly Father?

This lesson is from quite a while ago.  I haven't shared several
youth Sunday school lessons, relief society handouts and some young women handouts and even some recipes and parties.
I'm hoping to share more of them as time goes on!
But if you have something you'd like to see first let me know!

I started this lesson asking the youth to imagine that they are riding along a mountain road, near a steep cliff, with a guardrail along the side of the road.  As you are imagining this I want you to think about the following questions-How are the Lord's commandments like the guardrail?  How are they like the road or street signs?

We talked about why Heavenly Father has given us commandments:  to help us understand His will for us, commanded to love, we obey the commandments because we love Him, to receive celestial glory, warnings, guidance, help, strength.

We read:
D&C 82:8-10
Matthew 22:34-40
Section from Forget Me Not talk from Dieter F. Uchtdorf

In the Forget Me Not talk Elder Uchtdorf talks about how "understanding the 'what' and the 'how' of the gospel is necessary, the eternal fire and majesty of the gospel springs from the 'why'."  I encouraged the youth to look deeper and notice the beauty that surrounds us, look more closely at the "why"s, when we realize why we are doing what we are doing it becomes sweeter and more meaningful to us.  I also asked them to think about-Why they come to church?  Why do they follow the commandments? etc.

We also talked about street signs and their different meanings.

We made a list of attributes of God.  We then talked about how specific commandments can help us develop those attributes and become more like our Heavenly Father.

Other questions I asked are:  Hoe does this affect the way they think about God's commandments?  How might it affect their attitudes toward obedience to the commandments?  How might it affect the choices they make?

When we focus on the WHY of the gospel of Jesus Christ, we realize commandments are like specialized instructions almost like a road map of life from our Heavenly Father.  Even if life gets ROCKY, if we stay on the ROAD of obedience we will return to our Father in heaven.

For the handout I wanted to give mini Rocky Road candy bars.  A full Rocky Road candy bar is always an option too, I just love the mini ones for handouts.  It happened to be fast Sunday when I gave this lesson so I didn't actually give a treat, I just ended up giving the tag and the youth was able to take one if they wanted.

Find the Free Printable for the 'Rocky Road Commandment' tag-HERE!

This post may contain affiliate links, but all opinions are my own.