How To Make: Home-Made Marshmallows

I accidentally posted the idea before the video, so here is the
video for  my post below.

Homemade Christmas Gift

Homemade Marshmallows recipe can be found
on the Martha Stewart site.  (Link below)

I have a great idea for a really unique Christmas gift for you to give to the Women you Visit Teach or to a neighbor, friend or whomever.  One year my sister sent me a recipe for homemade marshmallows and I made them one day.   Oooh, they were sooooo yummy.  I was thinking that they could be cut into shapes using cookie cutters too. 

On the Martha Stewart site, they have some freshly cut Marshmallow's sacked in cellophane bags. (see picture above)  They can be eaten plain or plopped into a cute mug of hot chocolate.  This would be such a great and unique gift. Everybody gives hot chocolate mix for gifts, but  how fun would it be to include a bag of homemade marshmallows and maybe tie on the recipe, because they will want it after tasting them only once!!!

This is the link to the recipe and image

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/peppermint-marshmallows

Have fun with this and take a picture of your marshmallows in a bag and email it to me.

Enjoy!  Katie G

CD or DVD Template

I designed a printable CD or DVD sleeve Template today.  I am making up a CD of family photos for my brothers and sister for Christmas, and wanted a cute folder to put it in.  I am going to make it simple, because I am just printing the template on the backside of 8.5 x 11 Christmas scrapbook paper, then cutting them out.  I am going to probably just buy a cute seal or sticker to match the paper to seal it shut.  I may make a label but I don't have one made yet as it will depend on the paper that I find.  Anyway... if you would like to use this template, feel free to use it for your personal use. 

Now for Visitng Teaching... you could make a Chrismas Music CD to put in it, or maybe even record the Message or a talk from the first Presidency Chrismas devotional.  Maybe you could make a slide presentation of pretty Chritmas pictures to go with some pretty background music.  These are gifts of love and from the heart.

One other thing you can do for this template, is to use it as an envelop for a homemade card.  Just cut your card to fit in it, and there you go.

Enjoy! Katie G.

Christmas lesson on Service

I am right up to the very last minute with this lesson that I have been trying to prepare for weeks.  I have never had so many trials and things that have taken me away from preparing a lesson for any organization of the church.  This past month and a half have really been difficult ones for me and my family and one thing after the other keeps happening, and even up til today, more things have happened.  Have you ever felt like it wasn't just raining, but pouring? 

I have a testimony that gets me through even the most difficult challenges in life.  I know that my Heavenly Father is mindful of me and like the poem "Footsteps", He and my Savior, Jesus Christ, is walking beside me on my journey through life.  I beleive that Old Scratch, as my dad use to call Satan, tries to thwart every good thing from happening.  He has certainly bombarded me with everything he could possibly throw in front of me to make me stop my preparations for a message that he simply doesn't want spread.  Service is how we can feel better because the natural effect from giving service is joy.  Right now, I am feeling really good, because I know I have finally finnished, at the 11th hour, something that should make an impact on the Young Women of my ward.  I know how difficult this world is to live in and these young women need to have every tool the Lord has to offer, and understand how to use them to get them through these troubled times.  Service for me is the best drug off the market, and it has no alergic reactions, or detrimental effects.  But service produces a natural 'High" if you will, that leaves the giver as happy and the receiver. 

I'll stop rambling but before I leave this post, I will post my lesson in the event that any of you need a quick Christmas lesson.  I have also been sent several others from kind hearted women, that I will post as well, so hopefully from all of these ideas, you can find what you are looking for. 

As a bit of an explaintion, I selected all my picture stories out of the LDS Gospel Art Picture kit.  You can download them and print them off if you like, but you can purchase the kit, like I have online, or at any of the distribution centers.  It is so worth it as the pictures are lovely, and they even have a sumarized version of the story and scripture references that the picture has been created for.   For my handouts, I have the booklet that I have put up on the next post, and also a few other handouts.  Enjoy!  Katie G.

Christmas Service Booklet

After I got my lesson put together I came began putting together some pages of Stories, quotes, ideas and things that relate to serving at Christmas time and the whole year through.  I will include these here so that if you need them for yourselves, you can access them as well.  I am just stapeling them together with a front cover, that I don't have made yet.  Here is what I have so far.

Christmas Lesson

Thanks to those of you have sent me ideas for my Christmas lesson.  I will be using some of those and it really helped me since I have been so preocupied dealing with some family crisis'.  Life happens but I am grateful for the kindness of friends who are willing to help and share their time and talents.  I will also be posting the ideas and lessons sent to me so that others can benefit from this kind service too.  Thanks again girls and much gratitude and love sent your way!
Love, Katie G.

P.S  I have attached my Secret of Christmas Book mark so that you can print it off and give it away if you like as a Thanks for sharing.