There's No Place Like Home...



 I had the giddy fun and pleasure of creating lots of magical things for our Wizard of Oz themed New Beginnings that we hosted in February. Some of the fun items I got to create were:

- The Invitations (see above)
-A poem that went along with our theme I digi-scrapped and printed off
-Cupcake Circles (These are addictive to make! See example at bottom of post)
-Custom OZ character pictures
-Food labels (I love coming up with creative food name labels)
-The program for the evening
-Custom name labels circles
-Lettering to go on our 'brick road'
-Cute Country paper banners
-Magic...  :)

This was our vision of what we started calling the "Chic Country OZ!"

The program started with me introducing our theme and why we chose Wizard of Oz. I talked about how Dorothy represented all the girls on their own "journey" through Young Women's and how Christ has sent them people in their lives to help them along their way "home." Just as Glenda (the good witch) gave Dorothy the Ruby Slippers and a kiss to start her off right on her journey, each Young Woman has Personal Progress and us as leaders to do the same. 

Then, the next leader who talked represented the LION and talked about the COURAGE it takes to be in YW's, to represent the morals we believe in and to complete personal progress. The next leader represented the SCARECROW and discussed the KNOWLEDGE you gain while being in YW's and working through personal progress. She then walked us through an online demonstration of the new Personal Progress Online!  It was perfect!

The last leader who spoke represented the TIN MAN and represented the love and HEART we have as women in the program. We used this opportunity to introduce the new Beehives and show a short slide show of some of the wonderful things we did together last year set to the song, "Somewhere over the Rainbow" sung by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole and his ukulele. (You may remember this song being played at the end of the movie "50 First Dates" with Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore.)

It was so fun to revisit memory lane and see the girls who will be coming in this year get so excited!

Mission Accomplished.

***

The food table

*My Inspiration*

Leslie (our YW president) made this amazing ruby slippers filled with Glenda the good witch's "gummy kisses" to give each of our Young Women to take home. She found the idea HERE at on of my favorite blogs Skip to my Lou



Here are one of the 10 different cupcake circles I created...I got a little carried away!

Seeing these beautiful Red Velvet Cupcake in every ones hand at the end of the evening made me smile... :)

Can I just say one more time how much I LOVE my Young Women...I can think of no better calling in the Church then the one I'm in right now. I'm so thankful for the girls in my ward and for the leaders I get to work with and I can't wait to see what other big ideas we will surely come up with next!

::UPDATE as of 1/1/14::

I've had so much great response to my Wizard of Oz printables that I couldn't keep up with the emails so I finally got smart and now have a link where you can download them for yourself.

Click HERE to view the folder with 14 different printable options for you to download. There are different options for all of your needs!

-CLICK HERE FOR THE PRINTABLES FOLDER-



Books Becoming Movies in 2011

This book came out AUGUST 2010 and in less than 5 months of hitting the shelves this book it ALREADY a movie!!! 
I heard that the director got an advanced copy of this book and instantly starting working on making it a movie so I have high hopes for this flick.



This movie came out TODAY, Feb. 18th so let me know what you think of it as you see it!
Directed by: D.J. Caruso
Starring: The new breakout star of the year, Alex Pettyfer.

One of my favorite classics is being remade into a new movie and the movie trailer for it looks AMAZING!
Instead of playing up the love story in this new movie they are playing up the haunted mystery part of the book...I am already sitting in the movie theater mentally right now!

This new remake of Jane Eyre comes out on March 11th...
I AM SOOOOOO EXCITED!!!!!!!

Directed by: Cary Fukunaga
Staring: Mia Wasikowska (who played Alice in 2010 Alice in Wonderland
& Michael Fassbender (who played in 300 and Inglourious Basterds)

Eeee!!!

This children's books is being remade into a not so kid friendly movie coming out on March 11th.
Directed by Twilight's Catherine Hardwicke and Staring the beautiful Amanda Seyfried.

This Young Adult Beauty and the Beast retelling by Alex Flinn is a fun modern day fairy tale.

The movie comes out on March 4th and I am actually really excited!
I am about 3/4 the way through this book right now and I'm loving it so far!

Directed by: Daniel Barnz
Starring: Alex Pettyfer, Vanessa Hudgens and Mary-Kate  

Water for Elephants is a unique book about life in the circus in the 1930's

This movie opens on April 22nd
Directed by: Francis Lawrence
Starring: Robert Pattinson, Reece Witherspoon & Christoph Waltz

I never read comic books but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy watching the movies!

This movie opens on May 6th
Directed by: Kenneth Branagh
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Hopkins and Natalie Portman

Yes, another comic book turned movie!

The Green Lantern opens on June 17th
Directed by: Martin Campbell
Starring: Ryan Reynolds & Blake Lively

"After spending the night together on the night of their college graduation Dexter and Em are revisited each year on the same date to see where they are in their lives."

This movie opens on July 8th.
Directed by: Lone Scherfig
Starring: Anne Hathaway & Jim Sturgess

I am already in mourning for the official END of the whole Harry Potter phenomenon. Since the first book was published in 1997, J.K. Rowling writing magic has had me mesmerized and when I read the final pages on her last book I remember feeling like I had lost a great friend. To cheer myself up I remembered that, "At least I still have the movies to look forward too..." but now, the magic of the movies is also coming to an end. *sigh*  

This EPIC story comes to a close July 15th when part II comes out!
Directed by: David Yates 

Yes...ANOTHER comic book being made into a movie.

Captain America opens on July 22nd
Directed by: Joe Johnson (who also directed Oct. Sky and Jumanji)
Starring: Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving and  Tommy Lee Jones

"It was hard enough for Mr. Popper to support himself, Mrs. Popper, Bill and Janie Popper. The addition of twelve penguins to the family made it impossible to make both ends meet. Then Mr. Popper had a splendid idea-the talented penguins would be a sensation on the stage."

This adorable book turned movie opens on June 17th
Directed by: Mark Waters
Starring: Jim Carry!
(I remember LOVING this book as a kid so I'm excited to see it!)

"Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women—mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends—view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don’t."



"The Help" opens on August 12th and I'm pretty sure my entire book club can't wait to see it opening night!
We LOVED this book and can't wait to see it played out on the big screen!

If you've read this book then you'll know that this first installment of the Twilight saga should be...interesting.

LOL, this fan made movie poster made me laugh so I used it because there isn't an official movie poster yet!

This is the ONLY photo I could from the movie but if you didn't know what was going to happen next then I'm sorry, these photos are kind of spoilers.
Directed by: Bill Condon

"The Invention of Hugo Cabret unfolds its cryptic, magical story in a format that blends elements of picture book, novel, graphic novel, and film. Caldecott Honor-winning author-illustrator Brian Selznick has fashioned an intricate puzzle story that binds the reader like a mesmerist's spell."

This movie opens on November 18th and I'm already planning on seeing it because Jude Law's in it! ;)

Directed by: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Chloe Moretz, Jude Law & Christopher Lee

"Sherlock Holmes II: A Game of Shadows" opens on December 16th, right in time for Christmas!
Directed by: Guy Ritchie

"Little is as it seems in Larsson's novel, but there is at least one constant: you really don't want to mess with the girl with the dragon tattoo."

This movie opens on December 21st and is the first in a trilogy
Directed by: David Fincher
Starring: Daniel Craig, & Rooney Mara

The movies from here down are only "In production" which means they are in the works and will probably come out in 2012 but I was TOO excited about them NOW to wait until next year to mention them!

-IN PRODUCTION-

"When Jonas turns 12, he is singled out to receive special training from The Giver. Now, it’s time for Jonas to receive the truth. There is no turning back."

I still remember the first time I read this book in 5th grade.

EEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!
"When her mom is attacked and taken from their home in New York City by some creature, a seemingly ordinary teenage girl, Clary Fray, finds out truths about her past and bloodline on her quest to get her back, that changes her entire life."

This movie is HAPPENING! 
Director: Scott Charles Stewart
Starring: (yet again) Alex Pettyfer, Darren Criss and Lily Collins

I actually think Lily Collins will look great as Clary!

Double EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!

This is another fan made movie poster but don't let that worry you because this movie is FOR SURE coming out soon and you know that I'll be blogging about it as soon as I find out exactly when!

  
Which books becoming movies are YOU most excited about?  I'd love to hear.

Follow the Yellow Brick Road...

I've been so busy creating lots of fun and magical things for our Young Women's New Beginnings Program next week that I haven't had time to blog anything so be patient with me as I take a small leave of absence for another week!

(And wish me luck...I'm new to creating things in photoshop!)