New Beginnings 2014

We had our ward's New Beginnings last week!  I think all of us leaders agreed that we've finally got all the gears in motion, and these events seem to run so much more smoothly than they did our first year!  We each know our strengths and what we do well, and we are able to put them all together to pull off a really great evening!  Lesson Learned:  Don't have Amy do the bulletin board!

Our mutual theme for the year is "Come Unto Christ, and be perfected in Him."  We found an idea on Pinterest that another ward had done, going off of the "perfected" angle, and making it about diamonds and jewels.

Darcell found these chocolates that were wrapped in black to look like coal.  PERFECT!

Our colors of the evening were black and white with diamonds.  Everything had a very classy feel to it. Darcell bought a bunch of decorative diamonds online of all shapes and sizes.  They were really fun to use in sprinkling around the tables and accenting different things!  

I spoke about the YW theme, logo, motto and class symbols.  These images were on lds.org, and just happened to be black and white, so I printed them in 8X10's, and stuck them in my frames.  They made a nice display for the pulpit.

I failed to get a photo of our YW theme.  Imagine it right next to that table, because that's where it WAS.  So, here's the funny story of the night:  Darcell bought a frame last year for our theme, and we have had it hanging in the room since last year.  I took it down and put it on an easel for everyone to see more clearly, and since I'd be talking about the theme, it seemed fitting.  As I was walking up to the pulpit to give my talk, I kicked the easel with my size 10's, and down came the theme, loudly CRASHING to the floor!  It fell just right that the frame broke into seven or eight pieces!  Thank goodness the glass didn't shatter!  I was SO embarrassed!  There were gasps and nervous giggles and possibly a scream!?  We had to gather up the pieces and put them under the table, then all of my composed thoughts FLEW out the window.  See!?  This is why I WRITE my talks!  I don't know what I said or what order I did it in.  I was so flustered.  On the bright side, I'm glad it was my clumsy feet that kicked the easel.  I can't imagine how mortifying it would have been for a YW to do it!  I, at least will recover.  :)  

Anyway, back to decorations!  I borrowed these satin and patterned squares and runner cloths to cover the tables. I found that silver tray in the YW closet, and it worked great to hold the programs!  

Then we sprinkled jewels all around!  These are the food tables for refreshments.

Darcell found these large colored jewels online, that just happened to come in every color of the values (except gold)!  She brilliantly had the idea to get a Ferrero Rocher chocolate as Virtue's gold!  I'm telling you, she's an inspired genius!   I printed signs of the value names and put them in silver frames from our wedding, and then created a little display table of the values. Battery-operated candles in votives with more diamonds around completed the look. 

We are ready to begin!  

Our program went wonderfully!  The older girls spotlit the incoming Beehives.  The girls performed the song, "He Sent His Son", and sounded like angels.  The young women were also assigned a value (and wore that color), then shared what the value was about, and an experience they had with that value.  Marie spoke about Personal Progress, Darcell introduced the years' theme, and Bishop Bonzo gave some wonderful remarks drawing an analogy to rosebuds and diamonds and it was just PERFECT!  Each YW went home with a little charm that has a pair of feet and says, "Come Unto Him"

The centerpiece of the evening was our new ward bulletin board.  Darcell had the vision, and it looked FANTASTIC!  She took pictures of each of the girls, printed them in black and white.  I couldn't believe how wonderful they turned out!  The girls looked WONDERFUL!  She did the lettering in a vinyl-like cut-out, and white circles and a fun patterned border to fill in the gaps.  White tulle added a softness to the whole board.  Everyone LOVED how it looked.  

The girls on the right of the board are our incoming Beehives this next year!  Yes, there are seven!  

  I had to wrangle all of these girls back in to get a group photo, and I was still missing one of the girls who left right afterwards.  Rats.  Aren't they darling!?  It's so exciting.  

Refreshments and visiting followed the program.  Veggie and fruit trays, and a chocolate trifle for dessert!  I think the girls enjoyed it!  You'll see on Sarah's (in green) lap, is the gift we gave each Beehive.  It's a wall-hanging of hearts representing the values.  Lots of hard work went into those, and they turned out GREAT!  

 Lots of yummy food.  Chairs were set up around for everyone to stay and visit.  I wish I had gotten more pictures of all the girls!  We had a great turnout.

BEEHIVES!

Molly (our secretary) has two adorable boys, who helped us serve the desserts.  They dressed in tuxedos and looked fantastic!  Molly did all of the food.  She works so hard and serves so tirelessly!  

All-in-all, it was a wonderful night.  Lots of hard work and helping hands.  I think the YW really loved the theme, and it was a great BEGINNING to a new year!