New Beginnings 2015 - Follow the Yellow Brick Road!

Well hello all!

I wanted to post about something super exciting for me... New Beginnings!

Last Sunday was my ward's New Beginnings. New Beginnings is a program in the LDS church that is designed to welcome the 11 year old girls who will turn 12 during the year into young women's. It introduces them to the program and the incredible things they have to look forward to. It is such a wonderful thing!! It's an amazing program with so many great opportunities & options.

I had the opportunity to plan this year's New Beginnings as part of my Honor Bee. (Once I finish reading the Book of Mormon, I'll have it! Woot woot!) Working with my leaders & the other Mia Maids, we chose 'The Wizard of Oz' as our theme. I felt like it went really well with these year's mutual theme - D&C 4:2. We discussed how our new Beehives can embark on their personal progress journey with all of their heart, might, mind & strength. We also threw the value colors/rainbow in there for good measure!

It was such an incredible night! It pulled together so well. It wouldn't have pulled through without my leaders, my Mia Maid friends, and especially my mom! I'm so grateful for them!

Here are a few pics of the night (sorry for the crappy quality, I took them all last minute on my phone!)

The back view - yellow brick road, rainbow arch, and green sashes. We have a sister in our ward who decorates weddings, and she always helps out with our decorations - she's responsible for the arch and the sashes! The yellow brick road is just a taped down, long piece of yellow paper, with bricks drawn on it. Sounds tacky, but it was so cute!!

Ding Dongs - the witch is dead!

The front/podium - ruby red slippers, Toto, tissue paper flowers, and a little bike to display the YW medallion on.

Animal Crackers - Lions & Tigers & Bears, Oh My!

"Ruby Red Slipper" Cake Pops 

Do you like our last minute attempt at displaying them?

Rice Krispies - Yellow Bricks 

(The leader who made them tried food coloring in one pan, but I don't recommend it - she said it took a TON!)

Our little handout for everyone - we found the tag on Pinterest and attached it to little bags of Skittles!

 It reads:

"With your loyal friends beside you,

You'll find your dreams are bold.

So use your heart, courage, and brain

To follow your Yellow Brick Road."

Our "panel" table with all of the new Beehives handouts set up

Dollar Store tablecloths and balloons on the stage - I was SO happy with how this turned out!! So inexpensive but it made such a difference!

Another picture of my favorite part!

If you want tutorials or more information on how I did any of this, I would love to share them with you!! A lot of little Pinterest tips and tricks went into our New Beginnings! I'm so happy with how everything turned out. 

The program was a little under an hour, and I felt like it flowed really well. Short and sweet is the best thing to be! If you also want an outline of the program, comment below and let me know! I'd be happy to share it.

I just wanted to share a few more of my favorite highlights from the night...

*See that jar of hearts and bubblegum on the panel table? That's what we used to present the YW values! There's a heart for each value (in the color of the value), and when each young woman came up to present their value, they stuck their heart in the jar of bubblegum. It was a really cute part of the decor, and I loved the visual it added to presenting the values.

*My favorite part was definitely doing the panels! I think a part of that might have been because I got to have a microphone and move around to ask the questions, haha! We had two panels. One was four of our current young women. I asked them questions about things like their favorite mutual activities, favorite memory from girls camp, favorite thing they've done for personal progress, best thing about young women's, etc! I think it gave the new Beehives a more personal idea of the awesome things they have to look forward to. Their answers were so sweet and meaningful and I loved hearing them! 

The second panel was a 'get to know you' panel for all of the eleven year old's/new Beehives (we have five this year). I asked them a bunch of fun, random questions. One of the most important things for me was getting to know the new Beehives in a way besides just reading their answers off of a questionnaire. The panel was definitely a fun alternative to doing that, and I think it was less awkward for everyone! Just from briefly talking to them, I can tell that we have some seriously sweet girls coming in this year. I can't wait to have them in our group - I know they're going to make it a great year!  

*I also really liked how we ended up presenting the different classes. I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do for it, and thankfully my mom came up with these adorable handouts! (Told you she's amazing!)

Once again, I have to apologize for the photo quality. You get the idea!

Beehives - "This is your time to arise & shine forth." We gave them mini alarm clocks ($1 at Ikea) to help them remember to always "arise and shine!"

Mia Maids - "Mia Maids today learn about love, faith and purity." Heart suckers & bubbles to help them remember to always love others & be kind!

Laurels - We couldn't give them a laurel wreath crown, so we gave them the second best thing - a wand! (Tied with YW value colored ribbon)

They had little baskets to keep all of their stuff in. We also threw in a little Toto - because everyone needs a friend!

*ALSO! (I almost forgot a key part of it all!) Throughout the night, all of the young women were members of the 'Lollipop Guild', and the new Beehives were Munchkins training to become members of the Guild! It was basically a training program to prepare them for life in the Guild! At the end of the night we gave them little bags of Dum Dum's and told them that they were halfway on their way to a lollipop - and when they turned 12, they could have one!

It was seriously such a fun night. Everything was so adorable and it turned out greater than I ever could have imagined it! I hope we can all remember how awesome this opportunity is to get the new Beehives excited about young women's & personal progress! We can do SO much good with this program!

"You are a beloved daughter of Heavenly Father, prepared to come to the earth at this particular time for a sacred and glorious purpose. You have a noble responsibility to use your strength and influence for good."^^ Let these new Beehives know this!! They are beloved daughters of God. How great is it that we can teach them this truth?!

XOXO,
Savannah