We have some amazing “grandmothers” in our ward, and we wanted to create an experience so our young women could get to know them and create some lasting bonds of friendship between these generations of sisters. Over a period of about 6 weeks, the girls wrote anonymous letters and shared little gifts with their appointed “secret grandmothers”. At the end of the 6 weeks we had a brunch where the girls revealed their identities.
To start things off we sent these invitations to our grandmothers. (inspired by these)
I didn’t have any large envelopes on hand, so slipped the invites inside of some pretty decorated paper sacks (inspired from here).
We put these mod-podged clothespins on the bulletin board outside the YW room, so the girls and the grandmothers could leave notes and small gifts for each other. It was really fun to see what surprises were hanging there each Sunday. We tried to leave 5-10 minutes at the end of every class during these weeks so the girls could write a note to their grandmothers, telling them things they were learning, asking questions, and sharing tidbits about themselves. We also had a couple midweek activities to make gifts for our grandmothers.
image source: Design Sponge
We made these decoupaged jar lids and filled them with no-bake treats. We also had a jewelry-making activity and made bracelets and earrings for our grandmothers. They were so amazing about answering letters and giving little surprises back. It was a real treat for everyone who participated.
Finally, for the morning of the brunch we decorated a room in our building with pennant banners and yellow balloons. Everyone brought a framed baby picture to help break the ice and get conversation (and laughter!) going.
We made “fancy hats” together with newspaper, tape and silk flowers. I was inspired here. We just put bobby pins through a petal in the fake flowers and stuck them through the newspaper folds.
They were so fun, pretty, and silly.
After making hats we played with making cootie catcher fortune tellers, and also little games like “Two Truths and One Lie”. For the brunch part of our brunch we ate chicken salad croissants, strawberry spinach salad, fresh fruit and chocolate mousse for dessert.
We took a group photo afterwards, wearing our hats, and holding our baby pictures. It was a fabulous experience, and we hope to continue to encourage the friendships we’ve formed by inviting our newly “adopted” grandmothers to participate in activities and share testimonies and experiences in our lessons.
What a beautiful idea, and I’m delighted you were inspired by my DIY project!
I love this idea so much. I think it is so cute and must have been really fun for everyone involved!
So sweet! What a great activity!
Okay, seriously? That is THE cutest idea for an activity ever. I shouldn’t really say that, because somebody will find out and they’ll call me into YW, but still – I’m dying!! Those hats are so FUN!
This is really wonderful!
This is such a great idea. But what about the older women single women who have never had children. Just wondering if they were included or excluded from this project?
This is a great idea! My friend had pinned one of your other ideas on Pinterest, so I followed the link here. Imagine my surprise to see sweet Miss Mary Ruth in this post! I was her Primary teacher back when she was a Valiant Girl.:) Small world, isn’t it???
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Simply adorable! If you don’t mind, what fonts did you use? Love them together!
Sencillamente espectacular, me gustaria saber más hacerca de esta actividad ya que quiero hacerla en mi barrio soy de colombia y vivo en un pequeño pueblo donde hay muchas abuelitas podrias ayudarnos ? felicitaciones de nuevo
Nos podrias ayudar dandonos más detalles es espectacular esta idea vivo en colombia en un pequeño pueblo donde hay muchas abuelas de nuevo felicitaciones por esta idea.
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I thought this was an amazing idea… just a question about the invite… what cursive font did you use? I have been trying to track it down for weeks now…. beautiful job!!
Hi Mandy – thanks! The cursive font is Ma Sexy.
quick response!!! you are the best!
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Such a cute idea!! What fonts did you use for the invitation?