Monday, June 18, 2012

Girl on Fire - Young Womens Girls Camp

Stopping in for a post that others can reference easily- I have had a few people ask for details about our girl's camp this year- and it turned out great.

We had a "Girl On Fire" theme, with the our girl's being on fire with the spirit of their Heavenly Father.  The theme turned out to take on a life of it's own (as often happens with these ventures) but here are a few of the details.

We had all the girls bring a dark t-shirt, and we we had stencils and cardstock for them to cut out and use as negatives on their shirts. A little bit of bleach....and you are done....



Make sure to put cardboard in the shirt, and lay it flat- this will keep the bleach from soaking through to the other side.  Girls cut out their names, used swirls and butterflies, and really made their shirts amazing.


This is the front of my t-shirt and the back of my hoodie.  I made these without the cute swirly stencils, so the girls could see them before we started, but once the girls saw each other's shirts they really got into this project. It was a huge success.  If you know someone with a Cricket cutting machine you could do amazing things with this- just go light on the bleach, lay them in the sun as you spray, and if you carefully lift your stencils they can be used again and again (let them dry a bit in between uses).

For more detailed step by step instructions on bleaching, I refer you to fellow blogger and crafty inspo site Burlap and Denim.  (Her shirts are so cute- I am impressed!)


We also used vinyl stickers with the mockingjay logo and young women's logo and decorated our 'lanterns'.  With the stickers on (you can also wrap twine, cut tape, or cover any other way you desire), we sprayed a light coat of spray paint on the jar. When you remove the stickers and vinyl, the paint reveals the 'etched' looking designs.



We added a battery powered tea light candle, and with some bent wire they were good to go.  The girls carried these out every night, brought them to night devotionals and testimony meeting, and used them in their tents. We didn't have to worry about fire anywhere, and they looked amazing in the dark.


One of our crafts was soda tab bracelets.  Again, the girls went crazy once they figured out what to do with the craft (I recommend having at least 3 or 4 leaders trained before you go- it isn't hard, but needs to be done right for the bracelet to lay correctly.)


I am not going to give you a tutorial here, but you can watch several great ones on You Tube or go to ehow.com for step by steps.  Just make a few before hand and be prepared to help them start and finish them off.  Even our Beehives just adored these and made several while at the craft table.  Start saving tabs now!!! (hint: Progresso soup tabs are large, and they make a great end tab so the other end can toggle through it- so easy to put on and off!)

We also had a Hunger Games style activity, with a Tracker Jacker station (teams with colored stickers that were the stings when stuck on eachother) a battle station (pool noodles or other funny swords can be used) and races for bread, etc.

In the secret sister mailboxes (a shoe organizer hung at our pavillon) I  gave the following goodies: this little parachute themed note containing glow sticks for them to wear at night



And a little extra treat



One night we had a 10 Virgin faith walk, based on the script and painting by Gayla Prince. This was especially effective in the dark night, through the trees and brush. (The girls made their lanterns that day and were actually given their tea lights by the first virgin).  It was awesome to have them come to the 'feast' in the middle of the hills and place their lights at the portrait of Christ. After we were done they enjoyed the fruit and french bread loaves at the table. It was a great night.

We had a picture night and devotional on local temple grounds, and our campground was by a lake, so on our final  night we closed by singing late into the night with our lanterns on the dock.  It was an amazing camp..... and I hope these ideas can help someone else out there!


-UPDATE-
I am no computer wiz, so officially adding files completely boggles my brain. I am adding photos here, all in just a jpeg format.  My hope is that you can click on the picture and at least save it, then insert into your document (I use Microsoft Publisher) and go from there. The sponsor envelope I used on legal size envelopes, then added the glow sticks.  Good luck- hope it helps!









25 comments:

Lee Weber said...

Bravo!! It looks amazing! You guys rocked it out, for sure. Those girls will never for get it.

Keeley Farrell said...

This is such a fantastic ideas! I think I will try to use the theme for Personal Progress! Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Interesting idea! But doesn't this go through some copyright law?

Unknown said...

Hi Becca! (sorry, I don't have an e-mail). Not sure if you're referring to the saying, the pin graphic, the fire graphic, or all of the above. As far as the saying/bird in circle graphics go, you will find that there are different versions all over that are being used in lots of ways. We avoided any copyright images like things from the movie posters or Hunger Games website. We actually used another graphic that one of our girls designed using religious symbols in the circle with a bird, and that was really well received also. The church lets you re-use images as long as it os for religious purposes and not to be sold. (while making programs for our ward I had to research this heavily), and again, as with all the images in general, none were made to sell, just for personal use. I just posted these pictures for ideas, but you can buy pre-made t-shirts with similar graphics already burned in off Etsy. I can not answer for them if selling the images are okay.
If you have ever helped with camp before you have probably seen such themes as "American Idol" "Survivor" or even Disney themes, so pulling from pop culture is really popular and not done to infringe on exact image. Most wards sort of 'design' there own, just drawing off the theme for inspiration. Hope that helps!

Jen Reil said...

I google image searched "sweet tooth" and the Eat Cake post on your blog popped up. I love it!

Priscilla said...

We are using this theme this year. I love it! Do you have any other ideas you could share that you guys used? What did you guys do for camp kick off?

Unknown said...

We are doing this next week for camp. Do you have your s'mores and glow stick handout that you can send me. I would even pay you for them. It would save me some time. I don't have an computer just a iPad.
Thank you
Sandra

Unknown said...

Hi, Our girls have fallen in love with your T-Shirt idea. Thank you so much! Very creative. We have tried the bleach spray and are failing epically - they never look like yours?? Some are bleeding into each other and others are going that gingery colour. Do you have any advice on getting the crisp bright white like your picture? Our camp is in august.
Thanks soooo much, Kate, Merthyr Tydfil area xxx

Unknown said...

Sandra- was out of town when I got your comment and am probably too late now to respond. So sorry- but I am going to see if I still have these files and I can attach them for other users.

@Katie Taylor- the bleached part of the shirt will look different, depending on the t-shirt color. Mine is more grayish than probably the picture shows, but we did it again this year with lots of success. Here are a few tips- first, make sure your bleach is good. It does expire, and will bleach duller, or not at all. Test it at home.

Second, spray the bleach LIGHTLY, with the t-shirt (should have a piece of cardboard inside to prevent soaking through) in the SUN. We laid ours out on sidewalks, and did it all day at camp. The sunlight will help it bleach quickly. If you are getting 'bleeding' you are probably spraying it too heavy. This can also burn holes into the shirts, so really go light. MAybe use an old hairspray bottle or two- they spray more misty and less thick then a store bought cleaning type of bottle. We used hand cute stenciled items, as well as vinyl cutouts, and plastic cutouts used for craft stencils. All work great, but cardstock cut outs only last a few sprays, then they get soggy.

Hope this helps! This is always a girls favorite!

Unknown said...

Thank you for your response. Do you dilute the bleach with water or do you put neat bleach into these spray bottles? Thick or thin bleach? I will buy a better sprayer as mind is too direct by the sounds of it and give it another go. Thanks again, Kate Taylor x

Unknown said...

I would love the templates for the smores and the sponsor letter too. And the template you used for the vinyl cut outs for the lanterns. Thanks so much for sharing!

Unknown said...

Sorry lovely ladies, it took me so long to update all of this!

This summer has been crazy busy- plus Girl's Camp once again (we did a glamping theme and it turned out so great!)

At the end of the post I have added jpegs of all the images I used. Hope it helps!

Unknown said...

one more note-

the smores packages were so dog gone cute we loved them, but I should have doubled everything in there. Just a note- give the girls as much as you can fit in there.....( or have a backup of more in your food supplies) they always come hungry to the camp fire at night!

Amy R said...

Do you have the actual lessons you used or maybe even an outline idea of what scriptures, etc?

This is an AWESOME theme idea! Thank you for sharing.

Unknown said...

I am just loving your girls Camp theme!
I am from Denmark, and will be planning girls's Camp next year.
I would really like to hear about how you did that Virgin walk - did you have scriptures, stops during the walk, or something else?
And is it possible to use your Girl ón fire picture, for the tshirts
Camilla

Unknown said...

Did you have a specific Bible verse for this theme that you used? I too would be interested in the glow stick and s'more handout information!

Lea said...

I'm sorry, I just don't get how the "Hunger Games" relates to spirituality. I think you're missing an opportunity with your girls. Really, "May the odds be ever in your favor?" The whole Hunger Games series is filled with violence and stepping on other people to get what you want. Surely we can find better themes for teaching our girls Christ-like behaviors!

Unknown said...

I completely understand - it is something we definitely discussed ! But many themes we have done in the past - from Survivor to Warriors to Boot Camps, aren't exactly a "spiritual" theme either- and while e that year was Arise and Shine our camp alone had a Girl on fFire twist. I will say we spent many hours praying, discussing, and being les to amazing things to do- including using the torch/girl for our main logo. It turned out amazing, and was a very inspiring camp. No one theme is a fits all thing, but our girls were excited and really loved being Girls on Fire! Best of all. They still say, even two years later, that when they see the or hear Girl on Fire they think on our camp and their testimonies, for me that's a sign of success :-)

Jenn said...

I was just called as the camp director for my ward. The first thing that I thought of was to use the Hunger Games for the theme. (They had to train before the games began: physically, emotionally/mentally, and in survival skills.) So I was thrilled to find your site through Pinterest.

The Hunger Games isn't just about "stepping on other people to get what you want". It is about survival, it is about preparing for the challenges ahead of you, it is about standing apart from those who would bring you down...that is what we want to teach the young women. I could go on, but I won't.

I will end by saying, I think that to be most effective at reaching the young women it is important to capture their attention with something from pop culture and then find ways to tie the gospel into it. I think that you did a brilliant job of doing that.

Forest and Lakes said...

forest and lakes

Camille said...

I love these ideas and will be using them for our girls camp this year. Thank you so much for taking the time to post them!
I'm wondering about the Ten Virgins faith walk, can you send me a little more detail on how you guys did it? Did you have ten different women dress up like the 10 virgins? How was it laid all laid out? I would love to do this. Thanks for your help! Irene

ywinfo said...

Loving this for inspiration for our 2016 Girl's Camp. Any more thoughts or advice for the 10 Virgins walk? Any help would be lovely. Thanks again. mechoate1129@gmail.com

Jason Statham said...

I would surely give 10 on 10 for such incredible content. wordpress themes

alessandra louza schmeil said...

I loved your ideas.
what kind of paint did you use for the lanterns? What color was that?

Unknown said...

Thanks for the ideas. I know this post was from a long time ago, but by chance, do you remember where you found hoodies? I'm hoping to maybe do those instead of the expensive sweatshirts. I love the bleaching idea. I am not creative, so I'm so grateful to people like you who will share your creativity to help me!! Thank you!