Youth Outreach

Make Something BEAUTIFUL with Tissue Paper Art!

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Isn’t it exciting when you find something that is so easy to construct, yet so BEAUTIFUL and extraordinary in result? Well, here’s another one of those gems.

This is what you will need: Craft tissue paper that is available at most crafts stores (NOTE that this is not just the normal kind of tissue paper though, it is a specific new art tissue paper that allows for colors to bleed through). Then, you need a canvas, or whatever you would like to have as the background, a foam brush, some scissors, and water.

Check, check, and check. Now here’s the very easy steps. Cut out shapes and such; use the foam brush to paint the canvas with water fairly evenly; layer the shapes randomly covering the wet canvas; let it dry; and then finally, remove the tissue pieces to reveal your masterpiece.

Untitled-4 copy

Some quick little tips though: If you would like a softer feel, use your paint brush and add more water to the top of the papers. This will create a more diluted result. Also, be aware that the ink will stay on your fingers most of the day, so if you would rather not have that happen, wear protected gloves!

But that’s it! It’s that simple! Get creative, and have fun with this!

~Jaynani

Sweeeeet Strawberry Shortcake!!

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So I found this super easy recipe, and felt like I just HAD to share it. When I used to hear the name, “Strawberry Shortcake,” the first thing that would come to mind was the word fancy. Strawberry shortcake is a fancy kind of dessert. Well, either that or a children’s television show. But when I saw this super easy, super simple, super wonderful recipe… I was thrilled.

Here’s all you need: A can of the regular refrigerated biscuits that you can pick up at practically any convenience store, some strawberries, white sugar, and whipped cream. THAT’S IT! You start by separating the biscuits and dipping them one at a time into sugar. Then, place them on a baking sheet and bake them according to the directions on the can. Once they’re ready, serve them warm topped with sliced strawberries (or whatever kind of berry you prefer) and whipped cream. Boom. You have yourself a delicious, EASY to make, refreshing summer snack. Maybe, just maybe… You could even fool people into thinking it’s a fancy dessert. Try it out!

~Jaynani

FUN in the SUN with friends!

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Interested in finding some neat new activities to have a little summer fun with your friends? Well here’s a few I found that I know I definitely want to try!

First, I began thinking about the joy that a classic board game can bring friends. Well, how about doing one in the sun? And instead of just bringing a board out and plopping it on a table, what about THIS nifty idea? Yard Twister!

I also came across this idea earlier in the spring, but didn’t get a chance to try it. Who’s ever been a part of a paint war? Cause it looks SO fun! And here are tons of different ideas on how to do it!

You can put paint in squirt guns!

Or in water balloons!

Or you know what, you can just do it however you like! But one tip from me at least… Wear a plain white shirt. Make’s it so much more fun!

But if you just want to cool off from the sun, AND still get a little creative, try a paint Slip n’ Slide!

The last idea I found may very well bring you back to your childhood. I don’t know about you, but I LOVED (well, let’s be real, I STILL love) making a good fort with blankets and sheets. You’d stack up the chairs, hang the corners on book shelves or bed frames, and viola. Nothing tops that… Except maybe a fort OUTSIDE. Sure, it might take a bit more improvising, but maybe with a little string, some clothes lines, whatever you got… Just MAYBE, can you make something spectacular.

I hope these ideas help add a little more fun in the sun for you and your friends! If nothing else, I hope they encourage you to get creative, and find some joy. Cause honestly, I don’t think you’re ever too old to go play in the rays.

~Jaynani

How to Help End Hunger and Homelessness

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This year, National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week is November 16-24. So, here are some tips for how YOU can help raise awareness and end hunger and homelessness in your community!

Here at Youth Outreach, we are wearing green as well as some pins that say “Ask me why I am wearing green!!” This small yet simple action can spark the curiosity of those around you and open up the floor for conversation. You have a voice, and what a great opportunity to use it! Make a pin and wear green for these next few days. Let others know what kind of awareness we are trying to raise for this week, and also take some action and do something!

A way to take action is to be prepared for when you come across a homeless person, whether you see them standing on a street corner with a sign or you pass them as you walk or drive by. Put together a Ziploc bag with non-perishable food and toiletry items, and keep it with you in your car or while you walk around town. Here are some ideas of what to include in your bag:

1. Non-perishable food:

  • Crackers
  • Cookies
  • Chips
  • Candy
  • Juice
  • Water
  • Fruit cups

2. Toiletries:

  • Lotion
  • Toothbrush
  • Toothpaste
  • Deodorant
  • Wipes
  • Tissues
  • Hairbrush

3. Gift cards to local fast food restaurants and grocery stores

Also, maybe you have clothes or shoes that you no longer wear and they are just sitting around in your closet. Go ahead and do a closet cleaning and bag those items up and feel free to bring them by Youth Outreach. We will find someone in need to give those items to! Or, take them to another local shelter or non-profit.  Get some friends together and have this be something that you do together. It will be fun and you will be making a difference at the same time!!

 

~Kat

Homecoming Part 1: The Dress and The Date!

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Homecoming is this weekend and you may be in a panic for a dress, date, or even before and after the dance plans! Well look no further, here are some suggestions from a girl who has been in your shoes and can help!

So  you are still in need of a dress and don’t want to spend much or any money, well get together with some friends and have a dress exchange! Have each girl gather all their dresses, lay them out, and borrow each others. This is a great way to wear a new dress but not spend ANY money! In addition, have everyone bring jewelry, shoes, handbags and shawls to go with the dress. Mix and match and voila you have a beautiful new dress for the dance without spending anything! If you don’t come out of this with a dress to wear, go to Velour or Goodwill. Sometimes you can find great things if you take time to look!

Now that the dress is covered, you are wondering who you are going with? Do you go with a date or do you go with a group of friends? Going with a date can be fun, especially if you go with a group of other couples. However, if you end up with no date, don’t fret girl, gather a group of lovely ladies and go together. You can make the night fun with or without a date, so choose to make it the best night!

Check back tomorrow for Homecoming Part 2 for ideas and tips for how to make before and after the dance plans cheap and fun!

~Danielle

Stay Productive, Balance Your Stress

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The end of the school year is coming and it can be a super exciting time of the year.  We are all looking forward to summer plans and a time without homework.  However, there are also a lot of things to stress and worry about.  Some of you may have huge changes coming at the end of the summer like going from middle to High School or High school to College.  Or you may be overwhelmed by finals and projects as teachers begin to calculate the final grades.  Isnt it ironic that the most stressful time of the school year is always right before the most relaxed and happy time? But I am here to tell you that it will all be okay, you just have to make it through it! The first most important thing is to recognize when you are stressed.  This can be kind of tricky if you have a crazy lifestyle and have become used to stress and agitation.  However, stress effects you mentally, physically and emotionally, so it is important to be aware of.  If you find yourself being overly sensitive emotionally (And you know it’s not PMS), you are anxious and can’t sit still and little inconveniences make you really angry, then be fairly warned that you may be stressed out.  Or maybe you are the type of person who shuts down in the pressure.  If your to-do list overwhelms you so much that you start feeling depressed, you can’t think and you don’t feel up for anything anymore, then you are probably stressed.  Or the most extreme warning sign is when you are completely shut down on the outside and you can’t bring yourself to do anything, but at the same time you are super anxious under the surface.  These feelings are not normal and it is your bodies way of telling you to take a few more breaths and possibly a really productive rest.

It’s important to remember that it’s not bad to feel stressed.  If you are getting overwhelmed it doesn’t mean that you are a bad student or that you are not prepared for life.  Stress is a natural response to a busy, scary schedule.  The worst thing you can do when you’re stressed is to be more stressed out because you are experiencing the symptoms of stress and not slow down.  At a certain point you will become so stressed out you wont be able to accomplish anything well.  Therefore, usually the best and most productive thing you can do if you are getting stressed is to take a break.  It will clear your head and make you more able to go out and accomplish what you need to afterwards.

Fun Things You Can Do During Your Break:

1) Bubble Bath

2) Window Shopping (either around town, or online)

3) Watch a funny sitcom (But just one episode)

4) Clean your room/ organize your space

5) Grab a bite to eat with some friends

6) Take a jog

7) Bake cookies

8) Read a magazine

9) Write in your journal

10) Come hang out at Youth Outreach

And just remember, there is a difference between a healthy break and procrastination.  Take breaks with the intention of clearing your head and then getting right back  to work.  Procrastinating will make it harder to get yourself in the right mindset to be efficient.  Try to be super aware of the different.

~Charis

Don’t Miss Out, Stay Fit!

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     It’s so easy to think of fitness as a complete waste of time.  Most people workout because they want to make their bodies look more attractive.  But there are also a lot of people who are able to stay skinny by eating smaller portions but they aren’t actually in shape.  So, what are the benefits to being fit that go beyond physical appearance?  Another reason that’s popular is simply because it’ll be better when you are old if you have good exercising habits now.  But even that feels really far away and it’s not very motivating.  However, there are so many reasons to be fit. 

     One major reason is that you have more energy.  If you workout your body will be able to absorb energy better.  So if you have trouble staying awake in class and you feel drained during the day then working out might really help.  Another reason is because it actually helps you to do better in school.  When your body is happy then your mind is healthy and you will retain more of what you learn.  And, it is important to be in shape in instances you might need to use self-defense.  Being able to run or scream or fight back can be really important. 

However, we have all experienced a time when people are getting together to play a game of soccer, or your friends want to take a walk, or your all swimming together in the summer and you simply get tired.  Everyone else is having fun and you are out of breath and feel awkward saying you don’t want to do what they’re doing.  If nothing else, this is a golden reason to be in shape.  No one should have to miss out on the fun things that they want to do because they don’t feel physically able to do them. You can do it! You deserve to go out and have fun in life without your body holding you back.

   Fitness can be super fun too! Everyone usually thinks of exercise as going to a gym and running on the treadmill or something.  But there are lots of ways to get in shape that can be a lot more fun.  You could go ice skating, or swim laps, take a jog around town, or go dancing.  It can be a lot of fun, and a good workout at the same time.

Makeup: Enough is Enough!

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Have you ever seen a girl in the hallway at school or at the mall and the first thing you notice is how much make-up they have on?  Maybe its just SUPER sparkly or neon colors or the mascara is super thick.  Now bright colors are never a bad thing.  In fact in the right time and place they can look awesome.  For example, I have a friend who rocks a 50’s style and when she wears cute dresses she’ll put on bright red lipstick.  It looks really adorable because she is replicating an old trend, so no one would look at her and say that’s super obnoxious looking, they’d just recognize the look she’s going for and say that’s super cute.  However, sometimes make-up can just be too much. 

 

    Make-up originally started as something that was meant to enhance natural facial features.  People thought that eyelashes were really pretty when they were dark and thick, so they invented mascara so that all girls could look like that.  Lipstick, blush, eye liner and cover up were all made to cover things we don’t like and enhance the things that are considered beautiful about our faces.  When make-up is put on so thick that it not only looks unnatural, but it distracts people from seeing how pretty you are, that’s when you’re using too much! You want people to be able to see the things that are naturally beautiful in your face, lightly enhanced by make-up.  Because ultimately, that’s make-ups real purpose.

Makeup Tips:

  1. Skip the foundation If you have acne the first thing you want to do is slather on the thick foundation. Don’t. Instead, cover up blemishes with concealer, then follow with a powder or tinted moisturizer.
  2. You pat concealer in, you never rub it in. When applying concealer, put a bit on the pad of your middle finger and pat it in. Never rub. Got acne? Pat the concealer on top of it.
  3.  Buying foundation or lipstick? Test it first There are some beauty products you simply must try out at a department store or Sephora before you buy. These include: Foundation, lipstick, blush and powder.
  4. Play up your lips or your eyes, never both If you are wearing heavy eye makeup, go for nude lips with just a bit of gloss. Prefer the drama of dark lipstick? Keep face light (stay away from heavy blush) and wear only mascara on your eyes and a light eyeshadow. Don’t heavily line your eyes. Play up both and you’ll look like a clown.
  5. Vaseline is your best friend Vaseline is a great, cheap eye makeup remover. It’s also great for fixing chapped, scaly lips. Slather on a bunch of Vaseline, then use a toothbrush to massage lips. Wipe the excess off on a tissue. Your lips will be smooth and soft.

For more beauty tips you can check out http://www.makeup.com

Gobble, gobble, gobble!

Posted on by Youth Outreach

Thanksgiving is in 2 days!

I’m so excited! Turkey, mashed potates, cranberry sauce, and my family’s oddest tradition: clam dip and ruffles.
Thanksgiving and the holiday season is majorly concerned with food.  And directly related to food, is weight gain.  So many girls on my college campus are already talking about ways to shed or avoid holiday weight gain.  Usually these ways are silly, sometimes they are dangerous, but most importantly: none of them work.
One of the hardest things a girl has to deal with is her body image.  The media today bombards us with pictures of beautiful, flawless women flaunting handsome men on one arm and the latest Gucci bag on the other.  However, these celebrities really aren’t as “beautiful” as we are tricked to think.

Check out Kelly Clarkson, before and after photoshop:

Can you spot all the differences?

 

All those magazine covers are pretty misleading as well.

So next time you look at a magazine and think, “She’s so perfect,” remember, no one is that perfect. 

Even though no one is “perfect”, every girl is beautiful.  So let yourself indulge this holiday season, because the benefits of good food and great company are so much better for your body than the latest fad diet.

Autumn Essentials: Scarves

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Every outfit, even just a plain old t-shirt and jeans combo, can be accessorized by a scarf.  Now that the weathers getting colder, there is nothing better than bundling up in your favorite scarf and winter coat and heading out for coffee with friends. (May I recommend the Pumpkin Pie Chai from Chapters? Delishhhh!)

 

You may be wondering, “Where can I find that perfect scarf?” Well, the answer is: anywhere really!

Almost any clothing or specialty store will have some sort of selection (they’re that “in”!).  A great place to look for designer quality scarves at regular girl prices is TJ Maxx.  Target, Kmart, and other superstores will also have cute things that won’t make your wallet bleed.  Try raiding Mom or Grandma’s closet too.  Free is the best price, and your friends will be jealous of your one-of-a-kind vintage find.

 

 

Half the fashion value of a scarf isn’t the color or print; its how you wear it.  Click here and read about different ways to tie your scarf.