Making Family Time Easier
By Karen Hoag
Nov. 17, 2001, The Daily Herald | Religion | Section C1

Orem – She does most of the work and families benefit.

Sue Brandon, an Orem wife and mom, developed 85 lessons to use in Family Home Evenings.

Do the children need to learn more about manners or honesty or patriotism? She’s ready.
A lesson on attitudes features dinosaurs like scream-0-saurus and fit-adactys. Seasons and holidays  touch upon “Don’t Eat Mr. Tom,” for her Thanksgiving lesson. One of the stories tells how he got different feathers: When he’s angry, a feather turns red; when he’s sad, another turns blue and so on.

Brandon has lessons on heroes and heroines of the Book of Mormon, Articles of Faith and a Noah’s ark game.
Children can learn latter-day prophets in order by word association: Illustrations of “Kimball’s soup” and a clock show you how to eat lunch at noon; noon is 12 and Spencer W. Kimball was the 12th LDS prophet. Or pick up a snowflake and indicate it has five points; Lorenzo Snow has the fifth LDS prophet.

The most recent packet she’s prepared is on “Family: Proclamation to the World.” She copies the lessons on card stock and moms take them home to color and cut out as visual aids. Her Crafty Copies hours are noon-5p.m. Monday through Thursday.

“What started as a business venture now feels like a mission,” Brandon said. “These lessons help teach children values and give them a good time together as a family. With things going the way they are, we really do need to strengthen our families.”

Packets cost from $1.50 to $4 each, depending on how many copies are in the lesson. “I know women are frantically looking for ideas for Family Home Evening,” she said. “I’m trying to make it easier for people.”
Crafty Copies has been going more than four years; Brandon bought the business and files from another woman. She has permission to use church magazines and Family Home Evening manuals for ideas as long as she sells them for the price of the copies.

Moms come in, look through Brandon’s files, decide what lessons apply and order. “I have a lot of Family Home Evening groups who come in,” she said. Groups of about eight chose packets, divide them up and share.
“A home evening group from Connecticut said, “We’re just going to do your lessons,’” Brandon said. She sends to 35 states and the American Embassy in Bangkok.

“I’ve never advertised, it’s all word of mouth,” she said.

Last year she did 200,000 copies. Her card stock needs increased from three cases every six weeks to half a pallet (10 cases).

Besides packets, Brandon designed a four-in-one board to aid in giving lessons with flannel, pocket strips, white board and tin for magnets.

Her son, a contractor, wanted to put her in a store front, “but I’d have to pass the expense on to my customers,” she said. “My goal is not to be rich.”