Christmas Giving

Last night our family read from 1 Peter 5: 1-7. We talked about what it means to be humble, what greed is, and putting others before us. Then we sat down at the table with strips of red, green and white foam (could be construction paper), a stapler and some pens. On each piece we wrote someone or a situation to be praying about. I didn't count, but based on how much I think I cut out, we probably had about 60. Then we linked them together in a chain, using the stapler. Then we went to a more comfortable place in the house and each prayed. We prayed that God would lift up each of those people and situations. The girls prayed, too, and it was so sweet.

Last year I shared with you a mission that we supported at Christmastime, when we bought a bed, food and Bibles for children and families in Haiti and Honduras, through Lifeline Christian Mission, a great organization that I know is reputable.

Another great organization that we learned more about this year is called Gospel for Asia. They have a Christmas campaign where you can donate things that will truly impact the lives of the recipients.
For example: "Have you ever received a rooster or hen as a Christmas present? Maybe not, but for a Dalit family, these animals are a welcome gift—and often the source of 200-300 eggs a year! And when the pair produces chicks, they will continue to provide nourishment and income."

It is so simple, and your children, if you have children, will also enjoy hearing about the different ways you can help families. Make them a part of this giving process!

"Here's my concern: that you care for God's flock with all the diligence of a shepherd. Not because you have to, but because you want to please God. Not calculating what you can get out of it, but acting spontaneously. Not bossily telling others what to do, but tenderly showing them the way."

1 Peter 5:2-3 (The Message)

Advent- New Book to Read with the Children

Last year we officially started the advent tradition of opening a new Christmas book and reading it to the children.  My mission was to find a book that reflected the true meaning of Christmas, and yet still captures the heart of a child.

If you read my post from last year, you know that we read a great book called The King's Christmas List, which is such a heartwarming story, and presents the opportunity to discuss giving to people in need.

This year I found a book at the Craftsmen's Christmas Classic show, held each year on Thanksgiving weekend, where everything is original crafted work.  There were a couple of vendors there who had authored or illustrated children's books, including the family of Phillip W. Rogers (I believe his sister was there on his behalf).

The book we selected was called Does God Celebrate Christmas? and is great discussion for the meaning of Christmas, the hustle and bustle of shopping for gifts, and a tactful approach to Santa and all the other fluff that people try to fill their holiday with.

I'm very glad we chose this book.  The girls seemed to really enjoy the story, enough to ask to hear it all over again!

Entertaining at Christmas

 

My mom had a Christmas party this weekend.  There were around 50 people in her home.  There was a lot of food, so that everyone could have a 'floating' dinner.  

Mom asked if I could make signs for some of the food items, so that people would not feel the need to ask what certain things were.

I came up with these little bags that contain soft peppermint sticks.  I took some copper wire and looped around a pencil, stuck the wire down into the peppermints, took a cellophane square and pulled the corners and sides up into a bag shape and tied it with a small piece of silver cord.  I punched out the scalloped oval and regular ovals, along with a tiny hole punch to fit the wire in.  Tightened the wire to hold the paper firm.

When the party was ending and people were leaving with goodies, we pulled the wire out and handed over the peppermints!

Another idea: These would make fun place cards for a festive Christmas table setting, which the guests could each take home afterwards!

Merry Christmas!

So Many Ways with Shortbread Cookies

Shortbread cookies are so often overlooked by more popular cookies, but I'm here to tell you that they are near the top of my list.  Where else can you find so many cool things to do with them?  In the past I have stamped them with a cookie stamp and hand painted them with edible paints.  Also I have sprinkled them with colored sugar crystals before baking.

This year I...

• Dipped in milk chocolate and then chopped walnuts  (Let set on wax paper in the fridge.)
• Dollop of milk chocolate and topped with Andes Mint Chips
• Sandwiched with lemon curd, and dusted with powdered sugar

I got rave reviews at my mom's Christmas party.  The recipe came from Kids in the Holiday Kitchen which is a cookbook I talked about in my last post.  They were divine!


These last a while, so not only are they great to make ahead for a party, they would also be wonderful packaged up for a gift!

What do you do with shortbread cookies?

Christmas Baking, Festival of Trees, and giving to others!

This past weekend was full of fun Christmas activities for us, including baking Christmas cookies and brownies.  This year we added in scripture to talk about creation, from Genesis 1, to tie in to our creations.  This year, many of our goodies will be headed to my mom's Christmas party.  I set aside all of my favorite baking recipes this year and tried some from the book Kids in the Holiday Kitchen.  I made 3 recipes from this book and they all turned out very nice.  The shortbread cookies were my favorite, and I did several things with them (I will share details soon).

A small but exciting opportunity presented itself this week.  I ran into a dear friend at the store.  She was there with a college-age girl who was packing for a mission trip to Togo.  They were shopping for gifts for the children.  We decided to gather some things together to send with her, such as small toys, toothpaste, etc.  On Sunday, we delivered a small box of items at church, so that she could pack them with her stuff.  Please be in prayer for Ashley as she heads to Togo this week.  Also be in prayer for all of the children and others that she may touch on her journey!

We also brought some homemade turkey soup to a couple of elderly individuals who are in less fortunate conditions than us.  We hope they were blessed by our small offering.  We read scriptures to our girls about helping the poor, the orphans and widows.  We continually explain to them how much we have been blessed, by explaining how little others have, in comparison.

We also visited the Festival of Trees.  This event takes place at a local convention center and includes over 100 trees, all uniquely decorated.  It is a fundraiser for a local non-profit that "provides emotional support and resource information for families who have a child with a disability, chronic illness, premature birth and for families who have experienced the death of a child."  


We always enjoy seeing the trees, and our kids love it, too.  Each tree is accompanied by a sign that explains the name given to the theme, who sponsored it, and who it is in honor or memory of.  Here is a peek at some special designs from our visit this year.

 NC State Tree with flags, dogwood, cardinals, and I love the lighthouses made from TP tubes!

 This tree reminds me of the land of sweets from the Nutcracker!  This was my favorite.

 Of course there had to be a pirate tree, this is pirate country!  Arrrrrrgh!

 In memory of a young girl who touched so many hearts in our area, lost her battle with cancer this year.

 Pink Ribbon Tree

 I just loved the colors on this one!

 A couple of nicely decorated trees...

 Beach theme, I also loved the colors on this one, and loved how they used aqua cello wrap as decoration!

More to come on our advent activities, stay tuned.

"If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." 

1 John 3:17-18

Reflections during the Christmas Season

My friend Rachel wrote a blog entry that I wanted to share.  Think about this as you are preparing for Christ's birthday.  Christmas is a time of giving, and are we giving for the right reasons?  Are we giving to the right people?  Are we following our instincts?

I'm once again doing 25 days of Advent with my girls.  Our focus is on giving, not getting, at Christmas. I have changed some of it, partly to adjust for changes in age, partly to improve upon things I learned from last year.  One thing that will not go away, however, is the discussions about those who do not have basic necessities such as food, or beds, or clean water, and supporting them. 

Photo belongs to Lifeline Christian Mission

Christmas season is not meant to depress, but we should reflect on the true meaning of giving.  Respond to what your heart is calling you to do, and blessings will fill you with true joy.

How things are going with our December schedule...

So far we're really enjoying our Advent plans; our girls are enjoying it, especially the older one.  The little one is still to little to really get into some of it, but I think we have a good balance this year for both of them to enjoy it. 

Today we had an unusual opportunity.  My husband got off work early, so we picked up the girls from school together and headed over to our local convention center.  They were having a Festival of Trees to raise money for a local organization.  I'd say there were about 50 trees on display, each decorated uniquely.  Some in memory of a loved one, others as an advertisement for a company.  The girls REALLY enjoyed looking at all the different styles.  I was surprised at my older  daughter's interest to identify the states by their shape and 2 character abbreviations, she wanted to look at every one of them!  I loved one that was designed in Southeast Asian theme, with bright colors, and 3 Asian umbrellas on top.  I really should have taken pictures, but I was so into the family time and soaking in the design ideas.

Another thing I wanted to share with you is a book I recently had the pleasure of winning!  It ties right in with our goal to focus on Christ and giving to others in need.  And, ironically, it arrived soon enough that we will fit it into our "new book" night on the 15th, so this will eliminate the need for us to purchase one.  The book is The King's Christmas List.

I really didn't know what to expect when I opened up the cover of the book, but inside was a story that cuts right to the heart, and yet it is worded in a way that will really inspire children to want to help others.  This will be a book we open every year.

We have mostly the same tree and mantle as last year.  Not a whole lot of change, although I may have eliminated or added a couple of things and organized it differently.  Here's a link to last year's pictures.

I would love to hear if you're doing anything special for the Christmas season!  Please post a comment and share!

Advent Plans- Child friendly

We had 3 goals in creating this plan for the Christmas season, or as some call it, Advent (which means the coming of Christ).  Our minister has been preaching a series titled "Advent Conspiracy,"  We have always done Christmas differently, at least since having children.  We have always had presents, though in a modest way (with a very small budget).  We have not done Santa, however.  We do not ask the kids what they want, so no list making!  We, instead, always wanted to keep the focus on Christ, not on getting things.

The first objective for us THIS year was creating lasting memories for our children.  How many gifts from your childhood do you actually remember receiving?  Probably can't count them on one hand, unless you have a photographic memory.  The second objective was making sure our focus was on Christ!  The third was considering how much we already have, and how there are so many people out there who are much less fortunate than us.

That being said, here are our plans, I have to create the physical calendar, but this is what is going inside.

Dec 1: Luke 1:26-38.  Angel Comes to Mary.  Angel Coloring Page.
Dec 2: Matt 1:18-24  Angel appears to Joseph.
Dec 3: (Friday- Movie Night) Veggie Tales Christmas Movie 1 (Star of Christmas)
Dec 4: Matt 14:15-21; 24:35; Prov 28:27; Isaiah 58:10 Feed a family in Haiti and a family in Honduras (rice bag and food basket from Lifeline Christian Mission)
Dec 5: James 1:27; 1 Tim 5:3; Talk about what it means to be a widow and what we should do; Tomorrow, bring dinner to 2 widows.
Dec 6: (Bring the dinner to widows) Also read Isaiah 9:1-7 Names of Christ prophesy; Veggie Tales Song "For Unto Us a Child is Born" which ties into the scripture reading.
Dec 7: Luke 2:1-5 Trek to Bethlehem (Life Group meets that night)
Dec 8: The Pine Tree Parable book; Christmas Tree coloring page
Dec 9: Make Christmas Cards (Finish tomorrow if needed)
Dec 10: (Friday- Movie Night) Veggie Tales Christmas Movie 2 (The Toy That Saved Christmas)
Dec 11: Bake Christmas cookies; visit neighbors with goodies
Dec 12: Luke 2:6 "No room for Jesus" discussion for kids, the idea that if people had known who was being born, they would have offered their room
Dec 13: Deut 15:11; Prov 19:17; 1 John 3:17-18; Acts 20:35; Eph 4:28; Discuss children who are much less fortunate, ie. no bed to sleep in; Buy a bed for a child in Honduras through Lifeline Christian Mission.
Dec 14: Sing Christmas Songs; Lessons & Carols at daughter's school
Dec 15: Unwrap a new Christmas book (need to pick, buy and wrap ahead of time) and read it together.
Dec 16: Mark 1:1-11 Prepare the way; John the Baptist baptizing people; Jesus gets baptized
Dec 17: (Will be in the car) "Lord, Bless us with..." fill in the blank; Listen to Christmas music
Dec 18: Legend of Candy Cane; Bookmark craft; eat a candy cane!
Dec 19: Using small strips of paper, write who you want to pray for this season, make a prayer chain and hang it (like garland).  Doesn't have to be just people you know personally (ie. children who will receive your gifts, etc.)
Dec 20: 1 Peter 5: 1-7 Shepherd; Buy a Bible for a child in Haiti or Honduras through Lifeline Christian Mission.
Dec 21: Matt 2 Wise Men; What gift(s) would you bring?; Coloring Page
Dec 22: Family Game Night
Dec 23: John 1:1-18; Light of Christ; Drive around and see Christmas Lights
Dec 24: Bake a cake for the birthday celebration; Candlelight service at church
Dec 25: Luke 2:16-21; Open presents.  After naptime, eat birthday cake!

What will you do differently this year, to shift your focus?

Every once in a while I come up with a brilliant idea, LOL

Most of my ideas are okay, I guess.  It's not very often I think up something brilliant, LOL.  This past Christmas I thought of an idea.  I wish I had more time to make it even more beautiful, but it was kind of in the ninth hour.  At least from the perspective that it was a few days before Christmas, lots of stuff going on, yada yada.

Our church has a Christmas Eve Candlelight worship service.  Sounds pretty typical.  This year seemed even more contemporary, which I love.  Our girls are young, but old enough that they would want to have something lit as well, but I can't give them fire, even if they promise to be safe.

So I ran to the candle cabinet, grabbed some fake tea lights, ran upstairs, grabbed a couple of chipboard coasters, some red ribbon, big glue dots, and a powerful hole puncher.

I put 2 holes in each chipboard coaster, try to imagine each coaster now looking like a giant button.  I had a couple of feet of red ribbon for each coaster, and pulled it through the holes.  I took 2 big glue dots to the sides of the fake tea lights and stuck it on top of the "button" over the small section of ribbon, not where the ribbon comes out - rather, where the ribbon went in.

When we got to church, our older daughter got the tea light tied to her wrist with a big red bow.  Her friend got one as well.  The two little ones, our younger daughter and her friend, got to hold just a fake tea light in their hands (they probably wouldn't have tolerated something tied to their arms).

I didn't get any pictures of the kids that night, but I will say that they LOVED this and felt so grown having candlelight in the big church.  That's what made this idea, well, brilliant!   Many people sitting nearby commented on how great the idea was.

Now.  If I had more time to prepare, I would have covered the chipboard with a pretty paper and some Mod Podge before doing any of the other steps.  I'm sure there's more I could also have done to beautify them.  Maybe next Christmas!

Wine Bottle Crafts (and other bottles, too!)

I worked on a project this fall for Christmas gifts.  It was slow going, at first, but the end result was amazing.  First, I collected wine bottles of varying shapes, sizes and colors.  I asked friends and family to donate their bottles to me, so I actually had more than enough (great for any mess ups that I need to toss).  

To prep them I had to soak them in very hot water and scrape every last bit of sticky glue from the labels off.

Part 1:  I bought 3 complimentary colors of spray paint that was okay to use on glass.  I chose a copper, gold and shimmery blue.  I sprayed the wine bottles with the colors of spraypaint.  No real patterns, some more than others... until they looked good to me.  I did this in my front yard on a piece of cardboard and let the breeze dry them.  Once they looked good to me, and they were dry, I took them inside for part two.

Prep for Part 2:  I bought a fancy looking foam stamp for a few dollars.  I already had some of the Lumiere acrylic paint (Metallic Copper) that was leftover from some old projects (and was starting to dry up some) and a piece of plastic from a paper pack that would later become trash.

Part two: I took the acrylic paint and put some on the plastic.  I stamped my foam stamp and rolled it on the bottles.  Some areas were tricky, but I wasn't looking for a perfect clear image each time, but instead wanted to get the idea of the image.  The fact that the paint was kind of drying in the jar helped give the image more depth and texture.  I allowed this to dry on the bottles at least overnight.  Then back outside they went to be sealed with a clear acrylic spray, in matte.

Lastly, I bought some different stoppers and pour spouts for the bottles, depending on use.  I found a supplier online that was relatively inexpensive, but where I could tell I was getting a decent product.  Some examples where you might use this with a pour spout: fill with some olive oil, bath gel (or bubble bath), or dish soap!  (You can see the olive oil in the blue bottle above, I gave that one to my brother.)  An example of a use for the stopper: bath salts or powder.

Hope this inspires you to create something for a gift!

Andes Mint Chocolate Frosting

On Christmas Eve I made a cake for Jesus's birthday, which we ate after naptime on Christmas day.  I did the entire thing from scratch.  For the icing I tried something new, and it was fabulous.  If you like milk chocolate, and you like mint chocolate, you'll love this icing.  I used it on yellow cake, but I bet this would also be to die for on a chocolate cake!

Do you like Andes mints?  I love them.  They make Andes Mint pieces for baking!  Check your local grocery store where the chocolate chips are.  I found them at Harris Teeter.  Here is the recipe, I hope you'll try this sometime!

Andes Mint Chocolate Frosting

1 bag of Andes Mint baking chips, divided
1 box confectioners' sugar
6 Tbsp milk
1/2 stick of butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt

Mix together 1 cup of confectioners' sugar, milk, butter, vanilla and salt in the blender.  Place 2/3 of the bag of mint chocolate in a double boiler, and put water in the pot below and turn on high.  Melt the chocolate.  Add the blend from the mixing bowl to the double boiler and mix over the heat until smooth.  Return the new mixture to the mixing bowl and gradually beat in remaining sugar until it is the right consistency for smoothing.  Frost a cooled cake with the frosting and enjoy!  With the remaining pieces of Andes Mints, you can eat them or sprinkle them on top of the frosted cake!

More posts soon, I promise!  Enjoy your week!

Merry Christmas! What our girls loved doing this year...

Merry Christmas!  May the  peace and light of Christ live in you all year long!

Last year was our first Christmas with two daughters, so we bought a pink Christmas tree and let the big sister decorate it.  We encouraged her to use dress up bead necklaces for garland.  She adds in bracelets and rings, too.  We did give her some cute ornaments, as you can see here, like the plush cupcakes and lollipops, and a few others.  She loves decorating the tree!  Little sister has really enjoyed taking ornaments off, this year, ha ha!  It drives her big sister crazy and we just laugh.

This week I had the week off from work and spent it doing fun things with the girls.  Monday we went to the aquarium at the beach.  The divers in the shark tank dressed for Christmas, Santa and 2 elves.  Their shark steering poles looked like candy canes.



The next day we spent with some friends.  My friend bought two gingerbread house kits for the older girls.  The little ones enjoyed decorating the little gingerbread men that came in the kit.  We ended up with goldfish buttons!  So cute.  They enjoyed eating the treats.

I hope you and your family have a very merry Christmas!  Blessings to you and yours! 

Coming soon:  I made a birthday cake for Jesus, and you will love the frosting I made.  I will share my recipe soon... also a gift craft I did using wine bottles and other cute bottles, and it's not the usual lamp idea using Christmas lights!  Stay tuned!

Deck the Halls!

I just love decorating for Christmas.  Preparing for that day when we celebrate the birth of Christ.  I like to color coordinate everything at my house.  Our one exception is that our girls have their own small pink tree (I'll post about that another day!)

I'll start by sharing our tree.  Red and white is the theme, red to symbolize the ultimate sacrifice and white to symbolize a new life that we're given by accepting his sacrifice.  This small, slim tree was great for our last house.  We just never did buy a bigger one, which is perfectly fine with me. 

We bought this one on a budget one year, and have been adding to it each year to try to fill it in more and more.  I started out by using tulips and poinsettias for filler, then bought more poinsettias and some mistletoe for more filler.  It's a sparse tree on it's own. 

Our mantel is filled with berries, snowflakes and candy cane colored candles and candle holders.  I just love the random combinations and how they sparkle and all somehow work well together.  I actually use snowflake napkin rings up there, a single beaded snowflake garland, berry garland, crystal candleholders...
I also have a berry wreath suspended from the mirror.  we have a wreath suction cup hanger, it has worked successfully for the last 3 Christmases!

I pulled out an old unfinished project to put on top of the piano.  The piano was a new addition to our home this year.  I had this red velvet fabric embroidered many years ago to make a mantel cover, but never followed through.  It ended up being a perfect no-sew topper to protect the piano, and Christmas cards are sitting nicely on top.

I love to take time to prepare for a celebration each year.  We have been given such a great gift.

²²All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ²³"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" - which means, "God with us."(Matthew 1)

Sneak Peek...

I hope you like my new blog banner, it's a sneak peek of my Christmas decor.  This is a teeny look at my mantel.  I will share more as we continue in the joyous season.  Are you ready???

"...he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6

Christmas cards and an encouragment card

Yes, you heard me right. Christmas cards. Christmas is about 3 months away, and if you're not careful, it will sneak up on you very quickly. I decided on a stamp for Christmas as soon as I saw the new Stampin' Up catalog this year, I fell in love with the Medallion stamp. My cards, this year, need to be simple. I have my hands full with 2 young kids and a career.

I am working on these cards in phases. I started out with the cards, then stamped the medallion on each one, then added the adhesive-backed jewels. I then found a die cut for the sentiment to be stamped on, and chose a sentiment to fit inside. Originally I chose a sentiment but couldn't find a die cut that worked with my medallion and fit the size requirement of the stamp. So I found a set of Hampton Arts clear stamps at Michaels that was perfect, and paid only $6 for the stamp set with my 40% coupon. Not a bad deal! I love the simplicity of the 'peace. love. joy.' sentiment and I think it's just perfect for the card. The die cut I used is by Sizzix and is called Christmas Tags, which is on clearance on their website right now. I trimmed off the Christmas tree.

I put 2 stamped sentiments inside, one being "Merry Christmas" from the same clear stamp set. The other one is from an old Stampin Up set.
I also shared this encouraging card with someone this week. I've got that person on my prayer list, per their request. I have always loved this sentiment, by Wordsworth, and the coordinating stamp for the inside says "MY THOUGHTS ARE WITH YOU". Love this old Stampin' Up designer series paper, and added one of their current flower accessories with a brad in the center.
Would love to hear your thoughts on homemade cards. Does anyone you know send them to you? Do you like receiving them, or could you care less? Have you made them? If yes, how much time do you put into card making? Any other comments on homemade cards are welcome!