Christ Centered Crafts and Decorating for Christmas

This is our Advent wreath for this year. I know the candles aren't the traditional purple and pink, but I couldn't find them this year without running all over town and then spending a small fortune on a set. I have the colors in the table runner, so I'm not going to stress about having the "right" candles!

I added some twine to the gold ribbon, after removing the cardinals and red berries from last year. I like the juxtaposition between the earthy, humble twine and the shiny gold ribbon. It reminds me of the fact that my Lord and King humbled himself by becoming human and was born in a stable.

After scraping candle wax off the plate I use to set the wreath on, I decided to put some tin foil down to catch drips, and I thought it might help reflect some of the candle light.

I put down the Nativity table runner and put out our Christmas books. The kiddos are getting older, but I thought they might still want to look at them, and maybe they just might let me read one or two to them!

I wanted something Christmas-y for our living room art work. So using some scrap booking paper that I have had for a while, I put this together. I'm pretty pleased with it, even if my daughter thought it was a picture of a tipi at first glance!

A pocket chart about Advent. I realized that we have been celebrating Advent for a couple of years now, but I don't know as though I have really shared what it is all about with the kids. I purchased the pocket chart at the Dollar Tree. I just used scrap booking paper to make the candles and flames. the white strips came with the chart, so I just used those to write on. We'll attach the flames in correspondence to when we light the candles on out wreath. I'm going to add Scripture verses to go with each week's theme.

This morning after I finished baking and the kiddos had had a wonderful time playing together in the snow, they came in to hot cocoa and crafts!

This is a "Colors of Faith" Christmas tree. I've had the glittery foam trees for years, bought at Michael's when the value packs were 40% off. I purchased a package of  rhinestones at Jo Ann's to be used as "ornaments" on the trees. I just typed out what the colors represented. We used hot glue to attach the gems and a ribbon hanger.

I used a heart shaped cookie cutter to trace heart shapes onto red and white card stock. The kids used double stick tape to attach the hearts together and then added the candy cane sticker. I have to print out the "Legend of the Candy Cane" to go with these ornaments.

I admit to shamelessly copying this word for word from an ornament I saw in a catalog. It was a pre-made one, not one that you craft, so I used scrap booking paper to make this. The dark blue is actually a glittery paper, and the lighter blue is standard size card stock. I used Microsoft Word on my computer to type this up and used the clip art for the Baby Jesus picture. The star is a glittery foam sticker. I put 2 back to back over the twine hanger. Just a note, if you use the glittery card stock, you really need to use double stick tape to attach the other paper, a glue stick doesn't hold.

This year, after much inner debate, I finally decided to do a Jesse Tree again. Last year I printed out ornaments that we colored, and we used a poster tree. This year I used the same devotional so I knew what symbols to have and used Microsoft Word clip art for the ornaments. We'll hang them on a little evergreen tree that I have already. One of these days I would love to make some felt ornaments, but I just don't have the time (or energy!) for this year!

I hope that these gave you some ideas to use in your own homes, Friends! Have a lovely day.
Many Blessings,
Kelly

Home-Laid Nativity Set

Yes, you read it right. I am making a home-laid Nativity set from blown eggs!

What I have made so far. Joseph, Mary, Baby Jesus and 2 of the wise men.
The stable is from The Dollar Tree. (I have no idea why they sell only
these little wooden stable, but no figurines!)

The happy couple, before delivery. (When I added this picture, the computer went
wacko, so the pic is a little wonky!)

Two of the 3 wise men.

This is not my original idea, I saw 2 blog posts over at Homestead Revival's Barn Hop #89 that showed egg Nativity scenes, and I just knew I had to make one for our family! Both the Chicken Chick and Fresh Eggs Daily posted how to make the Nativity set. Fresh Eggs Daily also shows some other Christmas crafts to make with eggs that are just lovely and I want to make, too!

I have wanted a Nativity set for a couple of years now, and either I couldn't find a set that I liked or it was out of our budget. I was originally going to make one out of the old fashioned clothespins, but I love the blown egg ones better. And I think I would have agonized more over the clothespin ones and it would have taken me much longer. And I wasn't sure how to make them stand up.

So, last night as our turkey soup was simmering away, I blew out the eggs and cleaned them. Then I cooked up scrambled eggs for the kitties, who normally will eat eggs, but of course didn't this time. Stinkers. Anyways, this morning I gathered up all the trimmings and fabrics I thought I would use and also found the little wooden discs that I glued the eggs to. It makes them nice an stable and will make it easier to add the "characters" to the scene. I'm going to put the manger on the shelf of our family faith wall, where Mary and Joseph will travel around the living room during Advent until Christmas Eve. Then I'll have one of the children put the manger in the stable, and Christmas morning we'll put Baby Jesus in the manger. I would like to do a devotional each night as a family as we move Mary and Joseph closer to their destination. I think it will make the Nativity more exciting for the kids, and make it more alive for them as well.

I'll be posting some more Christ centered Christmas crafts soon. I've been pretty busy getting things together to make crafts with the kids, so there is much to post. Hope you have a lovely day, Friends!

Many Blessings,
Kelly

Planning for Christmas and Advent

I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving, Friends. We had three lovely Thanksgivings, and now I am thankful it is Monday! All joking aside, we did have a wonderful holiday weekend filled with family and food. But I am truly thankful to get back into the swing of things today.

I usually do the weekly shopping on Mondays, but this week is a bit different. So I spent the time I am usually in town on other domestic pursuits. I ran the dishwasher and got a jump start on laundry day, which is tomorrow. Then I got out the sewing machine and made 2 lovely double sided table runners. See:

A beautiful Nativity print. I'm going to use it for a family altar, as soon
as I figure out where I want it!

St. Nicholas on the other side. The runner will be on this side for only a few
days before St. Nicholas Day, Dec. 6.

Advent table runner. I knew I wanted a purple table runner for the dining room
table for Advent, since that is where we have our Advent wreath out. But do you think I
could find a purple Christmas print that did not have snowmen, etc. on it? Of course not!
But I found this lovely homespun fabric in purple, with bit of pink in it, and it has
pink and purple glittery threads running through it. It's absolutely perfect!

The flip side, for Valentine's Day, but I'm thinking I might flip it to this side on the 3rd week
of Advent, when we light the pink candle. We'll see!

I also started a notebook for Advent and Christmas ideas. I cut some pictures from a catalog of craft items because they gave me great ideas on somethings to make with the kids.

This way I don't have to keep the whole catalog, and I can write notes about any changes I'd make or materials I'd use. I plan on sketching some ideas for ornaments, too.

I have been working on my holiday planner, as well.

I had to add a new cover, and I'm working on the inside, too.When I have more done, I'll share.

Thanks to Joybilee Farm blog, I have gotten some new Kindle books on Advent and Christmas for FREE!! So far the ones that I have read have given me some ideas on how to celebrate and focus our family on the true reason for the season: Jesus. I'm still working on whether or not I want to try to do a Jesse Tree again this year, and looking to add other meaningful activities.

I'd love to hear from you and how you celebrate Advent and Christmas. You can leave a comment below, or "like" Homespun Inspirations on facebook.

Hope you have a lovely evening.

Many Blessings,
Kelly

A Quick Update

Hello, Friends! I thought I'd "pop in" for a few quick updates from up here on our hill. The weekend (o.k., well Saturday!) was CRAZY busy, and I'm still working on getting caught up on house work, but I have been working on other things, as well, and trying to help my DH with sugaring. So, here goes! (I find it easier to quick posts in bullets so that I don't get too long winded! ;o)

• I got the sweet pepper seeds started! Yay!!!!!! They are up on the fridge, hopefully germinating their little hearts out.
• My DH finished off another 2 quarts and a pint of maple syrup. The grand total for the 2012 season is 4 quarts and a pint. (Of course, we've already eaten a quart of that total!!!)
• I made a skirt out of a pair of jeans that I was going to re purpose into something less glorious. (Like hot pads for the dining room table!) It turned out beautiful, if I may say so myself, (and I do!) and will be sharing soon.
• I bought some lettuce and spinach seeds which I hope to get planted either today or tomorrow using a method I read about in "Mother Earth News." (I don't necessarily agree with some of the articles, or even the name of the magazine, but it has been an absolute treasure trove of information for me!)
• Last night at dinner, I started labeling sticks for our family's Prayer Pail. The child that I thought was going to be the most resistant was actually the one with the most ideas! I'm really looking forward to this part of the day, and praying that the rest of the family will, too.
• I multi-tasked this morning. (I know, what else is new for a woman!) I folded laundry while watching "Foodmatters" on Netflix. Now, I did not realize that this was a huge site, with products, etc., but I will say that if you are interested in all about eating better for your health, this documentary will really make you think. I recommend it for everyone, but especially those dealing with chronic health issues. I will be posting a more in depth review* at a later (hopefully sooner!) date.
• When looking into Home Depot for seed starting items, etc., I discovered that Burpee makes seeds and accompanying products with Disney Princesses. My first impulse was to scarf one of each up to bring home to my Princess, but I quickly came to my senses and realized that we could grow flower seeds in a regular (although home decorated version, of course!) seed flat with our own frilly homemade plant markers as we could the cutsie little pink ones that were quite high priced. I did, however, but a packet of the Disney seeds because I'd never seen that variety of flower before and it's beautiful. So Princess and I have a mother/daughter girly gardening project.
• The injured girls (which are quite recovered) have been integrated back into the flock. They all seem to be getting along so far. It's been less that 24 hours, but I'm praying that we won't need to separate them again anytime soon.

Well, that's all I can come up for for now. Have a lovely day all!
Blessings,
Kelly

Double Sided Table Runners

The solid green side can be for Mardi Gras, St. Patrick's Day, Christmas, or any day you want to use green! The shamrocks are for St. Patrick's day. You can't really tell in this pic, but the green has a gold sparkle to it, while the shamrock side has a silver sparkle sheen.

The solid purple side is for Lent, the print is for Easter. I absolutely adore the Easter print, which was the only Easter print that I could find that wasn't completely secular. This has "He Is Risen" and "Rejoice" printed on it, so it is truly a print worthy of the occasion!

Yesterday I mentioned that I was able to do some sewing. I had wanted to make a table runner for Lent. In an article I had read about sharing Lent with your children, the author suggested using a purple table cloth for the season. Table cloths + my family doesn't work unless it's vinyl, which I'm not sure if I could find a purple vinyl table cloth, unless it had bunnies on it. So, when I had purchased the fabric for the chicken saddles I saw the shade of purple that I really liked. (And yes, the chicken saddles now match my Lenten linens.)

 Anywhoo, the kids went with my mother in law yesterday afternoon, so I pulled out the iron and sewing machine. I knew exactly how I wanted my table runner and shelf scarves to look. I had purchased a sort of gold shade of thread and wanted to use one of the fancy stitches that my machine can do. I wanted to iron the hems in and pin them so all was straight and neat. But then I looked at the clock and felt a twinge in my back and thought how in the world was I really going to do this? (And along with my Martha tendencies, I am also very instant gratification oriented. Sound like fun, don't I? Wanna come over and craft? ;0)

I looked at my fabrics and decided that the easiest and neatest way to make these (sorry, I forgot to mention that I wanted to make the green table runner for Mardi Gras, too!) was make them double sided. You see, I'm also rather cheap frugal when it comes to craft supplies, preferring to wait for sales, coupons and (the best!!!!) clearance. I had only bought 1/2 a yard of the shamrock print and saved 1/2 yard of the purple material for my table runner. I had plenty of the green sparkle because that had been on clearance (yay!!!) for like a dollar a yard years ago before I even had children. (I know, yada, yada, yada, get to the point rambling woman that has conversations with her cat) With only 4 pieces of fabric, each 1/2 yard, I ended up with two table runners for about 6 holidays/seasons.

Reasons to make double sided table runners:

• it saves time- you don't have to sew 2 runners for 2 different holidays/seasons/occasions
• it saves money- you don't have to buy more than you absolutely need of a costly fabric or buy another piece of fabric to back it
• it saves space- you'll only have to store half the table runners that you need

Now, I'm not going to give any sort of tutorial here. I think we can all agree that I'm not that good at it! And besides, it rather easy. Sew your fabric faces/right sides together, leaving an opening so that you can turn it right side out. Once you have it turned right side out, iron it so it is nice and flat, the seems pressed out neatly. Now, keeping a consistent seam allowance, sew around the edge of the runner all the way around. Voila! You've got a table runner!

These are the two shelf scarves that I made. The one with the fancy stitching on the right is on the secretary that is on our family faith wall. The one on the left is on a little shelf in my bedroom where I've made a little prayer corner. Unfortunately the fancy stitching made the fabric pucker, so I was only able to do it on the two sides of the shelf scarf, and not at all on my table runner. :(

Well, it's time to turn in for the evening. I'll be sharing more about our family faith wall and preparing for Lent. Have a lovely evening, Friends.

Blessings,

Kelly

Pancake Tuesday, Mardi Gras and/or Shrove Tuesday

Our morning started with chocolate chip pancakes.

The kiddos and I sat down to these lovelies and added some butter and, of course, Daddy's homemade syrup.

After chores we had craft time. We made crowns and masks for Mardi Gras.

These are the boys' crowns.

Mimi got in on the action when she dropped of our King's Cake that we're having for dessert. I'll share pics of that later, she did a beautiful job of it!

This is a cat toy for Miss Merlin. I did some sewing in the afternoon. I'll show the fruits of that labor in a very near future post. Prissy cat didn't even care for her toy. It's stuffed with our last sprig of homegrown catnip. I put pretty, tantalizing ribbons on it. Humph!

This was our table for dinner. I got the coins and center piece at the dollar store. The table runner was one of the fruits of labor mentioned above.

I also took some time to work on our family faith wall for Lent. I got the Alleluia out so that we can bury it tomorrow, for Ash Wednesday. I'll post more about our family faith wall and preparing for Lent.

Well, that's our day! I'm off to have some King's Cake with my family. Have a lovely evening, Friends.
Blessings,
Kelly

Blessings on Valentine's Day

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 3:14-19 NIV emphasis added

Many blessings to you all, my Friends, for a day filled

with love. May we have a servant's heart today to all who cross our path, and especially to our Lord and Savior.

Blessings,

Kelly

Our Christmas in Pics

I've been a bit quiet on the blog front, but I was rather busy before Christmas. I worked at the school a couple of times and kept myself busy at the sewing machine making Christmas presents! Why is it that I always get my best ideas about a two to one and a half weeks before the holiday?

Anywhoooo, we had a lovely Christmas! Friday evening we went to our friends' home (a very sweet family and fellow keepers of chickens) for our church's annual caroling party. As always, it was wonderful to be with our church family. Christmas Eve we had my side of the family over for appetizers, a ham dinner and extremely yummy desserts. And of course we exchanged gifts! We ended to afternoon with a hilarious round of Shrek Mad-Libs.

The next morning I was surprised to be woken up at a respectable 6:15. Teddy Bear was the first up and asked Daddy if it was time to get his brother and sister. And so the wrapping paper went flying!

Teddy Bear with his "belly dumper" 18 wheelers. I asked the boys if they could only
get one present for Christmas, what would it be? This was TB's choice. It was a bonus that they were
Kenworth trucks!

Wheels' choice was a log truck. The one he really wanted was from a catalog,
but we didn't have the time to order it. We we able to find one at our
local Tractor Supply store. He was still very happy with it!

Princess wanted those  Xiu Xiu (spelling?) Pet sets. We weren't able to
 find any of the Pet sets, but we did find some of the Xiu Xiu Puppy sets
. (ON Clearance!!!!!!) She was still absolutely thrilled.

 

Daddy helping put together a Nerf gun for Wheels.

Our kitty Merlin sniffing for more of her Christmas cat nip.

Our three angels in front of the tree. (Teddy Bear was a little more
enthusiastic about the picture taking than his siblings.)

After breakfast we headed up to my DH parents' for more presents and dinner with them. again, we had a nice time. Then we headed home so the kiddos could play with their new toys and games. I layed down for a little while due to a back ache, and tried to fix a dinner of left overs; however, no one was hungry. We weren't able to go to the Christmas morning service at our church, so we lit our Advent wreath candles before singing a few Christmas hymns and saying a couple of prayers. The kiddos had a few more minutes to play before it was time to go to bed. And then we all went to bed.

So that was our Christmas. There was more laughing, talking, eating and even some crying than a blog post can convey, of course. But, that's our Christmas here on our hill.

Blessings,

Kelly

Our Jesse Tree

Our Jesse Tree, before the velcro dots were added.

Velcro dots and out first ornament.

Happy Saturday, Friends! I sincerely apologize about bagging on you all for my Wednesday post. (Because I know you were all just on pins and needles waiting for it, right?! ;0) ) Wheels was home for his 3rd day in a row, and I had had to make a 2 am run to the pharmacy for some Benedryl for him. I was a very sleepy Mama with a lot to do around the house because I had a Four Winds class Thursday and worked on Friday. Blogging just didn't fit into the picture, unfortunately!

Anywhoo, I was able to make our Jesse Tree. In previous posts I had mentioned that I wanted to start this tradition, but wasn't sure exactly what I was going to do about making one. Due to time and budget restraints, I went with a poster board Jesse Tree. (Boy, I sound like I work for the government, don't I!) I had the red and green poster board already, and I printed out the ornaments from the computer for free. I have plenty of different colored card stock to back the ornaments. The only thing I had to purchase was some Velcro dots. So for a grand total of $2.47 we have a Jesse Tree!

I folded the green poster board in half length wise, and using a ruler, calculator, pencil and eraser, I measured out an even Christmas tree. (Yes, my Ms. Martha Perfect tendencies were in high gear!!!) Then Wheels used a glue stick to glue it to the red p.b. I measured where the Command strip hooks were on our bedroom door and used a hole punch to make holes to hang it from. Before I punched the holes, I reinforced the area with some clear packing tape on the back so it wouldn't rip easily. Then I counted out 25 Velcro dots, one for each ornament, but it wasn't symmetrical, so I added a 26th dot. I'm going to scale down one of our family photos to use as an ornament for the day after Christmas, because once you have accepted Jesus as your Saviour, you are then a part of His Family Tree! I thought that this would be a meaningful lesson for them.

This is where I got our free printable ornaments from. I really like these because they are all the same size, are paper economical, and easy images for the kids to color. So far, Princess and I have been the only ones interested in coloring the ornaments. Then I cut them out and glue them to a piece of card stock that is slightly larger, so you can see the color, and cover it with clear contact paper. I trim off any excess and add a Velcro dot. The download for the ornaments comes with a chart with Scripture verses for each ornament, but I wanted a little more for our time with the Jesse Tree. My pastor's wife and very dear friend shared this link for a free eBook on how to celebrate Advent with a Jesse Tree. This ebook has devotional readings for 28 days, but we didn't start our Jesse Tree until December 1st, so I'll just skip the "extra" pages. The reason I liked this one was because, first of all, it is free! But secondly, and more importantly, It includes a Scripture reading, a prayer, and a song. I only printed out the pages of the devotional section of the eBook, and managed to print out 2 pages of the eBook onto one piece of paper, then I cut the sheets in half, so I have a compact little devotional.

Well, that's all for now! I hope you all have a lovely evening.
Blessings,
Kelly

A Menu Plan, Lap Book and Family Faith Wall To Share

Happy Monday, dear Friends! We had a long weekend with the children being home on Friday. Princess was able to go to her friend's house to play and the boys ping-ponged between Gramma and Grampa's house and home. Saturday was the first day of rifle deer season, so my DH and I headed out to the woods to take our rifles for their yearly walk. I actually played hide n' seek with a large doe, and then had a staring contest with her before she quietly bounded away. It was right in the same spot where Teddy Bear took his shot last week! At first I couldn't see if it was a buck or doe because all I could see was a back side, so I waited patiently (and very quietly) for the deer to move from behind a tree. When the wind picked up, I slooooooooowly creeped ahead, only to discover that it was a doe. I'm thinking of heading out early Wednesday morning to the spot to see if I can find a buck there!

I've done my grocery shopping for the week already and finally got a chance to take stock of the freezer last Thursday. So that means I have a menu plan for the week! Last week I sort of winged it, and Sunday became a takeout pizza night because I was not feeling well at all and my DH had a back ache that kept him down for the count most of the afternoon. I've really got to get to work on freezing some meals for occasions such as this, as well as getting an extra batch of cookies in the freezer, too. I wasn't able to bake Saturday due to being out hunting and then yesterday there was just no way I could be up on my feet for any length of time. (I know, I sound rather whiny, don't I? Sorry!) The kiddos were not happy for having to settle for a breakfast cookieless breakfast!

~Menu for Monday Nov. 14 to Sunday Nov. 20~

~Monday: grilled baby back ribs, baked potatoes, salad, applesauce, corn and banana
~Tuesday: homemade shake n' bake chicken cutlets, stuffin' muffins, carrots, fruit
~Wednesday: Breakfast for Dinner bacon, scrambled eggs, waffles and fruit
~Thursday: turkey smoked sausage, roasted potatoes, green beans, fruit
~Friday: Baked ziti, corn, fruit
~Saturday: venison stew with carrots and potatoes
~Sunday: leftovers, veggies and fruit

A prayer for one side and Scripture verses for the other. I added some stickers to make them look prettier!

Well, I finally got my Scripture verses typed, printed and framed for our Family Faith wall, and have some seasonal decorations added as well.

And here is a peek at our Thanksgiving lap book: (It's still a work in progress!)

I covered a standard size manila file folder with wrapping paper.

I added a flap of dark red card stock.

The front. I "laminated" the title with clear packing tape, glued it to one side of the cover
 and added a hook and loop closure on the other side.

A Blessings Tree (I have to add the hook and loop pieces so that the blessing leaves can be stuck on)
 and a print out of Bible verses.

A pocket for the mini books and Bible memory verse cards.

*I keep forgetting to mention a wonderful resource for families, and one that I used for the lap book. Scripture Adventures make wonderful holiday resources filled with recipes, crafts and Scripture. We have both the Easter and the Thanksgiving ones. I think I'll be ordering the Christmas one as well. The best part is that you print it out from your computer, so you don't have to wait for it to be delivered. Just make sure you have plenty of paper and ink!

Well, that's all for now! Have a wonderful day.
Blessings,
Kelly


*This is not a paid endorsement, just my opinion, plain and simple!