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

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

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

Decorating for Christmas: Just the Beginning!

It seems as if nature is decorating for Advent, with shades of pink and purple.

Our Advent wreath, with two friends to help celebrate. Of course, shortly after taking this picture I remembered that I had a large clear glass candle plate to put under the wreath to catch drips!

The Nativity window clings on the dining room window just above the Advent wreath.

The shelf on our Family Faith wall. I've had this angel for years and she's actually out all year long. I'll be putting a tea light in to burn in the evenings to make her glow.

I changed out the artwork and framed Scripture. I like to have verses from the Old Testament prophecies and then verses from the New Testament fulfilling by Jesus.

I'm extremely cheap frugal when it comes artwork for our home. This is actually from a calendar that I bought for $1 at my local Hallmark store. The Scripture quote is covering the part where "2010" is printed. (probably to deter people like me from using it for artwork! Showed them!)

My afternoon project while the chickens were out. Wheels cut the little trees and branches for me, and then I "arranged" them in my planters. Of course, I still need to take down the corn stalks and fall wreaths, but this is just the start!


Have a wonderful evening, all! I'll be back tomorrow for "DoN't WiNg It wEdNeSdAy" post, where I'll be talking, er, typing about Christmas treats, Advent traditions and share a recipe or two. Hope to see you back here!
Blessings,
Kelly