Wrapping Gifts with the Christmas Story
My sister married into a family that has more fun wrapping presents than buying or opening them. They’ve been known to wrap one sock in one box and its mate in another just to have another box to wrap! Everyone gets together on Christmas Eve for a wrapping extravaganza, and novelty reigns supreme. This year
Homemade Block-like Holy Family
A week or so ago, I found the following post during a search and really liked the symbolic simplicity of this Holy Family Nativity. Yesterday I tried to relocate it, and no posts showed on the blog I had visited. Since the idea was not unique to the person who posted it, I’m copying the
Embroidered Homemade Nativities
Embroidery Library was spotlighted several days ago for some tree skirts embroidered with their designs. I also want to show off the Nativities people have made with their “Sew-a-Story” Nativity patterns. First is a Nativity displayed as a screen. On the Embroidery Library website, Davie (who stitched each panel separately, backed them with a dark
Jesse Tree Advent Calendar – for Children
Both Advent and the idea of a Jesse Tree are fairly new to me. As I understand it, during the four weeks before Christmas, families gather every Sunday evening to light a candle in anticipation of the coming of the promised Messiah. Some families also gather each weekday evening to read a prophecy about His
Embroidered Nativity Figures on Tree Skirt
I stumbled upon Embroidery Library, Inc. while searching for Advent calendars. Their “Spirit-filled Stitching” section caught my eye. It’s filled with beautiful examples of embroidered Nativity Christmas crafts. Located in Minnesota, Embroidery Library, Inc. creates designs for embroidery machines. According to Debra Mundinger, their President and CEO, “One of the most popular themes sought after by
Wool Nativity Made at Home
Okay. Not all homemade Nativities are created equal. Paula, a friend of mine, designed and made these Nativity figures from reclaimed sweaters and wool. (She has also designed doll clothes for Marie Osmond.) See the original post at: http://www.hartofthemountain.com/5001.html
Wooden Nativity Advent Puzzle
I saw this beautiful Nativity puzzle on Etsy. What a simple and wonderful Advent calendar idea! When I contacted Chris, who makes them, he wrote: “The puzzle is a great way to remind adults of the true meaning of Christmas and to teach children the Christmas story: How Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem, the
Children’s Nativity Art Contest
When we started a home business producing Christmas wrapping paper with a Nativity theme, one of our first ideas was to collect children’s drawings of the Christmas story. Last year we added a Children’s Gallery for that purpose. You can see it at: http://www.firstchristmasgiftwrap.com/childGallery/childGallery.html This year we want to fill it with drawings from every
Tradition of the Straws
Years ago, I heard about this idea for an advent Christmas tradition. We tried it only once. During a quick gathering with our rather disinterested small children, we showed everyone a paper manger leftover from a Sunday School lesson and explained that each time someone did an anonymous good deed for someone else, they could
Quilted Backdrop for the Nativity
My friend Lori, who I’m hoping to talk into doing regular features for our blog, sent me this wonderful Nativity craft link. Quilter Nina Schmitz made a backdrop for her Willow Tree Nativity set that would look great with almost any Nativity. It consists of three envelope-like panels that stand up when a stiff piece of cardboard is inserted. Two
Wrapping Gifts with the Christmas Story
December 06, 2011 
firstci6 
Gift wrapped in our Shepherds design
My sister married into a family that has more fun wrapping presents than buying or opening them. They’ve been known to wrap one sock in one box and its mate in
Gift wrapped in our Child is Born design
another just to have another box to wrap! Everyone gets together on Christmas Eve for a wrapping extravaganza, and novelty reigns supreme.
This year we’re seeing a lot of kraft paper and newspaper, buttons and baker’s twine. It’s a year for simplicity and for DIY. It’s wonderful.
But to me the Christmas story itself, so simple and so full of hope and joy, has an innate elegance that makes any gift beautiful. So our family began printing Christmas wrapping paper that suggests the Nativity because we couldn’t find anyone else doing it.
Gift wrapped in our Stars design
Please consider purchasing our Nativity Christmas wrapping paper in this tough economic year. We appreciate you at least looking and passing our link along to anyone you know who might like our designs.
Thank you.
www.firstchristmasgiftwrap.com
Featured, Gift Wrap, Gift Wrap Designs, How to Wrap 
Tags: Bethlehem star, Christmas story, Jesus' birth, Nativity gift wrap Homemade Block-like Holy Family
A week or so ago, I found the following post during a search and really liked the symbolic simplicity of this Holy Family Nativity. Yesterday I tried to relocate it, and no posts showed on the blog I had visited.
Since the idea was not unique to the person who posted it, I’m copying the post here as I first saw it. If anyone finds the original, please let me know. Here goes:
“With Christmas coming up, we are preparing our Church’s Christmas craft day. We had made plans for plenty of crafty things, but had neglected to find anything Savior related. So I was on the look-out for some sort of inexpensive Nativity.
“I found a craft book that had small pictures of a craft show. In the itsy bitsiest corner, I saw something like this:
What you need:
* One 6-inch -2×2
* One 5-inch 2×2
* One 3-inch 2″ furring strip
* Two 1-1/2″ ball knobs
* One 1/2″ furniture button
* Desired paint, hot glue or gorilla glue, some twine
“I cut the 2x2s for Joseph and for Mary. I did not sand them down before painting. I wanted a rough unfinished look. I painted them and distressed them, topping each with a flesh colored 1-1/2″ ball knob using a hot glue gun.
“For the baby, I painted him with a thick layer of cream, using a slanted criss-cross action to give the effect of a swaddling cloth. I distressed him and used a leftover furniture button. Then I simply lined all three figures up and tied baby Jesus to Mary and Joseph with the twine.
“You could attach a gift tag with phrases like: ’There has been only one Christmas. The rest are anniversaries’ ~W.J. Cameron; ’Christians awake, salute the happy morn; Whereon the Saviour of the world was born’ – John Byrom; ’When we have the spirit of Christmas, we remember Him whose birth we commemorate at this season of the year’ – Thomas S. Monson.”
Embroidered Homemade Nativities
photo courtesy of Embroidery Library, Inc.
Embroidery Library was spotlighted several days ago for some tree skirts embroidered with their designs.
I also want to show off the Nativities people have made with their “Sew-a-Story” Nativity patterns.
First is a Nativity displayed as a screen. On the Embroidery Library website, Davie (who stitched each panel separately, backed them with a dark blue cotton with metallic gold stars, and then sewed them together by hand) was quoted as saying, “I think this is the MOST BEAUTIFUL thing I have ever made.” He kept it out all year.
courtesy of Embroidery Library, Inc.
Next is an embroidered lace Nativity that stands on its own. These can be done in any color.
When you visit this site, make sure you look at their Christmas design section, especially the Sew-a-Story Nativity figures:
http://www.emblibrary.com/EL/Browse.aspx?Catalog=Emblibrary&Category=christmas/Nativity+Sew-a-Story
Avoiding a Secular Christmas with Advent
I began this blog last October (2010) because I wish I had found a resource like this when my eight children were small.
The secularization of Christmas discouraged me – not because I wanted a strictly religious holiday, but because I wanted a fun and joyful one. Christmas, with its spirit of celebration and goodwill towards others, is still the best introduction I can think of to the miracle of Jesus Christ in one’s life.
I wanted, with all my heart, for my children to experience a time when people wish the best for each other and think about their part in keeping peace on earth. I wanted them to anticipate a night and day like no other, reserved for gathering as a family to read the story of a babe born in a stable and placed in a manger – so that later, during times of heartache and fear, they might wonder (and then discover) whether that Christmas feeling of closeness and peace is available by knowing Him better.
No matter where I searched for Christ-centered Christmas ideas this past year, I noticed that the most appealing ones were tied to Advent. Of course, I began seeking information about Advent, what it is, when it is, and why it is tied to the birth of Jesus Christ. I located many informative articles and comments, and lots of ideas from Catholic moms. Basically, Advent is a time to prepare for Christmas in a way that reduces the secular “noise” and increases (even for the smallest child) a happy anticipation of Jesus’ birth.
Today I want to guide you to my favorite site for introducing the subject: a series of blog posts by Mark Roberts. I’ll let you learn from Mark himself about this wonderful approach to celebrating Christmas. I will only quote this:
“I found in Advent a solution to the age-old problem of
secular Christmas vs. spiritual Christmas. If you’re a Christian, you
know what I mean. We recognize that Christmas is, most of all, a time to
celebrate the birth of Jesus. . . . Yet, given the secular traditions of
Christmas, we spend most of our time preparing, not for a celebration of
the birth of Jesus, but for fulfilling the 
demands of the season.
“We have to buy lots of presents for lots of people and make sure they are all wrapped and delivered. We have parties to attend and parties to host. We have relatives who come to visit or, alternatively, we are the relatives who go elsewhere to visit. This requires lots of planning, not to mention the energy required for holiday travel. We have to send out Christmas cards, making sure our addresses are right and that they get on all the envelopes. If we have younger children, we may very well spend hours trying to assemble gifts that come with sketchy instructions written by someone for whom English is, at best, a third language. And so on, and so on, and so on.
“Meanwhile, we hear our Christian leaders telling us that we’re spending too much time and money in secular celebrations and not focusing enough on the real meaning of Christmas. . . .
“In my idealistic twenties, I thought about downsizing my celebrations of Christmas. At one point I tried to convince some friends and family members that we should make Christmas an entirely ‘spiritual’ holiday . . . But nobody was persuaded, least of all my family members. The secular and familial Christmas traditions were too embedded in our lives and, I might add, greatly loved. . . . (In retrospect, I rather think I wouldn’t have liked doing what I proposed. I too, you see, am a lover of Christmas traditions.)
“As I entered my thirties, I tried to emphasize the Christian aspects
of Christmas in the days leading up to the holiday. But I seemed to be
fighting a losing battle. I needed some way to focus my mind and heart.
And I needed some new traditions that would help me. Then I discovered
Advent. For some reason, observing Advent during December helped me to
draw near to God in a way that I had not been able to do before. I still
engaged in the secular celebrations of Christmas, happily so, I might
add. But I also added several new practices that tuned my heart to
resonate with the deeper meaning of the coming of Christ.”
You can find Mark’s Advent posts here:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/markdroberts/series/introduction-to-advent/
Jesse Tree Advent Calendar – for Children
Both Advent and the idea of a Jesse Tree are fairly new to me. As I understand it, during the four weeks before Christmas, families gather every Sunday evening to light a candle in anticipation of the coming of the promised Messiah. Some families also gather each weekday evening to read a prophecy about His coming or a scripture about His heritage.
The Jesse tree takes its name from Jesse, the father of King David, through whose royal lineage Jesus came to fulfill the prophecies of old. Each item on the tree symbolically tells the story of Jesus’ ancestors who looked forward to His coming. Many of the symbols represent familiar figures from Bible stories children know and love.
This is the first true Jesse tree I’ve found that is made with small children in mind. The designer, Lisa Holt, explains, “These advent calendars have been a labor of love for me and my family. The Lord impressed this special project upon my heart about a year ago, and I have been overwhelmed and humbled by the response for them.”
Lisa designed each ornament from hand-drawn sketches and hand sews each calendar one at a time. Her husband helped her create a devotional to go along with each ornament. Although she is already booked for Christmas 2011, she normally sells both the completed calendar and sets of 25-28 ornaments.
She adds, “I know how special handmade items are – especially when they are heirlooms that help kindle faith and create traditions and memories – so I also offer a DIY KIT and a PDF Pattern/Tutorial for those who would like to make them on their own.”
You can find all of these items in her Navy Mango shop on Etsy:
DIY KIT: www.etsy.com/listing/84759567/diy-kit-ready-to-ship-biblical-christmas
PDF Pattern/Tutorial: www.etsy.com/listing/83885933/pdf-pattern-and-tutorial-for-a-set-of
Advent, Advent Calendars, Children, Christ-centered Decor, Christmas Memories, Featured, Traditions Tags: DIY, Jesse tree, Jesus Christ Another Great Wooden Block Nativity
While searching for some additional child-friendly homemade Nativity sets, I came across a helpful blog entry by Dianna on Catholic Mothers Online (12-16-2010). See:
http://www.catholicmothersonline.com/2010/12/make-a-child-proof-nativity-set-this-advent-season/
I especially liked the block Nativity her friend Angie made. I get a lot of searches for block Nativities. They are a terrific option for preschoolers – basically indestructible.
Dianna said, “My best friend made that set for me. My children love it . . . although I’m a bit embarrassed to say that Baby Jesus has taken quite a few rides down my staircase. It’s a set that I will treasure for many, many years and hope to share with my grandchildren one day!”
I contacted Angie who admitted, “These nativities were probably my all-time favorite presents to make. I truly did make the whole thing in one evening.” You can find details and more photos at:
World War II Advent Memory
I wish I had grown up with Advent. I’m amazed at the power of this simple celebration to encourage closeness among family members and to bring a sweet peace to an often rushed and stressful season.
The following statement, attributed to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) is the perfect introduction to a story I want to share today:
“Advent’s intention is to awaken the most profound and basic emotional memory within us, namely, the memory of the God who became a child. . . . It is the beautiful task of Advent to awaken in all of us memories of goodness and thus to open doors of hope.“ (from “Memory Awakens Hope . . . Seek That Which Is Above,” 1986)
The following is one woman’s memory of observing Advent during World War II:
“I grew up in the middle of the war to end all wars. You might think that I had a painful childhood. Far from it. I was surrounded by love – a love which overshadowed the pain of war [and] overcame the horrors all around us. . . .
“All year long I looked forward to the Advent season. That was the time when we would daily sing together as a family, not just on Sunday afternoons as we did the rest of the year. On the day before the first Sunday in Advent, my mother wound the advent wreath, and I helped her. There was nothing quite as satisfying for this little girl as watching the candles burn on a wreath which I had helped to assemble.
“On the first Sunday of Advent, I anxiously awaited the dusk . . . when we would place the wreath on the table, gather the family around, light the first candle, and sing Advent carols. The sparse light on the wreath contrasted with the darkness all around us. When we ran out of Advent carols, we would continue with Christmas carols. . . .
“Advent in Latin means “the coming” or “the arrival,” and it points to the expected coming of Jesus, the Light of the World, into darkness.”
From “Advent Memories,” an online article from Natural Health, posted by Suite101.com on 11-28-00, © Traute Klein, biogardener. You can read the full article at:
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/natural_health/47779
Advent, Christmas Memories, Traditions Tags: advent candles, advent wreath, Pope Benedict XVI, World War II Embroidered Nativity Figures on Tree Skirt
photo courtesy of Embroidery Library Inc.
I stumbled upon Embroidery Library, Inc. while searching for Advent calendars. Their “Spirit-filled Stitching” section caught my eye. It’s filled with beautiful examples of embroidered Nativity Christmas crafts.
Located in Minnesota, Embroidery Library, Inc. creates designs for embroidery machines. According to Debra Mundinger, their President and CEO, “One of the most popular themes sought after by embroiderers is designs that celebrate a holy or spiritual Christmas.”
Debra goes on to say, “I grew up in a Scandinavian family in the Midwest, and Christmas had two parts – a Christmas Eve dinner of lefse and oyster stew, followed by a candlelight caroling service. Today I can do without the
photo courtesy of Embroidery Library, Inc.
oyster stew, but Christmas without a church or worship element just isn’t Christmas for me.”
That attitude permeates the company’s Christmas designs. To see other ideas for using embroidery to keep the Christmas Story visible during the holidays, visit their website at:
Wool Nativity Made at Home
Okay. Not all homemade Nativities are created equal. Paula, a friend of mine, designed and made these Nativity figures from reclaimed sweaters and wool. (She has also designed doll clothes for Marie Osmond.) See the original post at:
Child-friendly Nativities, Featured, Homemade Nativities, Nativities Tags: Nativity figures, reclaimed wool Wooden Nativity Advent Puzzle
I saw this beautiful Nativity puzzle on Etsy. What a simple and wonderful Advent calendar idea! When I contacted Chris, who makes them, he wrote:
“The puzzle is a great way to remind adults of the true meaning of Christmas and to teach children the Christmas story: How Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem, the shepherds who were visited by Angels in the fields, the travels of the Three Wise Men, and finally on Christmas Day the birth of baby Jesus.”
Chris has liked building wooden items since he was a child. He says, “I get great enjoyment and relaxation out of cutting a puzzle at the end of the day, knowing that a child is going to get a toy they can pass on to their children.”
