Candle Decorating

So, I have to admit that this candle decorating thing might be habit forming.

I am making this one for a friend- not quite done yet. The first coat needs to dry or

I will smear glitter all over the place- you can guess how I figured that out!  ;)

"How To" Candy Kiss Countdown

I had this craft bookmarked for a few years and we finally made them. It is a bit late for this year, but a fun one to keep in mind for next, or it could also be made for the 12 days of Christmas!


Step 1: Supplies

Step 2: Open Cling Wrap

Step 3: Line up 25 Hershey Kisses (and Hershey Hugs if you would like)

Step 4: Roll Kisses in Cling Wrap

In this picture we cut the cling wrap in half the long way- we don't do it that way anymore. It is much, much easier to just wrap the kisses in the whole piece of wrap. We were just trying to stretch our materials- not worth it.

Step 5: Cut Ribbon

Step 6: Tie Ribbon

Step 7: Curl the Ribbon

Step 8: Tie any type of hanger on top. We made a loop with the ribbon and tied it on with ribbon.

 Countdown Kisses and Hugs Complete:

Christmas Countdown

We love our advent devotions, but the kids also look forward to a tradition that we have had for years- a chocolate (usually right after breakfast) each day. In the past, we have purchased Trader Joe's calendars, but this year I decided to make our own "hugs and kisses" countdown from an idea I found in Lisa Welchel's The Adventure of Christmas: Helping Children Find Jesus in Our Holiday Traditions.
                                                                                                                                                              
It was difficult to take pictures that did them justice, but these are candy hugs and candy kisses wrapped in cling wrap with ribbon tied between each candy. Each day the kids get to cut one piece of candy off the bottom.

After attempting to assemble these by myself, I called in the troops-  Paul and Mark helped to tie and curl ribbon while Erin created a ribbon hanger for each one. This was just a bit more time consuming than I anticipated! James' helped a little too, but mostly was just happy to demonstrate how long the hanging countdown candies are. :)

                                                                                                                                           

Christmas in Sweden::Plans

Saint Lucy, you did not hide your light under a basket, but let it shine for the whole world, for all the centuries to see. We may not suffer torture in our lives the way you did, but we are still called to let the light of our Christianity illumine our daily lives. Please help us to have the courage to bring our Christianity into our work, our recreation, our relationships, our conversation -- every corner of our day.

St. Lucy, Pray for us.

Today was the second installment of our "Christmas Traditions Around the World" unit study. The first was about this time last year when we learned about Christmas in Mexico. I hope to post pictures and explanations later, but, for now, this is our resource list:

We checked out this informative book from the library- our local library carries titles for several countries. It gives a nice overview of the customs and symbols of Christmas in Sweden.

Also from the library. A dvd about family life in Sweden. It is not my favorite from the series, but it was nice to be able to see families from that country- how they live, speak, learn. It was a nice filler to our day -- we watched it on lunch break.

While trying to find things on the Internet, I came across a site that said that I could find an article about St. Lucia Day in this book- as it turns out, we own it! So, I was off to find the book (it was in our advent box) and the article. :)



Swedish Family Paper dolls purchased from Paper Dali.



Kirsten's Suprise... is about a Swedish family's first Christmas in America.



Free paper dolls (colored by Julia and Kyle) from Paper Dali.



Articles from the Internet (see links below). I like the one from Domestic Church because it offers the information at 3 different levels of understanding (readiness might be a better word). I used the information labeled "Young Families".



Our table full of supplies.



The Paper Dali blog, a wonderful resource, was the jumping off point for our whole study. Before I came across it, I was not sure how we were going to go about putting together our day. This post on the Paper Dali blog includes a free printable paper doll of St. Lucia and an entire unit study. We also purchased the Swedish Family paper dolls and are planning on making the St. Lucia and Star Boy craft.


Most of the Internet information (other than from Paper Dali) that I was able to find originated from the Family in Feast and Feria blog.

These are the sites we used:

Kiddley: Paper St. Lucia Crowns and Hats
The Domestic Church: Saint Lucy

The Legends of St. Lucy: A Telling by Eldrbarry

How it all came together: Our Day With Christmas in Sweden

Advent Projects Complete

Ta-da! The completed Christmas countdown angel turned out adorable. :) He took a bit to get to stand up. The stand pattern included with the project didn't seem to work well, so we improvised with a piece of poster board. And our "gifts to baby Jesus" poster. It seemed like the pattern was meant to allow for the crib to be more 3D... honestly, sometimes we are just craft challenged. This is when I miss my older girls bring around! Anyway, the boys are happy with their poster and enjoyed gluing there first gifts on today.

Advent Preparations

On Sunday, the first day of advent, the boys helped out a bit by putting a few projects together. James and Mark are working on a Christmas countdown angel. (glue cotton balls- 1 for each day of advent- to a base under the angel to make a fluffy cloud)

Paul is working on a baby Jesus picture to be glued in the middle of a piece of construction paper. Each of the boys colored small presents for baby Jesus. These will be glued around the manger whenever the boys give baby Jesus a gift (an act of kindess, work of mercy, prayer...).

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Both of these ideas are from Art 1 by Seton Press, but could easily be replicated using materials on hand. I'll post pics of the completed projects next. :)