I know this is extremely late, but I wanted to record a few Advent adventures and crafts to remember for the future. Christmas, also late, will follow shortly.
Advent Wreath
Being as I am a procrastinator of epic proportions, hence the tardiness of this post, I did not have any candles on hand for advent. The few craft stores that I visited were also bereft of purple and pink candles. So, thinking fast and a wee bit desperately, I decided to use the clear votives left over from a previous project. My plan was to quickly decoupage pink and purple tissue paper on to the glass. But, of course, no pink and no purple were to be had in my home. As the store is 45 minutes away, a quick trip to pick up supplies was out of the question. I did have white tissue paper in the drawer and a nifty solution in the end!
The Desperately Late Mother's Guide to Advent Candles
4 clear glass votive candle holders
White tissue paper
Water colors
Modge Podge or Elmer's Glue
Glitter
Purple Ribbon
Simply water color the white tissue into purple and pink sections. The colors will be molted but that adds to the charm when lit at night. Allow the paper to dry. Have your small children tear it up into quarter size pieces. Give the little ones paint brushes and a small bowl of Modge Podge or watered down Elmer's glue. Let them paint the tissue paper on with lots of sloppy glue. When they get bored and leave, finish up by patching any bare spots and adding a final coat over the whole exterior of the candle holder. Invite the children back in to dump sprinkle glitter on the wet glue. Add a ribbon around the top with a bit more glue and let dry.
These Advent candles have ended up being my favorite by far. They look so pretty and sparkly at night
and during the day. The littles can help to their hearts content and the results are lovely.
Here are a couple 'Babe in the Manger' crafts
This one was completed by my girls at their American Heritage Girls meeting. It simply involves half a styrofoam cup, brown felt, a wooden peg doll found at the craft store, gold pipe cleaners, and some raffia. Wrap the baby Jesus in brown felt and glue gun on his halo. Add some cut raffia to the cup with glue gun and then add your little baby. Some of the girls glued him in, others wanted to be able to move him around. So sweet!
My little ones painted these wooden mangers last year after we read
Angela and the Baby Jesus. Then, throughout the Twelve Days of Christmas, I would hide them all in one room. Each day the children would search for the their sweet Jesus' just as the Wise Men were searching after the Newborn King. I bought these through
Casey's Wood. I believe we are still searching for one baby. He will be found one day!
Playing Christmas
In the children's playroom, I set up a few Christmas items: a very small fake tree, a few unbreakable ornaments in a basket including a nativity set, a Santa Claus hat, and some pretend milk and cookies. The child had a grand time decorating and redecorating the room and tree. Then one would don the Santa hat while the others pretended to sleep. Freshly wrapped blocks and trucks would be waiting for them every time they awoke from their giggly slumber.
The Prophets Visit
Finally, every Advent the prophets Isaiah and Micah come visit and perch themselves on the kitchen window sill to remind us of His coming. Each year I light a candle, read the corresponding Bible passage to the children, and have a little discussion about God's great mercy in sending the prophets to prepare all those who were awaiting the birth of the Savior. And then, we too continue to wait and prepare.
