Prepare the way
It's the most wonderful time of the year!
Or, at least, one of the most wonderful times of the year!
I have always loved the holiday season, particularly Christmas.
Don't get me wrong, Thanksgiving is great, and by no means do I want to ignore it. But I will take any excuse to stretch out the Christmas season, so we celebrate the two simultaneously (since i am thankful for Christmas, after all).
As Lincoln grows up, I do want to make sure that we spend time talking and learning about the "reason for the season," and preparing our hearts. I want it to always be about more than the presents (even though I'm not giving up the presents any time soon). This year we are going to start by lighting Advent candles at supper time and reading stories from Lincoln's Jesus Storybook Bible.
To do that, we first needed an Advent wreath. Traditional wreaths aren't really my style, so I searched the web until I found one that I liked, then put my own twist on it.
This is what I came up with...
Each of the four candles for the four Sundays of Advent has its own meaning (Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love), so I cut out the letters with Megan's Cricuit, then mod podged them on to Mason jars. I then filled the bottom with brown rice, since that's what I had on hand. I wanted three purple and one pink candle, but I couldn't find the right candles that were unscented, so I just got four purple. Maybe next year...
For the Christ candle, I wanted to do something special, so I put the first part of John 3:16, "For God so loved the world." In the future, I will look for a white candle that first a little better in the jar.
I made a "ten-minute table runner" with fabric I grabbed from mom's stash. Honestly, it was just going to be a place holder for this year until I had time to make something I loved, but turned out so much better than I thought and I'll probably keep it.
Overall, I love the way our Advent "Wreath" turned out, and I'm ready to start this part of the season!
Or, at least, one of the most wonderful times of the year!
I have always loved the holiday season, particularly Christmas.
Don't get me wrong, Thanksgiving is great, and by no means do I want to ignore it. But I will take any excuse to stretch out the Christmas season, so we celebrate the two simultaneously (since i am thankful for Christmas, after all).
As Lincoln grows up, I do want to make sure that we spend time talking and learning about the "reason for the season," and preparing our hearts. I want it to always be about more than the presents (even though I'm not giving up the presents any time soon). This year we are going to start by lighting Advent candles at supper time and reading stories from Lincoln's Jesus Storybook Bible.
To do that, we first needed an Advent wreath. Traditional wreaths aren't really my style, so I searched the web until I found one that I liked, then put my own twist on it.
This is what I came up with...
Each of the four candles for the four Sundays of Advent has its own meaning (Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love), so I cut out the letters with Megan's Cricuit, then mod podged them on to Mason jars. I then filled the bottom with brown rice, since that's what I had on hand. I wanted three purple and one pink candle, but I couldn't find the right candles that were unscented, so I just got four purple. Maybe next year...
For the Christ candle, I wanted to do something special, so I put the first part of John 3:16, "For God so loved the world." In the future, I will look for a white candle that first a little better in the jar.
I made a "ten-minute table runner" with fabric I grabbed from mom's stash. Honestly, it was just going to be a place holder for this year until I had time to make something I loved, but turned out so much better than I thought and I'll probably keep it.
Overall, I love the way our Advent "Wreath" turned out, and I'm ready to start this part of the season!
Comments
Post a Comment
Thanks for stopping by - please leave a comment to let me know you were here!