Day 15: Repurposed Jewelry Box Silhouette Diorama of the Stable

“She gave birth to her first baby. It was a boy. She wrapped him in large strips of cloth. Then she placed him in a manger. There was no room for them in the inn.”  Luke 2:7

Day 16: Repurposed Jewelry Box Manger with Spagetti Straw and Christmas Ball Baby Jesus (*whew*)

“She gave birth to her first baby. It was a boy. She wrapped him in large strips of cloth. Then she placed him in a manger. There was no room for them in the inn.”  Luke 2:7

Day 17: Trashbag Lamb. Inspired by DadCanDo.com

“There were shepherds living out in the fields nearby. It was night, and they were looking after their sheep.” Luke 2:8

Day 18: Stamped Scroll declaring the GOOD NEWS that Jesus is Born!

“But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy. It is for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:10-12

Day 19: Shepherd Who Praised God AND Told Others About Jesus

After the shepherds had seen him, they told everyone. They reported what the angel had said about this child…They gave glory and praise to God. Luke 2:17 & 20

Don’t forget to look at all our Advent Calendar Ornaments!

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Glitter craft foam mosaic star. Inspired by Glittering Shards.

“We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.” Matthew 2:2

A recycled egg carton town of Bethlehem. Those black marks are windows. Obviously.

“…he asked them where the Christ was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: ” ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.’” Matthew 2:4-6

ps…for some awesome info about why Jesus was born in Bethlehem, check out Why a Manger? by Brock and Bodie Thoene!

We started with a cross, wrote “Immanuel”, “Jesus” and “God with us”…

Folded it up, taped it and it’s a box! The box metaphor is kind of a stretch, but I decided to do it because it reminded me that God isn’t just “out there”, He’s tangible and close and “with us”!

(why yes, that is a walrus decoration on the side…)

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All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.” Matthew 1:22-23

Joseph’s pillow…hand “sewn” by Lydia!

An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:20-21

I have been so loving Leigh’s advent ornaments and activities!What a great idea to focus on God’s attribues and qualities during this holiday season!

This year Lydia and I are making ornaments that showcase a different part of the Christmas story. I put a picture, sticker or object in our big advent calendar that corresponds to the Christmas story. She tries to guess what that sticker or picture has to do with the Christmas story. Then we read the section of scripture while she listens for that sticker. Finally, we make an ornament to go with it. We are supposed to be hanging these ornaments on a garland above the fireplace but we can’t get the garland to stay!

I posted days 1, 2 and 3 before I left for Disney World (see my blog for more details!) So, let’s do a little catch up on what we’ve done since then…

DAY 4: ZECHARIAH: LUKE 1:5-25

I know, this one is a little frightening. And the picture quality is grainy. That’s because my husband sent it to me via a text message. I set up three crafts for them to do while I was gone. This is the first one: Zechariah. His mouth is made from bubble wrap which Lydia popped to represent his non-talking status after his encounter with Gabriel!

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DAY 5: GABRIEL: LUKE 1:26-38

This is another one my husband and Lydia did. I gave them a few white and glittery pieces of crafty-type items and they came up with a very adorable angel if I do say so myself.

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DAY 6 & 7: MARY: LUKE 1:26-38

I wanted to do two crafts for Mary. One showcasing her obedience and the other her bravery. Instead, with my absence (and lack of pulling together another craft), my husband and Lydia made this very colorful Mary!

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DAY 8: MARY & ELIZABETH: LUKE 1:39-45

I know, they look like little pregnant Shrek dolls. We made little paper-doll cutouts, glued dresses and pregnant bellies (with scrapbooking pop-dot underneath) for the two women who believed God and received miracle babies!

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DAY 9: MARY’S SONG: LUKE 1:46-56

The CD is to remind us of Mary’s song. And on the bottom (yes, where you can’t see, because I didn’t take a picture of it) is a word Mary uses several times in her song: MIGHTY! There are so many great ideas online to make fun crafts with old CDs. We did puffy glitter paint because I don’t think you can get any more fun than that!

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I’m pretty sure you’ve noticed these ornaments are not the most beautiful things in the world. They aren’t going to grace our Christmas trees for years to come. They probably aren’t even worthy of your emulation. But what I want you to see as I post these everyday is that we are just unpacking the Bible story and highlighting special people, objects and events to help Lydia understand the story more. Reading these stories and making these ornaments is the highlight of her day!

You don’t have to do this every day. You could just sit down and make one or two of these crafts (or a better one if you have it!) to remind you and your children of the greatest story of all—the Christmas story!

So, what are you doing to celebrate advent?

Homemade shrinky dink of a Family Tree. Instructions from Skip to My Lou.

“Abraham was the father of Isaac…and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.” Matthew 1.

(oh, it’s supposed to be a crown with the letter “J” for Jesus…)

A child will be born to us. A son will be given to us. He will rule over us. And he will be called Wonderful Adviser and Mighty God. He will also be called Father Who Lives Forever and Prince Who Brings Peace.  The authority of his rule will continue to grow. The peace he brings will never end. He will rule on David’s throne and over his kingdom. He will make the kingdom strong and secure. His rule will be based on what is fair and right. It will last forever.  The Lord’s great love will make sure that happens. He rules over all.
Isaiah 9:6-7 NIrV

“The people who are now living in darkness will see a great light. They are now living in a very dark land. But a light will shine on them.” Isaiah 9:2 NIrV

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Leigh has already started the Advent posts off with a bang! I was going to wait to share my activities until next week because I’ll be out of town for my Disney Mom’s Panel training this week. But this morning Lydia and I had such a great time talking about baby Jesus and making the first of our Advent ornaments that I just had to share a picture! Stay tuned more advent posts coming daily!