10 DIY Christmas Ornaments for 2012

I know Christmas is more than 2 months away, but making homemade ornaments is a time consuming, albeit, fun task so I thought I would post my 10 favorite DIY Christmas ornaments for 2012 now so you can get started making your Christmas tree cuteness now. I hope you like them as much as I do.

1. Origami Wreaths from My Tutor List
2. Wooden Disk Ornaments from 7 Layer Studio
3. Mitten Ornament from Flowers and Ink (Mitten Template 1 and Mitten Template 2)
4. Rolled Paper Ornaments from Paper Plate and Plane
5. Layered Felt Ornament from Stumbles and Stitiches
6. Felt Flora Ornaments from Stumbles and Stitiches
7. Miniature Felt Wreath from Better Homes and Gardens
8. Cupcake Ornament from Better Homes and Gardens
9. Yarn Wreath Ornaments from Christopher and Tia
10. Felted Wool Pomander from Betz White

Real Meaning of Christmas

Great Christmas Printables Site

I came across this site the other day and I love it! It's called Activity Village. Let me show you some of what it has to offer.

• Printable Christmas Cards
• Christmas Lacing Cards
• Christmas Bingo Cards
• Christmas Word Posters
• Christmas Gift Tags
• Christmas Games
• Christmas Coloring Pages
• Nativity Felt Board Printables

I especially love the cute Nativity Felt Board Printables. They would be great for teaching the Christmas Story to children.

Christmas Crafts For Kids ~ a Baker's Dozen

Tissue Paper Wreath from Kaboose.com
Craft Stick Christmas Star from Danielle's Place.
Craft Stick Snowflakes from Craftideas.info

Dangling Snowman from FamilyFun.go 

Cotton Ball Santa from AllKidsNetwork.com

Decorate a Virtual Gingerbread House from JennyBHarris.com

Minnie's Polka Dot Wreath from Family.go.com

Mickey and Friends Color-In Snowflake Ornament from Family.go.com

Currogated Cardboard Star Christmas Tree Ornament from Craftideas.info

Sugar Cone Christmas Tree from AllKidsNetwork.com

How to host a Cookie Decorating Party from ehow.com

Nativity Paper Dolls and Santa Claus Paper Dolls from MakingFriends.com

Here, here, and here you will find more CHRISTMAS COLORING PRINTABLES than you can shake a peppermint stick at!

Kookie for Christmas Cookies

This post is a day late. Yesterday was National Cookie Day, but I came down with the flu on Friday and was unable to pull this article together until today. But that's okay because we still have 20 days of Christmas cookie baking fun left, right?!

December 4th is National Cookie Day. Christmastime is a great time to celebrate cookies because they are a fairly inexpensive, easy to make treat to serve at parties or to give away as gifts. Here's a little bit of cookie trivia for you ~ Americans consume 2 billion cookies per year, that's about 300 cookies for each person annually.

Did you know that cookies are actually the offspring of cakes? That's right, we could just call them "happy little accidents". Culinary historians believe that cookies began in 7th century Persia (today's Iran). Persia was one of the earliest known cultivators of sugar. Long before ovens had thermostats, bakers would make lavish cakes for the rich, and rather than ruining an entire cake, a small amount of cake batter was poured onto a baking pan to test the temperature of the oven. The name cookie is derived from the Dutch word koekje, meaning "small or little cake".

Today we have so many delicious, festive, and beautiful cookies to choose from. I would like to share with you some delectable creations that I happened to come across, beginning with some cookies that are pure artistry.

Cookies That Are Works of Art:

• Nutcracker Gingerbread cookie from Sweetopia.
• Christmas cookies galore from Sweet Sugarbelle.
• Beautiful cookie garland from Glorious Treats.
• "Cool" Peppermint Candy cookies from Bake at 350.

Classic Christmas Cookie Recipes:

• Sugar Cookie and Royal Icing recipes from Sweetopia.net
• Soft Sugar Cookie and Basic Frosting recipes from Squidoo.com
• Gingerbread Cookie recipe from Christmas-Baking.com
• Cute ideas for decorating Gingerbread Man (and woman) cookies from Foodnetwork .com

A plethora of Christmas Cookies:

• 11 Traditional Christmas Cookies from delish.com 
• 12 Days of Cookies from Foodnetwork.com 
• Top 25 Christmas Cookie Recipes from Christmas-Cookies.com
• 30 Favorite Christmas Cookies and Recipes from browneyedbaker.com
• 50 Holiday Cookies from Foodnetwork.com

I hope you can find time this month to bake your favorite Christmas cookies. You might want to schedule your cookie baking day for December 18 because that is Bake Cookies Day.

Just For Fun. :0)

Source: whatscookingamerica.net

New Christmas Lullaby "Mama is Here to Stay"

Ten Favorite DIY Christmas Ornaments

The ladies of my family started a new tradition last year. We are doing an annual ornament exchange. So I thought since I was looking for ideas I would once again share my favorite finds. And here they are:

Vintage Cookie Ornaments from: Country Living

These are Easter decorations 

but I thought they could be adapted for Christmas.

Very pretty!

Peppermint Wreath Ornament from: Martha Stewart

 

Crocheted Christmas Baubles from: Meet Me at Mikes

If you know how to crochet, these would be so cute on a tree!

No-sew Quilt Ornaments from: Curbly

Easy and adorable!

Origami Ornaments from: Design Vagabond and MaReRi

I hope these aren't as difficult as they look!

So Beautiful!

Paper Mache Ornaments from: Blue Cricket Design

Sooo Cute!

Ribbon Candy Ornaments from: Portabellopixie

You'll find the PDF tutorial for these ornaments on the right sidebar of the Portabellopixie site.

Yo-Yo Christmas Trees from: Fiona Carter

Icicle Treat Boxes from: Squidoo

and Mirkwood Designs

 

Paisley Power Stocking from: Sew Mama Sew

I love this!

(It says to enlarge the pattern by 400% for a stocking, so I just enlarged it 200% for an ornament).

BONUS! Check out this fun ornament for the kids from: Alphamom

It's a surprise!

The Reason for the Season

Since Jesus Christ is the reason for the season, I'm going to wear my heart on my sleeve today as I post this lovely video in reverence to my Savior and Friend.

Advent Calendars

Many families use Advent calendars as a fun way of getting children involved in the Advent season. Early Advent calendars usually focused on the birth of Jesus Christ as Advent is a time of anticipation of Christmas Day, the day of Jesus' birth. Modern Advent calendars come in every shape and size and feature various Christmas themes from the Nativity to Santa Claus. Many families use Advent calendars simply as a fun countdown to Christmas.

I've scoured the internet in search of adorable DIY Advent calendars. The following are my favorite top ten finds. There's not a lot of time before December 1st to get one made unless you're, dunt da da da...SUPER CRAFTER GAL! (or SUPER CRAFTER GUY!, whichever the case may be). But I'm thinking, it'd be okay to start your countdown a little bit late, there will still be lots of days of countdown fun for the kiddies to enjoy. So here we go:

#10 Pickles.no

#9 Craftastica

 

#8 Sew Mama Sew.com

#7 Rubber Stamping.about

#6 Fiona Carter

#5 All Things Wonderful

#4 My Little Mochi

(Soooo clever!)

#3 Allsorts.com

# 2 The Happy Zombie

and Thimbleanna

#1 Katherine Marie Photography

I love the whole idea behind these darling little advent bags!

Advent

Advent is a four week long observance celebrated by many Christian faiths throughout the world. It begins on the Sunday closest to November 30th and covers four Sundays. 

The word Advent, in Latin, is defined as "the coming". During Advent people remember the anticipation the Hebrews felt as they waited for the birth of their Messiah, Jesus Christ. They also use this time to think of and prepare for the second coming of Jesus Christ, a time when the Saviour will again save mankind from the evils of the world. It is a time of joy and happiness as believers of Christ await the second coming of their King.

The Advent Wreath

In Many churches the beginning of Advent is marked by the hanging of evergreen boughs and displays of evergreen wreaths. The evergreen branches symbolize the new and everlasting life brought by Jesus Christ.

Image: Mom's Party Cafe

The Advent Wreath is a circular wreath made with real or artificial evergreens. It contains five candles, four around the wreath and one in the center. CRI/Voice.org tells us: "Since the wreath is symbolic and a vehicle to tell the Christmas story, there are various ways to understand the symbolism. The exact meaning given to the various aspects is not as important as the story to which it invites us to listen, and participate."

• The circle of the wreath -  God Himself, His eternity and endless mercy, which has no beginning and no end.
• The green of the wreath - the hope of renewal and of eternal life.
• Candles -  the light of God coming into the world through the birth of His son.
• The four candles - represent the period of waiting during the four Sundays of Advent, which themselves symbolize the four centuries of waiting between the prophet Malachi and the birth of Christ.
• The colors of the candles - vary with traditions. Typically, three purple or blue. Purple - the color of penitence or fasting as well as the color of royalty. Blue - also a symbol of royalty as well as the color of the night sky. Rose, to symbolize the third Sunday of lessening emphasis on penitence as attention is turned more toward celebration of the season. The White candle is in the center and it represents Jesus Christ and is called the Christ Candle.
• The Light of the candles - a reminder that Jesus is the light of the world that comes into the darkness of our lives, to bring newness, life, and hope.

A new candle is lit each Sunday during the four weeks and each is associated with further symbolic meaning which you can read more about here. 

Advent is a joyous celebration which many families observe by lighting the Advent candles, reading scriptures together, baking special treats, and involving children in activities that help them learn more about the Advent.

Sources: Fact Monster  CRI/Voice