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Preserving family memories

I wish you a joyous and happy holiday filled with wonderful moments, enough to make loads of happy memories. Thank you for making my days bright by stopping here and sharing your time with me!

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given.... And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6

May you feel His peace today and always!


I had to share this lovely post from Sandy, Reluctant Entertainer. What a beautiful way to preserve family memories.

Sandy writes......

Stencil a Plate

When my mother passed away, I inherited a large box of some of her Christmas decorations. After a few years of lugging this box in out and out of the attic and re-taping it each time, the box literally started falling apart.

Stencil a Plate

So last year as I was getting ready to recycle the box, I cut out my Mother’s precious writing of “Christmas” from it and tucked the piece away in my hutch for an entire year.

Stencil a Plate

I couldn’t wait to pull it out this year, because I knew I had plans for this cardboard piece. It also reminded me of this song, and the power that heirlooms can hold in a family. When Amy Grant sang this popular song years ago, my good friends Debbie Meador, Jane Houston and I also sang it at our Christmas service. Little did I know, a few years later, the impact of these words after I lost my mom to cancer.

Up in the attic
Down on my knees
Lifetimes of boxes
Timeless to me
Letters and photographs
Yellowed with years
Some bringing laughter
Some bringing tears

Time never changes
The memories, the faces Of loved ones, who bring to me
All that I come from
And all that I live for
And all that I’m going to be
My precious family
Is more than an heirloom to me

Wisemen and shepherds
Down on their knees
Bringing their treasures
To lay at His feet
Who was this wonder, baby yet king
Living and dying
He gave life to me

Time never changes
The memory, the moment His love first pierced through me
Telling all that I come from
And all that I live for
And all that I’m going to be
My precious savior
Is more than an heirloom to me

My precious Jesus is more than an heirloom to me
(Sung by Amy Grant, here.)

Stencil a Plate

My Mom, Millie, is very dear to my sisters’ and my heart, as we miss her very much. It’s very special how the memory of a loved one can live on through heirlooms, pictures, videos, letters, and even writing.

So this year, this is what I gave my sisters for Christmas.

I stenciled Mom’s writing of “Christmas” with a black Sharpie marker onto stencil paper.

Stencil a Plate

Then I cut it and glued it onto a white glass plate.

Stencil a Plate

I poured a high gloss finish onto the plate.

Stencil a Plate

And used a hairdryer to get the bubbles out.

Stencil a Plate

They are not perfect, but I think they turned out nice.

Stencil a Plate

One for my sis Di, my sis Linda and me, with black plate stands to display and to keep Christmas alive, through our mom, in years to come, which hopefully we’ll pass down to our kids!

Sisters Christmas 2009

More than anything else, I’m thankful for my family at Christmastime. I feel blessed. Yes. Very blessed.

What have you done to preserve your special family heirlooms or memories?

Mom and Grandma Dubs

(Thank you Kelli Novak, for the inspiration! You may also enjoy An Elegant Toga: Grandma’s Tablecloth, or a bit about sisterly love, or Can I please hold your hand? A Mother’s Day Gift. Above photo is my beautiful Mother and her mother, Grandma Dubs.)

Thanks for taking the time to visit me today!

Bella’s Breakfast With Santa Birthday Party

Santa came to our home along with 9 little girls in their jammies. They each sat on his lap for a picture. Isn't he just the best Santa?

Breakfast with Santa 2009 1

My husband painted wooden frames with chalkboard paint and drilled holes to make holders for two pieces of chalk.

chalkboardframes copy

This chalkboard frame gave them an activity to keep busy while all the girls were arriving and also served as a holder for their picture with Santa. We took the pictures at the beginning and then during the party my son and husband printed them and placed them in the decorated frames for each girl to take home.

Chalkboardframes2

Each little girl had a special place.

Breakfast-With-Santa-Table

They ate pancakes, sausage and bacon while they

Breakfast with Santa 2

chatted and giggled with Santa!

Breakfast with Santa 2009 3a

Santa asked them about the letters they each wrote to him.

Breakfast with Santa 2009 lists

He read them  The Night Before Christmas

Breakfast with Santa 2009 3

and gave them each a gift.

Breakfast with Santa 2009  4a

The gift...

CrayonHolderPartyFavor

a crayon holder (tutorial here).

CrayonHolderPartyFavor2

Santa had to be on his way so we went outside (yes in our jammies and slippers) in the COLD for the snowman pinata.

Breakfast with Santa 2009 Snowman Pinata

It was "cool"!

Breakfast with Santa 2009 Snowman Pinata 2

We finished with loads of lovely presents and the best snowman cake ever (Thanks Aunt Jenny!)!

Breakfast with Santa Snowman Cake

Ahhhhh to be 5!

Breakfast With Santa Snowman cake 2See the party invitations here.

Guess who’s coming to breakfast?

(besides 10 little girls in their pajamas)

SantaCard1

We have a very special four year old turning five next week. To celebrate Santa is coming to eat breakfast!  Normally this is a tradition for my basketball player in the house, but he has grown too old (at least what he thinks) and is graciously passing. So we now have one thrilled little girl!

Santa Coat Invitations

For the invites I made Santa Coat invitations. Really these would be great for any holiday gathering! They went together very quickly (I only made 10 though).

I first cut a shape to use for the  buckle out of a cereal box. Remember when Cricut generously let me try their machine? Well I have had it now over six months and am completely satisfied (in love). I find I use it for so many different things. The paper doll cartridge has single handedly been helping me through preschool Sunday School. Those dolls have been Adam and  Eve, Joseph and his coat, Ruth and Naomi. I have made star wands and hearts for a special game.... on and on. My husband and boys even continue to find it useful.

So once again the Cricut has come in handy.  I used the frame (with shift key on) from ACCENT ESSENTIALS cartridge (this one comes with the Cricut Expressions)  set for 2" size to cut a shape for Santa's belt buckle. To cut through the cereal box I used a deep cut blade set to 6, maximum pressure and low speed.

SantaCard2

It made quick work of cutting my buckles.

SantaCard3

I then used another handy tool (for the first time) and it worked great for cutting a slit in each side of my buckle wide enough for my  1 1/2" satin ribbon to slip through.

SantaCard4

Next  spray paint the  buckle shapes with silver paint, allow to  dry then paint around the edge (making a kind of frame) with Deco Art Twinkles paint.

SantaCard5

Once completely dry I hot glued a 14" piece of 1 1/2"  black satin ribbon to the back of the buckle.

SantaCard6

Fold each short edge of an 8 1/2 " X 11" piece of red card stock to meet in the middle. A bone folder ran along the fold will make a nice crease. Hot glue a piece of 1" fur trim to the bottom of the card. I cut my pieces of fur just shy of  11 1/4".

SantaCard8

Print your invitation on white card stock, trim to fit and place inside. We also included a letter to Santa for the girls to bring back to the party.  You may download the Santa Letter if you like.

Free Printable Letter to Santa Download

SantaCard9

Slip the black ribbon around the card and through the buckle and you have a Santa Coat card.

SantaCard10

I will do many of the things we have done for past seven years at our breakfast with Santa parties, with a few wild ideas thrown in (remember my party planner is four). So this week I will be making a snowman pinata while my sister-in-law is dreaming about how to make a snowman cake --- yes I know we are slightly off theme but again I remind you of the party planner's age.  If you have some ideas or tips to make this party special I would love to hear them!

See how the party turned out here.


If you want to cover all your bases then be sure to also fill out a wish card and send to your chief gift buyer! Click on the banner at the top of my blog (or image below)  and you will be taken to a fun little spot where you can make a wish list and send your list to someone who might need a few little gift hints for the holidays!

cricutsmallai.php

St Nicholas Day

While living in Germany we celebrated St Nicholas Day and have continued this tradition here in the states. On the night  before December 6th our family sets our shoes by the front door. St Nicholas comes and when we awake in the morning our shoes are filled with candy, fruit and sometimes a small trinket.

So our shoes are ready to go!

Shoes

St Nicholas was a kind and generous Saint. Celebrating him gives us a wonderful opportunity to talk about ways we can help others. You can learn more about St. Nicholas here.

What special traditions does your family have?

Last Minute Printable Advent Calendar

Wow November got away from me and here we are in December. Advent is a big part of our holiday celebrations. You can see some of our Advent Calendar ideas here, here and here.  Our entire family enjoys reading Jotham's Journey and our little one loves Jesus Is Coming: 25 Daily Activities to Read, Color, Cut Out, and Assemble.

If you are looking for something really quick to use for an Advent Calendar, simply download these tags.

AdventCalendarTags copy

Advent Tags Numbers 1-3-5-7-9-11

Advent Tags Numbers 2-4-6-8-10-12

Advent Tags Numbers 13-15-17-19-21

Advent Tags Numbers 14-16-18-20-22-24

Advent Tags Number 25


If  you would like to  change all of the papers and make your own unique tags, Steph from The Daily Digi, made digital files for you to play with. Please use these files for personal use only. Generously included in these files are free papers and information on using the files. You might also want to check Steph's last tutorial on Digital Cupcake Wrappers for more information on using digital files.  Also these new holiday papers she has included would make great cupcake wrappers for the holidays. If you would like more holiday papers please visit The Daily Digi Shop where you will find some fun holiday papers like these and these.

Digital Advent Tags Files for Photoshop users

Digital Advent Tags Files for other photo editing software users (tiff)

Assembling the Advent Calendar

Cut out the tags, glue to the front of envelopes (you could also print on sticker paper). Use a long string and mini clothes pins to clip the envelopes to the string and wah-lah you have a simple Advent Calendar. You can fill the envelopes with tiny surprises or slips of paper with activities to do with your family each day.

You could also glue the tags to the front of hang tags and write the activities on the backs or print the tags on card stock , punch a hole, add a ribbon and use as tags for wrapped boxes.

At our house we normally have a brainstorming session and the kids throw out ideas of things they would like to do throughout Advent. Here are some ideas to get you started.

Family Advent Activities Ideas

  • Go Ice Skating
  • Make Christmas cards
  • Go Christmas caroling or sing Christmas songs at home
  • Give everyone manicure & pedicures
  • Let each child choose a favorite dinner
  • Push the furniture back and dance
  • Watch It's a Wonderful Life or the How the Grinch Stole Christmas
  • Play a game
  • Make Christmas cookies and share with neighbors
  • Have a special friend for dinner
  • Make Christmas ornaments
  • Make hot chocolate and read Christmas stories
  • Make a Gingerbread house
  • Make a simple pine cone bird feeder
  • Have a special breakfast
  • String popcorn and cranberries
  • Play cards
  • Make a paper ring garland
  • Have a fireside meal (we use this and make grilled cheese and apple pies in the fireplace)
  • Cut snowflakes for the windows
  • Make and hang beautiful wrapping paper stars
  • Drive around to see neighborhood Christmas lights (put hot cocoa in to go cups and put on pjs)
  • Go to a holiday movie
  • Make a holiday craft
  • Roast marshmallows in the fireplace
  • Make gift tags and wrapping paper
  • Make decorative sugar cookies
  • Purchase gifts for a needy child
  • Host a Christmas  party
  • Play in the snow, build a snowman
  • Go for a walk at night and look at the stars
Max Moms

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