More collections...

Here are a few more collections from our Friends...

Snowmen...

Nutcrackers...

Tatted Christmas crafts ...

Collections as traditions...

My cousin, Barbara, has a Santa collection that would rival anything you've seen in a museum. I"m not talking a mantle full of the jolly ol' elf. I'm talking about house full, with every surface imaginable hosting its own special Santa. She is a collector extraordinaire.

I have to say that I LOVE it when I know people collect a certain type of Christmas-themed objects. It makes gift-giving so much easier.

After hearing from many of you, I realize that those of you who are moms and grandmas and aunts are busy building tree ornament collections for the little ones in the family. We are doing the same. Our tree will be virtually bare once everyone gets married and establishes their own family traditions. On the other hand, their trees will be packed, so they will start their families with traditions in place.

Here is a quick tour of our family's ornament tradition...

Each child in the family has a
Precious Moments First Christmas ornament hanging on our tree.

Our oldest child collects pig Christmas tree ornaments.

Our second child plays football, so each Christmas,
he gets a football ornament.

Our youngest was a Thomas the Tank Engine maniac when he was small. We've decided to keep building that collection in tree ornaments so that he can share it with his children one day.

We write each child's initials and the year on the ornaments to help everyone remember who got what when.

While decorating the tree is distinctly a family affair, the job of taking it down belongs solely to Mom. So when I start untrimming the tree after January 6th, I take the opportunity to pray for my kids as I carefully pack away their ornaments until next Christmas. I pray for them-- for their relationship with the Lord, for their future spouses and children, for their ministries, for anything that the Lord brings to mind during that time. As only the Lord can do, He takes what I would normally see as drudgery and makes it into a beautiful opportunity to spend time worshipping Him and covering my children in prayer. What a blessing!

Quick idea...

[There will be a traditions post later tonight, but here's an idea to ponder while you're walking through the stores finishing up your shopping for those difficult-to-buy-for friends and relatives.]

Do you have an old wall frame with a glass front lying around? We had one that once showcased an old movie poster. When our kids outgrew that Disney movie stage, we repurposed the frame for our memory verse center. We painted it black, placed a decorative piece of poster board where the children's print used to be, and hung it on the wall next to our kitchen table.

Now when we eat dinner, we have God's word as a focal point for our conversation. Here is the verse our youngest memorized for school this week:



What a neat way to keep track of your Advent verses too. Write them on the board daily. Or pick just one to focus on for the week. It's another way to remind ourselves Whose season it is!

Or if you're looking for a last minute gift idea for someone, give them a picture frame with a pretty piece of scrapbooking paper where the picture would go. Then type a list of verses that you think would be meaningful to them. Include a dry erase marker and you've given them a special chance to have God's word before them throughout the day.

A couple of things worth noting:

1. The frame needs to have glass in the front, not Plexiglas. Plasticky things will capture your dry erase markings forever. Glass is nonporous and thus, erasable.

2. You can write a verse on the glass before wrapping it, but these are dry erase markers, so it won't likely be as pretty when they open it as it was when you wrote it.

Christmas traditions week...

This week we begin sharing our Christmas traditions. Can you believe that Christmas Day is just a little over a week away? How exciting! We are busy making plans for the present-opening and big-meal-eating day when we celebrate Jesus' birth. But let me tell you something, girl to girl. My sweet husband gave me a HUGE word of encouragement. He looked at me yesterday on the way home from church and said, "You know what? This has been the best Christmas I can remember. I really like that we're celebrating a little bit everyday and not just making everything ride on December 25th." Yay!!! God is so good!!!

Doing this blog has been a challenge at times, especially in my personal time management. And then there's the issue of being sincere. I've always heard the expression, "If it don't work at home, don't export it," so my husband's words were like a great big hug from heaven. We struggle y'all. Just like everybody else. So even though the seven-year-old climbs across the back of the sofa and thumps the dog on the head during devotionals, it's good to know that God is still working in spite of our mess.

The other HUGE blessing is hearing from YOU! It seems from the comments posted that everyone loves to hear others share what Jesus has done (and is doing) in their homes and lives. I wanted to take a quick moment and share with you a few more pictures from our Friends who are celebrating Christmas along with us. Here are a few from Karen:

... Advent wreath...

... Jesse tree...

...countdown chain...
Karen has young children who participate in Advent celebrations by tearing off a link in the day each day until Christmas Day. It gives even the small ones a way to "see" how close we're getting to the birthday party.

... fur wreath...
No, you didn't miss a post. We didn't actually talk about it on this blog, but Karen found the directions on another blog and made this really cool wreath. If you find directions for cool decorations or homemade gifts, let us know. We'd love to post the link! Or if you have a tutorial you'd like to share, please send it in.

We have many wonderful traditions to share with you in the coming days, but there is still room if you want to send in YOUR family tradition. We'll be posting more frequently in the coming days in order to share all the neat ideas. Jump in and join us!

Check back early Monday afternoon for our kick-off post on traditions.

Magnify...

Gabriel visits Mary with the news that Jesus is on His way. Mary goes to see her cousin Elizabeth, who confirms Gabriel's message as she's experiencing a miraculous pregnancy of her own. Filled with the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth blesses Mary, "And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord" (Luke 1:45).

Mary responds with the famous song of praise known as "The Magnificat." And in the first line of her song, Mary reveals the secret of celebrating Christmas. She says, "My soul magnifies the Lord..."(Luke 1:46). What a simple, amazing idea. Magnify the Lord.

Now, I am the teacher-type. I have to know what the words mean. So I looked up the word magnify and discovered that it means the same thing in this verse that it does when you're talking about a magnifying glass or telescope or microscope. To place in the center; to bring into focus; to see the subject as bigger that objects surrounding it.

We are halfway through Advent. Christmas events seem to be taking center stage -- parties and concerts and plays. Shopping and gift wrapping become the focus of our "spare" time. Cooking and cleaning consume our domestic moments. Just being where we think we need to be, doing what we think we need to do takes on a life of its own, growing bigger and bigger as we rush towards December 25th.

When we magnify the spectacle of the holiday, it becomes the center of our focus. It gets bigger and bigger and bigger. Ultimately, the events of Christmas grow larger in our lives than the Christ of Christmas. We are rushed and panicked and exhausted, when, as Jesus told another sweet-but-harried woman, only one thing is needed.

So let's take a break. Halftime. Let's make sure that Jesus is still in the center of our lives, in focus and bigger than all else. Let's choose to magnify the Lord this Christmas season.

************************************************************

One of the ways you can keep Jesus as the focus of the Christmas season is by placing reminders throughout your home that Christmas is a celebration of the birth of our Savior. A Friend of Celebrating Christmas has a collection of nativity scenes, but instead of displaying them together, she places them throughout her home as reminders to magnify Jesus moment by moment, day by day. Here are a few pictures of some of the nativity decorations in her collection...

Nativity sets make excellent Christmas gifts. They are visual reminders to magnifyJesus during these holy days.

And after December 25th, there are some wonderful sales on these meaningful decorations, so if you have already finished shopping for this year, you can begin to plan for next year and exercise good stewardship of your resources by catching them on sale in the coming weeks.

Amazing Grace Lights show...

Looks like the Holdmans in Utah are definitely Celebrating Christmas!





This video is from last year's display. You can find our more about the making of the display for last year and what's going on this year at the Holdmans' website.

A Little Christmas Tour ...

Thanks for sharing your photos of the beautiful Christmas decorations!

Here's a little tour of the beauty our Friends have created in decorating their homes in celebration of the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.

Tina



Carmen

Karen

Other Friends

Christmas Card Garland Tutorial ... by Tracey

One of my favorite Christmas decorations is the Christmas Card garland that will hold all the wonderful cards we accumulate throughout the season. I got the idea from one of my friends that had her garland over a doorway with red clothespins holding each card. For my garland, I had my kids color a set of wooden ornaments and I glued them to a set of clothespins.

Here's a peek at the finished product :

Here's what you'll need :

*A wooden ornament set. (I bought my set at Michael's several years ago.)
*Clothespins
*Glue gun with glue sticks
*Fabric markers (easier for little hands to color on the wooden ornaments)
*Garland

Step one : With your little ones wearing a smock, have them paint each ornament with the fabric markers. It is only necessary to paint one side. My oldest two children were 5 and 6 years old at the time they painted the ornament set.

Step two : Paint one side of the clothespin. I painted the clothespin to match the ornament that would be attached.

Step three: After the fabric paint has dried, glue the ornament to the clothespin.

Step four : Attach the clothespins all over the garland.

Step five : Wait for your wonderful friends and family to send Christmas cards so you can fill your garland! Once you get a card, do this....

Just a note : Don't be afraid of letting your little ones paint the ornaments. While my 'little' painters are now 10 and 11, they enjoy seeing their 5 & 6 year old artwork used every year...and it is an urgent reminder for me to savor every moment (especially during Christmas) because they do indeed grow up too fast.

Wishing you a blessed Christmas season!

Show -n-Tell...

How is your Christmas season coming along? Up until now, we're been focusing on preparations for the Advent season. But now it's truly Christmastime.

Would you share your Christmas with the readers of our little blog?

We are looking for photos of specific decorations for a special set of posts that we'll be doing in the coming days. Would you please consider snapping a shot of...

... your front door
... your entry hall
... your mantle
... your Christmas tree
... your special Christmas collection (snowmen, gingerbread men, stars, snowflakes, cardinals, whatever you collect!)

We would LOVE to see what wonderful ideas our readers have for decorating this special season!

You can email your photos to CelebratingChristmas@gmail.com. We'll include your first name only with your photo. And of course, we'll not even mention your location. If you prefer to remain anonymous, let us know and we'll just call you "A Friend." We need all submissions by December 7th.

Thanks for your help!