Christmas tradition; A bit crafty

Our Lutheran church had its Sunday service a day early (today). It was wonderful watching my daughter’s choir perform (along with the other groups). More important the pastor preached an excellent sermon. Then again he always does, but it was nice to see so many new faces hearing the message. Our Lutheran church had five services available throughout the day; 10:00, 1:00, 3:00, 8:00, and 10:00

Although not the official day of his birth, Christmas in our household is a time to recognize Christ’s birth. Along with his birth we talk about the story of Christ’s birth, death, and resurrection. It’s a great chance for us to reflect on what Christ has done for us which is indeed the true meaning of Christmas.

Creating crafted gifts for Christmas

In my household, it’s become a tradition to make hand-crafted items for one another. As I type this, I noticed that my daughter has added a few items under the tree bearing my name and I’m eager to see what she’s created. She’s quite the talented artist, and I’m hoping she’s created something that I can grace one of my bedroom walls — but I’ll be happy with anything she has created for me.

Our Christmas tradition of making items for one another began a few years ago. I created my three-year old daughter a “design studio” where her creative talent could soar. I set aside a space in her room, complete with easel, shelves, construction and printer paper. Additional Items such as colored pencils, crayons, markers, and watercolors were purchased from the store — but the majority of the items were made by myself.

This year, all the items that I placed under the Christmas tree, were handmade. I’m actually proud of that fact, since some years I had a mixture. A lot of thought, time and effort are put into the items I create. I want people to feel special. I make items I know they want.  So no… I don’t make items because I’m too cheap to purchase anything. They’re definitely high quality items. I do spend money to purchase the materials I need to craft items, once you factor in the time it takes me to make some of the crafts it would have been easier to purchase something, but in my opinion, it wouldn’t be as special.

Christmas: A bit of Commercialism

A few days after Christmas, my daughter and I do visit a few stores.  I give her an allowance of what she can spend. It’s not excessive, but she’s happy and is thrilled that she can pick out her own gifts.

You see the above picture, those ornaments were made from soda cans. I’d planned on writing a tutorial post before Christmas, but the past few days I haven’t been on the computer to much, and so that tutorial will have to wait a bit longer.