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Jesus Storybook Bible – Advent Week 4

As we draw near the end of our Advent season this year, I am so grateful for these daily reminders of God’s love, faithfulness and salvation plan. The entirety of scripture echoes His redemptive plan — a plan that includes a child born to a virgin and laid to rest in a scratchy, old feeding trough.

As we arrive at Christmas morning, we stand together with millions of others around the globe. We kneel before that babe in a manger, the straw tattooing our knees and the stench of manure on the tips of our noses, and worship. With love, we bow before the one who came and who is yet to come again. Our hearts join in with the hope-filled prayer of generations past as we cry out, “Come, Lord Jesus. Come.”

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Jesus Storybook Bible – Advent Week 3

“We only have a few days left, mama!”

My son’s excitement rings out as he flips through his Bible each morning, checking to see how many days remain until Christmas morning. It’s part of our December Advent activity, working our way through the Jesus Storybook Bible. Each day we read a story from the Old Testament, leading up to the birth of Christ, and make an ornament to accompany it.

It’s been one of my favourite parts of this month: sitting down next to each other at the kitchen table and carefully turning soft pages, reading about God’s great plan together.

His excitement is tangible, his anticipation building. I’ve never seen him so eager to read his Bible. Not only are we uncovering the meaning of Advent, we’re also building a deeper love for God’s word. As we bend little pieces of wire and glue popsicle sticks together, we see how each of these stories point to Christmas morning — to the birth and life of Christ. God’s grand narrative is wrapped together better than any present we might find under our tree.

Here’s what we’ve been learning this week:
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Jesus Storybook Bible Advent — Week 2

O Come, O Come Emmanuel.
And ransom captive Israel.
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear

This is one of my favourite Christmas songs.

In a season strewn with jingly tunes about reindeer and jolly, bearded men these five words, “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” cut straight to the heart. They remind us of all that we long for and hope for in this Christmas season: the coming of a Saviour. Tiny and new, nestled amongst scraps of cloth and bits of hay, a King is born.

This Christmas, we are celebrating Advent as a family by reading our way through the Old Testament stories in the Jesus Storybook Bible. In this children’s Bible, there are twenty-four OT stories leading up to the birth of Christ. (One for each day leading up to Christmas!) Each night, we will be reading a different story and creating an ornament to go along with it. (I originally stumbled across this idea here.)

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Jesus Storybook Bible — Advent Week 1

I remember, as a child, staring up at the big Christmas tree in my elementary school lobby. It was decorated with paper ornaments; each of them carefully (or not so carefully) crafted by sticky-fingered, glitter-covered students. It was a Jesse tree. A reminder of the generations who waited on the arrival of a Messiah.

As kids, most of our anticipation around Christmas comes with what’s found under the tree. But the truth is, this sense of yearning and longing for Christmas morning can be transformed into something so much more than our desire for new toys and sparkling gifts.

This yearning leads us to the stable — past some scraps of swaddling cloth and an exhausted mother to a newborn babe. We’re reminded of those who waited for His birth, just as we ourselves wait with open hands and hearts for His return.

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6 Fun, Christmas Decorating Ideas for your Wall!

Christmas is the only time of year that my house gets decorated from floorboards to ceiling lights; the hours spent hanging lights and tinsel are well worth it. There’s just something about Christmas decorations that make me feel warm and fuzzy inside (perhaps partially due to the amount of glitter that I end up inhaling off of dollarstore tree ornaments?)

But with shiny tinsel on the tree, faux-fir branches scattered around the house, and cranberry scented candles shimmering on the table, there’s one prime decorating area that often gets overlooked – the walls!

So if you’re looking for a bit more holiday cheer, here are SIX quick ideas for your Christmas wall decor this season:

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Keeping A Book Journal

To say that I love reading is an understatement.

Some of my favourite childhood memories are the days spent browning on a lawn chair beside the lake, soaking up novel after novel. I used to dream of owning a “Beauty and the Beast” type library with swinging ladders and gleaming, spiral staircases – who needs a house, when you can nest happily amongst paperbacks?

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Valentines Day Marbled Cupcakes

Valentine’s Day may be a Hallmark-created, consumerism driven holiday, but this sugar addict loves it anyways. I’m a sucker for all things pink and sweet. Cookies, candy, chocolate, cute little cards cut in the shape of a heart? I’m there.

But one of my favourite Valentines treats? Cupcakes.

I love snacks doused in frosting and sprinkles – they’re just so pretty with all their sugary deliciousness piled on top. But lets not forget that the inside of the cupcake can be just as festive as the outside. I mean, what’s Valentines Day without a little pink food colouring?

So for all those addicted to icing and fluffy cakes, here’s a fun way to jazz up your Valentine’s Day treat: marbling.
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“Baby Boy” Baby Shower

Remember when Baby Showers used to be a lot simpler? Back when a group of women would sit in a circle, tie balloons to the new mom’s chair for decoration, and watch as she opened up a pile of presents? We’d eat cake, guess which melted chocolate bar had been smeared inside the diaper, and go home with a couple clothespins clipped to our sweater.

But thanks to the wonderful and all too time consuming invention of Pinterest, things have changed. Now a days, even the once-a-year party planner is expected to channel her inner Martha Stewart, and quite frankly, it’s all a little daunting to live up to.

When it came time to organizing a Baby Shower for my marvelous friend April, I struggled to come up with a simple to execute, budget-friendly theme. So I decided to go back to the basics: a good ole’ “Baby” themed Baby Shower. (The fact that we knew her little one is a boy helped to refine the colour scheme a bit.)

And I have to say that I love the way this party came together. Cute. Simple. Budget-friendly. What’s not to love?

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Decoupage Easter Eggs

As a child, the first signal of an approaching Easter was always the night that we’d get to dye eggs. The table would be set with glasses of brightly coloured water and a dozen, gleaming, hard boiled eggs would await each of us. We’d begin to dip and dunk the little white ovals, excitedly watching them transform before our very eyes. Our baskets would soon be filled with rainbow splashed, multi-hued masterpieces. Every year there was an egg we were proud of, an ugly egg that we hid behind the others, and at least one egg with a crack. Nestled in little woven baskets around the house, we would proudly leave our creations on display for the duration of the Easter season.

It’s been several years since I last decorated an egg, but now that I’ve got a little one of my own, it’s time to revive this time-honoured tradition. (Even if this year our baby Ali-gator doesn’t get to touch them.)

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How to Blow Out an Easter Egg

For Easter this year, I decided that I wanted to take a trip down memory lane and use decorated eggs as my table centerpiece. In the past, I’ve only dyed hard boiled eggs but was looking for a longer lasting option. Since we will most likely be decorating alongside a pair of tiny hands in the future, I knew that this Easter would be the perfect opportunity to try something new: blowing out the eggs.

I had no idea what to expect and envisioned at least one exploding egg, complete with raw yolk running down my face and shards of sharp shell in my hair. I figured that I’d go through an entire carton, cracking eggs left and right, before one emerged unscathed. Needless to say, I did not have high hopes for this project. But, I am happy to say that this apprehension was completely unfounded.

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“My First Christmas” Ornament

Our Christmas tree doesn’t have a particular theme beyond the mismatched assortment of ornaments that I have collected over the years. Perched on the branches are  half a dozen of my baby ornaments, a couple miniature figure skates, and two, brightly bedecked snowmen sitting on the words, “Our First Christmas Together.” I love the jumble of gold and silver beads, tiny chips on plastic apples and the paper Swedish flags purchased from this year’s Christmas market. Each ornament brings me back to a specific time, a certain memory. They’re mini snapshots of a Christmas past.

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DIY Floating Ornaments

This year, my Christmas decorations started going up mid-November – way earlier than they ever have before. With our newly renovated apartment, I wanted to make the place look really festive. We were going to do more than just a plastic tree and string of lights. This year we were going to go big! (So big in fact that I had to take down a wall of decorations as Andreas and I felt that Christmas had thrown up all over our apartment. Okay… not that big…)

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