For beautiful additions to your holiday buffet tables, create a wreath using food. Here are four of my favorites: Grape Wreath: Place green grapes, cut in clusters in a circle on a large serving tray. Dot with a few cherries and place a big red bow …
Christmas
Christ-Centered Traditions
* List attributes of Christ that your family is grateful for on a poster, or made into ornaments on the Christmas tree, or where they can be easily seen. Write, “Jesus is special because…” This could be answered as, “He knows my needs and meets …
Favorite Family Christmas Book
Molly Evert Counter Cultural Mom My family loves books and one of our all-time favorites is Jack and Kathy Stockman’s gorgeously illustrated The Advent Book. This book is out of print now, but still available online and well worth pursuing. We read one new page …
Creating Advent Books
Creating Advent Books Sheri Armendariz On the first day of December each of my children received a “homemade” book. I made each book a different color with construction paper (cover) and white office paper (inside). After folding and stapling the paper to form the book, …
Advent Calendars
How many days until Christmas? We like to use Advent calendars to help our young children get a sense of the passage of time. Advent calendars also help build anticipation for our nightly devotions. The chocolate advent calendar certainly helps build excitement. The kids come …
Preparing a Jesse Tree
The Jesse tree is a way to help our children see the continuity between the Old and New Testament. All of the Old Testament points forward to Jesus, the centerpiece of human history. The Jesse tree takes its name from Isaiah 11:1, which says “A …
Homemade Easy Bake and Queasy Bake Oven Mixes
Don’t spend a fortune on Easy Bake Oven or Queasy Bake Oven mixes, make your own homemade version. Visit Budget 101 for plenty of recipes. They have directions for everything from Barbie’s Pretty Pink Cake Mix to Creepin’ Crud Chocolate Mix for Queasy-Bake Ovens. Make …
My Collection of Snowmen
In the winter of 1997, I began a love affair with snowmen. Well, not really a love affair, but I love what they can symbolize for Christians at Christmas. I had never thought about how the Christmas story could be told through the image of …
Homemade Donuts
For a fun, lazy morning, make homemade donuts with the kids. 3 cans of canned biscuits without butter bits (cheapest and plain are the best), and hot grease (I use half vegetable oil and olive oil). Pop the biscuits out of the can and cut …
Baked Goods for Giving
Chips Galore Cookies Place the ingredients in a large glass container. Add a beautiful bow or Christmas fabric topper and the recipe card. First layer: 1 cup sugar, 2 cups all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt. Second layer: 1 cup old-fashioned oats …