Last Minute FREE Stocking Stuffers

Christmas is only a few days away. Hopefully you've made good headway on your shopping, cards, baking, and preparations. But if you're like me, you may look through your stash of stocking stuffers to find you're a bit short.

What to do?

Here's a simple idea that takes little time but will be appreciated by kids. Plus, it has the bonus of being tailored to your specific children and is limited only by your own creativity!

This year I made about 10 special coupons for each of my older kids. I had fun thinking of things they'd really like ... or things they'd enjoy NOT having to do.

Here's what a few of my coupons looked like. I wrote them with specific names on each one so that the kids won't be able to trade them. No fair suckering a younger sibling to give up a movie night in exchange for one less chore!







Other ideas include things like a special date with mom or dad where the kid picks the activity or food, getting out of cleaning the basement (which is our toy abyss), inviting a friend over for the afternoon, and some extra time for video games. Since we homeschool I was even able to put in a coupon for skipping one subject on a particularly frustrating school day.

But this is my particular favorite:




Have fun with it! It's a free and fun way to add a personal touch to your gift giving. It'll show your kids how well you know them and can even set you up for some special moments with them.

Merry Christmas!

DIY Flannel Board

A certain little two year old in my life loves playing with magnets and stickers. He actually likes anything that can be put somewhere and feels great accomplishment after doing so. It may be keys in the trash can, phones placed on a random bookshelf, or batteries shoved into the VCR.

To provide a constructive outlet for his "putting" obsession, I created a flannelboard to give him at Christmas. It was super easy and I think he's going to love it.

To start with, head to a craft store. You'll need the following:

one art canvas - any size
flannel material - any color and large enough to cover the canvas with a little extra
rectangles of white felt - these are sold by the sheet and are usually around 9"x11"
printable iron-on transfer sheets.
(I got these at Walmart for much cheaper than at craft stores like Hobby Lobby. Craft stores had them 2 sheets for $10. I found them at Walmart 7 sheets for $10. I purchased the ones that are transfers for light fabric. If you choose to have darker felt pieces, then buy specific transfers for dark fabric.)
a pillowcase
a staple gun
an iron

To begin, iron out your flannel to remove any wrinkles. Then carefully and tightly wrap the flannel around the front of the canvas. Secure it to the back of the canvas using the staple gun. You should end up with a tightly stretched flannel canvas. You can trim the excess flannel after the whole piece is secured well.



Next, use your computer to find images you'd like to use for your flannel board pieces. You could just use felt to create your own pieces, but I'm not artistic enough for that. Some people use fabric paint, googly eyes, and all sorts of fancy things to make the felt pieces. For me, printing the images from the computer was good enough! Once you've chosen the images you want, just print them onto your printable transfer sheets. **Be sure to read the directions carefully so that you are printing on the right side!**



And a word to the wise. Numbers and letters will iron on backwards from how they print. So be sure they are printed backwards in order to have them correctly ironed on to your felt.

Once you've printed out your images, simply follow the directions on your transfer sheet package to iron the images onto the felt. It is not recommended to iron on an ironing board. Instead use the kitchen counter top and simply place a pillow case between the counter and your felt.

Once the transfers are complete, cut carefully around the images and voila! You have yourself a flannel board and several felt pieces to go with it! You can even place the pieces in a cute little container to keep things organized.



The thing I love about this is that I can add to the pieces as my children's interests change. Right now, he loves all things that move and animals. So I made him a barn set, a fishing scene, and several emergency vehicles and personnel. However, I'm sure that in the next month or two I'll be adding an entire Thomas the Tank Engine set complete with a roundabout and track. I also think a set of food in a restaurant series would be pretty neat. The possibilities are endless!

Purpose-filled Christmas Cards

Do you ever wonder what to do with all the beautiful Christmas cards that come in the mail at this time of year? Sure, some of them have pictures of friends which you can then put on your fridge. But others are just cards with a little note tucked in. It seems a shame to quickly read them and then toss them in the garbage. Why not do something productive with them since people have taken the time and expense to send them to you?


image from itsbetterhandmade.com

Last year a friend posted a status on facebook that has had me anticipating the arrival of Christmas cards for 12 months! She and her family recently left their comfortable home in the States to live in Kenya as missionaries. They gave up much and left all of their friends and family to live in an unknown place amongst strangers. Perhaps because of a little homesickness, the Christmas cards that made it to them in Africa were extra special. My sweet friend wrote something like this (and I'm paraphrasing): We love receiving the cards from friends and family. It is a joy to open one each evening, read the card and look at the picture, and then spend time in prayer for the ones who sent it.

Her post was like a refreshing glass of water! The sometimes seemingly ridiculous nature of sending out cards once a year was suddenly given new purpose. We receive cards from so many friends and family members. Cards that remind us of lasting friendships, cards that celebrate new life and wonderful happenings, cards that tell of sadness and hardship. While I love to get and read Christmas cards, I've found that my family rarely joins in. The kids look at the pictures sent, but often see only a sea of strangers. My husband reads the ones that I force into his hands, but otherwise takes no part in this particular holiday tradition.


This year will be different though! As we sit and enjoy our dinner together, we'll choose a different card each night to read. We'll tell of how we know the sender. As a family we'll rejoice or mourn with those we love while we read their news. And then we'll do something productive. We'll pray for the one who sent the card. We'll join our voices and our hearts together and seek the Lord on their behalf. Why? Because Christmas isn't about cards and gifts and busy schedules. Christmas is about Jesus. And one of the ways we honor Him is by loving our neighbors - nomatter how far away.

We've already begun our new tradition. And while the kids aren't used to it yet, I hope we'll get enough cards to be going long into January. I've already peeked at tonight's card and it's one from friends who have recently returned to the mission field in a very difficult place. I look forward to a sweet time of prayer for this dear couple, and I look forward to the seeds it will plant in my own children's hearts as they hear of God's work in the lives of others around the world.

Advent Calendar

As our kids are getting older, we've enjoyed using an advent calendar through the month of December. For years we've talked of doing a Jesse tree, but can't seem to find the time to put it together. Last year we used a lego advent calendar and while it was fun for the kids, it didn't do anything to point us toward the real reason for celebrating Christmas.

This year I looked on pinterest for ideas and put a few different ideas together to come up with this:

I bought 12 pairs of baby mittens. You can look for Christmas themed ones, but I like that these are "wintery" instead of "Christmasy". I then took little tags and wrote the numbers 1-24 on one side and pinned them to the inside of the mitten.

On the other side of the tag is a list of Scriptures to read each day.

All of these mittens are hung with small (but not tiny) clothes pins. These can be found at craft stores like Michaels or Hobby Lobby. The rope is actual clothes line that we used on our clothes line outside. This is the leftover. It's sturdy enough to hold anything we put inside the mittens, but is green and pretty enough to work for Christmas decor.

Just before December first we'll also put a little treat inside each mitten so the kids can take turns looking inside. They'll receive a little gift (likely candy) and read the Scripture for the day. We plan to incorporate this into our normal morning devotions during breakfast.

What do I like about this?
1. It's reuseable. Each year we can pull it out and use it again and again.
2. The kids will have a fun thing to do to build anticipation as we move toward Christmas day.
3. It's doesn't end with the fun. We will read the Scripture verses and talk about what really matters.


Here are the verses we're using each day. These came recommended to us, but we haven't yet tried using them in this order for advent. We'll see how it goes. I've been thinking about using a second set of tags that has more of the prophecies from Isaiah and switching back and forth each year. But here's a starting place.

Day 1: Luke 2:21-40
Day 2: Matthew 1:1-25
Day 3: Luke 2:1-20
Day 4: Mark 9:33-37
Day 5: Matthew 4:12-17, Isaiah 9:1-3, Matthew 5:14-16
Day 6: Acts 20:35, I John 4:10
Day 7: Exodus 25
Day 8: Matthew 25:31-46
Day 9: Isaiah 9:6-7, Revelation 19:1-16, I Timothy 6:11-16
Day 10: Matthew 1:22-23, Isaiah 7:10-15, John 1:14
Day 11: Genesis 1:1-31, Isaiah 1:18, Psalm 51:1-10
Day 12: Revelation 2:1-5, I John 3:1-3
Day 13: Psalm 150
Day 14: Acts 15:22-31
Day 15: Luke 1, Jeremiah 32:17
Day 16: Matthew 2:1-12
Day 17: Galatians 4:1-7
Day 18: Isaiah 58, Matthew 6:16-18
Day 19: Luke 11:1-13
Day 20: John 1
Day 21: John 21:25
Day 22: Psalm 100
Day 23: Matthew 25
Day 24: John 3:16

Christmas Memory

A friend who works at our local Christian radio station often stops by to get clips of the kids' voices for the radio. Today she was asking questions about their favorite Christmas memories and had them read a few passages from the Biblical account of Jesus' birth.

Last year, she recorded Josh telling one of his favorite memories. He shared a funny story about the time he had asked for a compound bow for Christmas and how his parents had creatively and surprisingly given it to him.

This time I tried to think of a favorite memory. I have a lot of trouble with this since so many of my favorite memories have to do with the Christmas season. But I chose to share about a moment that happened just a few years ago.

(Disclaimer: If you are local and may hear this on the radio, I aplogize for the spoiler.)

When my little Gabe was just about 2 years old he figured out that Christmas would include opening the fun, shiny packages under our tree. He knew that some of those presents were for him and he was so excited for Christmas morning. He came into the living room that morning full of exuberance, ready to celebrate and indulge.

He just didn't know about one little thing. Our family always begins our Christmas morning celebration by reading the story of Jesus' birth from the Bible. It's our way of focusing our attention on the correct reason for celebrating.

Our poor little Gabe didn't understand the delay. He sat on Daddy's lap and cried his heart out as we listened to the story. Big tears and everything.

The reason why it's a favorite memory is because I use this as a reminder for myself. In just the opposite way of my little Gabe, if I don't have my focus on Christ during the Christmas season, I'll be miserable. If I'm so bound by the busyness of baking, and buying, wrapping and visiting, but forget to spend time dwelling on the gift I have received because of Christ's sacrifice, then I am missing the whole point.

When you come down to it, Chistmas isn't about the giving or receiving. It's about the Son of God who came as a baby, grew to manhood, lived a sinless life, died a horrific death, and rose from the dead. It's about the only One who can save me from myself and my poor choices. It's about something far greater than me ... it's about redemption.