Truth in the Tinsel - The slow finish

We finished a little slower than we started off with Truth in the Tinsel.  We went to the beach for 5 days before Christmas so I took all the supplies for our crafts. But really what boys want to sit and do craft when they could be swimming in a lake that is less than 50m away??

So we didn't do them all and some we did the colouring rather than the full activity.  We usually did them over breakfast so we could talk about the meaning of each while they ate and then made the craft.

Here are some pictures of the ones we did do.  I couldn't find a few of them - the kids have enjoyed playing with them so they didn't always make it to the tree.

A stable

Colouring in on busy days - Bethlehem by Eli and a Manger by Isaiah

Sheep that the shepherds were watching

Angels that came to tell the shepherds

A shepherd telling people about what he saw 

Wise men

Talking about the name of Jesus 

The censes - all the people that need counting

Final thoughts - I've really loved doing this with our boys.  The truths they have learned and remembered as a result of these activities are amazing.  Sometimes it felt like hard work, fitting it into the pre-Christmas craziness, (including going on holidays).  BUT I would say it is totally worth the effort and I'd do it all over again.  So thank-you Truth in the Tinsel.

Handmade Christmas for Boys - Lego Play Mat

Here is the next handmade present.  This one is for an 8 year old that LOVES lego and has an amazing imagination when it comes to making stories, scenes and scenarios.  With some lots of help from a fantastic friend, a large (1 . 5m square) hemmed piece of fabric and some fabric paint I made this.

I thought that with a farm, an airport, a forest and a series of roads there would be plenty of play options.  The boy loves it and couldn't wait to get home and play with it.

Handmade Christmas for Boys - WALLETS

Today I had Christmas with my family - I made presents for all the nephews this year, using stuff from my cupboard.  I was determined not to buy anything new.    I almost made it but ended up buying some elastic - not too bad.  I made a wallet for the two oldest boys.

 One loves everything tractor and farm so John Deere fabric I had left from another project was prefect.

The other used to have some shorts made of guitar fabric and was sad when he out grew them so I used the last scrap I had to make his wallet.

I'll show you more tomorrow...
Have you made any Christmas presents for boys this year??

Truth in the Tinsel - Part 1

Gabriel 

Zechariah

Decorating Mary with glitter glue

Mary 

Painting Mary and Elizabeth

Decoration a CD to remember Mary's Song

The Sun - Jesus brings light to the world

Our three Josephs

A pillow to remind us of the dream Joseph had.  We decided to sew our because that was easier for us!!

My favourite thing about it is the kids remember the lessons because we made something that reminds them about it. They are still talking about Zechariah we did on the second day. Such a great and simple way to help keep the lesson in their memory!!

I have learnt this week that I need to be all organised and ready to go before I call the kids to the activity, otherwise they have lost interest before we even start.

Have you been making your Truth in the Tinsel crafts?  I'd love to see them - don't forget that you can share them on the Truth in the Tinsel Facebook page.

3 Things Thursday - Our Tree

We put up our tree on the weekend - our tradition is to do it on the first weekend in December.  Last year at the after christmas sales I bought this new tree.  Until now we have had a waist high cheap tree I bought my first year of uni!!  I feel so grown up now with my big tree.  We have a mix of home made decorations (that's a boab nut from the Kimberley in Western Australia that I painted) and beautiful angels that I've collected over the years.

The handmade decorations are on the increase as we make one three each day with our Truth in the Tinsel activities.  Three of each!!  It's not too late to join in with us.  You can still buy it here.  I'll show some of what we've been doing on the weekend.

Justine Clark

A few months ago I won tickets to the Justine Clark concert.  The tickets have been on our fridge and we have been waiting with great anticipation for the big day.  Wednesday was that day.  We dropped Eli off for a day with Nan and headed for Brisbane.  

I don't go to Brisbane very often but I sort of know my way around - so when we found the right street I was pretty happy about that - found the theatre and the closest car park.  Now the excitement started.  Our car hit the 'your too high' bar as we drove into the car park so we had to back out onto a busy street.  As we backed out, hitting the bar again, the chain holding the bar broke.  Fortunately there was an extremely friendly worker right there who held the bar for us to get out, also checked for traffic as we reversed back onto the street and gave me directions to a higher car park!!  

With that excitement over we headed for our planned excitement THE CONCERT.

 

Justine was amazing and lived up to our my expectations. 

 How cool is that dress - apparently it's her music book dress!!

 We had such a great time and the boys are still talking about it.  

 Particularly this guy - the gobblebook. He likes books but not reading them - eating them.  Justine had to teach him what to do with books.

After the concert Jai wanted to go the ferris wheel (The Wheel of Brisbane) we'd seen on the way in.  I decided that was a great idea because we get near these sort of things so rarely.  I am wondering if they actually enjoyed this more than the concert!!

We had such a fun day that I hope is going to become a great memory for our boys!!!