A month of Advent fun and giving {plus me giving to YOU... FREE printables and a GIVE-AWAY!}

I am so excited!

This year, I am going to lighten up and make December a fun-filled month, in the middle of the dark, cold winter.

IT all started when I found an "Advent Calendar", in the form of a stocking garland, for a great price! It was only £4.50 in Home Bargains - a bargain, indeed.

At first, I thought I would just put one decent chocolate in each, and the children would take it in turns to have one.

Then, I decided that I wanted to make the whole month more fun.

That's when my brain started going wild with ideas!!!!

Firstly, I want to focus on scripture.

Now, I know we don't know exactly when Jesus was born, but I reckon it's always a good thing to focus on His birth - it's so incredibly wonderful and special.

So, I have come up with 24 different scripture verses, or portions - one for each day.  We will read it together, and talk about what it means. I had such a special time, today, looking through various scriptures, and trying to wheedle it down to just 24! It brought great joy to my heart to read those special verses - it really did reiterate, to me, how precious the Incarnation IS!

I will pop these little scripture cards in each stocking, along with the cards I will get to in a moment.

If you want to print off the same cards, shaped as tags, click on the images below, and it will take you to the file.  They span from Genesis to the accounts of Jesus' birth in Matthew and Luke.

You could, of course, use any scripture verses you want, and use the printable via the image below.

         

Next, we are going to go through the book Jotham's Journey.  This is a fictional story, based on scripture, which brings many fascinating things to life, associated with the account of the incarnation.  It should be a lovely read-aloud for each day.

The next thing I want to focus on is GIVING.

I think it's SO easy for children to get caught up on GETTING at this time of year.  Thinking about what they WANT.  I really want to instil in my children - not just now, but all the time - of the importance of GIVING.  It's such a scriptural principle, that shouldn't be ignored.  I have come up with a list of things to do, which go from the simple, to the more complex - from those nearby, to those further afield.   I am going to use the blank tags above, to write out which "giving" activity we will do each day.  I will share some of these with you now, but will tell you about them, either as I do them, or when we have finished.

This is the list, so far.

Gifts to each other

 - having a “give each other kind words” day;

 - do chores for each other; 

 - do chores for Mummy, 

 - do chores for Daddy

 - help prepare for Christmas meals, to help Mummy, Daddy and extended family, too!

Gifts to extended family 

 - making place cards for Christmas; 

 - recital for Great-Granny;  

 - make cards and thank them for their love, and tell them what you love about them;

 - make Christmas craft kits and send them to your cousins (shhhhhhhh - parents, don't tell!!)

Gifts to friends

 - visit Jean (elderly lady in Church)

 - bake for elderly 

 - invite friends over and make them a meal

 - surprise a friend with a visit and do something to help them

Gifts to those nearby

 - sing at Broomfield (local nursing home)

 - bake for Police/Fire/medical staff 

 - give away toys

 - donate  something to Specsavers gifts for children 

 - donation to local homeless shelter 

 - sort through clothes and donate to charity; 

 - donate craft kits to the children at the hospital

Gifts to those abroad 

 - letter for military 

 - support a child abroad 

 - send a letter to a foreign child  

The next thing that we plan to do is to just have a general, merry time making  seasonal themed crafts, and doing lots of seasonal read alouds.

If you want to see my ideas for crafts, visit my board,  on Pinterest, which you can find up at the top of the side bar, here on the blog, on the right.

 I will also find free, printable worksheets for the basic school subjects, just to make it more fun.  We will do a few Christmas themed writing projects, such as these writing prompts from Writeshop.  Keep reading for exciting news on that topic!....

You can find more great suggestions at 101 Random Acts of Kindness, here.

The Minimalist Mom has some ideas for advent activities here.

Anna, at The Imagination Tree has done her own version of "Elf on a Shelf", and provided me with inspiration for some of my activities.

Now, I can't have a month focussing on giving without giving, right??

The lovely Kim Kautzer, from Writeshop, has kindly donated the prize for not 1, not 2, but THREE of you to win your own Winter Word Bank writing prompt set.  It's a great little product, filled with word based writing activities for your children.  They give you several ideas of what to do with the over 200 winter words they give you, as well as about 120 printable cards, to use for inspiration.  You can enter below, by either visiting my page for The Joyful Keeper, on Facebook, or by commenting under this post.  Feel free to share with your friends, so they can enter, too!


So, there you have it! Free printables, a give-away, and some fun ideas, for December!

If you have any ways in which YOU have done activities through this season, then please link up, or share in the comments.

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Fun with crochet {start of a regular post and link up}

In the last year or so, I have started to learn how to crochet. To begin with, I only made the odd little thing - hearts, snowflakes, stars. I had never made a proper "project".

This last year, it all changed.

I shared with  you about my first proper project - a baby blanket for my friend's baby - little Joash.

Doesn't he look cute?! I loved how this blanket turned out,and you can see more pictures of it in the original post about it. 

It totally inspired me to try more creations. Days after Tabitha was born, I began on a blanket for her. It's coming on, but I hooked up a few things as Christmas gifts, so it keeps getting put on hold!

I decided to do one big, enormous Granny Square. For those of you who do not know, a Granny Square is a basic square, which you join together to make a blanket. In fact, whatever else you can think of using squares!  It's very simple to make, and there are 100's of variations that you can create. The basic one is what I used for my rainbow blanket. 

On the way through, I decided to add in some variation. So, I added some rows of trebles, rather than the clusters of 3. Only trouble is, being an amateur, I have ended up with a wavy blanket! I think I managed to increase on those rows, by doing too many stitches in the corners? It's still perfectly "usable", I am sure - unique. Let's just call it unique. Sounds more intentional...

Here it is so far, but I still want to make it bigger. I hope to work on it today, and see how it goes. I MAY get it finished! 

I am thinking of attempting a bobble edging. 

(picture from the website above)

I may also add crocheted flowers in some of the corners, over the top of the blanket. We'll see how it evolves.

Last night, I also had some fun trying out some new squares - new to me, that is.  I just rummaged about in my yarn stash, and used some rather random, bright colours, to try the squares out. I am not entirely sure I would put these colours anywhere in my home - maybe a child's bedroom, where it wouldn't matter? I like them, in theory, but in practice they match NOTHING in my house! 

This one is called a "Sunshine Granny Square", for obvious reasons!!! It was very easy, and I love it! I would happily make a whole blanket in this design... just not these colours. You can find the pattern here.  

This one, I had seen popping up a lot in some online crochet groups that I am on. I loved it, too, so was determined to try and make one. Of course, this is not a "square"!! It's a hexagon. (There, maths lesson for the day - you now no longer need to do anything maths related, by permission of me...)

It's called an "African Flower Hexagon".  Isn't it lovely? It looks even better with a cotton yarn - they are more expensive, so I have less of that in my stash!  I was wondering what I could do with them, and was reminded that there is a GORGEOUS creation with shapes like this. I am now determined to make one, at some point. 

HOW CUTE IS THAT?!??!

It's definitely on my  hooky creations "to do" list!  I need to master "join as you go" technique, which joins blocks as you go, rather than afterwards. 

Who WOULDN'T love a Happy-potamus? 

There we have it. A little round up of how I have been spending some of my time in the evenings. It's a really relaxing hobby, with such quick and easy results to show for your efforts. If you have never tried, you should give it a go! 

I plan on regularly sharing my crochet creations and projects with you, even if it's just what I have found on Pinterest, or ideas from elsewhere. 

Also, check out my new "page" at the top of the blog. I am doing a whole compilation of pattern links and helpful hints and tips about crochet. I will update it regularly, and add patterns. I will particularly add them if I have done them myself, to give you a first-hand opinion about them. 

My crochet creation {...a rainbow baby blanket}

I just wanted to share with you about my creation.

I learnt how to crochet in the last couple of years, but had not done anything very amazing.  I had made a couple of hats, and come little flowers and hearts.  Nothing major.

So, when I saw some coloured yarn on a market stall, in every colour of the rainbow, it shouted "MAKE ME INTO SOMETHING WONDERFUL".  I picked out each colour of the rainbow, for a bargain price, and took it home with me.

I decided it needed to be a baby blanket, in rainbow Granny Squares.  Granny squares are SO easy to make.  In fact, crochet, on the whole, is a pretty simple needle craft to pick up and learn.

One of my favourite sites is Attic24.  She is the one who inspired me to make something with rainbow colours, as her creations are so vibrant and colourful.

To start with, I decided I wanted to make something that was square.  Something that is a square, can be folded into a triangle, which I think is nice for going around a baby. Some squares I decided to do red out to pink, the others from pink out to red.  So rainbow, and reverse rainbow!!

This is a red out to pink...

And, these are both, when I joined them together.

I did 9 squares in the centre of the blanket, and they are quite big - that top picture is one sitting on my lap, to give you an idea. I could measure it, but that would require me getting up and finding a tape measure....

I decided that it wasn't as big as I wanted it to be, but thought that if I went out another square of that size, it would have needed another SIXTEEN of those squares.  that would have been enormous, plus, I would have run out of yarn! PLUS, by the time I had finished, the intended baby would be a toddler...

So, I decided just to make little squares, only 3 colours in each one. I merrily began making them, until I realised that 3 doesn't go into 7 (doh....) and they would not look QUITE right along the edge.  But, 3 does go into 21, so at least they would fit along each side, with one on each corner.  I did them in the more "boyish" colours I was using, as it was going to be for a boy.

Here is the edging attached...

This is the back of the work.  You can tell, because of the green that you can see, attaching together the middle squares. 

Then, I did 2 rows of edging, before doing a scalloped detail right on the border, the pattern which I got from Attic24.

The next job was tedious.

I really need to learn/remember to tie in the ends as I stitch, rather than leaving it as a big job at the end.

Here is the mammoth task that I needed to do...

And this was only one corner!!!!

See all those loose threads??

Fun....

But, it was so worth it, because once that was done, then it was finished.

Ta-da!!

I should really have taken one that gave a better idea of the size, but it will certainly be plenty big enough for a baby!

I hope little Joash, my lovely friends' baby, will have many a snugggle underneath it.

Problem is, I now fancy making one for our new baby, and the children all fancy a big one for their beds!!!  Now, THERE'S a project!!

It was really simple to make, and I am no crochet genius.  If you feel inspired, I would really recommend Attic24, as she has loads of great tutorials, with clear pictures and instructions. 

I must update you on my utility room, next.  I am SOOOOO excited about that!!

Silk painting {a non-crafty mother's recommendation!}

So, I thought that I would review my, I mean, my children's fun, with silk painting.

I must confess, I am not the world's best art & craft mother.  These things make mess.  More mess than life already throws at me.  I am no glitter lover.  I get paint out very infrequently.  I mean, life is not less rich by NOT doing these things, right?

I do enjoy these kind of things, when I build up the energy to do them, every other year, but I do NOT do them on a weekly basis.

So, when we were throwing out ideas for HS group, and we were basing it on the theme of "Ancient China", non-crafty mother threw out "silk painting" as a smart idea.  "Yes, that would be great if you did that Caroline", was the reply.  No thought from me about the whys, wherefores or effort involved.

I started to look into it, and was initially having palpitations and regrets...silk frames, at £30 a pop??? Special silks?  YIKES!!!

Ebay came to the rescue, when I realised that you could actually do it FAR more simply, and less expensively, than I initially thought! *phew*

I found that you could get pre-printed pieces of silk, with the pattern, the "gutta outline", already there.  You could also, apparently, just back it with freezer paper, with no need for frames for each child! No special brushes, just "normal" ones.  Better still, the lovely lady, who sold me the items on ebay, sent me an instructional video, on youtube, that she had made to show how to do the painting!! Happy Days!

So, on the day, I simply demonstrated to all the children what they needed to do, and let them get on with it. You only need a little paint, and it spreads very quickly on the silk.  Also, because of the pre-printed outline, even my 3 year old did it, with only a little colour direction from me. ("Erm, maybe NOT the black and brown shades, Elijah, on your DOLPHIN picture?"....I gave up with Abi, and just clenched my jaw, smiled sweetly and said nothing, whilst she painted her sunflowers in techni-colour!!) It was easy to do, effective and as simple or complicated as the child wanted the colouring to be.

Here are the results...

Elijah's (3yo)

(I can't find Abi's just now, but will add it when I find it)

Susie's (6yo)

Daniel (7yo)

Beth (10yo)

Joshua  (11yo)

And, mine!!! (way older than them....)

Beth and Josh then had another try today, with the remaining prints we had left.  They vastly improved in their technique and abilities.  Joshua especially, who loves all things arty. 

Beth, take 2.

Josh, take 2.

You can really see the improvement, I think?

So, for those in the UK, and for others around the world to get the general idea, this is what I bought for the project.

Paints - £14.99 for 8 pot.  They are 30 ml pots, but we used so very little - not even 5ml, maybe?  (for 20 silk prints)

Pre-printed silk  - £2.99 for 5 (there are several different designs, from flowers to animals)

The kind lady sent us freezer paper for free! 

Then, all else we needed was our own brushes! 

Full instructions are on the YouTube video.  I would HIGHLY recommend this as a fun activity for any child, or adult, for that matter!

I plan on getting some plain silk, and using the Gutta outline pens to do our own designs.  SO, hopefully the fun will carry on.  

Hopefully this will inspire even the least-arty, fellow mothers to give it a try!  So grab you supplies, and give it  a whirl.