How to make a Santa Hat!

How to make a Santa Hat!

Picture from Girl in Air Blog

Here are instructions for this Santa Hat Newborn to Adult Sizes:

http://www.girlinair.com/2010/12/how-to-make-santa-hat.html

Symbols in the Bible

There are many things in the Bible that represent Biblical truths.

 Sword = Word of God ~ Ephesians 6:17

Jesus:

Lamb of God ~ John 1:29

John chapter 10, “I Am…the Gate”… and the “Good Shepherd”

John 15:1, “I Am the Vine…”

John 6:48 & 51, "I am the Bread of Life

The Church:

Body of Christ, Eph. 1:23, "God...appointed [Jesus] to be Head over...the Church, which is His Body..."

1 Cor. 12:27, "...you are the Body of Christ..."

God’s Temple: 1 Cor. 3:16 “…you, yourselves are God’s Temple…”

Also look up these symbolisms of plants in the Bible: vine and vineyard, olive trees, fig trees, fir, myrtle and pine; mustard seed, wheat and tares, palm (branches), rose, lily, etc.

The Devil is called a snake, a serpent.

The Cross/ Crucifixion is the symbol of Jesus’ death & resurrection.  But in Roman times it was considered a most shameful and disgraceful way to die.  It symbolized an execution.  It was also a humiliation, by making the condemned as vulnerable as possible.  The length of time required to reach death could range from hours to days depending on method, the victim's health, and the environment.

Crucifixion (or impalement), in one form or another, was also used by Persians, Carthaginians, and Macedonians.  Notorious mass crucifixions followed the Third Servile War in 73–71 BC (the slave rebellion under Spartacus), and other Roman civil wars in the 2nd and 1st centuries BC.

Many Christians now believe that we should do away with the symbols of our modern celebrations of Easter and Christmas.  They believe that the original meanings are non-Christian.  And maybe some of those symbols ARE too much of a stretch to associate with these Holy Days; but not all of them.

 So, since the cross was originally a symbol of execution (non-Christian), is it also wrong to think, & display, it as the symbol of Christ?

 

A Felt Nativity Story

This is such a cute nativity set children for to play with during the holiday season, either at home or in a class situation. 

Stay at Home Educator has a step-by-step guide and a free pattern.

The Gettysburg Address Challenge

Homeschool Freebie of the Day is having "The Gettysburg Address Challenge."

Tuesday, November 19th will be the 150th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address given by Abraham Lincoln in 1863. To mark the occasion, they have issued a challenge: Actually memorize and recite the complete speech (only 266 words), then send an mp3 audio of your recitation.

The details are on their website and the deadline for entering is midnight on Friday, November 15th.

There are samples of recitations from ages 5, 10, & 13.

Formal & Informal Table Settings

  

 

Cultivating Thankful Hearts unit study

My next Thanksgiving lesson from Blessed Beyond a Doubt.

The site includes:

Key memory verses
Easily understandable and teachable lesson
Prompts for further study, song, and conversation
A fun printable activity
Scripture memory copy work pages

Candy Corn on the Cob

Oh, my!  This looks so good!

Why do we have candy corn kernels and not a full cob of candy corn?

I found out about it here.

 

 

Crocheted hearts

I was looking for crocheted hearts to make for Valentine's Day.  Here are 3 different patterns:

This one, from Bella Dia, is larger: 

 

This one is from Between the lines: 

 

And this one, from Salt for the Spirit, is tiny:

 

Colors of Faith Jelly Bean Bracelet

I've passed out copies of the Jelly Bean Prayer on Easter; but I'm going to this bracelet this year!

Here's the link for the instructions:

Colors of Faith Jelly Bean Bracelet

Names of Jesus Ornaments

These ornaments are great for your tree, or for decorating
your classroom or bulletin board for Christmas.

Here is the link to create them:  BIBLE STORY PRINTABLES.com

Nativity Pop-up Card

This will be a cute cards for the kids to do this Christmas.  There is a step- by-step tutorial on their site here -
 BIBLE STORY PRINTABLES.com

Thanksgiving Bible Printables

I was looking for lesson plans & printables for my classes this November and found this web site.

Thanksgiving Bible Printables & Crafts

from Christian Preschool Printables 

Printable Thankful Pumpkin Pocket

I love this craft from Christian Preschool Printables

This is a printable pumpkin pocket

children can make to store different
things they are thankful for.  

It includes an art sheet of items for them to cut out.

How to Become President of the U.S. Poster

Love this!
Go to http://kids.usa.gov/president/index.shtml
to print it out or to order a larger version.

CHRISTIANS ARE LIKE PUMPKINS

CHRISTIANS ARE LIKE PUMPKINS

God picks you from the patch, brings you in, and washes all of the dirt off which you may have gotten from other pumpkins.

Then, He cuts the top off and scoops out all of the yucky stuff.

He removes seeds of doubt, hate, greed, unforgiveness, etc.

Then, He carves a new smiling face and puts His light inside of you
to shine for all the world to see.

Are you letting your light shine?

Be a jack-o-lantern for Jesus!

Pumpkins and Jesus

 Pumpkins and Jesus
P is for the People that Jesus came to save.
U is for the Unconditional love to each one He gave.
M is for the Message that we should all be sharing.
P is for the Priceless gift God above showed he is caring.
K is for the King of Kings.
I is for the Insight He brings.
N is for the Nails in His hands.
S is for our Savior who gave His life so we could stand.

Love this crochet afghan edging!

I've been looking for a pattern for a new afghan edging. I finally saw this edging on this web site.  But the actual link to the instructions is here.  I can't wait until I finish it!

Christmas Notebook

This is something I plan to start this year. It includes sections for gift ideas, gifts you gave last year, Christmas card list, recipes, decorating ideas, & more.  Click on this link to see how to make one yourself.

Christmas Notebook




                         Picture from the above website.

The Tale of Jack O'Lantern

       Jack, the Irish say, grew up in a simple village where he earned a reputation for cleverness as well as laziness. He applied his fine intelligence to wiggling out of any work that was asked of him, preferring to lie under a solitary oak endlessly whittling. In order to earn money to spend at the local pub, he looked for an "easy shilling" from gambling, a pastime at which he excelled. In his whole life he never made a single enemy, never made a single friend and never performed a selfless act for anyone.  

    One Halloween, as it happened, the time came for him to die. When the devil arrived to take his soul, Jack was lazily drinking at the pub and asked permission to finish his ale. The devil agreed, and Jack thought fast. "If you really have any power," he said slyly, "you could transform yourself into a shilling."
      The devil snorted at such child’s play and instantly changed himself into a shilling. Jack grabbed the coin. He held it tight in his hand, which bore a cross-shaped scar. The power of the cross kept the devil imprisoned there, for everyone knows the devil is powerless when faced with the cross. Jack would not let the devil free until he granted him another year of life. Jack figured that would be plenty of time to repent. The devil left Jack at the pub. +
      The year rolled around to the next Halloween, but Jack never got around to repenting. Again the devil appeared to claim his soul, and again Jack bargained, this time challenging him to a game of dice, an offer Satan could never resist, but a game that Jack excelled at. The devil threw snake eyes—two ones—and was about to haul him off, but Jack used a pair of dice he himself had whittled. When they landed as two threes, forming the T-shape of a cross, once again the devil was powerless. Jack bargained for more time to repent.
      He kept thinking he’d get around to repentance later, at the last possible minute. But the agreed-upon day arrived and death took him by surprise. The devil hadn’t showed up and Jack soon found out why not. Before he knew it Jack was in front of the pearly gates. St. Peter shook his head sadly and could not admit him, because in his whole life Jack had never performed a single selfless act. Then Jack presented himself before the gates of hell, but the devil was still seething. Satan refused to have anything to do with him.
      "Where can I go?" cried Jack. "How can I see in the darkness?"
      The devil tossed a burning coal into a hollow pumpkin and ordered him to wander forever with only the pumpkin to light his path. From that day to this he has been called "Jack o’ the Lantern." Sometimes he appears on Halloween!

Trick or Treat

“Trick or Treat" is thought to have come from a European custom called "souling". Beggars would go from village to village begging for "soul cakes" made out of square pieces of bread with currants. The more soul cakes the beggars would receive, the more prayers they would promise to say on behalf of the dead relatives of the donors. At the time, it was believed that the dead remained in limbo for a time after death, and that prayer, even by strangers could guarantee a soul's passage to heaven.

In John 14:6 Jesus said:
"I am the way the truth and the life;
no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."


"For by Grace are you saved through faith.
It is a gift of God not of works lest any man should boast."
~Ephesians 2:8-9~

All Hallows Eve / All Saints Day

 The purpose behind All Hallows Eve has been lost—like celebrating New Year’s Eve without a New Year’s Day. Take away the saints and our beliefs about the dignity and destiny of human beings, and the only thing left is pre-Christian superstition regarding the dead.

The same way people gather today at the site of a tragedy on its anniversary to talk to each other and to reporters, the first Christians gathered on the anniversary of a martyr’s death to remember it the way they knew best: with the "breaking of the bread." They retold the stories to inspire each other at a time when faith meant persecution and more martyrdom. Not even death could break the unity in Jesus which Paul had named "the Body of Christ."

By the mid-fourth century a feast of "All Martyrs" appeared on local calendars. As persecutions grew less frequent, the feast was extended to include non-martyr "witnesses," Christians whose lives were "the gospel in action.” In the 16th century at the time of the Reformation, most Protestants were not celebrating All Saints Day.

 Death is not cute. Halloween began with martyrs, after all. At Halloween we need to use discernment to separate the symbols, to protect our children from very real dangers, to cut through the customs that contradict our relationship with God.

 Most of all, be free from fear. We who are in Christ have nothing to fear, and we should be ready with an answer to those who act as if the devil were the equal and opposite of God. There is no "equal and opposite" of God.