Truth in the Tinsel Swap Party Fun!

I wanted the Atlanta Area Truth in the Tinsel Swap Party to feel like a Girl’s Night Out instead of a oh-brother-we’ve-got-a-lot-of-work-to-do-to-get-ready-for-Christmas. The first thing to consider was decorations. We didn’t pull out all the Christmas decorations because it was hosted at my mom’s church (she’s a Children’s Pastor) and her Children’s Church room is pretty cool looking. It didn’t need a lot of frou-frou. But it did need a little tinsel, am I right?!

tnt decor collage

I brought all the ornaments my kids have made over the years and spread them out on the tables along with mason jars filled with snowy-looking epsom salt and candles! (How smart is that?!)

Then, at each seat there was a green and white Truth in the Tinsel bag!

tnt swap party swag bag

Eek! How much to you love that?!! These were to collect all the crafts in but they also contained a few little gifts for the guests! Inside was the most fun little paper garlands from Dayspring…

dayspring paper chain collage

Yancy’s Have a Fancy Yancy Christmas CD

Screen Shot 2014-11-03 at 7.11.44 AM

and the Why Do We Call It Christmas DVD!

Screen Shot 2014-11-03 at 7.20.07 AM

Y’all. That was worth the drive through Atlanta right there!

Well, we weren’t finished! We also had a fun little craft station. Like a craft for mamas to make! No kids allowed! My friend, blogger, crafter, shop-owner, teacher and all-around super mama, Charity from The Heartfelt Home led the ladies in making this adorable button Christmas tree. (Thank you, Pinterest!)

tnt swap party button tree

Everyone culled through the buttons and made their own sweet trees to frame and take home. (Talk about an easy craft, y’all. All you need is a 5×8 of burlap, a bunch of leftover buttons and some craft glue!)

tnt swap party craft

We even had a photo booth! (And now that I’m looking at all the pictures, I realize my kids took more pictures than anyone and I didn’t get a picture with enough of y’all!)

photo booth collage tnt swap

And of course, there was food. I catered from Chipotle because you can make tacos, burritos, burrito bowls or salads. It’s kinda easy for everyone. (Also? Yummy leftovers.) And my sisterchicks and my dad did homemade Christmas food. We’re talking Christmas food like Hello Dolly Bars, Christmas Crack, fudge and my dad’s German Chocolate cake. Yeow.

tnt swap party food

Let’s pause on the food so I can tell you what typical crazy went down—> So, 30 minutes before the event started, I sent my ever-helpful husband to the restaurant to pick everything up. He called me a few minutes later and said, “Am I at the right location? They don’t have your order.” ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Sure enough, he was at the wrong location–at no fault of his own–there are 2 locations of equal distance to the church and we had talked about using both of them. I never told him where to go!

My sweet husband had to drive to the other location, pick up the food and arrived about 20 minutes late. He was more stressed than anyone about it! Oops.

OK. Back to the event….

After we were full up of guac and tacos, I got on the stage to speak.

tnt swap party 1

I told my story of going from Children’s Pastor of hundreds of kids to mom of 1, and how I felt lost and far away from God’s will for my life. And then how God used something so seemingly insignificant like a daily craft with my almost 1 year old to plant the fledgling seeds of the Truth in the Tinsel book and experience in my heart. And then how over 30,000 families have used the book in their homes and their Christmas celebrations. And how my heart is flattened at the thought of God allowing me to be a part of His story.

tnt swap party 3

We also talked about the unique, precious and huge opportunity we have as mothers to lead our children from darkness into Jesus’ magnificent, purifying, everlasting Light! How throughout the ages, God has been taking Light to dispel darkness and wants to do so in the lives and heats’ of our kids. How Christmas is really the celebration of the Light coming to our dark world and casting out sour sin so we could be in relationship with HIm.

Truth in the Tinsel isn’t a craft or a fun thing to do at Christmas–it’s a way to introduce your children to Jesus and His Light!

Whew! It gets me excited every time. OK. Let’s get back to the party…

tnt swap party 2

After a little talking and praying we played a game with a plate on our heads. Oh, yes we did!

And it was hilarious!

Then, it was time for door prizes! Y’all. I am OVERWHELMED by the amount of awesome friends who gave stuff away! I don’t have pictures of everything (for which I aplogize–next time I need to hire a photographer to capture more of the fun!) so, I’ll snag some pictures of their respective websites, ok?

First of all, Charity from The Heartfelt Home gave away a gorgeous print from her shop plus two vintage silverware Redeemed Ware bracelets. How much do you love those?!

Screen Shot 2014-11-03 at 6.40.12 AM

Dayspring sent some of their newest jewelry line called, Everlasting Light. And I could NOT be more excited about it because it is exactly what I’ve been loving and talking about with Jesus being the Light at Christmas!

Just look at these necklaces—>

Screen Shot 2014-11-03 at 6.44.31 AM

This layered shimmer necklace is my favorite one. And the verse engraved on the back is Isaiah 60:20, “The Lord will be your everlasting light.”  Isn’t that awesome?

Screen Shot 2014-11-03 at 6.45.11 AM

This North Star pendant is beautiful, too and has Isaiah 60:1 engraved on the back, “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.”. What a gorgeous reminder to hang around your neck this Christmas!

Don’t you wish you’d been there?!!

But wait! We’re not done!

One of my fellow-volunteers and friends at church has a super creative wife who owns OneTwentyOne Designs and makes the most ADORABLE bags and baby items and dish towels and more. She sent us the cutest tote bags you’ve ever seen, some pillows and an amazing dishtowel that hooks to your stove (you know what I’m talking about? It’s genius. And adorbs.)

Screen Shot 2014-11-03 at 6.56.47 AM

Plus, What’s in the Bible sent Phil Vischer’s new Why Do We Call It Christmas book:

Screen Shot 2014-11-03 at 7.01.11 AM

 

And Yancy sent t-shirts, CDs and devotional books:

yancy collage

YOU GUYS!!! It was AWESOME!!

tnt swap party 4

(This is my friend, Jen from church. She’s showing how much fun we had!)

But I guess you’re wondering about the crafts? Like the whole reason we got together, right?! I almost forgot about that part!

When everyone arrived with their 22 craft supply baggies in hand, they laid them out on the appropriate spot on these tables. At the end of the night, they walked through (with their new bags) and put one of each into their bag! Easy peasy, lemon squeezy!

tnt swap party bags

Thank you to my mom for hosting the event, to my sisterchicks–Staci, Mandi and Kristen, my friends Vanessa and Cassie, to my dad and husband for helping out at the party and to Lydia, Asa and Megan for being the best bag-stuffers & helpers ever. I couldn’t have done it without you–nor would I have wanted to!

Oh, and click over to read about the details (and my best tips) of planning a swap party! It’s not too late to plan your own Swap Party! And don’t forget to check out our new Swap Party Printable Pack to help you plan your swap!

 

Comments

  1. I love Yancy! What a way to change the hearts in my family when I put on a Yancy song!! Thanks for doing the giveaway..

  2. I so agree! She’s passionate about God’s Word and singing God’s Word changes the atmosphere of our home–and my heart, really!

    a

  3. I seriously contemplated making the 5 hour drive to ATL for this event, kicking myself that I didn’t…next time for sure!! Unless, I can convince you to trek to Charleston, SC!!!

  4. Looks like so much fun! Thank you for the chance to win! 🙂

  5. Amanda,

    The night was such fun! Thank you and all who setup, delivered food and just made the night very special! :). I’m super excited to start this tradition in our house in 27 days! Merry Christmas to you and your family! 🙂

  6. Amanda, Thank you for your never ending inspiration & enthusiasm!!

  7. Wynnette Taylor says

    I am looking forward to participating in Truth in Tinsel this year! I know my children will love it!

  8. I love this! I want to do Truth in The Tinsel with my girls this year 😀 THANKS for the inspiration, Amanda!

  9. So wish I still lived in Atlanta! Would have loved to come to the swap!

  10. Can’t wait to do this with my 3-year-old this year! Plan to blog about it too 🙂

  11. You TOTALLY should have driven down! Or next year, plan your own event and I’ll come to it! 😉

    a

  12. Thanks for the give-away! I’ve never heard of Yancy–guess I’ll have to go look her up!

  13. What fun! Gonna have to try this some day soooooon!

  14. I’d love this swag bag!!! Thanks for the giveaway!

  15. thanks for the good ideas, I was just talking to a group of my mom friends to figure out how we can get together to setup our truth in the tinsel crafts. Many of us did it for the first time last year with our 2, 3 or 4 year olds, and this year we want to make it easier on us, rather than us scrambling day of to figure out what we need to pull together. So this gave some good info for us! I’m very excited to do it again this year with my 4.5 & 2 year olds.

  16. Melanie Brown says

    I bought the book last year but did it much too late. Prepping now & can’t wait to do this with my kids this holiday season.

  17. I printed off the e-book and ornaments today, getting excited about starting this tradition with my 3yr old and 1yr old! Thank you so much from our little family in Australia xx


http://premier-pharmacy.com https://cialico.com http://healthsavy.com
0
    0
    Your Cart
    Your cart is emptyReturn to Shop