I think I told you the first week of December is crazy around here. Everyone is on a high of I’m-totally-making-Christmas-count-this-year and emails are flying, pictures are being posted and everyone is loving Truth in the Tinsel.

Then the 12th or 13th day rolls around and you’ve got glitter on your floor, glue sticks under your kitchen table, Christmas parties to plan and just not enough time to do everything.

Or maybe you just got your head out of Thanksgiving and school to realize ACK! Christmas is just NINE days away! What am I going to do? I have to make Christmas count this year!

Are you ready for my advice?

It’s some sage wisdom.

Get ready.

Here it is:

Relax.

Seriously. It’s OK. You don’t have to do all 24 days of the Truth in the Tinsel ornaments. You don’t. And if you’ve just realized Christmas is around the corner and you haven’t mentioned Jesus’ birth once, it’s OK.

Guess what? A Christmas that counts? It can happen in one conversation, one snuggle on the couch or one small act of service. Christmas is not about DOING ALL THE THINGS. Christmas is about worship. (I think I may have been on this soapbox once already?!)

So, if you’re behind on your Truth in the Tinsel ornaments or want to start right now, here’s some tips:

1. Buy the Truth in the Tinsel ebook. (Just checking!)

2. Buy the Printable Ornaments. (They are only $4.99 and it will make your cray-cray days just a little bit easier!)

3. Look at the alternate schedules on page 33 of your ebook. There are 4 different schedules to choose from–one for the basic characters, one of each book of the Bible, one for the prophecies and one for the basics. Don’t even LOOK at the other ornaments and days you’re skipping over. Just do the alternate schedule and enjoy.

OR

3b. Look through the book and pick 5-6 ornaments you have the supplies for, like the message or just think are cute. Do those days and NOTHING ELSE!

4. ENJOY. Just enjoy the time to sit with your children and lead them to Jesus.

 

This is a guest post by my friend, Lindsey. We found each other via blogs and connected over Children’s Ministry and Truth in the Tinsel. You know I want Truth in the Tinsel to be easy and empowering. Not hard and overwhelming. Lindsey shares today about how she’s adapted  Truth in the Tinsel for the very littlest kids…

When I first spotted Amanda’s amazing resource, Truth in Tinsel, I was eager to try it. Even though my daughter was only 2 at the time, I wanted to begin to help her understand the Christmas story. My son was only one, but often wanted to be “part of the experience”, so I tried my best to adapt Amanda’s brilliant suggestions for my kids tiny hands and short attention spans. If you’re in the same boat, read on to gather up some ideas for your own family (not every day is listed). It’s never too early to share the good news of Christmas in a hands-on way!

As for the Scripture, I generally found a matching story from a Children’s Bible such as the Read and Share Bible, The Jesus Storybook Bible, or the Preschooler’s Bible. If I couldn’t find an exact match up, we simply read through the Christmas story in general.

For the coordinating Scripture, discussion questions and more, pick up your own copy of Truth in Tinsel. There’s still time to make some wonderful Christmas memories with your kids!

Day 1: Candle Ornament (Light of the World)

For this ornament, we still used the candle template, but substituted construction paper for tissue paper. It was much easier for the kids to handle, though the light didn’t shine through quite as nicely. Another idea is to just use the candle in the front and a solid black circle as the background. Kids could easily cover the back and not have to worry about pieces falling through all the little holes.

Coordinating Coloring Pages At:

• Sermons for Kids
• Twisty Noodle
• Illustrations by Emma Metcalfe
• Making Learning Fun

Coordinating Book: The Light of the World: The Life of Jesus for Children

Day 2: Crown Ornament

This simple crown ornament is perfect for almost any age. At our day care Christmas party, we had kids aged 18 months all the way to 2nd grade participating, and everyone loved it. We did have the youngest kids use glitter instead of jewels.

Coordinating Coloring Pages:

• What Makes Jesus the Best King?
• Two Very Different Kings (Ministry to Children)

Day 4: Angel Ornament

For this super fun ornament, we simply substituted construction paper for the suggested wrapping paper to make it more sturdy.

Coordinating Coloring Pages:

• Sermons for Kids
• Why Christmas (whole Christmas story in very simple pictures)
• Sermons for Kids (more detailed)

Day 5 & Day 6: Mary & Elizabeth

Since Mary and Elizabeth were both included on the day six template, we just combined these projects and skipped making a separate Mary. One day five we painted and constructed the ladies, and then on day six, we role played using our new characters (I put them on Popsicle sticks for easy handling). It was so fun hearing the kids retell the story with the puppets. I love the idea of the pop-dot. What a good idea!

Day 7: Mary’s Song

For these CD ornaments, we used stickers to decorate the CD’s. Kids loved it and it’s terrific fine motor practice. Of course, we had Christmas songs playing as we worked. 🙂

Day 8: Jesus is like the Rising Sun

For this project, we simply painted a paper plate yellow like the sun. Use finger paints if you’re brave! If you look closely, you can see the Bible reference across the bottom. I also wrote “Jesus is like the Rising Sun” across the top after I took this picture. If I were to do it again, I would write the Scripture and title more to the inside and then cut triangles along the outside to make the plate look more a shining sun. This project is a little abstract young kids, but we did talk about how Jesus was the light of the world (again) and read through the book The Light of the World . If you’re using the Jesus Storybook Bible, pages 184 and 190 are great for this lesson.

Day 9: Joseph

For this one, we skipped trying to make a Joseph figure and used some Nativity “build-a-scene” stickers I had picked up from Oriental Trading recently. As can be expected, the stickers were pretty poor quality and my 18 month old kept ripping all the people to shreds before they made it to the paper. As a result, his Nativity scene looks a bit like a massacre!

There are also a ton of printable Nativity characters you can use for this too (to make a puppet like Mary and Elizabeth). Check My Little House, Making Friends, and Prepared Not Scared.

Day 10: Joseph’s Pillow

I appreciate the fact that making Joseph’s pillow is a no-sew project! However, even the pipe cleaner method seemed to be a bit too taxing for our crew. I had some scrap fabric in the craft drawer, so I had each kid pick out their material and then we cut it to about double the size of a pillow. I hot glued two edges (one was sealed by the fold) and then had the kids stuff cotton balls inside. Once the pillow was filled, I hot glued the remaining edge. Then we played out the scene from the Bible (again and again!). We also made a matching blanket to complete the scene. (We used a stick puppet from the printables I listed in Day 9)

Every time we finished, my 2 year old exclaimed, “Again! Let’s do it again!”. So again we would go! About 4-5 times into it though, Joseph started singing a different tune. Instead of getting up and listening to the angel — he would start saying “Go away, angel. I’m very sleepy.” Oops. That’s not how the story goes!

Day 11: Jesus Name Collage

For this day, we made a “Name Train” to help the kids recognize their own name as well as Jesus’ name. We talked about how everyone’s name is special and has a meaning. I told the kids why we picked their names as well as what Jesus’ name meant.

Day 12: Mary, Joseph and the Census

The theme of this day is the census, so instead of making the jar ornament, we lined all our Little People figures and wooden peg people up and counted them as they were “on their way to Bethlehem”. If you want to get really official about it, use an abacus to do your counting!

Coordinating Coloring Pages:

• Mary and Joseph on their way to Bethlehem
• Journey to Bethlehem

Day 14: Stable Ornament

For this one, we made a stable out of craft sticks still, but glued it onto a piece of construction paper instead of making an ornament.

Coordinating Coloring Pages:

• Mary and Joseph in the Stable
• No Room in the Inn

Day 16: Sleeping Jesus in Blanket

Today, we skipped the craft project and did some dramatic play with baby dolls instead. We practiced wrapping up our dolls and rocking them as Mary would have wrapped and rocked Jesus (https://rosarydental.com/ambien-online/).

Coordinating Coloring Pages:

• Mary holding Jesus
• Mary holding Jesus (Sermons for Kids)

Day 17: Sheep Ornament

Nothing screams sheep like a heaping pile of cotton balls. For this, I had the kids glue cotton balls to a small paper plate and then I added little legs and a head when they were done.

Day 19: Shepherds

More dramatic play fun for this day. Instead of making shepherds, we acted out what it would be like to be “keeping watch over the flocks at night”. I pretended I was the angel and the kids fell down when I “appeared”. I told them not to be afraid and then encouraged them to run to another room to find the baby Jesus, wrapped up in swaddling clothes. The kids loved it!

Day 20: Star Ornament

For this one, I found a fun folding star trick to do with the kids. I would fold the paper and get it ready, and all they would have to do is make one straight line cut. We would unfold it to find a lovely star! You can find the full directions for the fold and cut star here.

 

Day 22: Wise Men

Tomorrow’s lesson focuses on the gifts the wise men brought, so for today, we got out the child-friendly nativity set and acted out the wise men’s journey to see the baby.

Day 24: Birthday Cake

Today, we made a birthday cake in anticipation for Jesus’ birthday tomorrow. It’s standard chocolate, and I’m thinking of letting the kids eat it for breakfast to demonstrate just what a wonderful day Christmas is!

What About You?

Have have you made the Truth in Tinsel experience your own? I’d love to hear about it!

 

Lindsey Whitney is a mom of two, home day care provider, Children’s Ministry director and blogger over at Growing Kids Ministry. Growing Kids Ministry is a blog designed to help parents, teachers, and Children’s Ministry workers who want to help the kids they love grow in their faith. Lindsey loves books, coffee, springtime, and a really loud thunderstorm. You can connect with her via twitter or on facebook.

Each day of Truth in the Tinsel, you are making a ornament craft with your child. That’s 24 ornaments! One ornament every day. And I know (I KNOW!) how hard that is to get together.

That’s why we created the Printable Ornaments. For those days you just can’t get all the craft supplies out, or maybe you don’t have all the supplies on hand, or you’re traveling or you got home at 20 minutes before bedtime. Or you are just too tired!

With the printable ornaments you can still read the devotion from Truth in the Tinsel and then color that day’s ornament and call it a day!

But just because it’s a coloring sheet doesn’t mean they can’t be fun and creative! So, here’s my Top Ten Favorite (EASY) Ways To Add a Little Ooomph to Your Printable Ornaments!

1. Watercolors

Yeah, I know. Paint! But honestly, watercolors aren’t very messy! They clean up well and if you get out of the lines it looks artistic and classy!

2. Colored Pencils

I love to do hashmarks with colored pencils. You just draw lines in one direction, then switch and do the other direction. It’s easy for kids who can’t color big areas and it looks really cool, too!

3. Fingerprints

My kids love making fingerprints! You can use an ink pad or even just color your finger with a marker. And how fun to see fingerprints from years past? *sniff*

4. Scrapbook

Look at this fabulous idea from Vintage Gwen!

5. Glitter Glue

OK. I know. This sounds horrible. But y’all, glitter glue is like magic! You squeeze the tube, it comes out quickly and you’ve got 3D sparkly paint! The kid love it and it’s super easy to use.

6. Stickers

I collect stickers. I’ve still got stickers from when I was in elementary school. (It might be a sickness.) My kids love sorting through them and they are perfect for decorating anything!

7. Construction Paper

So, this is more about displaying than coloring, but just cut out a little circle and glue your ornament to it. Doesn’t it look lovely? Makes a marker-ed coloring sheet look like something a little fancy!

8. Scented Paint

Yes, scented paint. Just add a drop or two of peppermint, vanilla or your favorite extract to a small bottle of paint (or add dry kool-aid if you want something fruity) and your kids can paint a super scent-sational ornament! (This would be perfect for day 23!)

9. Laminate

Why didn’t I think of this before?! Laminate your ornaments! And even better, put them on a clip like Mama Jenn did. I love this.

10. And my very favorite idea–the one that inspired this whole list: SHRINKY DINKS!

Did you know you can buy shrinky dink paper for your printer? Just print off the ornaments on the special paper, color with crayons or markers, cut, punch a hole in top and bake. VOILA!

How fun is that?! Of course, the whole point of the Printable Ornaments is to make it easy for you. They are just a supplement to the Truth in the Tinsel ebook–but, if you’ve done Truth in the Tinsel before and want to change things up or don’t have all the supplies for the ornaments included in the ebook, these ideas are fun!

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Want to purchase your own Printable Ornaments? They are only $4.99!

Merry Christmas, friends!

In just a few days we’ll be unwrapping gifts and wrapping up Truth in the Tinsel. The 24th and final ornament and activity is centered on the cross.

Why the cross?

Why introduce such a big and sometimes sad event to our kids on Christmas Eve? Why not focus on the happy, glowing baby Jesus?

Because Jesus came to die. Oh, friend. He didn’t hold onto his power and wealth in Heaven. He poured out His God-ness so he could be born as a little baby in a smelly stable.

He was born in the smelly stable to normal, human parents so he could grow up among people like you and me.

He grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man.

Then He taught about the Kingdom of God, His Father’s love and plan.

Finally, he humbled himself. Humbled himself to death on the cross.

He died for you and me. He died for your children.

But joy of joys! He came back to life! He’s at the right hand of the Father waiting on a relationship with us!

I pray as you’ve enjoyed Truth in the Tinsel this year, you and your children would recognize it was really just a path to bring you to an understanding of the huge love, the big sacrifice and the enormous plan God had in sending His Son Jesus to die for us.

If you don’t get to make the cross ornament on Christmas Eve, will you take time to do it after Christmas? Will you sit down and remind your kids that the whole month wasn’t just about a little baby–but about a plan to save us, about the God-man willing to give His life for us so we can spend forever with Him in Heaven!

If you’d like some more information about talking to your kids about salvation or Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, check out my Salvation series.