advent 2: craft activities

when i sat down to plan our advent, i tried to use the idea of "in" (to ourselves), "out" (to others/the community) and "up" (to God) to provide some kind of balance. and i wasn't too sure where craft activities fitted in to this model, but i knew i wanted to do some with big sister. i decided they would count as "in," because the joy in making would be ours. but our minister preached yesterday about the spiritual discipline of celebration, and i'm now convinced that our craft activities (which will produce christmas decorations) also count as "out" and perhaps even a little as "up," as they will encourage us and those who enter our home to celebrate more fully and more joyfully the meaning of christmas. below are a couple of the activities we plan to do:

paper lanterns will be the centre piece above our table when little sister's godparents and their beloved come for lunch in december. good thing we've got that jolly jumper hook in the ceiling already! from here

big sister is obsessed with having me trace around her hand and my hand whenever the textas are out, so i thought she'd enjoy making this wreath. from here

:: some updates: so toilet training has been a bit of a false start. no clue of knowing in advance that she needs to go = mummy frequently asking big sister if she wants to use the potty = annoyed and defiant big sister. will try again in january. and i've already made the felt ball garland - after an evening of shirring frustration and much wasted elastic, the instant gratification desiring, generation y part of me was desperate to finish a project, so those little felt balls are now on their string, waiting for december 1. ::