Preparation: How to Make an Advent Wreath

I'm sure it doesn't shock you all to know that I'm a planner. Planning is as natural to me as breathing. Sometimes it's good for me to let things go and be spontaneous, but most of the time I prefer to have a plan, and if I'm *really* honest, I prefer to be the one making the plan.

I've been making some plans for Advent. Advent begins four Sundays before Christmas and is a focused season of expectant waiting. As believers in Jesus, we await Christ's second coming, while remembering his first coming--as an infant in a manger. I love celebrating Advent because it shifts the focus from the commercialization of Christmas and emphasizes the underlying reason we celebrate this holy day. It's being very intentional for the four weeks leading up to Christmas instead of just a few days before.

One thing that helps us stay focused during the season is an Advent wreath. We always had one growing up, and my mom gave me one after I was married but I'm pretty sure that John used it at one of the churches he pastored and somehow it never made it back home. I didn't realize that until I decided I wanted to begin the tradition with my own family and couldn't find it!

I found some different ones for sale, but didn't love any of them so I decided to make my own. And you can too!!! Advent begins this year on Sunday, November 28, so you still have time to do this if you're interested.

Here's what you need:
4 candlesticks/holders or an Advent wreath frame (something like this)
4 candles (I'll talk about colors in a minute)
1 candle for the middle of your wreath
some kind of greenery

Here are some pics of mine:

 I use these heart-shaped candleholders that I bought at Goodwill one year for .25 each. The greenery covers them up (thankfully!)

I bought 4 taper-type candles last week at Walmart (cheap!) and I'm using a jar candle that I already had for the center of my wreath.

Traditional Advent candle colors are purple (3) and pink (1) and the center candle, which you light on Christmas Eve/Christmas Day is white. Last year I noticed that our church used blue candles, which is the modern church tradition. Purple is used throughout the season of Advent because it represents royalty and the coming of the King. Pink represents joy. It isn't always easy to find those colors this time of year so I just use what I have or can find. I think last year I used red and green. I'm such a rebel.

My greenery is a circular form that I bought one year at Michael's for about $3. Evergreen leaves symbolize everlasting life, and the nuts/seeds/cones/berries are symbols of resurrection. I love that. 

I keep our wreath in the center of our table so we can see it throughout the day and I like to put it on this round, woven placemat that I have.

I dearly love our wreath and think it's beautiful, but you know, they can be as fancy or as plain as you want them to be. I'll share some pics at the end of this post of some others I found online.

Below is a picture of our wreath from last year. On Sundays during Advent, we light a new candle and work our way around the wreath gradually (the third Sunday in Advent is when you light the odd colored candle if you have one). The gradual lighting represents the gradual coming of Light into the darkness of this world.

As we light each new candle, we read a scripture or say a prayer or sing a song--Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus and O Come, O Come Emmanuel are two of our Advent favorites. We turn out all the lights in the kitchen and let the candles illuminate our dinner table while we eat. It is a very calming and centering ritual. I love it.

We only light new candles on Sunday, but throughout the week we continue to light the same candle(s). The center candle, or the Christmas candle, is traditionally lit on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, but since we're rebels we light it in addition to the weekly candle(s) as well. It just looks so pretty! And smells sooooo good. 

Here is a fantastic link I found that explains better than I could how to use an Advent wreath. It even has suggested reading for each week. 

Here is a link to a post I wrote about Advent last year and it has links to lots of other resources, and here is a link to a fun and easy Advent calendar you can make. 

Honestly, I just love this season and I want everyone to love it and celebrate it too! Being intentional requires some preparation...and I hope in some small way this post will be a starting point for you if you've ever been curious about Advent or if you'd like to try to make an Advent wreath for the first time.

Oh and here are the pics of some others I found online. Let your creativity spur you on!

(Love this one in the wooden bowl!)

Interruption

In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. Gabriel appeared to her and said, "Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!" Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. "Don't be frightened, Mary" the angel told her, "for God has decided to bless you! You will become pregnant and have a son, and you are to name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!"

Luke 1:26-33 New Living Translation

About five years ago, I was at an Advent retreat and our leader invited us to listen to a passage of scripture from Luke's gospel (vs 26-56) while she read it aloud several times. She asked us to listen with more than our ears. She invited us to close our eyes and engage all of our senses. What things do you see? What do you smell? What can you taste? What can you feel? What specific words or phrases do you hear?

It's an incredible exercise, and when a room full of fifty women begin to share the things that their minds have heard, seen, smelled, touched, and tasted, it truly makes scripture come alive!

On that particular day, one little phrase from the passage above stood out to me.

She was engaged to be married...

The engagement process is usually a time of excitement and planning towards a certain future. All of Mary and Jospeph's planning and everything they had looked toward was suddenly looking very different after Gabriel's visit. I'm pretty sure that having a baby wasn't part of their plan.

Just as clearly as that short phrase stood out to me every time the passage was read, I heard God whisper to me: "I want to interrupt your plans in order to birth life in you, Meredith".

I really don't like interruptions. Do you? When I first heard God speak those words to me, I was pretty much in the throes of depression. My husband of fifteen years had just resigned as co-pastor of our church--a church we'd been a part of for barely a year, and a church that we moved 1000 miles away from our family to serve. Ministry was the only life we'd ever known together, and stepping away from that familiar life was, well, an interruption. A big interruption.

I knew God was calling us into something deeper...into something more. It was the reason John resigned. We were tired of religiosity. We were tired of our faith feeling perfunctory and legalistic. God was offering us something more spacious, more freeing and life-giving, but we had to step into a scary unknown to accept it. We had to let God interrupt our plans.

Has life been birthed in me? In us? Absolutely, but just like actual childbirth that process has been painful and messy and slow.

Shortly after that Advent retreat, I met a couple that is living out God's interruption in their lives. Bob and Judy (not their real names) are raising their great-granddaughter. Did you catch that? They're raising their great-granddaughter.

Bob and Judy are easily in their 70s. I first met them when Madison was in my daughter's second grade class. Tears streamed down my face as they shared the story of her mom abandoning her to the care of her grandmother. When Madison's much loved grandmother died suddenly, Bob and Judy stepped in to love and care for that little life that so desperately needed to be loved and nurtured.

I've gotten to know Bob and Judy a little better over the years. I see them at church every single Sunday with Madison by their side. I'm awed by their sacrificial willingness to let their lives be interrupted. Instead of wintering in Florida, they're up to their eyeballs in tweenage hormones and fashion and (heaven help them) middle-school math.

Has life been birthed in them? I'm guessing the sparkle in their eye would be the answer. Has life been birthed through them? Absolutely. They are an inspiration to many.

I sometimes wonder if the Christmas story would be different if Mary had not responded, "Let it be to me as you have said". Would God have insisted? Would we know Jesus' mother by another name?

But the thing is that she did say yes. Just like Bob and Judy, Mary let God interrupt her plans and birth life in and through her. Without knowing the end of the story. Without guarantees. With nothing but a willingness to say, "I am the Lord's servant."

Recipe Request: Spiced Dough Ornaments

One of our Advent calendar activities I listed the other day was to make ornaments. I bookmarked the recipe for No-Bake Spiced Dough Ornaments in The Adventure of Christmas by Lisa Whelchel and since I had all the ingredients on hand, that was our Advent activity for yesterday.

I posted about it on Facebook and had a couple of requests for the recipe, so I'm sharing it here.

It was quick, easy, and the kids enjoyed it! Bonus: Your house will smell amazing!

Spiced Dough Ornaments

1 cup ground cinnamon

1 Tbsp ground cloves

1 Tbsp ground ginger

1 Tbsp ground nutmeg

1 cup applesauce

2 Tbsp white glue (I used Elmers)

Food coloring (optional)

A few Tbsp flour

Combine the cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg in a mixing bowl.

Add the applesauce and glue.

Mix ingredients thoroughly, using your hands.
Add food coloring, if desired. (I didn't add any).
Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to about 1/4-inch thickness.
Using cookie cutters, cut dough into various shapes.
Make a hole in the top of each ornament using a drinking straw.
Lay the ornaments out flat to dry at room temperature for 3-5 days, turning over often. OR bake for one hour in a 200 degree oven.
When completely dry, attach a ribbon and hang on your tree!

*I didn't have a complete Tbsp of ginger, so I used cinnamon to make up the difference.

*I buy my cinnamon in bulk and it's CHEAP. The package I used yesterday cost $1.64 and was about 1.5 cups of cinnamon.

Here's a picture of our ornaments. It's not a great picture, but you get the idea! I put them on waxed paper to dry and the kids wanted to make sure they knew which ones they made--hence the "boundary" lines. Aren't kids funny?

I'm hoping that white stuff on a few of them is either glue or extra flour from our work surface. If it's still noticeable after they dry, that will definitely be side that doesn't face out on our tree! I have some red and white gingham ribbon that I'm going to use to tie them on our tree. I think they're going to look (and smell) great.

I actually have one more idea I want to try from The Adventure of Christmas book which is due back at the library today. Guess I better get crackin'.

My List is Lost!

Oh no!

I've looked everywhere and I can't find my planning notebook (aka yellow spiral) that I keep all of my lists written in.

I know I took it with us to St. Louis, but I've unpacked everything and checked and double-checked the van and it seems to have vanished.

I feel lost!

However, I promised you all a list of the activities I'm going to fill my Advent calendar with, so I will do my best to work from memory.

Keep in mind that I'm going to work ahead in my calendar by a few days. This will allow me to be flexible and realistic with my schedule!

Here goes:

Family Advent Calendar Activities, or what I like to call "The Gift of Presence".

1. Decorate for Christmas! (Tree, lights, nativity sets, etc).

2. Make Christmas cookies (Sarah's choice).

3. Watch the Charlie Brown Christmas dvd (our family favorite!)

4. Have breakfast with Santa (at Abbey's school).

5. Do something nice for your brother or sister--without telling them it was you.

6. Shop/Wrap/Deliver our Giving Tree gifts.

7. Make Christmas cookies (Abbey's choice).

8. Handel's Messiah (we're going to a performance next week!)

9. See a Christmas play together (our church is doing one this year).

10. Go sledding (obviously, this is weather dependent but Colorado doesn't usually disappoint).

11. Spend an evening reading Christmas books.

12. Make Christmas cookies (Will's choice).

13. Drive around after dinner and look at Christmas lights.

14. Deliver cookies to neighbors.

15. Go out for dessert one evening.

16. Make a birthday cake for Jesus! (December 24).

17. Family game night.

18. Sign/seal/stamp our family Christmas cards.

19. Make luminaries (something new we're doing this year).

20. Make a gingerbread house (got my kit back in November with a 50%off coupon at Michaels--cheap!!!)

21. Pop popcorn and watch a Christmas movie (Holiday Inn or It's a Wonderful Life have been requested, though personally, I love laughing at ones like Christmas Vacation and A Christmas Story).

22. Make ornaments (we usually make them for friends/neighbors and tie them to packages).

23. Learn about Saint Nicholas

24. Read the Christmas story from Luke's gospel.

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I think I did okay from memory, but of course I added Christmas cookies three times! (smile!)

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A friend sent me a link to an AWESOME blog called The Idea Room and her Advent ideas post was great. I can't wait to go back and read more of her stuff. Go check it out! (Thanks, Michelle!)

Muffin Tin Advent Calendar

Look what I made!
I think it turned out SUPER cute. The best part was that it cost practically nothing since I had all the ribbon and magnet sheets and scrapbook paper/cutouts. I only had to buy the muffin tin--$4.50 at Walmart.

Here's a link with directions. I opted not to put numbers on mine, mainly because I didn't have enough number stickers! I was also going to paint the tin, but I decided at the last minute not to. I think it looks fine as is.

I hot-glued some rings to the back of the tin and tied different ribbons to it to jazz it up a little. Then I hot-glued the wide grosgrain ribbon so I could hang it. I hope it holds!

Here's a link to another one I found that I thought was cute too!

Let me know if you want more detailed instructions. I didn't follow the ones on that link exactly.

I can't wait to start using it! I think I told you that I'm going to fill the cups with family activities each day. I have a partial list, but John and I are going to finish our list (24 things is a lot to come up with!) on our long road trip this week. I'm sure you'll hear about some of 'em!

Another pic for you!

Been thinking about Advent...

Did you know that Advent begins two weeks from Sunday?

If I'm going to be intentional about celebrating this season with my family then I need to be on the ball, especially since we're going to be traveling for Thanskgiving. It's so easy for my good intentions to get lost in those busy days between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

So....

I did a little bit of research and planning yesterday afternoon, triggered in part by a book I checked out from the library last week. The book is The Adventure of Christmas: Helping Children Find Jesus in our Holiday Traditions by Lisa Whelchel.

Let me back up and little and explain a little of what Advent is. It's easy to assume we all know and understand, but that's often not the case. Advent is the season on the Christian calendar that precedes Christmas. It begins four Sundays before Christmas and is basically a time of preparation and expectant waiting for the birth of Christ. As believers in Jesus, we re-tell and remember the stories surrounding Christ's birth, and we look for his second coming. I believe it's also a season to reflect on Emmanuel, God with us, in our day-to-day lives.

One way our family celebrates is by using an Advent wreath. Here's a pic of ours that I took last year.
Every night before dinner, we light the appropriate candles--one each week, and the middle one on Christmas. I have a small booklet that a friend gave me that has scripture readings for each week. There are responsive readings too, and we usually learn a new one each week to say at dinner each night as we light the candle.

An Advent wreath doesn't have to be fancy. I bought cheap candleholders at the thrift store one year and then bought a circular garland (above) at Michael's--with a 50%off coupon. The traditional candles are purple (3) and pink (1) but I've had a hard time finding those colors some years, so I just go with whatever I have (or whatever matches my kitchen decor).

If you do a google search, you can find tons of info about Advent wreaths--including how to make them, how to use them, what each candle represents, and the history of the tradition. I like that our wreath is the centerpiece on our table and a constant visual reminder of what the season is all about.

I referred to Advent earlier as a season of expectant waiting? I don't know very many people who enjoy waiting, do you?

An Advent calendar makes waiting a little easier for children. They can be simple or elaborate. Here's one we've had since Will was a baby.

Each day leading up to Christmas, my kids pull an ornament from the pocket and hang it on the tree. They love it. They also love these chocolate Advent calendars. I bought them each one at Trader Joe's last year for $1/each, and I plan to buy more this year!


Remember when I said I was feeling crafty but didn't know what I wanted to make? Well, I found an idea! I bought the stuff today to make an Advent calendar like this one. (This link is SO worth clicking on!!!) I haven't decided what to put inside for each day, but I'm sure that it won't be candy. I want to do something different. More along the lines of "presence" than "presents".

Some of my ideas include things like:

• Make cookies and deliver some to neighbors
• Make a Christmas ornament
• Scripture verses (like ones that go along with each week's Advent candle)
• Make a Christmas craft
• Buy a gift for a child in need
• Watch a Christmas movie
• String popcorn for the tree
• Sing your favorite Christmas carol at dinner
• Make a gingerbread house
• Go to a Christmas concert

You get the idea! My goal is to make time to do something together each day. Please feel free to add to my list!

I also just love, love, LOVE this video. Actually, I'm sharing two. They're both fabulous. If you have time, watch them both...because it shows what a difference we can make if we consumed less and gave more!!!

This one is from last year:

And this one was just released:

I mentioned this book at the beginning of this post and it has some good craft and recipe ideas for kids. I love that it explains the history behind some of our traditions--Christmas trees, lights, gifts, etc, and gives you ideas for weaving faith discussions into things you probably already do. I also pulled out a few new ideas I want to try this year.

Here's a couple more of our favorite Advent/Christmas traditions. It's hard for me to write a post about Advent and not mention John's book. We intend to read through it as a family this season! You have no idea how excited I am about that!

I strongly believe that before we step into the season of Advent, we need to celebrate Thanksgiving and be reminded of how much we have to be grateful for. That's why it feels a little weird to post this today. BUT...more than anything, I desire Advent to be reflective, calm, and focused. And for me, none of that happens without some planning and some intentional living. So...I've been thinking along those lines this weekend.

Wanna share your Advent ideas, traditions, or intentions? I'd love to hear them!