Advent Idea Box: Day 10

Advent

Isaiah 9:6-7 tells us that Mighty God, Everlasting Father will be born as a boy-child in the line of David.

John 1:1-3, and 14 tell us that the Word was God and the Word became flesh. Luke 3:23-38 gives His lineage.

Jesse Tree

Today's verse tells of Jacob's name being changed to Israel:

Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome." - Genesis 32:28

That's a lot of story to sum up with our children, but very interesting! A simple drawing of a ladder makes a nice ornament for today. If you are making ornaments, today would be a fun day for children to tie or glue a small ladder out of sticks or toothpicks.

To Explore

Christmas Ornaments!
The earliest known Christmas ornaments came from Scandinavia and they came in the form of stars, angels, etc. fashioned out of straw. The first known ornaments placed on evergreen trees were fruit, as the trees were used on the feast day of Adam and Eve. They were known as Paradise trees and represented both a tree of sin and a tree of life. Eventually, decorations included fruits and nuts and then other foods such as berries and cookies. Paper ornaments developed and became quite intricate. Ornaments were not created commercially until the 1800's. Glass ornaments originated in Lauscha, Germany. F.W. Woolworth imported these ornaments into the U.S. in the 1890's. Dresden, Germany gained notoriety for their embossed paper ornaments.

Pickle Ornaments began as a fun game that rewarded the most observant child. Whichever child finds the pickle ornament first gets a special gift from St. Nick. Though the majority of pickle ornaments come from Lauscha, it isn't a common German tradition and no one seems to know for sure how the tradition began.

Christmas Around the World

There are so many wonderful traditions that come from Germany, they really deserve another day to explore.

To read even more about Christmas in Germany, visit:

Everything About Germany

The Holiday Spot

Virtual walk through Germany
Mr. Donn's geography lesson plans

To wish a Merry Christmas in German, shout "Frohe Weihnacht!"

Hands On

String cranberries and popcorn!
Make Paper Baubles with this great tutorial.

Slice oranges thinly, dehydrate them (or bake low and slow on parchment,) and string with cinnamon sticks for a nice homemade ornament.

Applesauce Ornaments

hip2save

Make a paper ornament with Jan Brett

Sweater or Felt scrap ornament

alphamom

Try your hands at sewing ornaments from felt.

More felt birdie ornaments.

Family Monogram ornaments.

sayyes

Paint stray puzzle pieces green and glue them into a wreath shape. Dot on some red paint for holly berries. Tie your puzzle wreath up with a ribbon to hang from the tree.

Try this video tutorial to learn how to make easy and delicious smelling Orange Pomanders.

Holiday Card Ornaments

C.R.A.F.T.

My family's favorite homemade decorations yet are the paper star ornaments that we purchased last year from Hobby Lob$.5by for about 0 apiece. We all sat down at the table together with a stack of magazines and cut out our favorite pictures and designs to mod-podge onto our stars. Everyone ended up with ornaments that reflected their unique personalities. For example, my youngest covered hers in ladybugs, one son covered his in pictures of candy, and my computer-tech husband covered his in pictures of computer parts from his computer magazines. I used Gooseberry Patch catalogs to cut out old Christmas card drawings. True keepsakes!