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Sunday, December 27, 2009

Memorabilia Christmas Tree

Here's my Christmas tree. Every year I make additional pictures to hang on it. One day the pictures are going to completely cover the tree and I'll need a bigger one! My tree is kind of scraggly but I love it! It's like a scrapbook and I enjoy looking at the pictures one by one as I hang it up. I especially love the pictures of the kids when they were small- so cute!

It's easy to make your own memorabilia Christmas tree. I'm sure you have materials in your home you can use. What's fun is if you let the kids create their very own keepsakes! Basic materials needed are: scissors, colored paper, glue, string and of course the picture! This is the easiest one to make. Just cut out different shapes from colored paper (Christmas trees, stars, houses, even a simple square!) then decorate it. You can either glue the picture in front or make a hole and attach the picture to the back.
It would be nice to put some details at the back, like the date the picture was taken, and who made the frame and when. Another great thing to put is a blessing for the year so that your pictures will be like prayers of praise to God and a great gift for the birthday celebrant!
Of course there are a lot of scrapbooking materials you can use for this project. I like making a basic frame out of cardboard and covering it up with either cloth or paper, then decorating it with printed paper or cut outs. I've also use tongue depressors to make a frame, painted it and used rubber stamps to decorate it.
Above see one of my favorites- I pasted red cloth on cardstock, cut out an oval frame, then embroidered it and added cloth squares. Of course, what makes it my favorite is the little boy in the center! He's in a traditional filipino costume. This tree will start many a conversation and it's particularly nice to decorate the tree with pictures of grandparents and us parents when WE were young!
Here's a picture of my mom and my sister. If your pictures are too precious to cut up, it's best to duplicate it and cut up the duplicates!

If you're the type who hates trees that aren't color coordinated, you can also coordinate the colors of your frames like my sister Meldy did. She used red and black cardstock, put black and white pictures, added red shiny embellishments on her tree. Hers is a more formal version that fits her well put together house! I should have taken a picture of the tree but you can see a bit of it behind my Christmas family photo which I'll probably add to my tree next year!

Thank you, dear friends, for journeying with us. We are so thankful that God, the Giver of every good gift, has shown us His love and faithfulness through you. May we continue to be people of hope and blessing together, a sign of God’s love and His Covenant.

A blessed Christmas season and a New Year filled with God’s victory and power!

Monday, December 21, 2009

Because I'm Jesus' Friend


I was looking through the files of my old website on Geocities and I came across this entry from February 13, 1999. I asked my 4-year old son, Josh, why he was so cute. His answer? "Because I'm Jesus' friend." He left to do something and recited softly to himself, "Yes, I'm Jesus' friend, yes, I'm Jesus' friend..." If only we are as sure of why we are so blessed. If only we knew that we are infinitely loved by our Father who is so full of compassion that He voluntarily left His beautiful home to become like us. Mother Teresa is one person who really knew the Father, I think. That's why she had no fear for herself, she did not need to protect herself, provide for her needs. She was so confident of God's love and provision that she was free to think of others. May the Lord gift us this Holy Season with this confidence which only He can give!