Handmade for Christmas

I hope you have really been enjoying this holiday season! I certainly have been, especially the relaxing because we are off work for two full weeks 😊

And now that all of the Christmas presents have been opened, I can share the things I've been working on!

First up, I embroidered 3 dragonflies for my mom. They're all done with only backstitching, which I found to be soooo relaxing. The pattern is from I Heart Stitch Art.

I stitched all three of them using Aurifil 12 wt thread, in colours 2784, 2720 and 5005. I loved them all!

Every Christmas I make each of my boys a special ornament that reflects their year in some way. You can see previous years' ornaments here.

Aiden is still all about music this year. He played in a music festival during the summer, called The Gathering. He and some friends were the band for a local musician and it was Aiden's first time playing at something other than school or church.

This was Zachary's most-used phrase all year long! He has always been an avid reader, but it was really pronounced this year as he'd come every couple of days and ask if we knew of anything else he could read 😊

Around this time last year, Nathan started walking with a man who walks his beagle, Gertie, past our house most days. They walked together throughout the whole year and Nathan even went with Shaun on the bus he drives a couple of times. Now he considers Shaun to be one of his best friends. This cute beagle pattern is by Lucie Heaton.

I made two of these cute "joy" signs, one for me and one for a friend. It's my adaptation of a tutorial by Ashley of Make It & Love It. I used a canvas and painted my letters, rather than using metal letters and boards for the background like she did. I was pleased with how it turned out, and it was much faster than making a quilt, lol!

And last is this cross stitch I made for my husband. As soon as I saw the pattern, I knew I had to make it for him! It was really hard to find time to stitch it secretly, but I managed to get it done 😊 I gave it to him unframed and he'll pick out the frame himself.

For the record, cross stitching on black fabric is nearly impossible! I needed to have a white piece of paper on my lap all the time, and sometimes I even needed a light under the paper, in order to be able to see the holes in the fabric.

The pattern is by Lucy Smith of Crazzzy Stitch.

Phew! With all that hand stitching, plus the fidget blankets I made, I ran out of time to make the ornaments I planned to make. Of course, that could have been solved if I had made all of my ornaments in time for the blog hop back in July, but oh well. Maybe next year!

Did you make any gifts this year? Or did you run out of time and not make something you planned to make?

Advent 2017 - Love

Devotion for the Week...

It's the last Sunday of Advent!! I decided to post this week's devotion a day early so that it is published during Advent (the lead-up to Christmas) rather than on Christmas Day itself. So far this year, we have looked at the hope, peace and joy we have because of Jesus. Today we are looking at love.

When we love someone, we often sacrifice things for that person. Maybe we sacrifice time doing something we want to do in order to do something they want to do. Or maybe we don't buy something we want because we need that money in order to buy something they need or want.

If you are a parent, you understand this concept of sacrifice quite well. For our kids we give up everything from nights of unbroken sleep to the keys to the car, depending on the age of our kids. We give up hours and hours of our time to help with homework or taxi them to the places they want to go. We buy them new jeans every couple of months because their legs just.won't.stop.growing and we can't have them walking around with their ankles showing.

Now, just for a moment, think about what Jesus sacrificed in order to be born in Bethlehem. Paul wrote, "In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness" (Philippians 2:5-7). Think about this for a moment: Jesus was not limited by a human body until he came to earth for us.

Imagine what it would be like to never be limited by fatigue, hunger, thirst, pain or sickness. That is just part of what Jesus gave up to come here.

I have been sick with a head cold all this past week. It has been driving me crazy because there are so many things I want or need to do, but I just haven't had the energy to do much. Then it hit me: Jesus probably suffered head colds while He was here.

We don't often think about Him putting up with the problems caused by sickness, but I can't see how He would have avoided it for all of His 33 years.

Sure, a head cold is a small thing to put up with. But Jesus left heaven, where there is no sickness, pain, death or crying, and came here to earth where He had to deal with all of those things.

Why?

Because He loves us.

So in your worst moments, when you feel lonely or like no one cares, know this: Jesus loves you. He loves you enough to have given up all of heaven and to have taken on all the infirmities of these human bodies, just so He could come and save you.

That is the true reason for this Christmas season!