Angel Tree

we opted for church sunday morning in lieu of a candle light service on monday evening.

we have big plans for "the eve."

jon told the boys to, "smile really big."

ok.  the heart of the post.  my friend gwyn and i met last monday morning, and we both felt as though christmas was "getting away from us".  like advent was hard to keep up with, evenings were busy and time wasn't slowing down. 

so we came up with a plan.

we were talking about the passage in luke 2 where the angels fill the sky and sing to the shephards about God's glory.  that's my favorite.  the shephards are so filled with awe that they literally leave their lively hood to go see the savior.  they had to go.  who does that?  it's the best.

so i stripped our white tree, and the boys and i made a "host" of salt dough angels and stars to cover it with.  we added more lights and set a nativity at the base of it all.  under the starry angelic tree.

now you should know that i have a thing against angel paraphernalia.

i haven't done research on it, but as far as i know the angels described in the Bible are male.  3 men appeared to abraham.  gabriel and michael, both male, are named.  angel means messenger.  angels are warriors of light, and they minister to God's people. 

please know that we talked about all of this.

we did NOT make girly angels. 

boom.

salt dough ornaments (i tripled this recipe)

1/2 cup salt

1/2 cup warm water

1 cup flour

stir

knead for 10 minutes

let it rest for 40 minutes

roll it out to 1/4 inch or so

cut out shapes (don't forget a hole for a string!)

bake 2-4 hours 200 degrees

you can't mess this up.  trust me.  i tried. 

after all the ornaments were cooled, i did something i haven't let my kids do in 7 and a half years.

i let them paint.

after i stripped them down to their skivvies of course.

then this morning we strung them up.

and loaded up our tree.

cute and funky and the boys learned a bit too.

i kinda love it.  we all do actually.

there you go shephards.  stand in awe.

all the white tree's former ornaments got dumped on the green tree of randomness.

and this afternoon the boys made a petite snow fella with milk cap accoutrements.

and we spent the evening in the car looking at lights, rocking out to christmas tunes, eating mcdonald's and visiting friends with baked goods and christmas cheer.