Merry Craftmas

If you weren't hanging around my blog last December...which most of you weren't, then I strongly suggest that you go back and check out last year's posts...(all 24 of them!) they are full of stories, lessons, and crafts that you can do with your family to make the season bright for yourselves and others.

As you've read, all of the books that we are reading this Christmas are focused on GIVING of ourselves to others.  You can read our 2010 list here.

Here is the craft that we made the other day to go with the book "Why Christmas Trees Aren't Perfect" which is one of my very favorite stories from our readings last year!


In this story, all Christmas trees are perfect and hope for the day that they will be picked as the royal Christmas tree.  A tree named Small Pine starts off life perfectly beautiful and destined to become the royal Christmas tree one day.  When Small Pine allows animals in the woods to take shelter under his perfect branches, he finds that he doesn't look quite as perfect as he once did.  His branches droop where he has sheltered a rabbit.  There is a gap where he took in a bird from a storm.   What will the queen say when she sees him in this condition?  This book has such a simple, beautiful message for readers of all ages.

And this craft is quite manageable for even the youngest children.
(I assembled the trees myself and then let the kids decorate them by themselves, just for the sake of time.)

We made this adorable little felt Christmas tree by following this tutorial by That Artist Woman.  After the glued dried, we were left with such an adorable, bright little tree.  
Of course we took pictures of it...and gave it away.


You can see the craft that we did with this book last year by clicking here.