Craft An Anchored Chrismon Cross

       An anchor is a device normally made of metal, that is used to connect a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ancora, which itself comes from the Greek ἄγκυρα (ankura). The anchored cross is a symbol that stands for the Cross of Salvation that prevents the believer from being swept away into a sea or a current of worldly dangers and perilous demise. 
      The Anchored Cross, or Mariner's Cross, is a stylized cross in the shape of an anchor. It is a symbol which is shaped like a plus sign with anchor-like protrusions at the end of each arm, hence the name Anchored Cross. The symbol can be used to signify 'fresh start' or 'hope'.

 A step-by-step collection of photographs illustrating the process of crafting a papier mâché anchored Chrismon cross. 

On the far left above, is the basic stick-like structure that I wrapped and twisted newsprint around in order to construct my anchored cross. Cover the entire surface of your anchor shape with masking tape before mixing and applying the CelluClay. You will need to leave your Chrismon in the sun to dry hard. Cover one side first, let it harden, then cover the opposite side. This will take several days. 

      If you'd like a smoother surface, you can then rub a wood filler on top of your small sculpture, let it dry hard and then sand. I chose to keep my anchor rough and worn. I then added a bit of white glue and transparent glitter to my Mariner's Cross. 

      I wrapped a gold netting with gold wire around the center of the anchor and also caught up a few shells in the netting for added interest, before twisting a white and gold wired ribbon around the top for hanging.

      For this Chrismon ornament you will need to collect the following craft supplies:

• four skewers
• a discarded, cardboard, masking tape roller
• white glitter
• white paint
• gold netting
• a few shells
• fine wire
• masking tape 
• ribbon for a hanger
• CelluClay

Craft a Dove Chrismon, Symbolic of The Holy Spirit

Above is a side view of a White Chrismon Dove. This particular dove symbolizes the Holy Spirit. If I were to include a olive branch in it's mouth it would symbolize a peace dove. Both dove types are frequently found on Chrismon trees during the holiday season.

      In Christian Iconography, a dove also symbolizes the Holy Spirit, in reference to Matthew 3:16 

¹⁶ As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.

and Luke 3:22 

²² and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

where the Holy Spirit is compared to a dove at the Baptism of Jesus. 

      The early Christians in Rome incorporated into their funerary art the image of a dove carrying an olive branch, often accompanied by the word "Peace". It seems that they derived this image from the simile in the Gospels, combining it with the symbol of the olive branch, which had been used to represent peace by the Greeks and Romans. 

      The dove and olive branch also appeared in Christian images of Noah's ark. The fourth century Vulgate translated the Hebrew alay zayit (leaf of olive) in Genesis 8:11 as ramum olivae (branch of olive). By the fifth century, Augustine of Hippo wrote in On Christian Doctrine that, "perpetual peace is indicated by the olive branch (oleae ramusculo) which the dove brought with it when it returned to the ark."

      Just right are detailed photos of my masked, dove ornament taking shape. I used thin sheets of newsprint from an old telephone book to shape and masking tape to shape this little Chrismon dove. Notice at the top, I also taped into the tail, toothpicks for strength. 

      Afterwards I glued onto this little dove, a series of layered cupcake liners to form the wings, tail and body of my Chrismon. Then I shaped a simple beak from air-dry clay and glued it onto the dove. And, last, I added sequins and beads to form it's eyes. Listed below are the supplies that you will need to collect for this Chrismon ornament craft.

• masking tape
• newsprint
• white glue
• sequins and beads for eyes
• air-dry clay for the dove's beak
• toothpicks
• white cupcakes liners

      Just above, is a photo of the cupcake liners that I used for this Chrismon craft. I saved them from a package of cookies that I had consumed the night before. If you recycle the clean packaging that so much of our food stuffs are packed in, art projects such as these will cost you very little to make. All total, this project probably cost me less than a penny to craft, believe it or not.

My Holy Spirit, paper mache dove, pictured from the top and also straight on.
Note how the tissue cupcake liners are layered and fringed to give the simple
paper mache figure a feather-like appearance.

Craft The Three Nails and A Fish Chrismon

The three nails and a fish Chrismon refers to the
scripture Galations 2:20. I've hung my sample
here on my thorn bush in back of the house for
the photograph. This symbol has been around for
a long time but, it isn't as common on Chrismon
trees today.

The fish, Ichthys, combined with three nails here is symbolic for Christians being crucified with Christ, Galations 2:20.

Paul Confronts Peter
…19"For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God. 20"I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. 21"I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly." 

Supplies Needed:

• a nice selection of metallic beads
• fine wire
• skewers or toothpicks (I used large ones here)
• tin foil
• black paint
• white glue
• sequins
• scissors
• three tiny buttons
• chenille stems
• masking tape

Procedure: First you will need to clip off one end each of three skewers. Glue on top of each skewer a tiny button; it may not stick too well but this will not matter because you will then wrap the skewer and button with tin foil and a bit of glue. Set aside these homemade 'nails' to dry over night The following day wrap them together in the shape of a cross (below) with silver wire. 

      Now you will need to twist together a couple of chenille stems to form the fish. Wrap masking tape around the wire fish and then with additional wire wrap the nails and fish together as shown in the pictures below. 

      String the metallic beads and wrap these in and out of the fish shape only. Brush the nails with thinned black paint to make them look worn. Add a metallic thread for hanging.

The Fish in a Chrismon Symbol: Ichthys (also Ichthus or Ikhthus /ˈɪkθəs/), from the Koine Greek word for fish: ἰχθύς, (capitalized ΙΧΘΥΣ or ΙΧΘΥϹ) is a symbol consisting of two intersecting arcs, the ends of the right side extending beyond the meeting point so as to resemble the profile of a fish, used by early Christians as a secret Christian symbol and now known colloquially as the "sign of the fish" or the "Jesus fish."

      According to tradition, ancient Christians, during their persecution by the Roman Empire in the first few centuries after Christ, used the fish symbol to mark meeting places and tombs, or to distinguish friends from foes:

…when a Christian met a stranger in the road, the Christian sometimes drew one arc of the simple fish outline in the dirt. If the stranger drew the other arc, both believers knew they were in good company. Current bumper-sticker and business-card uses of the fish hark back to this practice. The symbol is still used today to show that the bearer is a practicing Christian.

—Christianity Today, Elesha Coffman, "Ask the Editors",

Above, I have pictured the two shapes, nail cross and fish apart and
then together to form the frame work for the Chrismon costruction.
Now I will only need to wrap beaded wire around the fish alone. You
do not need to know much of anything about beading to craft this
particular Chrismon.

      There are several other hypotheses as to why the fish was chosen. Some sources indicate that the earliest literary references came from the recommendation of Clement of Alexandria to his readers (Paedagogus, III, xi) to engrave their seals with the dove or fish. However, it can be inferred from Roman monumental sources such as the Cappella Greca and the Sacrament Chapels of the catacomb of St. Callistus that the fish symbol was known to Christians much earlier. Another probable explanation is that it is a reference to the scripture in which Jesus miraculously feeds 5,000 people with fish and bread (Matthew 14:15-21, Mark 6:30-44, Luke 9:12-17, and John 6:4-13). The ichthys may also relate to Jesus or his disciples as "fishers of men" (e.g., Mark 1:17). Tertullian, in his treatise On Baptism, makes a pun on the word, writing that "we, little fishes, after the example of our ΙΧΘΥΣ Jesus Christ, are born in water." Still another explanation could be the reference to the sign of Jonah. Just like he was in the belly of a big fish, so Christ was crucified, entombed for three days, and then rose from the dead.

Here you can see that I have glued and wrapped the end of a clipped skewer
with a button and foil in order to create my own nails. I have done this so
that my Chrismon will be lighter weight and less deadly should a little
person grab it from the Christmas tree in the church.

The Three Nails in a Chrismon Symbol: Triclavianism is the belief that three nails were used to crucify Jesus Christ. The exact number of Holy Nails has been a matter of theological debate for centuries.

      Though in the Middle Ages, the crucifixion of Christ typically depicted four nails, beginning in the thirteenth century, some Western art began to represent Christ on the cross with his feet placed one over the other and pierced with single nail. The poem Christus patiens attributed to St. Gregory Nazianzus and the writings of Nonnus and Socrates of Constantinople also speak of three nails.

      The three nails, as a symbol for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, are also used on the coats of arms of Drahovce, Slovakia, Saint Saviour, Jersey, St. Clement Parish, Ottawa and in the seal of the Society of Jesus.

      The plant Passiflora edulis (Passion fruit) was given the name by early European explorers because the flower's complex structure and pattern reminded them of symbols associated with the passion of Christ. It was said that the flower contained the lashes received by Christ, the crown of thorns, the column, the five wounds and the three nails.

George Strait sings, "Three Nails and a Cross."

Craft Baby Jesus in A Walnut Shell

The walnut split in half and spray painted gold.

      There are a number of scenarios to keep in mind when one is considering the use of an unfamiliar material in a craft project. I hope to clear a few of these up for those students who craft frequently and who also are of the mind that one's craft can potentially lead to a small but necessary profit. How does she manage to crack walnuts into perfect halves you may ask? For if you have ever attempted to do so by means of a common nut cracker, you will indeed discover that this is impossible. 

      Walnuts, as you will soon discover, are not exactly cheap and one can hardly afford to crack dozens and have only a very few of those shells be cracked exactly in half. When crafting with walnuts, always select an English Walnut not a Black Walnut. No matter how superior in flavor the Black Walnut is, it is still not the walnut that is easiest to craft with. Even though the skins of Black Walnuts do make beautiful dyes for textiles, one must avoid them altogether if you should need to crack them perfectly; the English Walnut is by far the superior prospect. Fortunately for crafters, English Walnuts are the most commonly sold in grocery stores across North America, so students will have little difficulty in acquiring these for the project below.

      As you can see from the picture above, I have split the English Walnut perfectly. As implied from the photo, it was done with the aid of a single sided razor blade. Use a hammer and a wooden chopping block to split the walnut into two perfect halves as well. This part of the process must be done by an adult.

Glue the ribbons into place prior to adding
the clay figurine.

1. Make sure your walnut is clean and dry.
2. Place the walnut in the center of a thick wooden chopping block.
3. Firmly position, by hand, the sharp end of a single sided razor blade into the natural seam or crevasse of the walnut shell.
4. Tap lightly the wrapped dull edge of the razor with a hammer until you are certain that the sharp side of the razor is fixed into the walnut's seam firmly and will not slip out during the process.
5. Then carefully hammer the blade down into the shell with a few downward strokes of the hammer.
6. You will find that this technique gets easier as you become familiar with it. However, be cautious, you can seriously injure yourself with the razor blade or hammer
7. Be sensible to use a clean razor for the project if you intend to eat the walnut meat. And by clean, I mean "never been used previously" for any other purpose before, just to be on the safe side of things. When in doubt, don't eat the walnut meat; feed it to the birds.

      After splitting your walnuts in two, make sure the outside surfaces are clean and smooth and the inside walnut meat is completely removed. Then you can line up the nut shells, smooth side up on top of newspapers and spray paint these with your choice of metallic gold or silver spray paint. As with most Chrismons, the colors of choice are traditionally gold and white, I have sprayed my versions shown above and below with gold paint.

      The next step in the assembly is to glue down the ribbons of the walnut ornament used to create the hanger. Sandwich the ribbon, wire, or gold thread (whatever you are using) between the clay and the shell of the walnut. Make sure that the hanger has been secured with glue to the shell prior to  adhering the air-dry clay figurine of the baby Jesus. This step will give the ornament a professional  appearance. (Pictured right and above.)

The baby Jesus in a walnut shell Chrismon. This particular one is made with a molded baby laying in a bed of straw. The molded piece is made with air-dry clay and is glued in place with tacky glue and then left over night to dry. I then painted it with acrylic paints and varnished it with Mod Podge. The halo was painted with gold glitter glue.

      The baby Jesus may be made either from a homemade press mold or push mold (see video here) , a purchased mold or from a tiny prefabricated baby or even a small wooden dowel. This part of the craft project will be completed according to the supplies that are available. I have linked to a wide variety of examples of the ornament below. 

      This traditional Christmas ornament craft may be turned into a Chrismon by using a gold and white color scheme and by teaching little ones the importance of celebrating the baby Jesus' birth found in the Bible, Luke Chapter 2, during the month of December.

Follow My Pinterest Board Linking to Chrismons Everywhere.

More Versions of Baby Jesus in a Walnut Shell:

• Walnut baby Jesus ornament
• Update to play nativity
• Home for Christmas
• Making baby Jesus!!
• Oh Christmas Tree...
• Unusual Christmas Ornaments
• Homemade Christmas Tree Ornaments - A Walnut Shell Manger

Entire Nativities in Walnut Shells!:

• Our miniature Nativity scene
• A world of Nativities awaits visitors at Historic Kirtland

Handmade Pearl Ornament

For this Chrismon ornament you will need to make a small press mold using Sculpey clay. I've included a video below that introduces a product that may be used in a similar fashion to my own mold. This young craft artist refers to the mold as a push mold, but the two are close enough. You will also need to purchase a 'dried' sea horse as well. You can find these in craft stores like Hobby Lobby or in small tourist centers by coastal towns.

You will need many sea shells as well; one per ornament. I choose to leave my sea shells unpainted on the back side. I prefer to leave all of the nicks and anomalies on the shells. These seem appropraite given the context of the Chrismon. People come in all shapes and sizes and we are full of scars and mistakes on the outside. However, on the inside, Jesus puts a piece of himself, The Holy Spirit, and this is one of the two original interpretations of the pearl of great price; the pearl that Christ Himself seeks in us. The second interpretation is about the pearl we seek, The Kingdom of God, that is Jesus. Jesus transforms us through the power of the Holy Spirit and so it is appropriate then that the side of the shell with the pearl could be represented as precious or if you use the second analogy a valuable kingdom would also be represented as thus. For a chrismon, gold would be a logical choice given that all chrismons are either gold or white or a combination of the two.

Make a simple hanger with gold thread in advance of molding the sea horse so that you may press it between the clay horse and the gold cord along with a little tacky glue for added strength.

Choose gold thread that is strong but also narrow. This will not change the clean appearance of the finished ornament if you should get gold spray paint on it during the process of assembly.

Cut off the excess clay after pressing and removing the molded sea creature. Use an air-dry clay for this part of the project. Air-Dry clays such as those made by Crayola are good alternatives to Sculpey for the mass production of this Crismon. However, these should be used only when gluing the objects to sturdy items like sea shells because Crayola air-dry clay is fragile and will break in time. Sculpey is much stronger but it also costs much more and it must also be baked. When you bake Sculpey it shrinks slightly thereby making it necessary to remove it from the shell to reglue. The sea horse may then break. This is why I use two separate clays for this particular Chrismon craft. The air-dry clay will not shrink as it clings to the surface of the shell and I can also apply some glue to the back of the sea horse as I position the creature on the inside of my shell's surface. Allow a good 24 hours for the sea horse to dry. Then spray paint the entire inside suface, let it dry approximately twenty minutes and glue down the faux pearl within the curvature of the sea creature's tail.

       The Parable of the Pearl (also called the Pearl of Great Price) is a parable of Jesus of Nazareth. It appears in only one of the Canonical gospels of the New Testament. According to Matthew 13:45-46 the parable illustrates the great value of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Matthew 13:45-46: King James Version (KJV)

⁴⁵ Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: ⁴⁶ Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

      This parable is generally interpreted as illustrating the great value of the Kingdom of Heaven (pearls at that time had a greater value than they do today), and thus has a similar theme to the Parable of the Hidden Treasure. John Nolland comments that it shares the notions of "good fortune and demanding action in attaining the kingdom of heaven" with that parable, but adds the notion of "diligent seeking."

This interpretation of the parable is the inspiration for a number of hymns, including the Swedish hymn Den Kos­tli­ga Pärlan (O That Pearl of Great Price!), which begins:

O that Pearl of great price! have you found it?

Is the Savior supreme in your love?

O consider it well, ere you answer,

As you hope for a welcome above.

Have you given up all for this Treasure?

Have you counted past gains as but loss?

Has your trust in yourself and your merits

Come to naught before Christ and His cross?

      An additional interpretation of the parable is that the merchant represents Christ, and the pearl represents the Church. This interpretation would give the parable a similar theme to that of the Parable of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Prodigal Son.

      The phrase "Pearl of Great Price" has also been interpreted more widely to apply to things of great value in a number of religious contexts.

      The pearl itself is a beautiful, single entity, formed through suffering in the heart of the oyster (in the same way that believers endure lack of wealth or comfort) and like the Church, will be put on display in a coming day. Unlike precious stones which must be cut and polished to reveal their clarity and beauty, the pearl is perfect as it comes from the oyster.

Kim from Oborocharm's demonstrates how to make a push mold  in her Mini Push Mold Tutorial

Follow My Pinterest Board linking to Chrismons Everywhere

Craft a Beaded Cross

    Bend some scrap wire and add your choice of beads to craft this cross for either your Chrismon or Christmas tree. I've included a simple diagram below that demonstrates how the cross shape may be bent.

      If you are thinking of making beaded crosses for a Sunday School project in December, give the children metallic chenille stems to bend into cross shapes instead of a wire that may cut through the skin of their small hands. Then hang the crosses on a Chrismon tree during a service or processional.

More Cross Chrismons to Craft:

• Cross Representations in Chrismon Ornaments
• Dennis Bratcher's articles and free cross stitch examples for Chrismons
• Olmsted Community Church's - Making Beaded Felt Chrismons pdf.

Diagram for beading a simple beaded cross.

The "Unity of the Father and Son Chrismon" 

video from RUMC Angel Workshop