"O Christ The Child"

O Christ The Child

Author Unknown

You little children in whose eyes

the undimmed light of heaven

glows,

Whose dreams are bright of para-

dise,

Whose thoughts are whiter than the

snows,

From holy lips and undefiled

Breathe your soft prayers like Christ

the Child.

And you whose thinning looks are

spent

With unreturning autumn's rime,

Whose forms, like wind worn trees,

are bent

Beneath the heavy storms of time.

Take Christ the Child to be your

guide

Past the dim shoal where shadows

hide.

Oh, saving hands; oh, thou that hears

An earthly mother's lullabies,

Who sharest all our doubts and fears,

Whose bosom trembles to our sighs,

Teach us thy gospel pure and mild.

Make us like thee, O Christ the Child!

"The Partridge In A Pear Tree" Candy Cone

       I handcrafted this candy cone one Christmas for my oldest child. It is based upon the theme of the 12 days of Christmas. 

      I purchased a prefabricated half mold from a hobby store to press the intricately designed 3D flowers from Sculpey clay. The partridges were Styrofoam birds left over from a Christmas beading craft. 

      I frequently purchase discounted craft supplies after the Christmas holiday for use in some project that they were not originally intended. These supplies are sold for pennies on the dollar from hobby retailers after customers have no interest in them. 

      However, this does not mean that these items can not be upcycled to create something unique, beautiful or of sentimental value. "Usefulness" is in the eye of the beholder!

Far left, I lined the inside of the cone with gold tinsel. The handle is strung with both seed beads and faux pearl beads. Middle, the partridge is made from Syrofoam. Right, there are actually two partridges included on the cone to enhance the 3D effect.

Close up views of the details on the candy cone; these were created by combining 3D sculpted clay pieces with bright colored acrylic paints.

Four different views of the same candy cone or horn of plenty, "A Partridge In A Pear Tree."

"Ever wonder about that silly little Christmas Song. Find out why it was written and how it helped preserve the message."

Clip Art of Christmas Toys

A little girl's Christmas kittens get a surprise when the jack-in-the-box pops open!

A small boy opens his stocking to see what Santa has brought him.

Have a question about the illustration? Just type it in the comment box and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. I only publish content that is closely related to the subject, folks.

Craft An Ornament of The Baby Jesus in His Manger

Young children ages 6 and up can craft this simple ornament of the baby
 Jesus in a manger without help from an adult. If you'd like to help younger
children make a similar version, it is probably best for adults to assemble
 some of the parts in advance.

Top 1. Assemble and glue together mini craft sticks for the manger,
2. Tie on and string the gold beads for the hanger,
3. Glue the Easter grass onto the manger,
4. The finished first part of the baby Jesus in a manger ornament

This little baby Jesus ornament is crafted with the following supplies:

• white school glue
• thread
• gold beads
• Baby Jesus printable (included below)
• flesh colored construction paper
• paper grass
• brown markers or watercolor paints
• soft colored pencil in pink for subtle cheek color
• mini craft sticks

Instructions:

   For the first part of the ornament craft project students or the teacher, depending on the age of the former, needs to glue together a small manger using mini wooden craft sticks. In the first example (1.), I have shown three possible ways to assemble the manger. Glue the pieces together using white glue and let these mangers dry overnight. If you are working with very young children, I suggest assembling this part of the craft in advance for them. (ages 2-5)

   For the second step (2.), tie a thread around the back side of the manger and glue down the edge of the thread. Let this dry for a bit before stringing gold beads on to the thread. Be generous with the length of the gold hanger so that there will be plenty of room for the paper baby Jesus that will be pasted on to the manger later. After stringing the beads on to the thread tie the end to the opposite side of the manger. 

   Glue onto the front side of your ornament a bit of paper grass (3.). I used a natural color because I prefer it but you may wish to use a yellow or gold variety of Easter grass on your own version of the ornament.

   To finish the little manger (4.), students may then color the mini craft sticks with brown watercolors, markers etc... I chose to color my mangers with a fine tipped marker to imitate the grain of wood that one might find in a wooden trough.
      Open a Word Doc and swipe in the little baby printables. Alter the page settings so that you can fit multiple images onto one page before printing them out. Because I assemble so many Christmas craft kits for young children, I print and cut batches of babies out for students to color and glue in their manger ornaments.  By these means, a teacher can print 100 baby images on as little as six or seven sheets of 8 1/2 by 11 inch standard sized paper. (You will need to trim down standard sized construction paper in advance to printing.)
   I highlighted the cheeks and elbows of my baby Jesus with just a hint of blush color before pasting him onto the manger grass.

Print your little babies on many flesh colored papers. I used pale brown and mauve
colored construction papers for my samples, but you may use whatever colors you like.
You may even print these images on white paper and offer your young crafters
flesh toned markers instead.

The finished, assembled manger ornaments.

Printable baby Jesus, version 1.

Printable baby Jesus, version 2.

More Baby Jesus Crafts:

• Nativity Ornament from Grandma's Little Pearls
• Paper Quilling the Nativity
• Nativity Theme Week from Katherine Marie
• Additional reading and patterns for manger Chrismon crafts
• Baby Jesus in Manger (paper plate) Craft by meaningfulmama.com

 

Belznickles With Glittery Coats

        These small Belznickles are dressed in glittery coats of bubblegum pink, yellowware gold, and a dusky blue shade. They stand approximately six to seven inches tall and each one carries a tiny bottle brush tree. Each figure is entirely handsculpted with CelluClay; there are no two exactly alike.

A Triquetra Knot Chrismon, Cut From A Scherenscnitte

Cut a Triquetra Knot with a scherenscnitte center for your Chrismon collection.

      This Trinity Knot is designed using both the classic trinity symbol and the ancient fish motifs of early Christians. You will need to print two copies of the pattern below in order to cut and paste the version that I have photographed in color in this post. Cut one of the scherenscnitte patterns entirely from fine white linen paper.

      Then cut out the center of your second pattern to use the classic trinity symbol as a template. Trace and cut two versions of this knot from a glittery, gold paper. You will need both a front and a  back side; this Chrismon is designed to be viewed from either of it's sides.

Scherenscnitte Pattern of a Trinity Fish Knot by Kathy Grimm

More About The Holy Trinity in Art:

• Many more Holy Trinity related Chrismon patterns here

"A clip from RAPTURE an original oratorio written and produced by Darren Thomas and performed by Symphonic Art's MPAC which stands for Music & Performing Arts Chorale. Full project is available on DVD at www.rebirthtoday.org in our R-Store."

Belznickles In White

    I sculpted some of my 2012, limited edition Belznickles in snowy white Winter cloaks. Each elderly figure carries a gold tinsel feather tree and stands approximately fourteen inches tall.

    Their features were painting with acrylics and varnished with a durable, long lasting transparent enamel finish and every Belznickle's base is lined with wool felt to protect  surfaces from scratching.

More links to Belznickles:

• More Belznickles by Kathy Grimm - ornaments included
• My Belznickle Pinboard - "The Best Guide to Belznickels or Old-Fashioned Santa Caricatures
• Learn about the history behind Belznickles

These friendly Belznickles by Kathy Grimm were painted for a 2012 limited edition.