First off, a big congratulations to Barbara who won the Hodson Mill giveaway! Thanks so much to everyone who entered and I’d love to let you all win. But hopefully I’ll be back with some new awesome giveaway before long. 😉

Every year, it feels like stores and the media start pushing Christmas on people just a bit earlier. And I can understand that retail locations sometimes have to start selling their Christmas stuff early because they simply have no more space to store it…and that it helps to get people to increase their spending when you remind them more fequently that the holidays are coming. But all of this pushing of Christmas cheer often ends up with most of us dreading the approaching holiday or just wanting it to be over already so the Christmas music will stop playing everywhere you go.

Although the time from Thanksgiving to Christmas has always been one of my favorite times of year, I also sometimes find myself falling into the commercial trap and failing to find my true Christmas spirit. When you have kids in the house, it’s definitely easier to get more in the mood for the holidays because they just get so excited about all of it. But the last thing I want to do is create a situation where Mackenzie just looks forward to getting presents every year, and the actual reason behind the season goes totally overlooked.

By that, I of course mean the birth of Jesus and the entire story of Christianity that goes along with it. One of the few things that we have yet to buy for ourselves is a nativity scene (and they have some really gorgeous ones here in Germany) which was always one of the things I loved about our decorations growing up.

Now to be honest, I would love to be more crafty and to dream up something like putting together fun little activities to do with Mackenzie — and especially during the advent season that help bring meaning into this whole Christmas season. But I just don’t have the time or energy for that. Thankfully, that’s no longer a big issue! The oh so fabulous Amanda of Oh Amanda and Impress Your Kids has done all of the hard work for you, and packed it in a super cute ebook called Truth in the Tinsel.

Truth in the Tinsel is the perfect way to step away from the holiday craziness and spend 15 or 30 minutes each day teaching the special child in your life about Jesus, while also putting together some really cute homemade ornaments for your Christmas tree. If you’ve ever struggled through advent days thinking about what to give your child that doesn’t involve candy or spending a fortune on little gifts (that are mostly junk anyway), this ebook is perfect for you. It allows you to refocus on spending some quality time with your little ones while also teaching them something about Christmas and God.

There is one scripture, ornament instruction sheet and some talking points for each day of advent (so 24 little activities) and I’m willing to guess that you have all of the materials at home already (or at least things you can improvise). There’s also a great overall listing of what you need to complete all 24 activities plus a day by day listing of materials, and a few great templates for those things you have to cut out (so you also don’t need to be an artist to make this work). Amanda has also included colored templates of little cards or chain links so that you can add these activities into your existing advent calendar at home or create the paper chain if you prefer.

Today I did the first two days of activities with Mackenzie and she LOVED it. Although she wouldn’t let me read her the scripture or talk while we were doing any of it. But she was completely enthralled to be making ornaments even though we don’t have a tree (since we’re spending the holiday in Florida).

Painting the TP-roll crown we created today

The activities are definitely perfect for 3-year olds but it was written for two kids which are now 3 and 5 years old. And it was created when the oldest was only a year old. Obviously if your kids are smaller, you’ll be doing a lot more of the craft stuff yourself — but I think that just about any kid that enjoys crafts can find pleasure in doing this, especially of elementary school ages.

If you’d like to get a free page to check out just how fabulous the ebook is, hop over to the Truth in the Tinsel website and tell your friends about it.

Truth in the Tinsel is currently available for just $4.99 but the lessons it will help you teach and the time you get to share with your kids will last for a lifetime.