Peg Doll Nativity

I love love love kids' nativities!  I mean, I love grown-up nativities too, but who can resist all the cute little characters in kid sized awesomeness ready to be played with by tiny hands?  While I was making this set of peg doll saints and church, I decided to make my niece Violet a nativity for her first birthday, which is just a week before Christmas.

I included Baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the three Wisemen, a shepherd family, three angels, and a chunky star.  I also painted the inside of a wooden box with a lid to look like a stable and a night sky, which makes a fun place to play and then a good place to store all the pieces.

She has loved it!  My sister says that it has been one of her favorite toys for the past month.  So far, she enjoys:
-banging them on hard surfaces to make noise (there's something about heavy wooden toys that kids love)
-crawling with people in her hands- they are just the right size for little hands
-transferring the characters from one box to another and then back
-chewing on their heads, especially one lucky little shepherd boy (good thing I used non toxic paint, right?)
-putting all the people in her shopping cart and walking them around the house
-and the latest is wrapping them up in newspaper- my sister's family is moving to a new house, and after watching us wrap and pack all day, apparently Violet decided she would pack her nativity too!

I hope that this is a toy she continues to love, and eventually becomes a natural way for the grownups in her life to help her know the story of Christ's birth.  But for now, chewing and banging and wrapping are pretty fun too. ;)

Here you can see the people a little closer.  Baby Jesus needs a little manger to sleep in, but honestly, right now he is a choking hazard for my niece.  Maybe he'll get to come back next Christmas :).  I am planning on adding the sheep, camels, oxen, and donkey to her set next year, and by then she'll have to share with her baby brother, who will be here in March!

This little mini holy family was a special gift for my other sister, who is expecting her first baby in April, also a boy.  He'll get his own nativity next Christmas! :)


You can check out Monday's post about the ten Saint Peg Dolls I painted, as well as the church, vestments, and Mass kit to go along with them!

If you are interested in making your own peg dolls, I looked for supplies on several sites and at local stores, and made several purchases. These have been my favorites, and the ones I reordered as I plan to start working on the Nativity for my nephew!

In case you want to do some creating of your own:
These are the basic pegs that I worked with for both the nativity and Saints.  I was impressed with the quality, and they were a good value after I comparison shopped.  When I reordered them, I noticed the price had dropped a couple of dollars, so now might be a great time to shop!
Wood Doll Bodies - Woman 3-1/2 inch - Bag of 10
Wood Doll Bodies - Man 3-9/16 inch - Bag of 10

This time I also ordered some wooden eggs and cubes to make animals for the nativity:
Wood Blocks 1.5 Inches 
Wood Eggs 2-1/2"
2 inch wood cubes

So, have you made any peg doll projects?  What are your favorite kid friendly nativities?

Seven Quick Takes: All the Hearts and Things

~1~

Oh, it's Valentine's Day.  Here's my obligatory single girl song to tell you how I feel about that:

Some friends and I call this genre "depressingly hopeful."

~2~

Ok, ok, I'm not really sad.  Here's a better song that speaks truth about who I really am:

~3~

But for real, Valentine's Day doesn't really bother me as a single person.  Some things do, but this commercialized excuse for a martyred Saint's feast day that actually isn't on the Roman Calendar isn't really a trigger for melancholy.

~4~

Plus, who can be melancholy when you receive this bounty from your students?

~5~

Appropriately for Valentine's Day, however, my sisters and I discussed John 2 this week in our cross-country-video-chat Bible Study.  John 2=Wedding Feast at Cana.  We talked about it all while drinking some un-miraculous wine.

~6~

And speaking of weddings, my cousin accepted a fun challenge from me to embarrass herself and educate the masses about the style of bridesmaids dresses from the past couple of decades.  She is a very good sport and has three posts with some highlights from various weddings she has been a bridesmaid in.  Here is one beauty, and you can click on the pic to go read about the rest.

~7~

Typically, my Valentine's Day is a good excuse to have a girls night, which I guess I am doing this year as well.  I am watching this cutie so her mama and daddy can go on a much deserved date night.

Yay Valentine's Day!

Go visit Kelly for more quick takes!

Seven Quick Takes: Days Late and Words Short

So, these Seven Quick Takes have been resting in my draft folder for a while.  When you can't even get Quick Takes written? ... Well, I'm just going to let the pictures do most of the talking about what has been going on around here this week!

~1~

We survived celebrated another Catholic Schools Week!  But really, it was great.  And my bulletin board made the Catholic Post!

~2~

I received this pretty recipe box from my niece Violet- doesn't she have great taste for a six-week-old?  It looks lovely with my vintage spice jars and avocado Kitchen Aid mixer. 

The company that makes this recipe box only makes it in three styles.  And those styles just happen to correlate very closely to the tastes of my two sisters and I.  Steph first picked out the pale turquoise box and received it as a gift- it seriously matches her whole house.  Emily got the black and gold box from Steven (Steph) for Christmas- she is classy and timeless just like that design.  Then I get the midnight floral box from Violet (ahem, Steph).  It's all perfection.

~3~

So the snow?  It happened here, too.  In the area that I drive every week, between church and work and home, snow totals ranged from ten to two inches.  How can there be that much of a discrepancy in a local area?  Regardless, I got a pretty shot of my church when it was still snowing on Sunday.  Oh, and I also have spent a chunk of time recently helping another volunteer get a website set up for our church.  (I know, welcome to the year 2000-we are a bit behind.)

~4~

Great news- my sister Emily was accepted into a Creighton Practitioner training program!  I am so proud of her for wanting to pursue this ministry, and grateful to see how she is finding a new way to serve using the gifts God has given her.  However, the other news is that she has quite a chunk of expenses to cover up front for this training.  She has started a website to share her story and help fund raise.  Could you go give it a glance?  And maybe share it with some people you know? And if you are looking for a place to tithe to this month, she sure would appreciate you helping make this dream happen!

~5~

I love the work done by Likable Art.  (This video was my introduction to their work, and it is my fave.) Graphic design, logos, videos...I keep stumbling across their work, and think, "Gosh, I love this!" and then I realize that it is Likable Art again.  Check out these graphics of a great St. Francis Quote:

(Click on any of these images to take you to their Facebook page)

~6~

My students slightly have Fulton Sheen on the brain.  Proof?  This cookie from a 3rd grader about made their year.  My room is decorated with owls...I thought that was why they were excited.  

No, they said, "If Fulton Sheen were an owl and he was on a cookie, it would look EXACTLY like that!!!"  Ok.

~7~

And finally, snowy days have given me some time for crafting.  Valentine's Cards, ready to go.

Go visit Kelly for more Quick Takes!

Seven Quick Takes: December in Review

Hello, friends. 

This dear neglected blog has been all but forgotten for most of the month... and a while before.  I have lots of stories and projects and draft posts in the works, so let's hope that 2015 sees me back a little more often in this corner of the internet.  I'll start off right with some stories from last month!

~1~

Chronological order might make this more readable, but really, lets just go in order of importance.    Meet my niece, Violet Irene!

Proud mama and papa Stephanie and Steven welcomed this little beauty into the world on December 18th.  Watching them become parents has been so fun, inspiring, and awesome.

We are so in love with her!  Fortunately, Christmas break from school (and my generous sister and brother-in-law) have allowed me to spend most of the past two weeks with her, helping and soaking up her adorableness.  Seriously, she is the cutest.

~2~

In other news, my mom made me this manger earlier in December.  The nativity figures had been my Grandma's and I have used them for years.  I really like it because of its gold and ivory simplicity.  My mom took it upon herself to design and build this awesome manger to give the Holy Family a bit more of a home for the season. 

It has two separate rooms, a fence, a hay loft, a ladder... and the best part is that the whole thing easily comes apart and stores flat, without using any nails or screws.  St. Joseph would be proud of my brilliant mom.

~3~

My other Nativity (not nearly as beautiful) is in my classroom.  I have always regretted that because the kids are not in school during the last days leading to Christmas and the days between Christmas and Epiphany, we have never been able to move the Nativity figures around representing the events of the Christmas story.  This year I changed that a bit and had to get creative to remind the kids that Advent is about looking for Jesus.  Hence "The Wandering Wise Men" moved about our classroom every day, making mischief and teaching my students about the things around them that point to the coming of Christ.  More about these guys coming this weekend as we prepare to celebrate Epiphany.

~4~

Another memorable event at school this December was me making a complete fool of myself for a good cause.  My dear cousin/friend/former-co-worker/NCIS buddy issued me a challenge.  It started as a request to do the following hairstyle for my students.  I said no, she issued a bet involving a donation to charity, and Facebook escalated it from there.  Anyone who donated could add something to my lovely Christmas outfit.  I ended up raising $357 plus a box of canned good for the Food Pantry at the parish where I teach.

It was for a good cause, and I looked (and thanks to all of the bells, also sounded) ridiculous.  My students enjoyed the spectacle I made of myself and laughed all day.  However, one Kindergartener saw me and genuinely said, "Ooooh, you look beautiful!" :)

~5~

Back to family-

I was able to go and help S&S with Violet at their house for part of my break, and then Emily & Luke came home from Colorado and we all piled into my parents' house for one-big-family-of-eight week of joy.

It involved lots of pots of coffee, and lots and lots of cooking. 

And lots and lots and lots of adorable baby snuggling.

We have one picture of her from the week laying in her bassinet.   Steven saw it and said, "When was someone not holding her?"  It was a valid question.

~6~

Being away from my apartment for two weeks has its pro and cons, but one fun thing is stopping to get the mail and having a pile of Christmas cards waiting for me.  I have them all hung up now across the big window in my living room/kitchen.  This is the only possible perk of having vertical blinds.

~7~

And speaking of Christmas cards, I just finished and mailed mine today.  I am not sure when I am going to stop myself from making my cards each year, because I keep thinking that it is crazy, and then I do it again.  I only made 60 cards this year, because I had already given/sent/written about 60 store bought cards earlier in the season.  I do really like how this year's turned out, and if the mail works fast, many people might get them this weekend just in time for Epiphany!

I'm out of quick takes, but lets just have more more look at sweet Miss Vi.  Goodness gracious, isn't she the cutest!

Thanks, Kelly, for hosting!