Instructions: 25 Days of Christ Ornament Advent

Items Needed:

• Ornament Kit 
• Hot Glue Gun/Hot Glue (not included)
• Paint (not included)
• Paintbrushes (not included)
• Scissors (not included)
• Twine/String (not included)
• Website: http://25daysofchrist.com/pages/the-twenty-five-days  **Note that some of our ornaments are different than the ones listed on the website.  Follow the list below and still use the same scriptures, stories, quotes, etc. from the website.**

THE FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS GO IN ORDER OF THE ORNAMENTS:

Unless otherwise stated, twine/string used to hang the ornaments should be cut between 4-5 inches.

DAY 1: Star (The Birth of Christ)

• Paint star, if desired.
• Hot glue ends of 4 inch twine/string for ornament hanger on the back.

DAY 2: Shepherd (Announcement to the Shepherds)

• Paint head and body of Shepherd.
• Once dry, draw eyes and mouth on with fine tip sharpie.
• Cut a piece of linen 2 1/2 x 1 1/4 inches.  Drape fabric over shepherd's head, securing with hot glue.  If needed, trim linen.
• In folds of linen in back, hot glue string/twine for ornament hanger.
• Wrap thin brown ribbon (4 inches) around head of shepherd and hot glue into place.
• Hot glue wire shepherd's crook onto the front of shepherd with a small dot of hot glue.

DAY 3: Wise Men (The Three Wise Men)

• Paint Wise Men ornament, if desired.
• Tie twine/string for ornament hanger using hole drilled in ornament.

DAY 4: Scroll (Boy Jesus in the Temple)

• With hot glue, attach one dowel to a piece of linen (approximately 2x3 inches), making sure the dowel sticks out on both sides.  Roll a couple of times, gluing in place.
• Attach other dowel at other end of linen.
• Glue twine/string for ornament hanger in the middle of the back of one of the dowels.

DAY 5: Dove (Baptism of Jesus Christ)

• Using dove template, trace and cut out two doves out of stiff white felt.
• Match the doves up and hot glue string/twine in as you glue body & head together, leaving the wings unglued.
• Crease and fold down the wings.
• Add a dot for an eye with a fine tip sharpie, if desired.

DAY 6: Fish in Net (Fishers of Men)

• Place 3 fish beads in middle of square of net.  
• Bunch net around fish and tie off with twine/string.
• Either use excess twine from tying net for ornament hanger, or hot glue another piece of twine/string as an ornament hanger.

DAY 7: Candle (Sermon on the Mount)

• Tie/Hot Glue twine/string for ornament hanger onto candle (in between flame and candle top).

DAY 8: Boat (Stilling the Storm)

• Paint boat, if desired.
• Using templates, cut out 2 small sails and one bigger sail out of stiff white felt. 
• Measure and cut off 2 1/2 inches of skewer and hot glue it into the pre-drilled hole in top of the boat.
• Making sure to keep the top of the skewer inside the sails, glue it in between the two small sails also inserting the string/twin for the ornament hanger.  
• Hot glue the bigger sail onto the front of the smaller sails, overlapping. (See picture)

DAY 9: Basket with Bread & Fish (Feeds the 5,000)

• Paint bread and fish desired colors.  Add eye to fish with a sharpie, if desired.
• Place bread and fish in pot and hot glue in place, if you want them to not be able to be removed.
• Hot glue string/twine on back of basket for ornament hanger.

DAY 10: Foot (Walking on the Water)

• Paint Foot, if desired.
• Tie/Hot Glue string/twine on for ornament hanger.

DAY 11: Bandaged Man (Parable of the Good Samaritan)

• Paint body and head of person.
• Draw eyes/mouth on with a sharpie.
• Cut a thin long strip of linen and hot glue it around the man's head to look like a bandage.
• Hot glue string/twine on back of man's head for ornament hanger.

DAY 12: Number 10 (The Ten Lepers)

• Paint small square desired color.  Let dry.
• Using the "10" that is cut out and glue/mod podge it onto the square.
• Hot glue string/twine on back for ornament hanger.

DAY 13: Sheep (Parable of the Lost Sheep)

• Paint Sheep desired color.
• Hot glue string/twine on back for ornament hanger.

DAY 14: Man in Stretcher (Take Up They Bed)

• Paint head and body of person.
• Draw eyes/mouth on with a sharpie.
• Break off/cut 2 pieces of skewer approximately 2 1/2 inches long.
• Cut a piece of linen approximately 2 inches by 3 inches.  Hot glue skewer onto one of the longer sides of the linen and roll once, securing with hot glue (making sure the skewer is covered in linen.
• Attach the other skewer to the other long side of the linen.
• Hot glue man lying in stretcher.
• Hot glue/tie twine/string from one end of skewer to the other on both sides, to create an ornament hanger.

DAY 15: Water Bucket (Woman at the Well)

• Cut twine to at least 12 inches and wrap around top of water bucket, then use the rest to tie/glue as an ornament hanger.

DAY 16: Gold Coin (The Widow's Mite)

• Hot glue string/twine on back for ornament hanger.

DAY 17: Rolling Pin (Mary and Martha)

• Hot glue one end of string/twine to one end of rolling pin, then attach the other end with hot glue to the other end of the rolling pin.

DAY 18: Donkey (Triumphal Entry and Cleansing the Temple)

• Paint donkey, if desired.
• Hot glue string/twine on back for ornament hanger.

DAY 19: Bowl and Cloth (The Last Supper)

• Cut 1 1/2 inch square of linen and fold in half and then arrange as desired.
• Hot glue cloth onto wooden bowl.
• Hot glue string/twine on back for ornament hanger.

DAY 20: Gift (Gethsemane)

• Paint block desired color.
• Using ribbon, tie a bow like you would on a gift.
• Hot glue string/twine under bow knot for ornament hanger.

DAY 21: Rooster (Betrayal and Denial)

• Paint rooster, if desired.
• Hot glue string/twine on back for ornament hanger.

DAY 22: Nail (Crucifixion and Burial)

• Cut string/twin at least 7 inches.
• Tie around nail, using nail head to hold the string on.
• Using excess string, tie into a loop for ornament hanger.

DAY 23: Folded Linen (Resurrection)

• Cut square of linen approximately 4 inches by 4 inches.
• Fold as many times as desired, using hot glue to secure in place.
• Hot glue twine/string as ornament hanger onto back of folded linen.

DAY 24 (Book of Mormon): Cloud (Appearance to the Nephites)

• Using template, cut out two cloud shapes from soft white felt.
• Hot glue string/twine for ornament hanger on inside of one of the cloud shapes.
• Hot glue cloud shapes together, making sure the ornament hanger is on the inside of the cloud.

DAY 24 (Bible): Heart (Road to Emmaus)

• Paint heart, if desired.
• Hot glue string/twine on back for ornament hanger.

DAY 25 (Book of Mormon): Heart (Ministry Among the Nephites)

• Paint heart, if desired.
• Hot glue string/twine on back for ornament hanger.

DAY 25 (Bible): Cloud (Ascension into Heaven)

• Using template, cut out two cloud shapes from soft white felt.
• Hot glue string/twine for ornament hanger on inside of one of the cloud shapes.
• Hot glue cloud shapes together, making sure the ornament hanger is on the inside of the cloud.

Enjoy your 25 Days of Christ Ornaments!

Instructions: Welcome Sign

Items Needed:

• 8x8 Wood Sign
• 12 Wood Tiles
• 3 Hooks
• Black Vinyl "Welcome" 
• White Vinyl Seasons Pictures, 3 each (Flowers/Butterfly, Sun/Cloud, Leaves/Tree, Snowflakes)
• Contact Paper
• Paint (not included)
• Paintbrush (not included)

STEP 1: Paint all wood pieces desired colors.  Let dry.

STEP 2: Apply welcome vinyl using contact paper as transfer tape. **This means to take the back off the contact paper and attach the sticky side to the front side of your vinyl.  Then pull the back off the vinyl and apply the image where you want it.  Then pull the contact paper off and the vinyl should be left where you want it on your board!  Click HERE to watch a video of using transfer tape (it's the same as using the contact paper, but cheaper!) for vinyl.**  Make sure that pre-drilled holes are at top.

STEP 3: Apply season pictures (one to each tile) using same method as above. 

STEP 4: Screw in hooks.

STEP 5 (At Home): Thread ribbon of your choice through pre-drilled holes at top and tie to secure.

Enjoy your Welcome Sign!

Instructions: Pumpkin Turkey Set

Items Needed:

• Wooden Turkey Pieces (5 feathers, 1 head, 1 wattle, 1 beak)
• 6 Small Metal Rods
• Scissors (not included)
• Glue/Mod Podge (not included)
• Paper (not included)
• Paint (not included)
• Paintbrush (not included)
• Sharpie (not included)

STEP 1: Paint all wood pieces desired colors.  Let dry.

STEP 2 (optional): Using your wood pieces as templates, cut out paper to fit onto each piece.  Cut them a little bit inside the lines if you want the paint color to show as a border around the paper then glue/Mod Podge them onto the painted wood, if desired.

**Mod Podge Tip: To minimize wrinkles in the paper, apply Mod Podge to wood piece or back of paper and apply and then let dry completely before applying Mod Podge on top of paper.**

STEP 3: Hot glue beak onto wattle, and wattle onto head in correct location (see picture) and draw on eyes with Sharpie.

STEP 4 (at Home): Insert metal rods into wooden pieces when ready to put into pumpkin!

Enjoy your Pumpkin Turkey Set!

Instructions: Small Wooden Manger

Items Needed:

• Pre-cut Wood Pieces (4 legs, 2 manger sides, 2 cross pieces)
• 16 Nails
• Hammer (not included)

STEP 1: Lay one manger side down, with angled edge on the table and closest to the notches in the leg pieces.  Nail two leg pieces in place, being careful not to hammer to hard.  A smaller hammer may make this easier.    **MAKE SURE YOU ARE USING THE PRE-DRILLED PILOT HOLES OR YOUR MANGER PIECES MAY SPLIT**

STEP 2: Using notches in leg pieces, slide the remaining 2 leg pieces on creating an "X" with the leg pieces on both sides.

STEP 3: Slide remaining manger side piece into place, matching up the angles.  Lay it down on the table and line up the leg pieces with the edge of the manger.

STEP 4: Nail legs into place.  Your manger should now look like the picture on the right.

STEP 5: Using 2 nails on each end, attach cross pieces to both sides of the manger.  If desired, you can sand away the edges of your cross pieces to create angles on the ends (see picture below).  

Enjoy your Small Wooden Manger!

Instructions: Kid's Holiday Paper Pack

Items Needed:

• Printouts 
• Christmas Tree Shape Match (1 Page)
• Tic-Tac-Toe Board (1 Page)
• Holiday Matching Game (2 Pages)
• Silent Night Nativity (3 Pages - Optional: You can cut out the Silent Night pictures and glue them to the back of the Silent Night Nativity, if desired)
• Nativity Story Cards (5 Pages)
• Scrap Paper Tree Kit (1 Page of White Cardstock + Strips of Holiday Paper)
• Scissors (not included)

Christmas Tree Shape Match: Cut out shapes from bottom of page and glue into place.  Can be colored before or after cutting.

Tic-Tac-Toe: Cut out game board.  Use anything fun for markers and play a game of tic-tac-toe!

Holiday Matching Game: Cut out all picture cards (there should be 2 of each one).  Place them picture side down and try to find the matches!

Silent Night Nativity: Cut out each of the Silent Night Nativity cards.  If desired, glue Silent Night cards on back of character cards. 

Nativity Story Cards: Cut out each of the Story Cards.  These match with the Silent Night Nativity cards and give a little more information on each of the pictures/parts of the Nativity story.

Scrap Paper Tree Kit: At home, use the strips and cut them to different lengths to glue onto the white cardstock provided in a Christmas tree shape.

Enjoy your Kid's Holiday Paper Pack!

Instructions: Twine Star Decoration

Items Needed:

• 1 Pack of Wood Shims (10 pieces)
• Hot Glue Gun/Hot Glue (not included)
• Thumbtacks
• 2 Rolls of Twine

UPDATE: One other option, is if you want to paint the shims before applying the twine, then you can wrap less and let the paint color show through for a more rustic look.  It looks great!  Thanks, Christy for the idea!

STEP 1: Lay 10 wood shims in a star pattern.  Make sure to arrange the shims so a thin end on one shim rests on the thick end of another shim.

STEP 2: Apply small amount of hot glue to each intersection, and then insert thumbtack to keep star shape in place.  If desired, place 2 remaining shims as more support on back of star using glue and thumbtacks.

STEP 3: **You will use a LOT of hot glue in this, so have your glue gun ready!** Starting at one of the star's points, wrap twine around frame, gluing often as you wrap.  Avoid putting too much tension on the twine.

STEP 4: Cut a piece of twine about 8 inches long and tie a loop in the center.  On the back of the star on one of the points, glue one loose end from the loop to each shim to hang the decoration.

Enjoy your Twine Star Decoration!

Instructions: Sharpie Plate

Items Needed:

• 1 Plate
• Sharpies(not included)
• Templates/Stencils, if desired (not included)
• Windex (not included)
• Paper Towels (not included)

STEP 1: Remove any labels/stickers from back of plate.  Use a little Windex on a paper towel to help, if needed.

STEP 2: Using sharpie, decorate plate as desired.  **If you make a mistake, a little Windex on a paper towel will take the design off and you can try again!  I know from experience**

STEP 3: Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  MAKE SURE IT'S COMPLETELY PREHEATED. Place decorated plate in oven for 30 minutes. 

STEP 4: Turn off oven after 30 minutes and let the plate/oven cool down COMPLETELY before removing it.  This is an important step!

STEP 5: Use your beautiful new plate, and wash as needed.

Enjoy your Sharpie Plate!