Advent

I have mentioned many times that our house is small. And that means that we have worked hard to make each space in our home purposeful as well as beautiful. Its a work in progress. But recently, I decided that our hearth should also be our spiritual and emotional heart of our home.

When we first moved here, I made out a Feng Shui map of our floor plan and the heart or emotional center of the house really did line up with the fireplace! So our religious and seasonal displays will remain here at our fireplace. Its a great center for celebrating our life changes, growth, and the cycles of the year.

For now, Advent.

Our Hearth ~ The Heart of Our Home

Stockings 'hanging to dry' on the eve of St. Nicholas' feastday.

Morning found the stockings filled with golden chocolate coins and a few inexpensive stocking stuffers. The children also enjoyed passing out gold coins at their book club the next day!



Little 'flags' with the story of St. Nicholas.

I read to the children stories of the life of St. Nicholas, while they identified the different illustrations on the flags hung from the mantle. I made these with charming illustrations credited to Elisabeth Ivanovsky.

From top to bottom~ an icon of St. Nicholas, Advent Candles,
and flags with scenes of the life of St. Nicholas.

For reasons I cannot explain, I picked out pink candles for Advent, and a purple one for Christmas. I really dont know what to say. Walmart makes me crazy. We got them home and I was just like, "What was I thinking?" But then I decided that its really all OK. We know its Advent, even if I did get the colors wonky! So there are four pink candles for Advent, and a purple one for Christmas day. Next to the candles is a beautiful statue that my sister brought back from Haiti while on a medical mission. It reminds me of Our Mother and the baby Jesus. Perfect.

Above, the icon of St. Nicholas is simply printed, laminated and placed on scrapbook paper.

More chocolate!

A friend brought the children chocolate Advent calendars, which have been thouroughly enjoyed!