Our church has a wonderful group of women who enjoy spending time together.  We always have a fun and encouraging time together, whether for Bible study, outreach planning and preparation, a party or a meal.  We were recently given a beautiful compliment.  A visitor to our church said that if she were to describe our church in one word, it would be ‘fellowship’.  She said she could tell that everyone truly loved one another.  Wow…that was great to hear!

Christmas is a wonderful time to reach out into the community, so we thought a Christmas crafting party would be a great opportunity to engage with neighbours and friends.

Our project was a wood Christmas sign.  We wanted each one to be unique just like the women who would make them.  We decided it would be profitable to have the base work done, so there would be plenty of time to decorate our projects.  Three ladies joined me in sanding, painting and staining some boards generously donated by a man from our sending church.  We had a hoot, and some great discussions.

Later, I made up a few sample signs to give the ladies some concrete ideas, which were given as door prizes, along with some cute Christmas-y mason jar mugs filled with chocolate kisses.  I also had a few pictures from Pinterest for inspiration.

We had a wonderful night celebrating the Christmas season and enjoying good company, and of course, lots of treats!  We served a few festive drinks, the requisite tea and coffee, and as a special treat, we set up a hot cocoa bar.  We made up hot chocolate and kept it warm in the crock pot.  We had a few toppings to jazz it up:  marshmallows (of course!), chopped milk chocolate (because it’s never enough chocolate!), candy cane stirrers, whipped cream, chocolate and caramel syrup for drizzling, sprinkles to make it more festive and for a decadent touch–sea salt.  When I got home, my cl boy couldn’t wait to make his own concoction with the leftovers–layers and layers of marshmallows, whipped cream and crushed candy canes.

I made this sign (click to download pdf) that you are free to use:

We set up ‘shopping stations’ for the boards and decorations, as well as a work station to pick up paint brushes, paint, glue and other necessities.  I also printed out Christmas words (like joy, peace on earth, noel, merry and bright) in fun fonts to trace, in case some felt unsure about their writing skills.

It was great to see how each woman incorporated her own ideas, even if she used one of the inspiration pieces to get started.  I think everyone was happy with her work, and most of all, I suspect each one enjoyed the night out with some very special ladies!

I’m linking up on:
Merry Monday #182
Happiness is Homemade #195
Home Matters #163

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