Christmas Cards A Plenty

12 Days Until Christmas People of Earth!

Christmas cards! They are just so pretty! Glitter, beautiful landscapes and so so much more! But what do you do with them when Christmas is over? I believe there are about 3 kinds of people when it comes to Christmas cards:

1. The Sentimental 

This person has cards from when Jesus was born.  The cards are never thrown out. They have stacks and stacks of them! The cards are in a box in the closet and that is where they will be….Until the end of time.

2. The Tosser

These people look at the card read the card and then since they have looked at it and read it why should they keep it? So sad to break the news to you but your beautiful card goes to the dark Christmas Future (that’s death if you haven't seen the Christmas Carol).

3. The Crafter

This person can't let something so pretty go to waste. They will take your card and make a little box, place mats and/or new Christmas cards for next year! But I do have to say your sweet families faces is now with group number two...again sorry...

I think I fall right in the middle of 2 and 3... well and 1....but mostly 2 and 3! HA-HA! 

Now no matter where you fall in these categories I would LOVE to send YOU a special Christmas card! All you have to do is send me a facebook message (if we are friends), or email me at royalty.janell@gmail.com (if we are not friends) with your full name and address! And I'll get these pretty cards sent your way! Thats it!

Also if you are up for another little Christmas Challenge here is it.  I want you to find a pretty card and I want you to send it to someone you haven't seen or talked to in a while. Basically someone who wouldn't already get a card. It will be fun for them to receive a sweet message. I mean who doesn't like to receive a hand written card? It will totally make their day!

Don't forget to share this with your friends and to use the hash tag #janellschristmascountdown on Facebook and Instagram! 

See you tomorrow!

Not So Random Kindness

AH! 13 Days until Christmas all Day!

If you didn't know this time of year is also a time for birthdays! My brothers birthday is on Christmas Eve and my birthday is on Christmas Day. So it's extra busy but my awesome parents make it work every year.

On my 21st birthday my parents had a surprise party for me and it was one of my favorite birthdays to date. The reason it was my favorite was that a handful of my dearest friends and I followed a map (made by my parents) and did intentional random acts of kindness (already thought up) in a near by city. We did everything from singing Felize Navdaid to Chick-fil-a staff to bringing toys to the children's hospital to helping the cart man at Walmart put the carts away. It was a blast!

So day I what to give you a Christmas challenge! Go out do an random act of kindness before Christmas is over. Christmas is supposed to be about giving, caring, joy and selflessness. God gave and so should we! And I promise it's so fun!

Here are some ideas that you can do:

1. Hand out gift cards ( like $10 to a gas station, coffee shop, grocerie store etc.)
2. Give Christmas cards with an encouraging note inside to random people(ask Holy Spirit what it should say and who to give it to).
3. Give a homeless person a cozy hat, warm gloves or a thoughtful care package.
4. Make some goodies to give to law enforcement, firemen; people who serve us everyday.
5. Pay for some one's coffee or meal (this really does bless people!).
6. Ask the bell ringers if they want something hot to drink or a snack. Then go buy it and give it to them (don’t forget to put a few cents in their bucket). This is one of my favorites to do!
7. Give the person at the check-out counter a encouraging word from God.
8. Tip your waiter or waitress well above the normal rate.

The list could go on forever! Do this with your friends, family or just by yourself. Remember have fun! I promise you this is a blast! Now don't forget to do his with a smile on your face and the love of God all over you. Be genuine, love that person like crazy. 

A few rules to make this more fun : The whole point is to be kind and spread the love of Jesus. Don't give expecting something in return and don't be showy when doing it (people see right through that).


And a litttle extra tip: If you want to make this a witnessng tool go for it! Just make sure that your motive it pure love. Like don't do something kind of nice, then give them a track and say a quick "Jesus loves you" (there is a place for those). 

My point is that Jesus lives in you. If you feel like that person needs saved lead them with love to the Father right there. If they need healing don't wait for a slow song on a sunday moring. Heal them right in the resturant. If they are going through a hard time don't wait to light a candle for them. Pray right there in the coffee shop. Love them. See them. Know them. Love is powerful and true love cannot be ignored. Love is never, ever wasted. Do that, and you will see a life changed by love...and that is fail-proof witnessing.

Romans 12:9-10 "Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves."

Once you go out and do one of these or your own I would really like to hear about your experince! You can use the hash tag #janellschristmascountdown on Facebook and Instagram I'll be able to see it. Love you all! 

See you tomorrow!!!!

A Very Crafty Christmas

14 Days Until Christmas People!

I have the most creative and gifted friends on the planet! They are the ones who can actually pull off a Pinterest craft with no problem (I know for a fact that some of us just can even). One of my dear friends Madeleine is one of those super crafty amazing people. And I would love to brag on her for a second.  Look what she made me! A beautiful fox snow globe!

It's so cute...and FOXY! 

(The world wide web is full of DIYs and tutorials to make these, but I thought this one  (  http://www.classyclutter.net/2014/11/diy-mason-jar-snowglobe/ )  was really cute! )

And then last year she showed me how to make ornament wreaths! If you want a really great Christmas craft this one is one of the best in my opinion. 

Just getting started!

They are super fun and easy to make! They are worth the time and money (especially if you get a lot of your supplies at the Dollar Tree...you know 'cause everything is a dollar?). Most DIY blogs say to use glass ornaments. This works great if you hang this is a very safe place. I used plastic and was super glad I did (a house with 6 people and 2 dogs...stuff breaks and did...don't worry, easy fix!).

Aren't they lovely!

Another crafty person is my sister Janae! This year she discovered that she loves to paint with water colors.  Check out this beautiful watercolor:

Peace On Earth

Now what is super awesome about this water color is that you can win this! Just simply comment below with what your favorite Christmas craft is and you will be entered! The winner will be announced tomorrow on my blog! This giveaway is open to everyone (Yay for all of my International friends)! If you are having trouble commenting just comment on Facebook on instagram or wherever you saw the countdown picture! 

The snow globes and wreaths are a lot of fun to make! Grab a girl friend, sister, brother, husband…just go grab someone and make something together! Enjoy each others company!  Don't worry if it turns out looking like something totally different, have fun! Crank the Christmas music and put the kettle on for some hot coco!

When you make your crafts use the hash tag #janellschristmascountdown so I can see and don't forget to share!

All Wrapped Up

WOW! Just 15 days until Christmas!

Today we shall talk about wrapping! I love to wrap presents; it's a true art! Every year I always make the same lame joke:

"This white girl can't rap, but this white girl can wrap!"

Haha but for real, it's true! 

Normal families wrap their gifts, write the receivers name on them and then put the gift under the tree. Sweet, simple and trusting...and it's a total surprise on Christmas Day. Well, my family is not normal (Shocker right?). 

You see there are certain people in my house who like to solve a little mystery. They have the crazy ability to pick up their gift and guess what it is. And then to make matters worse they try and guess what's in your present. So to fix this problem my mom had to get smart. Now instead of our names there is a code on the gifts. 

You read right. Our gifts are coded. CODED. And every year the code is different. You never know whose gift it is, unless you break the code. We haven't seen the code for this year yet...however our track record isn't very good. I'm not sure we have yet to figure out one code yet (My parents are smart). But I'm totally ok with that though, I love a surprise! 

Do you have to do anything like this to keep your family out of the gifts? Have you even wrapped your gifts yet? Last year I already had my gifts wrapped...this year I'm not even done shopping yet! *Gasp!* Please share on Facebook and Instagram! Don't forget to use the hash tag #janellschristmascountdown !

See you tomorrow for more Christmas fun!

A Cozy Christmas Craft

16 Days Until Christmas!

"And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped him in cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room in the inn." Luke 2:7

Now if Mary's home town would of had a Hobby Lobby or a Walmart near by she may have stopped in and bought a crochet hook and some pretty yarn, and made Jesus a Christmas afghan on the donkey on the way to Bethlehem .

OK so probably not but had she known that a place like Hobby Lobby existed she would have.

Since Marry didn't get a chance to make one, this year I decided that I was going to make a Christmas afghan…well I was actually in the yarn aisle and the Christmas colors were calling out to me saying "Buy us! Take us home! We are beautiful!" and well...I gave into the voices...And those little yarn bundles were right! It made a lovely Christmas afghan! 

You can make one too! I followed these videos on how to make a granny square  (it's super easy I promise).

And then I used these lovely colors to create my "Cabin Christmas" afghan:

Red Heart Holiday Yarn: Aran-Gold (3)
Caron Simply Soft Party Yarn: Chocolate Sparkle (2)
Red Heart Super Saver : Hunter Green (2)
Red Heart Super Saver : Burgundy (2)

Now the wonder of the granny square is that you can create it how ever you want! I turned my squares on this one to make a diemond shape. But you can mix small squares and big squares for a really neat looking afghan! This will affect how much yarn you need to buy.

Oh and feel free to use non Christmas colors (gasp…did I say that?) too!

I'm am not a pro when it comes to this kind of stuff. That being said, I know you can do this one because I can! This is a great thing to work on when your watching a Hallmark Christmas special or waiting for your Christmas cookies to bake!

If you decide to make one post a picture of you working on it and use the hashtag #janellschristmascoundown and I'll share them here on the blog!

See you tomorrow for a sepical Christmas Challenge!

We "Belize" You a Merry Christmas Part 2!

17 days to Christmas day folks!

Our trip to Belize was so good! Like I said before this was the first time I had been on a mission trip during Christmas time. So since I had never been in December I had no idea what Christmas was like down there.

All of the stores have Christmas decorations such as lights, ornaments, all kinds of different and unique to me Christmas trees, dancing Santa's and a few other fun things. 

I loved driving in the villages at night, because a lot of homes had Christmas lights!

My Youth Christmas Party was a hit! They loved it! We had a worship service, I gave a word about what God wants for Christmas, we played a silly reindeer game (found here: http://intelligentdomestications.com/2013/12/christmas-party-games.html ).

Then I had a photo booth set up (that was one of their favorites!) and then we had Christmas goodies like Little Debbie cakes, Christmas cookies, candy canes and hot chocolate(all of which I brought with me). Then we watched the movie "Elf" in Spanish and they laughed all the way through!

One of my Friends down there said that his favorite part was the food! 

Then the next evening was the Christmas Mother Daughter Tea and that was really special! We wanted to serve and honor these woman and girls. So the whole night was us loving on them by serving them hot tea and cookies and then giving them gifts. Then we played the reindeer game again with them and it was hysterical! I think they had more fun than the youth! Then we each shared a little message that was on our hearts for them. It was really special. The woman were so touched.

Thank you all for praying for our team. We not only had a blast throwing Christmas parties but God showed up big as always in the meetings and then where ever we stopped. People were healed and divine appointments happened the whole trip. God is just so good! 

So again thank you for covering us in your prayers!

See you tomorrow, for more Christmas fun! #janellschristmascountdown

"I've Always Loved The Christmas Lights"

18 More Day Until Christmas

As a kid I can remember driving around with my family and seeing Christmas lights on the outside of the houses. As we have gotton older we rate the houses, as to which ones we liked best. As for me I love tasteful and uniformed Christmas house lights. What are your favorite kinds? At our house my mom is probably the one who loves them the most. She loves the lights on our house!  It's not just my mom though, I love them too (who do you think I get it from?)! 

There's just something about light shining in the darkness. I can't put my finger on it. There is just something about light. The Bible says that darkness can't come close to figuring out the light. Light is powerful! 

"The light shines in the darkness; and the darkness could not comperhend it." -John 1:5

As I looked at the lights this year it was like they were declaring something wonderful. I have never thought about that until now but I think they have always had a message. 

I think our lights might be saying:

"Hear Ye! Hear Ye! The Savior of the world has come to break the back of darkness! He is our King forever! Be merry and celebrate! Tell everyone you know! We are no longer slaves! Our King is here! Merry Christmas!"

Or ya know, something like that! What do your lights say? Have you even thought about it? Snap a picture of your lights post them to Facebook or Instagram with the hash tag #janellschristmascountdown and share with your friends what your lights say! I'll re-post some of my favorites here on the blog.

Every picture was taken by me 
using a timer on my camera
and sometimes I wouldn't 
make it in time!