Book Page Poinsettia Ornament for your Christmas Tree

Since I was a little girl I loved the story of the 

Mexican Legend of he Poinsettia

I was so thrilled when I was able to design an ornament this year that was in the shape of one. I was able to make these in three colors. Gold, Silver and White. What do you think? Please let me know in the comments below.

According to www.appleseeds.org here is the legend:

SOME TIME AGO, I heard a lovely Christmas story about Maria, a young girl who lived on a poor family farm in a small village in Mexico. It was a custom in the village to glorify the Christmas season with special events to celebrate the birth of the Christ Child, Jesus. Everyone took part in the preparations by festively decorating the village church and the piazza in front of it. Even the children helped by making gifts to give to the Baby Jesus on Christmas Eve.

Maria wanted to make a very special gift. She had helped her mother before with the loom, so she tried, on her own, to weave a colorful blanket. But Maria was too inexperienced and the yarns became an entangled mess. Maria was heartbroken. She wanted so much to be able to march in procession with the other village children, but she had no gift to give to the Christ Child.

Finally it was Christmas Eve! The villagers gathered in the piazza. Some whispered that they thought they could hear angels singing tonight. Everyone was ready. Holding lit candles, all the villagers began to process down the aisle amid joyous music and singing.

All except for Maria, who hid in the shadows, watching with tears in her eyes as the procession to the church started.

"I don’t have a gift for the Baby Jesus," she sniffled softly. "I tried and tried to make something beautiful, but instead I ruined it."

Suddenly, Maria heard a voice. She looked up and saw only a bright star in the sky; it seemed to hover and shine over the village church. Was it this star that spoke to her?

"Maria," she heard the voice again, "The baby Jesus will love whatever you give because it comes from your heart. Love is what makes any gift special."

With that, Maria stepped out from the shadows. Nearby she noticed some tall green weeds. She rushed over and quickly filled her arms with the weeds, covering them with her manto. Then she ran swiftly to the church.

By the time she arrived, the candles were ablaze and the children were singing as they walked down the aisle carrying their gifts to the Christ Child.

Padre Francesco placed the figure of the baby Jesus in the manger, with the children’s gifts all around it.

Suddenly, Maria was scared when she saw all those people dressed in such beautiful clothes, and she was dressed so poorly. She tried to slip behind one of the big pillars, but she was too slow. Padre Francesco saw her.

"Maria, Maria," he called out. "Hurry girl, come, bring up your gift!"

Maria was terrified. She wondered, "Do I run away? Do I go forward?"

The Padre saw her apprehension and coaxed her more gently, "Maria, come up here and see the Baby Jesus. There is space left for one more gift."

Before she could think, Maria found herself walking down the main aisle of the church.

"What is Maria carrying under her manto?" the villagers whispered. "Where’s her gift?"

Padre Francesco stepped down from the altar and walked with Maria to the Christmas crèche. Maria bowed her head and said a prayer then opened her manto and let the weeds tumble out.

Voices gasped, "Look! Look at those glorious flowers!"

Startled, Maria opened her eyes. She was stunned. For each weed was now topped with a flaming, bright, red star.

And outside, too, every weed now bore a bright red star. Maria's Love had created a miracle.  

www.WhyChristmas.com also states:

The shape of the poinsettia flower and leaves are sometimes thought as a symbol of the Star of Bethlehem which led the Wise Men to Jesus. The red colored leaves symbolize the blood of Christ. The white leaves represent his purity.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday. Please leave a comment below and if you would like one of these ornaments contact +Books on Broad  or myself (see list below) and we can see what we can do.

Merry Christmas everyone!

2014 Book Page Holiday Creations:

• Poinsettia Book Page Ornament for your Christmas Tree
• Child Book Page Ornament Tutorial 
• Glass Book Page Square Shaker Ornament 
• Book Page Snowman
• Angel Wing Christmas Tree Ornament
• Table Top Christmas Trees
• Golden Star Book Page Christmas Tree Ornament

Find me on...
Facebook: Uniquely Grace
Twitter: Grace Lauer Artist @gracelauer
Instagram: @gracelauer_henna_artist
Pinterest: L. Grace Lauer

Unique Book page Snowman and Winter window display at the bookstore, Books on Broad

Isn't he just so adorable? This cute 12" tall Snowman is in Books on Broad awaiting purchase so he can go to his new home this holiday season!

He sets atop a silver metal tray with fin feathers around the bottom to mimic a new dusting of the fantastic white powder we call snow. Adorned with holly leaves and berries and his scarf and top hat he is one dapper dude for a snowman.

2014 Book Page Holiday Creations:

• Poinsettia Book Page Ornament for your Christmas Tree
• Child Book Page Ornament Tutorial 
• Glass Book Page Square Shaker Ornament 
• Book Page Snowman
• Angel Wing Christmas Tree Ornament
• Table Top Christmas Trees
• Golden Star Book Page Christmas Tree Ornament

Find me on...
Facebook: Uniquely Grace
Twitter: Grace Lauer Artist @gracelauer
Instagram: @gracelauer_henna_artist
Pinterest: L. Grace Lauer

Stunning Glass Book Page Shaker Ornaments made from "The Hobbit" and "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer"

Hello fellow book, art and craft lovers! Here I have our third new #Handcrafted design of my #bookpage #Ornaments for the #2014 #holiday #season.

#Cardinals are very special to me as they remind me of my Grandfather. I have one of these hanging on my #tree right now at home. Having them around on #Christmas reminds me he is always watching from up above. #Blessings to you all this #holiday #season. These #Ornaments can be found at  in  not far from   

Here I have our third new #Handcrafted design of my #bookpage #Ornaments for the #2014 #holiday #season. This #square #glass ornament is filled with pages from a Tom Sawyer and backed golden pages from the Hobbit, then adorned in #gold and #red embellishments and trim. There are 6 of these available in three different #designs. One has #Noel, the other has #Holly and the third has a #Cardinal on the front. Get them while they last! You can find these on #display in the front window at Books on Broad.

If you like what you see please like my page Uniquely Grace and check out Books on Broad for more info on #bookstore and #artist events in#CamdenSC.

Have a fantastic holiday season! Blessings to you!

Bookstore: Books on Broad
Artist's Page: Uniquely Grace

2014 Book Page Holiday Creations:

• Poinsettia Book Page Ornament for your Christmas Tree
• Child Book Page Ornament Tutorial 
• Glass Book Page Square Shaker Ornament 
• Book Page Snowman
• Angel Wing Christmas Tree Ornament
• Table Top Christmas Trees
• Golden Star Book Page Christmas Tree Ornament

Find me on...
Facebook: Uniquely Grace
Twitter: Grace Lauer Artist @gracelauer
Instagram: @gracelauer_henna_artist
Pinterest: L. Grace Lauer

American Flag Wreath created in honor of our country's Independance Day - Happy 4th of July!

Good Morning every one! It's the beautiful month of July! I love this month don't you? Here is a fantastic project I want to share in honor of my country's Independence Day, July 4th.

Happy 4th of July, Everyone!

 

This is a special project because my daughter made this for me (we made a second one for you!)... she is nine now. Believe it or not I only helped her measure (so we bought the correct amount of supplies) & cut. She did all the rest of the work, under my supervision. I am so proud of her! 

This item is up for sale or if you would like to order one you may contact us through our Etsy store: Uniquely Grace or on the Facebook page I have created for her items, "You are Tutu Cute". She is dedicated to dancing and has decided she would like to expand her dance education. She is creating items to sell and taking orders for not only wreaths, she also creates tutus, tutu dresses and pet tutus.

Coordinator for Party Time Tuesdays

Minecraft 3D Box Birthday Party Invitations - Custom Handmade Cards

Well my wonderful readers, it's that time of year again, my son's:

Birthday Party Time!!!

The theme this year is: MINECRAFT

Minecraft 3D Box Birthday Party Invitations (click to enlarge)

In a new state we were able to scale down the amount of invitations to only 20 this year! That is huge for this Mama, who is used to inviting upwards of 40 kids! Can you imagine? I think we even had our Harry Potter party where we allowed siblings to attend as well with almost 50 kids in attendance. YIKES!

After a very chilled out BFF only party last year my son is ready to host a bash again this year. So he choose his theme of Minecraft. If you have a child in you life who likes video games I am sure you know what this is. It reverts back to the old 16-bit graphics and is wildly popular with the gaming crowd. I don't mind him playing this game because of many reasons but my favorite thing about it is that it uses creativity. My son will sit here and build a home from the bottom up or a roller coaster or something crazy. Yup, the creativity in this game is what sold me on it.

Enough about that lets get on with the 3D Invitations! Let me know what you think in the comments below.

Minecraft 3D Box Birthday Party Invitations (click to enlarge)

As seen in the image above we used clear 6.5" square envelopes to hand out these cards. They could be mailed also they fold up so thin! How cool is that? Both the back and front of the card is the TNT graphic.

Minecraft TNT Exterior, card flattens for mailing (click to enlarge)

How does it work? Check out this 2 min video where my son, the birthday boy shows you how it works, push play and watch it in action:

Since these are double sided you can always opt to "unfold" one side relieving the inside of the box a bit more while the card is inside the envelope. But we didn't do this... thought it would be more fun to have the 3D surprise in the box when they opened it.

Option 2 on flattening the card (click to enlarge)

Once you open the card it unfolds into a box and the side flaps come down revealing the party info and characters like these here: Steve, Enderdragon, Enderman, Slime and a Zombie Pigman.

Minecraft 3D Box Birthday Party Invitations (click to enlarge)

My son helped me fussy cut out all the characters, we averaged about 100 total. Here are some close ups of the characters inside the box card. The cool thing about this is each card was different. No card had the exact same characters, which left the kids chatting about it after they were handed out. Who got what inside their invitations!

Close up #1: Enderdragon, Villager, Creeper, Blaze and Steve

Minecraft 3D Box Birthday Party Invitations (click to enlarge)

Close up #2: Enderdragon, Steve, Pig, Cow, Creeper and Ghast

Minecraft 3D Box Birthday Party Invitations (click to enlarge)

I hope you found this an interesting post. We had tons of fun making these and handing them out. There will be more post to come about the party decor, games and food.

Minecraft 3D Box Birthday Party Invitations (click to enlarge)

 Here is a list of more of my Birthday Party Invitations:

Boy Birthday Invitations:
- Harry Potter Hogwarts Invites
- Lego Bionicle Mask of Light

- Lego Starwars Light Sabers

- Iron Man Mask Brithday Party  Invites

Girl's Birthday Invitations:

- Fashion-ista Pink and Black Designer Purse

- Angelina Ballerina Birthday Party Invitations

Thank you for viewing my post today. Please leave me a comment below if you like what you see.

Coordinator for Party Time Tuesdays Challenge Blog

Henna and Homecoming - A unique expresssion

Good morning everyone. Recently I had the opportunity to make three lovely high schoolers very happy. I was able to create the Henna designs for their homecoming dance. The designs included Gemstones, Gilding and Henna.

This first young lady has a really unique design. All she requested was in infinity sign be somewhere in the design on her back. This is what she got...

 This is Light Pink Gilding and Light Pink Gemstones with Henna.

These next two were on the same young lady. However the lighting is off in the image of her back due to the room she was in. And I didn't have my good camera. Red Gilding and Black Gemstones with Henna

Hope you all have a fantastic day!

Some of my other Henna:
Henna Hands - lotus, paisley, fun
Hand and Matching Foot
Henna for Homecoming
Henna Belly Blessing (baby shower)
Special Occasion Henna and Gilding
Classic Car Henna

Dollar Store Holiday Decor - It's a Candy Can Christmas in the Kitchen

 Good Morning! Today is Dollar store Decor Day! Check out all these goodies I found at my local Dollar Tree.

 I added some candy canes and large glittered candy ornaments to this centerpiece.

These pot holders were at the Dollar Store too and I made hearts with the fake candy canes and added the glittered candy as a bow. 

Just added a glittered bow and some candy ornaments to these glass jars. 

Look at these cute towels and the heart candy ornament hanging in the middle. 

Here is the whole kitchen. I used their ribbons to hang from the tops of the cabinets with a glittered bow and some of the candy ornaments too. Topping them all off with the wrapping paper in the center of the cabinets.

Here is a close up of the cabinet decor.

 The inside of the top of the cabinets. These are Command Strips Hooks, small ones for the Christmas lights strands.

Thanks for looking! Please leave a comment below or follow my blog on the right hand column. ----->

Certified Helmar Educator

Helmar Holiday Challenge - December 2012

Welcome to the Helmar December Challenge. Well its December and Christmas is just around the corner....Have you started your Christmas plans yet? Maybe we can give you a little kick start,
This month we are going to be using an inspiration picture, a Christmas colour scheme and incorporating Numbers with lots of Helmar adhesives. Let the Image inspire you to create what ever you wish, cards, layouts, Christmas decor or advent calendars of your own...Add the colours and be sure to use Numbers somehow, and be sure to share what Helmar products helped your creation eventuate!

Just load your completed project to the Helmar Flickr page (http://www.flickr.com/groups/helmarlive/

) and add your details- before the end of the month, for your chance to win a fabulous Helmar goodie pack!
(Be sure to tell us what Helmar glue featured predominately in your creation)
Above all else, enjoy the process and Happy Helmar creating!!!

Certified Helmar Educator

Halloween Glam, a Romantic Twist on the Traditional Holiday Decor

Good day everyone!
It has been a while for me to post and today I am very excited to share with you some of my favorite Halloween decor for this season. Halloween Glam is a romantic twist on the holiday replacing orange with reds and adding chrome type silvers. A more romantic flair on the traditional Halloween decor. Here are my Halloween Glam Projects... enjoy.

One of my Skeleton Fairies. My mother in law was in town while I was crafting this window up and she helped out so much. Thank you! She actually made these wings... Fantastic aren't they!

This is just part of my display but the drunk skeletons give me a giggle.

Here I am up in the window, organizing and placing things and then showing off the fantastic colors of the parasol.

All projects were created with Helmar Adhesives.