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Friday, December 5, 2014

St. Nicholas Day is Coming!

I am so excited about celebrating St. Nicholas with the kiddos in a day. This year I have added something a little special to our tradition of small treats and holy items in their stockings. Personalized St. Nicholas Mugs! I am overly excited about these cute little mugs I painted for them. I think it will be something special we can get out every year to have their cocoa or cider in on St. Nicholas Day.  Hoping the image of this Saint who was selfless and giving, a true example of Christ's love to others will help us focus on his life and how he lived it. I'll take this teachable moment with them to point out the importance of giving rather than receiving at this special time of year.



On to the more interesting part of this post. Where can you get one of these spiffy mugs? Well I would start at the Dollar Store which is where I got the mugs and then head on over to Michaels where I bought the glass paint to paint them with. As you can see, it doesn't really need to be a masterpiece, if you need to, you could print out a simple picture of St Nicholas (I've drawn you a little template) and tape to the inside of the glass and trace over it. I would suggest getting 4 colors of paint: black, gold, red, and another primary color. The paints just squeeze out of the bottle, so there is not even a need for paint brushes or other tools.

If you get the Martha brand of glass paint after 30 minutes drying time you can pop the glasses in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes and they will be resistant to washing with soap and water I would not recommend the dishwasher for these even after firing!




 
 
 
 
And here is our little surprise all nicely laid out waiting for excited smiles and happy faces on such a fun day to celebrate. I have some gold coins in the stockings and a couple small statues of Jesus and Mary, some caramels, and lastly these cute little teddy bear heat packs.
 
 

 
 

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

It Was Giving Tuesday Yesterday

Sometimes the biggest impact you can have from a perspective of charity is giving to the little people around you. That mom who is having a hard day with tears in her eyes, the young adult lost who can't find their way, the children cold and hungry in your community, old people forgotten in the nursing homes. A smile, a dollar, $10 it doesn't have to be much! Give, because to quote our priest from last Sunday's homily, "your state of happiness, your good fortune, is incomplete if you do not give to those in need"! How powerful is that? I took me back a minute. I have much to be thankful for but I never thought of my happiness and contentment being incomplete without giving to others. I know the importance of giving, helping, sharing, but I never tied them directly to my own situation.

It was Giving Tuesday yesterday, but it's not too late to do something about it! I am helping my sister and inviting others to help her too. It is my duty to help her, I don't have to enlist anybody's help, but I am just putting this out there because she needs help and I love her. She is a precious soul that willingly suffers for others and offers her pain for those in need. She is a kind and true friend who will always listen and mighty prayer warrior who is unceasingly praying for others. She suffers immense physical ailment and because of it financial hardship from endless surgeries, medical treatments, and doctor visits. A kind friend of hers put together this fundraiser for her and I am giving and sharing it today! This is Courtney:


 
And here is the fundraiser for her: Rally For Courtney
 

Here is a picture of Courtney giving...making her
 famous pies for others like the
firefighters at the fire house and veterans at the VA!

 

Thanks for reading and maybe passing this along, if nothing else please say a prayer for her that she has the grace to carry on when she feels alone, hopeless, and is in pain.
 
 


Tuesday, December 2, 2014

3 Sundays of Giveaways

 
So we were thinking it would be something exciting and add to the anticipation of Advent by having a series of giveaways. You can enter on the facebook page: SaongJai
There is a tab there that says giveaway, just click on it and you can see
there are a few ways to enter including liking the facebook page and leaving a blog comment here.

 
 
Happy Advent!
You can also just enter the giveaway form here

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Advent Linkup

Monday, December 1, 2014

Cyber Monday Sale

 
We are offering a Cyber Monday Special! $10 Off at our Etsy shop https://www.etsy.com/shop/SaongJai with any purchase of $20 or more. Use code: CYBER and all printables are on sale today only for just $2