Looking for a way to include the Christmas story in your Christmas celebration? Try this creative craft idea

In the chaos of getting everyone ready for church, opening gifts, preparing meals, and cleaning up the aftermath, it can be challenging to find a moment on Christmas (apart from during the church service itself) to reflect on the true meaning of the holiday: the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Last year, I came up with a craft idea that incorporates the Christmas story into our family’s celebration beyond attending the church service. May I present to you, Christmas Star Boxes.

To make these, you’ll need:

• A Bible (Bible Gateway is extremely handy in this respect)
• Origami paper (paper with patterns on both sides is ideal)
• Blank gift tags with a hole in them (you can also make your own gift tags with card stock and a one-hole punch)
• Ribbon
• One-hole punch
• Markers
• Stickers for embellishment
• Hershey Kisses (or the small wrapped candies of your choice)

To begin, I took the account of Jesus’ birth from Luke 2:1-20 and divided up the verses based on how many people were spending Christmas with us. I wrote each person’s name on one side of a gift tag (as seen in the photo above) and the verse references for the verses assigned to them on the other (as seen in the photo below) and then decorated the gift tags.

Next, I made an origami star box for each person. You can find full instructions on how to make them here, courtesy of Origami-Instructions.com. I chose this particular type of box because it reminds me of the star that the Magi sought in Matthew 2.

If you’re concerned about your origami prowess and wondering if you’ll be able to make these boxes, don’t worry. Spatial skills have never been my strong suit, and the vast majority of my origami projects have ended up in the recycling bin. Star boxes are an exception. The folding is logical and repetitive, with each side of the box requiring the same steps. Once you make your first box and get the hang of it, the rest will come quite easily.

Next, I used the one-hole punch to punch a hole in one of the pointed “arms” of each box, cut a piece of ribbon, threaded it through the hole in the arm and the hole in the gift tag, and tied the ribbon to connect the tag to the box.

Lastly, I added a few embellishments to each box (I used rhinestone stickers and punched out more holes to tie on more ribbons) and filled each box with Hershey Kisses (you can also use the small wrapped candies of your choice).

I placed these boxes on the coffee table in our living room along with other Christmas gifts, and midway through our gift opening, we took a few moments to pass around a Bible and have everyone read their assigned verses (in order) from the Christmas story. The fact that no one knows who has which verses adds an element of fun to the reading, and the candy is a sweet bonus.

If gift-opening is too chaotic a time for you to do this, you can also use the boxes as table favors and read the Christmas story before dinner, between dinner and dessert, over post-dessert coffee, etc. It’s a fun, creative, and tasty way to remind ourselves of why we celebrate this holiday after the Christmas pageant and church services are over.

Is this craft something you might do with your family? Let me know in the comments below, and please do share pictures if you try it.

– Teresa Santoski

www.teresasantoski.com

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Looking for godly encouragement geared specifically toward performers and fans? Check out Prayers for Oppa, my performer/fan devotional, which features prayers and Bible verses on Good Health, Performance Safety, Loneliness, and other topics of interest to performers and their fans. For more information, including a sample chapter and how/where to purchase, click here.