Make Your Own Christmas Gifts!

Hey everyone,
I'm back! Now that it's only five days until Christmas, I thought I would share some Christmas gift ideas I have enjoyed making. Most of these are pretty quick and cheap. They turn out especially cool if you have Mod Podge glue. You can buy it for about five dollars at a craft store or at Fred Meyer.
This first one is my favorite. I love making these cool looking notebooks with scrapbook paper, magazine pictures and other things.
You will need:
- A composition book or spiral notebook (composition books work better)
- Mod Podge Glue
- Something to spread the glue with
- Scissors
- A full page picture from a magazine,a piece of scrapbook paper, or any other paper you think would be cool.


Step 1: Cut the picture or page to fit the cover of the notebook. Make sure the edge lines up with the tape binding, but does not cover it.

Step 2: Spread glue over the cover of the notebook. Place the picture carefully over the glue. Flatten out all wrinkles and bubbles.

When the picture looks right on the cover, spread another coat of Mod Podge over it. Let the Mod Podge dry for about 30 min, then your notebook is ready to use!


These notebooks make a great gift for just about anyone, but especially for teachers, friends who like to write , or evil scientists, (they can use it for a lab book!) Check out my next post for some more ways to decorate a notebook cover.
Keep on glowing in the dark,
Elora

Too Excited For Words

On the Horizon

Happy Thanksgiving! Here's another story for you.

On the Horizon

It was decided. Truth and Patience were both going to the new world. I was worried and I could tell that Mother was too. We all felt a little bit better about Patience leaving, since she would be wed to John and they would go together. Truth seemed so young, he was only seventeen. Mother kept asking him if he was sure and he kept saying he was.

“Mother,” he would say calmly, “ I feel like this is the right thing to do. It's what God is calling me to do.”

And she couldn't argue with that. In the weeks leading up to Patience's wedding and their departure, our little Dutch home was a flurry of activity. I sometimes helped Mother as she made of lovely dress for Patience.

One day, as I was doing my chores when the realization hit me. In two weeks, my older brother and sister would leave and I would never see them again. Trying to ignore the thoughts, the pain, I rushed through the rest of my chores. Then I ran into my room and began to sob.

“Why God?!!!” I screamed, “why do you want to take them away?”

A few minutes later, I felt a warm hand on my shoulder. “Purity,” my sister said softly. “Why do you have to go?”I mumbled.

“ Oh, Purity,” she sighed, “I'm going because John and I decided it was what God wanted us to do. To get away from the hustle and bustle of the world and create a community devoted to Him.”

“Yeah,” I sniffed, “But why does God want to take you away from us?”

“Take us away?” Questioned a deeper voice. It was Truth standing in my doorway. “He's not taking us away from you. The Lord is only moving where our bodies are. We'll always truly be together.”

“But I'll miss you!” I cried, and we all fell into each other's arms.

Patience looked extra beautiful as she stood with John in her dress on her wedding day. After the ceremony, people gathered in our home for a meal celebrating the couple. The two of them looked radiant together, but they had a faraway look in their eyes. Truth had it too. They were ready to go.

And the next day, they did. Everything they needed to start a new colony was already in the boats. As people filed onto the Mayflower, Mother embraced them all at least four times. Then it was time for them to board.

“ Grace and peace be with you,” Quoted Patience.

“ From God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ,” Truth finished, smiling.

And with that, they were lost in the crowd. Mother fell into Father's arms, weeping uncontrollably.

“Let's go home.” He said to her.

“I'll meet you there in a little bit,” I called after them.

Father nodded.

I sat down on the grassy slope as the boats cast off. I didn't leave as they sailed further and further away. But just as they were about to sail beyond my view, I thought I saw someone waving.

Keep on glowing in the dark,

Elora

Pictures

Here's a Thanksgiving Stoy for you. Enjoy!


Pictures
By Elora


Snip! Snip! Snip! Chrissy cut ferociously away at the small pile of photographs in her hand until they were in at least four or five pieces. Then, she scattered the glossy clippings all over the floor of the room. Not her room, just a room. Her room was back in her house which was in Kansas.
The girl stared glumly at the Oregon rain coming down outside her window. Chrissy missed the rolling golden fields of home. What good were pictures if she couldn’t have the real thing?
Scooping the remnants of her memories into a pile, she stood and stretched out her legs. As soon as she left the room they said was hers, a smell wafted to her nose. It made her sick. This couldn’t be Thanksgiving Day. Not here, it wasn’t right! That was only for the small, light green house in Kansas. Stomping back up the stairs, Chrissy retreated to the room to lose herself in a book.
It worked! She almost forgot that she wasn’t in Kansas. Halfway through her favorite Thanksgiving tale, she heard her mom call.
“Chrissy, come down for the Thanksgiving picture.”
Chrissy cringed. Here? Now? Where will we take it? Who will take it?
The questions flashed through her mind. There was no use in arguing, though, so she sullenly marched down the stairs. The Campbell family gathered around the small fireplace of their new home.
Chrissy sighed and admitted her feelings, “I don’t really want to do the picture this year.”
“But Chrissy,” her dad replied, shocked, “you’ve always wanted to be a part of it. Besides, it wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without it.”
Indignation welled up within her, “Yeah!” She exclaimed, “Well it’s not Thanksgiving without the old fireplace either! Or without Aunt Riana and Uncle Luke! And especially when we’re not in Kansas!”
With that, she stormed upstairs and flopped onto her mattress. Sobs shook her body. Nothing was right. She started to reach for the past pictures, but then she remembered and looked down at the last thirteen Thanksgivings in pieces on the floor. She wished she hadn’t done it, but she had.
A few minutes later her mom walked in and sat on the bed next to her.
“It’s all so different, Mom!” Chrissy moaned, “how can we celebrate Thanksgiving like this?”
“Is it really that different, Chrissy?” Her mom asked gently, “We’re still taking our picture, and we’re still making all the same foods. Most importantly, we’re still together as a family to give thanks to God.”
“But Aunt Riana and Uncle Luke won’t be here,” Chrissy argued.
“Not physically, no, but they’re with us in spirit. God’s followers are never truly apart.”
Then she looked down, “Oh, Chrissy!” She gasped, “Why did you do it?”
“I’m sorry, Ma,” she cried, “I was just so mad and I wasn’t thinking straight! I really wish I hadn’t!”
“It’s okay,” her mother said calmly, “we can try to tape them back together. But for now, let’s go back downstairs and make some new memories!”
So, they went back down to the fireplace and gathered around it. A neighbor, Mr. Henlier came and took four pictures with their old, black camera. One each for Chrissy and her brother, Jake, one for their parents and one to mail to Aunt Riana and Uncle Luke back in Kansas.
At dinner that night, they laughed and talked about their goofy memories. Like when Uncle Luke had tried to carve the turkey and ended up cutting the table. Or when Dad had been spinning Jake around and accidentally launched him out the open door and into Aunt Riana.
The night turned out to be one of Chrissy’s favorites.
Two weeks later, when the pictures were ready, she and her mom went to the corner store and bought a small picture book. In it, Chrissy put the thirteen taped-together Thanksgivings and the new one they had shared in their new home.

Keep on glowing in the dark,
Elora

Can You Believe it?

Stores always put up seasonal stuff too early. Just the other day, I was in Target and they have school supplies already. It's not time for summer to end! I haven't even been to camp yet!
At least they haven't put up the Christmas stuff yet.....
Keep on glowing in the dark,
Elora

Short Short Stories

That is, as opposed to long short stories, which I usually write. Not right now, though.
I am so exited! From April 27th to May 27th, I wrote 9 short stories. Thay take up no more than both sides of two sheets of notebook paper. Trust me, for me that is short. I'll type some up and get them on here as soon as I can.
Keep on glowing in the dark,
Elora

p.s. I'll probablly put up the Christmas one in the middle of summer. ;)

Holy Week

Hebrews 2:18
For since He Himself has now been through suffering and temptation, He knows what it is like when we suffer and are tempted, and He is wonderfully able to help us.

Remember to thank God as you celebrate what He has done for us this week.
Keep on glowing in the dark,
Elora

2010!!!!!!

It's 2010! Isn't that crazy? I hope you have a blessed new year full of great memories and great adventures.
Keep on glowing in the dark,
Elora

Merry Christmas! Sorry it's late....

Well, Merry Christmas everyone! My tidings are a bit belated, but they still count. I have a special Christmas gift to all my faithful blog readers: a story! It's called "One in One Billion" and it's a fiction story I just wrote recently about a girl in China. So, without further ado, here's your late Christmas present.


One in One Billion
by Elora
We watched as people slowly trickled into Ai Mei's house for service that night. Once everyone was accounted for, we began by singing and praising God. There was a lot to be thankful for since everyone was there safe. Next, Ai Mei pulled her worn Bible, with its cracked cover and fragile pages out from under her pillow. She was the only one who had a Bible out of the whole group. We talked about the first three chapters of Acts and how many people had become Christ-followers in those first years of Christianity.
Then Ai Mei invited anyone who wanted to tell their story to stand and tell it. Surprisingly the first person who chose to stand was a young girl. She couldn't have been any older than fifteen, yet there was a look of maturity that could be seen in her countenance. Her brown eyes sparkled as she began to speak.
“Once, I thought that I was only one of one billion. That is, until the day I learned about the Father who made us, loves us and knows us all.”
She said her name was Lai and she was thirteen years old. This is her story:
When she was walking to school one day, behind the other students, she began to think that she was not very important. The lessons that week had been about the immenseness of China. Lai wondered how anyone could know she existed out of one billion people. If she disappeared, would anyone know other than her parents?
On the way home, she saw a family from America. There was a fair-haired man and a woman with brown hair. Three blue eyed children followed behind them. The most curious part, though, was that the woman was carrying a Chinese baby. Lai knew it was not polite to pry, nor was it safe to talk to strangers, but she felt she had to know more about that family.
“Is that your baby?” She asked in her best English.
“Yes, she is,” the man replied, looking at Lai.
“I do not mean to be rude,” she said, “ but she does not look like the rest of your family,”
The woman spoke next, “ We adopted her just this week.”
“And we've been waiting so long to meet her!” Exclaimed the smallest blue-eyed boy.
“She is our special gift from God.” Declared the man, stroking the baby's head.
Lai went home, her head spinning. That family had loved and waited for a little girl that they had never met. Did anyone care for her like that? She knew that her mom and dad loved her, but she didn't get to see them very much because they were always at work.
When she arrived at her grandmother's house, where she was staying for the night, the old woman greeted her at the door. The girl bowed and went into the guest room, setting her things on the bed.
“Grandmother,” asked Lai when she emerged from her room, “Who is the God that the Americans worship?”
Her grandmother's brown eyes lit up with a light that Lai had never seen before. In the next hour, the woman explained her own faith in God to her granddaughter who listened with open-minded attention. That day, Lai became a child of God. When she returned home, she talked to her parents about God, and in that same month, they to became Christians. The grandmother brought them to Ai Mei's house meeting because Ai Mei was Lai's aunt.
Lai ended her story with these words, “Now I know that I am not just one of one billion, but one in one billion; one who Jesus would go out of his way to find.”

Keep on glowing in the dark,
Elora

Christmas play

I went to our church Christmas play tonight. It was called "Granddad's Christmas" and it was really funny and touching. My only regret was that I couldn't be in it again like I was last year. If you haven't seen it yet, you should definitely try to go!!!

Keep on glowing in the dark,
Elora

Christmas Choir!!!!!!

Wooohoooooo!!! I am so exited for the Christmas choir at church this year. Christmas songs are great.
Keep on glowing in the dark,
Elora

It's Begining to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

Can you believe it's almost Christmas? Where did the time go? Enjoy the season of our Savior's birth. Merry Christmas! (and just in case, happy new year too)
Keep on glowing in the dark,
Elora

P.S. The black notebook has a new story in it!