Since 1999,

in Manchester, MO has been putting on an event for children and their families, known previously as the Family Advent Workshop, now named the Family Christmas Workshop.  This is a wonderful event that has become a cherished tradition for many families, and serves well as a non-threatening out-reach opportunity.  It has always been held in the afternoon on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, just in time for Christmas. 

    Each year, myself and my partners -- along with many, many volunteers -- conspire to offer between 25-30

different craft items.  We shop, purchase, cut, sew, paint, measure, count, and sort all the materials needed to make between 200-400 of each craft.  Then, on the day of the event, the different crafts are offered in a make-and-take workshop format where children -- and adults -- can choose and make as many crafts as they can for two and a half hours.  At the end of the day, an exhausted crowd leaves with trays full of Christmas treasures, a Christmas message, and memories galore -- not to mention some great ideas for gift-giving!

    Our mission is to offer a wide variety of unique, quality crafts that can be done in a short period of time at a minimal expense.  Some are discovered, but most are originals.  In order to serve the wide range of ages that attend, the crafts vary from extremely simple that don't even need scissors or glue, to quite detailed and complicated.  Each craft is rated for it's difficulty so parents can determine which crafts will be appropriate for the abilities of their child. 

    Although almost all of these crafts could be done with craft glue, we typically use hot glue guns for the event because the completed crafts need to be on the move and wouldn't have time to dry without disturbance.  The use of hot glue guns automatically warrant a higher difficulty rating.

    After the event, the church staff fields a fair number of calls from people that would like to know if they could purchase some of our left-over kits, or if they could get a materials lists and instructions so that they could make more of the items which they enjoyed the most.  This website is my solution to that, as well as a way to facilitate what has become an all-consuming hobby of mine and an outlet for my creative endeavors.

    We are always looking for new ideas and would love for you to share some of yours.  Feel free to share in some of ours!