Archive for category: Crafts

By Major Jessyca Carr
Education Officer
College for Officer Training

There are so many different combinations of fabric or ribbon and lights; you can check out YouTube for other options. Using fabric is the MOST economical way to do this craft, but it may take more time. I had several rolls of Costco ribbon, so I used what I had. Last year I used a combination of fabric and ribbon. That was pretty too. NOTE: If you plan to do this with your ladies, I suggest precutting the ribbon/fabric. I had our ladies bring me their selections two weeks before the meeting. I cut all the ribbon/fabric and placed them in baggies for each lady. During our meeting, we began our garland and got 1/3 done. (We chatted a lot!) What was not finished during the meeting they were able to complete at home. Below are instructions to make a 100 Light Ribbon Garland. You can follow these instructions for the fabric style, just the sizes used will be different. See fabric notes at the end.

Supplies:
⦁ Christmas lights – 100 lights
⦁ 12 -15 small zip ties (You can use yarn)
⦁ At least 400 8”-10” strips of ribbon – This will vary depending on the size of the ribbon or fabric.

⦁ Pictured: 7 ribbons used – 5 were 2.5’ and 2 were 1”. If you use a smaller ribbon, you will need more strips.
⦁ If you use a set of 50 lights you will need fewer ribbons/fabric.
See below for Fabric details.

Preparation:
⦁ Cut the ribbon – I removed the wire from my ribbon that was wired.
⦁ Place the ribbons in a pattern you like best.

Process:

1. Fold the strand of lights in half.
2. Using zip ties or yarn connect the two sides of the lights together.
3. Cut off the excess zip tie or yarn.
4. Begin to tie the ribbons around the two strands of lights – only one knot.
5. Keep the pattern going until you reach the end.

Fabric notes:
⦁ ¾ of a yard of at least 3 coordinating fabrics.
⦁ Use pinking shears or a rotary cutter to cut fabric 1” strips.
⦁ In the picture I didn’t use traditional Christmas lights. These are battery-operated.

Download the printable version of this craft:

Here is a coordinating devotional, way you can pray for people as you make this craft.

As we prepare for the holiday season, consider adding a homemade decoration that also helps you focus on the Reason for the Season! Do you ever think to yourself, “Man, I have a lot of people to pray for lately”? Do you need a reminder to pray for those people you said you would lift up in prayer but actually forget to pray for? Or perhaps you want to spend some significant amount of time in prayer but are easily distracted. This craft may just help you. Using fabric and or ribbon, tie a knot around Christmas lights for a beautiful fabric garland.

Prayer Focus Options:

As you tie knots you can:

• Designate each color for a different prayer focus.
• Designate each set of knots to a prayer focus.
• Designate each light to a different prayer focus.
• As you tie the knots pray for the person you plan to give the garland to as a gift.

Color Example:

Red – Pray for the Salvation of those who don’t know Jesus.

Green – Pray for the spiritual growth of those who do know Him.

Gold – Pray for the corps.

White – Holiness within yourself, Your walk with God.

Patterned – Pray for your community.

Each time you look at the garland throughout the season, you will be reminded to say a quick prayer for those who you covered in prayer as you made the garland.

Enjoy the song “God Came to Save Us” as you make this beautiful craft.

By Major Gaylene Yardley
Divisional Women’s Ministries Secretary – Southwest Division

This craft is a tree with all the lady’s fingerprints as leaves in fall colors. You can make one print together and display it in your meeting room, or provide enough canvas so each lady can have their own tree to take home.

Put the Scripture Verse on it: “How precious to me are your thoughts O God. How vast the sum of them!” Psalm 139:17

You can put each woman’s name by their fingerprints and then put the scripture at the bottom. Perhaps you want to put the words “He Knows My Name” on the bottom.

Supplies needed

Finished project

Enjoy yourself and be thankful that God knows you fully and you are not one the same.

As you craft, perhaps play the song “He Knows My Name” by Francesca Battistelli

Download the printable version of this month’s Devotional, Craft & Bible Study:

By Captain Leilani Armendariz
Hemet, CA Corps – Southern California Division

This craft coordinates with this month’s devotional: His Precious Child.

Directions:

1. Paint a background on a canvas. Be as creative as you want. Let it dry. I would suggest painting first, letting it dry as the rest of the program proceeds and saving time at the end to finish it.
2. Using either a Circuit, print outs or your own handwriting, add the lyric from “Who You Say I Am” that says: “I’m a child of God, yes I am.”

While you are crafting, enjoy these songs, reminding you of who you are in Christ – you are a child of God!

Hello, My Name Is Child of the One True King

On my best days, I’m a child of God. On my worst days, I’m a child of God. Oh, everyday is a good day, and You’re the reason why.

By Captain Jan Pemberton
Divisional Women’s Ministries Secretary – Cascade Division

This is a perfect craft for those like me who have trouble with traditional crocheting or knitting. This project is to have a warm blanket at the end of your craft and pray your way through each hand stitch. Each loop done for this craft will be covered in precious prayers given to the Father of Heaven for peace, comfort, and love. This blanket can be for yourself or given as a gift to someone special who needs God’s comforting love.

Supplies:
(Supplies are for a larger-sized blanket.)
6-7 skeins of chenille chunky yarn
Supplies for a smaller lap-style blanket.
3- skeins of chenille chunky yarn
Scissors
Needle and thread (optional) – to reinforce areas where new skeins of yarn are joined.

Steps:

Step One: Start a slip knot.

To begin, you need to tie a slip knot to start your first chain, then pinch through the center of your slip knot to grab your working yarn and make another loop. You will repeat this process until you have 30 loops. If you want more information on how to tie a slip knot, there are many resources you can find online, repeat this process until you have started your first chain.

Step Two: When you have your first chain finished, start your first row. Be sure to point your working yarn in the direction you are working in; this help with keeping your work contained and easily

Step three: Starting with your first loop, pull another loop facing upwards, then go into the top of every single chain and pull a loop through, keeping all your sizes consistent.

Step Four: This first chain and loops can be a bit bunchy; keep flattening it out with your hands to prevent more twisting and turning.

Step Five: Make sure you have the same number of chain loops; for example, since I have 25 chains, I will have 25 loops.

Now it is time to start our second chain! Make sure to point the working yarn in the direction you are working in; start in the first loop, then pinch your fingers through the loop and pull the working yarn through, making another loop.

Final Steps: This is pretty much your entire process! These blankets take me about 2 hours to complete, so ensure you are comfortable. As someone with a bad back, you will want to ensure this step is not missed because you do not hurt your back by leaning too much. Trust me!

You will do all the following rows in the same way. There is just one important step to remember. Always skip the first stitch in each row. It doesn’t matter if the stitch direction is going left-to-right or right-to-left. If you are on a brand-new row, skip the first stitch and begin working in the 2nd loop. By doing this, you will be creating a beautifully braided effect along the edges.

For each stitch, you just put your hand through a loop, grab the working yarn and pull it into the loop to create another loop. These loops can be quite loose or tight. It is up to you. I recommend trying to keep the loops on the side tighter rather than looser. Mine came out a little looser than I expected, but next time I will choose to keep the knitting tighter. Otherwise, the braided edges will look messy or too loose.
Keep working row by row until you have the desired length. It takes very little time to create this blanket.

Extra tips learned during this process:
There are a few ways to attach or join with new yarn. You will use at least three or four skeins of yarn and will need to attach new yarn to the piece as you go along. For me personally, I did a lot of research and tried to learn from some experts in this field. I found two recommended methods.

The way I attached a new piece was very simple. When I got close to the end of my skein, I pulled out a new one, took its end, and tied it to the end of my working piece. I then tightened it as much as possible and trimmed the ends. Since I used chenille yarn, this was nearly unnoticeable when I was finished.

An alternative method you can use is needle and thread (choose a color like your chenille yarn) and create several stitches through that very knot. When we are putting this much love into a blanket such as this, we would never want it to come apart, especially if this prayer blanket were a gift. If that happens to you and you made your own blanket without the thread reinforcement, you should just be able to use some extra yarn (if it wasn’t tightly knitted) and re-knot it where the knot came out. It should work just fine.

The alternative method is beginning a new row with your new yarn and weaving the ends of your old yarn into the back side of the piece. This might be easier in the long run but also time-consuming; it is your choice.

I hope you enjoyed this process as much as I did. I am terrible at traditional knitting and crocheting, but this is one that I can see myself doing for many others as a precious handmade gift. As each loop and strand were knitted together, I prayed that whoever received this blanket be blessed with the love of Jesus, the comfort of the Holy Spirit, and the grace and acceptance that only God can give.

Download Printable Instructions:

By Major Gaylene Yardley
Divisional Women’s Ministries Secretary – Southwest Division

Note: This craft coordinates with this month’s devotional and Bible Study.

Supplies Needed:

• Bar of soap for each participant
• A nail (to carve the soap with)

Everyone will carve a cross, heart, Bible verse or anything that will serve as a reminder that forgiveness is an important part our our spiritual lives.

Here are easy instructions on how to do soap carving: https://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Soap-Carving