Joy to The World Nativity Christmas Sign

I have a problem, I am guilty of letting Christmas get too big. So this year I am enrolling myself in a 12 step program to cut back.

Step One: I accept that I am sick of baking because I have to. I am under no moral obligation to bake goodies for everybody. I love to bake, but only when I want to!

So instead of the calorie-laden plates of goodies I do every year, I made some simple signs ahead of time that focus on Christ. Less calories and less stress!

One of my favorite Christmas songs is “Joy to the world” (it is also one of my son’s!). So I decided to design the sign around the lyrics.

To make the sign, I grabbed some 1×4 lumber from the wood scrap pile in our garage. Did you know that a 1×4 is actually not 4 inches wide? It is more like 3.5 inches. Pathetically that totally threw me off the first time I made a vinyl sign. I designed it for a 1×8 only to learn that the wood wasn’t actually 8 inches. I was so ticked. It was before I had my own Silhouette, so I had custom bought the sticker and didn’t want to waste the money. I had to cut a piece of 1×8 wood out of a large piece of plywood to get it to fit.

I wanted to hang the sign from a ribbon, so I drilled the holes for it before I painted it. It is a good idea to always do that first so that you don’t mess up your paint job.

The lettering I designed myself and you can download the Silhouette file here for free because I am awesome like that. But I bought the nativity and star image from the Silhouette website.
(Download zip file of Silhouette Nativity Sign)

I made a few signs for friends so that I can drop those off as Christmas treats instead of spending hours in the kitchen baking. I love being able to prep ahead of time and then sit back and enjoy the time around Christmas.

And I love having little reminders around the house about what Christmas is really about. It helps me refocus when things start to get crazy.

I’ve learned that your kids don’t want a super Pinterest mom. In fact, when you are stressed so is the rest of the family. So I try to focus on the things that are important and meaningful to us and cut the rest. I can’t tell you how many times I stressed myself out making some handmade toy that my kids weren’t even interested in. That isn’t making priceless memories, that is just torturing yourself.

I figure if I am too busy making my kids an “unforgettable Christmas” and don’t have the time to teach them the true meaning of Christmas, then I have missed the whole purpose.