Last night was our first Grace Group Christmas party. It was a lot of fun. Everyone in the group came and three of brought spouses that aren't in the group. We had a nice potluck dinner with turkey and prime rib setting the tone for the meal.
We had a gift exchange, with each person bringing a gift not to exceed $15. It's the one everyone has played where you draw numbers to determine the order of gift opening and then there's the added excitement of stealing gifts. I drew the luckiest number: 1. I started things off but it also meant I had the option at the very end to trade gifts with someone (there are lots of variations in the rules).
I opted to make the gifts we brought. I brought a bird wall hanging and a wall hanging with words that describe Jesus. 
It was a fun way to share something I made without having to make one for each person in the group! 
The bird hanging is a fabric panel to which I added a border and then the hanging assembly. The "Wonderful" hanging is made from scratch. I had this idea several years ago but it always stalled with the idea. Earlier this year I created the words on my computer in various fonts and then traced them onto "Wonder Under" that I'd fused to different fabrics. I used really sharp scissors to cut the words out. I created the background/border and when that was finished I ironed the words on. I will be making more of those and some won't be in Christmas colors. I was thrilled with how it came out.
I'm sure many will recognize that the words come from the bible, Isaiah 9:6 to be exact: "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Handel then included that in his "Messiah", my favorite piece of music.
The two were traded until they were knocked out of commission and I was happy that Suzanne ended up with the birds and Roxie with the "Wonderful". As for me, the gift I drew off the bat was a $15 gift certificate from Trader Joe's. It's one of my favorite spots to shop and I would have been happy going home with it, but that whole gift-stealing was too tempting. My eyes popped open when I spotted a 2 million candle power flashlight. I recognized it as a Radio Shack item that had been featured on Black Friday. I had planned to go get one for my hubby but then was too pooped to do so. So I knew that was the item I wanted to end up with. During the game, someone came and stole my gift certificate and I was about to go get the flashlight when someone wisely cautioned me to strategize since I had the last turn in the game. The flashlight had already been stolen once and if I stole it at that time I would risk it being stolen and taken out of commission, so instead I opened a gift still under the tree. I patiently waited until the very end when I apologetically took the flashlight from Ken, who'd hidden it under the coffee table. He, in turn, got my gold candles and cherub.
Right before I started writing tonight, I turned that baby on to inspect the backyard. And I wondered how they measure candlepower. Do they keep lighting candles until they're at 2 million? Isn't that a fire hazard? Hmmm.....
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