Tis the season of simple, useful crafts that make the Christmas holiday a bit more special. When I spotted these globe ornaments at World Market the other day for 3 for $5, I immediately grabbed a few. A little hand lettering turns the already cool ornament into a holiday greeting, perfect for sharing with friends or family tied onto a treat or as a gift topper. This Joy to the World Globe Ornament is pretty straightforward, and I’ll walk you though it!
With all of the divisions we’ve felt as a country and world lately, this ornament and message feel particularly poignant. I’ve been considering in what ways I can teach my family to feel unified with our community and world, and the first idea that always feels right is to reach out in service to those who we might not feel we have much in common with.

Today, December 1st is The Worldwide Day of Service that kicks off a beautiful Light the World campaign for the Christmas season. The ideas is to offer simple acts of service each day for the 25 days of December, turning our hearts and thoughts outside of ourselves. The campaign has a full downloadable calendar of ideas, with simple themes for each day based on characteristics of Jesus. I also love this young-kid version that takes away some of the brainstorming and decision making.

The whole campaign is beautiful and in a lot of ways reminds me of the advent activities that we have done for years. Ours mixed service opportunities with family activities, but when I place them side by side, a lot of the same ideas apply.

Specifically, this Worldwide Day of Service has me thinking of some simple ways I can get out and serve with my kids. Things with little advance preparation, because I was becoming quickly overwhelmed by the feeling of needing to come up with something to add to our schedule each day. I stumbled upon this list of simple service activities to do with young kids and I think we’ll choose from this list for what to do today.

I really like the idea of direct service. Stuffing warm socks with fruit and snacks and giving them to the homeless seems like an activity the kids would enjoy, and also offer a simple way to directly give. (I’m thinking through the car window on some of the stoplight corners downtown.) It’s also something I could prepare for with a quick trip to Costco, and assembly could even happen in the car on the way.

Whatever service we offer won’t be in vain. Even the act of considering what types of projects or service activities we might do fills me up with a desire to reach out and offer help to those in need, both among my own circle of influence, and without.

Maybe that’s a bit of what this ornament is about, too. Coming together, and feeling united with our brothers and sisters in our neighborhoods, communities, as well as the nation and world.
You’ll need:

a globe ornament

a paint pen that will stand out against the background. I chose white.

You can practice your lettering a few times on paper if you’d like. Remember that the personal touch is what makes this little craft special, so it is totally okay to use your normal handwriting if you (like I) don’t have a lot of hand lettering experience under your belt.

Also, you can pencil in your letters before you begin. But I just went for it.

Start with the “Joy”, making it large enough to be seen from a few feet away.

Add “to the” slightly smaller and not in cursive script

Finish with a large “World, to balance out the “Joy” and wrap most of the way around the ornament.In this Christmas season, let us create Joy in the World through our service to others. Doing so will share the light of Christ far and wide.