Little Winter Birds

 
I love finding other uses for all these gorgeous Christmas cards that are on sale!  Last year I did a winter letter for my sponsored kids on snowflakes, sharing with them how God has made them specially unique and  amazing, just like each snowflake He designs.  When I found this delightful winter robin card on clearance last year, I started planning to do a special "God Cares for the Little Birds & He Cares for You" themed letter this winter, picking up on the truths Jesus expressed in the Gospels when He talked about the little birds that God cares for so faithfully:

Behold the birds of the air; 

they neither sow nor reap 

nor gather into barns, 

and yet God in heaven feeds them. 

Are you not of more value than they? 

And can any of you by worrying 

add a single hour to your span of life?  

Matthew 6:26 

Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? 

And not one of them falls to the ground 

apart from your Father's will.  

But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 

 Do not fear therefore; 

you are of more value than many sparrows. 

Matthew 10:29-31

Now that Christmas is past and I have a few days before school starts back up, it's time to put this letter all together and off in the mail! The good news is that this card is available again this year through Family Christian Bookstores.  :o)  I used my set of mini alphabet stamps to emboss "God cares for _______" with the child's name on each card, and in their language whenever possible, and the child's small photo covers up the greeting on the outside of the card.  These child photos shown here are about half the size of a wallet photo... I put 4 of them on a 4x6 size canvas in Photoshop, and saved the whole thing as a single photo to print off at Costco.  If you have your own printer and can do photo prints, then that's all the better.

The inside of the card is beautifully designed too, and I will write the verses and greeting on the inside top flap.  I'm using a photo to cover up the Christmas greeting on the bottom half of the card... and yes, I specially wore the wintry red sweater and posed in front of the red twig dogwood on purpose for this card.  :o)  The envelope is also so beautiful, that I'm going to use it for the kids to store some special bird printables that I will show you in a second.

I received so many new correspondent children this fall and winter (YAY!!!) that I needed to get a second box of cards.  :o)   I found this equally wonderful Christmas bird card at Family Christian Bookstores... and the extra special part about this card is the cut out window that frames a wallet sized photo perfectly! So there you have it... at least two beautiful Christmas cards with bird designs to choose from for your winter bird themed letter.  I don't know which I like better, because they are both so incredibly beautiful.

I've found a number of very special paper printables to go along with this letter.  For starters, loonapix has a wonderful winter bird photo frame for making up a special photo print.  You can print these out as a mini poster on 8.5 x 11' paper, and write on it, "God cares for you, and so do I" or some similar sentiment.

Here's the link: Loonapix Winter Bird

Here are the loveliest paper bird designs for ornaments, tags, mobiles, or swags that I've ever seen.  There are three pages total, making a dozen different birds.  Print these on a nice card stock, and if you want them to be printed on both sides, then print each page twice, one time flipping it in reverse, and then you can cut them out and glue them back to back for your child. Many thanks to Rebecca for sharing her delightfully wonderful artwork with us!!

Watercolor Winter Birds

 

 

Here are some other lovely printable birds...

  

Winter Birds

 The Toymaker's Bluebirds of Happiness

 

The Toymaker's Little Redbirds

Okay, here's even a little bird airplane for your little boys...

 Little Bird Airplanes 

  

Friends Across America has beautiful realistic coloring pages of each of the state birds.  I discovered that several states claim the same bird!  While the scenes are not winter scenes, I still love these coloring pages.  Follow this link, and on the lower right hand corner you will find links for each state.  Choose your own state bird, as well as other birds that you get to see... and maybe throw in a few that you wish you could see where you live.  For me, it's the cardinal...  I've never seen one here in Washington state.   http://www.friendsacrossamerica.com/colorpagesamerica.html

And here's a different wintry robin coloring page that I liked.  Winter Robin Coloring Page

Don't forget posters!  Here are some free pdf files to download and print out.  This one offers both eastern and western birds of North America.  Free Printable Bird Posters

 

Or there is this free one of winter birds to print out...  Free Printable Poster of Winter Birds









And finally, puzzles.  :o)  At the Dollar Tree, I found this lovely puzzle of winter birds at a bird feeder that I'm sending to the children.  I'm thinking of writing about the birds that I see in my yard in the winter, and that not only are they delightful to watch, but they also offer a blessing by eating lots of harmful bugs.  Ask your child what birds they see... maybe they see the same ones you do at a different time of year.  You might enjoy looking up to see where your favorite birds migrate, and find a couple of interesting facts to share about these beautiful creatures that God has made for our benefit.

 

Well, this is what I'll be working on this week... enjoy the ideas for putting together your own winter bird themed letter, and if you find any special printable bird treasures, activities or thoughts to suggest, please leave your ideas in the comments!  I would love to hear them.  :o)   Above all, let your sponsored child know what a treasure they are to God... that just as one single bird doesn't fall to the ground with His knowledge or permission, so each child is known and cared for by God.

Blessings,