Recently, I stumbled upon these pictures of a craft I prepared for the girls and their friends back in May of 2002. Wooden "Sacred and Immaculate Heart dolls" are easy to make. Begin with wooden cutouts of gingerbread girl shapes, small wooden hearts, glue, paint, and—for the Blessed Mother dolls—blue squares of felt.
June is the month of the Sacred Heart, and these dolls would make a pleasant craft to celebrate the beginning of summer!
Our daughter Theresa and friend Emily O'Neill—then aged six—display their dolls:
Works in progress:
Our friends, Mary Beth and Mary Rose, looked pleased with their projects. [In the background, you will see tissue paper Sacred Hearts, another very easy project. The tissue is lovely against a window, because the sun streams through to give the effect of a suncatcher]:
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us!
Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!
in the Cottage Garden:
Shakespeare's Twelfth Night (unabridged)! [Captions from the script appear above each corresponding photo.]
"If music be the food of love, play on."
"What country, friends, is this?"
"By my troth, Sir Toby, you must come in earlier o' nights."
[Patrick.]
"I marvel your ladyship takes delight in such a barren rascal."
"He's but mad yet, Madonna, and the fool shall look to the madman."
"I will on with my speech in your praise, and then show you the heart of my message."
"I am bound to the Count Orsino's court. Farewell."
"Were not you even now with the Countess Olivia?"
"Would you have a love song, or a song of good life?"
"What a caterwauling do you keep here!"
"My masters, are you mad?"
"Mistress Mary, if you prized my lady's favour at any thing more than contempt, you would not give means for this uncivil rule."
"If I do not gull him into a nayword, and make him a common recreation, do not think I have wit enough to lie straight in my bed. I know I can do it. "
"My purpose is indeed a horse of that color."
"But if she cannot love you, sir?"
"Get ye all three into the box tree: Malvolio's coming down this walk."
"Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em."
"I could marry this wench for this device.
--So could I too"
"Nay, but say true, does it work upon him?"
[The scenes above were from Acts I and II.]
Too bad the rhododendrons weren't blooming!
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Gorgeous scenery by Mary Maggio-Smith and others
Beautiful costumes by amazing seamstress Hope Giambalvo (age 16) assisted by Mary Smith and others
Directed by Kari Riess
Our children's parts:
Agnes: "Maria"
Theresa: "Viola"
Margaret: "Feste the Clown"
Marie, Patrick, and Maureen: sign carriers
A day in May begins with Twelfth Night practice.
Our director gave notes to the cast:
in the shade of a large oak:
A sword fight broke out (and, no, this was not part of the play):
We observed the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus with a small altar (can you find it?):
Here is a closer view:
And here it is again after the younger ones (the brothers and sisters of cast members) spent the day adding flowers to it!
A birthday was celebrated:
Make that two birthdays:
And a good time was had by all!
[From left to right: Maria, Feste, and Sir Andrew Aguecheek conspire against Malvolio.]
Last year's summer in California continues to inspire us!
One of the things we remember well, particularly in Mission Carmel, was the wide variety of blue and white tiles featuring devotional scenes.
The Holy Family:
Our Lady of Mount Carmel:
We also admired the Pieta by Adolphe-William Bouguereau, a larger-than-life painting standing floor to ceiling against a wall of the Legion of Honor Art Museum in San Francisco.
These images and memories formed the inspiration for a simple springtime project--"Blue and White Tiles for Our Lady."
We began with a wooden plaque, holy card, container of tiles, tile glue, and a gold-leafing pen.
It only took about two minutes to gild the edges.
After planning the location of the tiles, a special glue was brushed on the wooden surface and the back of each tile square.
Gluing the tiles did not take long at all.
Here you have it, a partially finished product. It is incomplete because, being a novice at tile work, I thought the mosaic glue would also act as grout. No such luck. I will need to return to the craft store some time soon--or make my own grout from a mixture of white sand and glue. (This photo was taken before the glue dried so you can still see a bit of it round the edges.)
Knowing it might take a month or more before we return to the craft store, I decided to post the project as is, because it is quite pretty already. I am thinking about turning it into a holy water font eventually or putting it on the front door.
Whether or not I ever get around to putting grout in all those cracks!
particularly those of the children of our homeschooling group.
Here are perhaps a little more than half the children who attended our annual May Crowning yesterday. By the time this group shot was taken, most of the others had already skipped off to the swings, scooters, and snack tables. As usual, blue was the color of the day.
Before the guests arrived, I stockpiled a basket full of medals, cards and books for the children.
The ribbons and medals were part of a simple craft planned for the children--beribboned medals to wear to the crowning. Browsing the craft store, I found favor ties meant for weddings and thought they would be perfect for making wearable pins, particularly because the lilies, white flowers and bells (reminding me of the Bell's of St. Mary's) are so perfect for Our Lady. When crafting for a crowd, it helps to save precious time, and favor ties meant less cutting and measuring of ribbon.
Here is one of the gorgeous little rosary books I picked up for the children--small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, but featuring full color illustrations of all four mysteries (yes, even the Luminous). These books will need to wait a bit though--in the hustle and bustle of the day's events, I forgot to give them out!
The simplest, quickest Marian activity in the world, step-by-step:
The children worked on the pins as they arrived:
My girls love to add their own stamp of creativity to any idea, so here are a few samples they made in the morning:
[Cost per project: about 75 to 99 cents, except for larger medals.]
We began the Crowning with a procession led by the first communicants, followed by all the children. Our music--including Queen of the Holy Rosary, Regina Coeli, Bring Flow'rs of the Fairest, Hail Holy Queen Enthroned Above and others were led by the girls from Our Lady of the Angels Choir under the direction of Miss Lynn Wilson. (I am proud to say that Agnes and Theresa are members.) We said the rosary according to the method of St. Louis de Montfort. [From the appendix of True Devotion to Mary, Montfort Publications.] I had originally hoped to fill a basket with the petitions of all our group members, but this is another of those things that was lost in the shuffle of a busy day.
As you can see, our festive Marian Lanterns made a fitting backdrop for the occasion:
The sight of first communicants in May makes my heart sing--how well I remember being among the joyful first communicants processing into the school yard of St. Mary's School many, many years ago. We too sang "Bring Flowers of the Fairest." The Catholic Faith is the stuff of beautiful memories.
The crowning moment:
And how much do you love this picture of our gorgeous first communicants with Heather's daughter Lily smiling directly at the face of Our Blessed Mother?! I have no doubt Our Lady is smiling right back!
May the grace of the mystery of the Coronation of the Blessed Mother, Queen of Heaven and Earth, come down into our hearts.
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May Crowning trivia: Our three first communicants banner image was taken during last year's crowning.
In the memoir of her life, Sister Lucia of Fatima looks back upon how she and her cousins, Blessed Francisco and Jacinta liked to call the moon "Our Lady's Lantern." This is perfect imagery because the moon gets it light from the sun, or, in Our Lady's case, from the Son. In honor of this recollection--with the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima right around the corner--we shared these "Marian lanterns" with the children of our local group.
Paper lanterns are readily available at the craft or party store and come in a wide array of colors. [Ours looked something like this, but they were only $1.49 each at Michael's Craft Store. SEE UPDATE BELOW.] Holy pictures, glitter, ribbon and silk flowers were all we needed to create a festive display for our upcoming May Crowning. The pictures tell the tale:
And now, some notes from the "Live and Learn" files:
1. Laminated holy cards are difficult to glue onto round surfaces, particularly without a glue gun.
2. Big round lanterns roll, presenting something of a difficulty for very young children. They were all so excited about this craft though that they did not let this daunt them for long!
3. If you decide to change the date of your May Crowning, make sure the friends who live furthest away and have the most children hear about it before they travel hours to be there. If you do make a mistake of this magnitude, hope that the victim has a heart of gold and will forgive you immediately.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch . . . .
Over the weekend, with the assistance of a glue gun, the older girls and I made a few more beauties to decorate the family room for May:
Fatima Lantern
The holy card image shows the vision Sister Lucia had just before leaving Fatima to begin her life as a nun. She sees grace and mercy flowing from Our Lord on the cross.
We added a pretty watering can to remind us of the showers of grace available to all who seek them.
Mount Carmel Lantern
[You will note that this is a beautiful and reverent use for an old scapular we had been keeping in a drawer. We attached it so that it would still be usable in the future.]
Holy Name of Mary Lantern (work in progress)
Queen of Peace Lantern
May Our Lady shed her light into our hearts, during this month of May and always!
Warning: Although these paper lanterns are designed for use with an actual lightbulb, once decorated, this becomes a fire hazard. (Candles would not be safe for these lanterns either.)
Variations on a theme
If you will not have time to complete a project like this during May, how about saving the idea for All Saints Day on November 1st? Collect holy cards to create a range of saints' lanterns with your family or homeschooling group. These would make a festive decoration if placed outside the house for All Hallows Eve or at the center of your group's All Saints Day party. Liturgical colors, such as red for martyrs, would add to the beauty and symbolism.
If you can't find paper lanterns, there are many ways to improvise. Decorate colored bags, large paper mache or styrofoam balls, discarded Christmas ornaments or bright coffee cans.
Cost per project: $1.49 for each lantern, plus embellishments. Figure at least $2 to $3 each.
[UPDATE: We used 8 inch lanterns made by a company called Darice. I could not find them online, but managed to find these reasonably priced substitutes in a wide array of colors.]
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Coming Soon
Some of my local friends may be wondering why I did not post last week's project: "Spiritual Ships." The story will be appearing in the first issue of the new magazine, mater et magistra (formerly Heart and Mind).
With Our Lady's month of May just around the corner, this seemed a perfect time to revisit a project that has been a hit with our local group for almost ten years: holy water fonts. We have made them many different ways, but this method was the first and favorite. Plain wooden plaques from the craft store in a variety of appealing shapes, sturdy plastic shot glasses from the party store, beads, snow white crucifixes, and holy cards make up these simple crafts, perfect for a crowd of all ages. Paints would add a great deal to the look of the project, but I decided to spare the children's clothes in an effort to maintain my friendship with the local moms.
When preparing a craft for a large group of children, it helps to do a bit of prep work. I hot-glued the shot glasses to the plaques in advance:
Patrick wants you to know that this is the one he glued on for Mommy. (Thank you, Pat!)
Thanks to this beautiful group of crafters (not to mention another table full) . . .
. . . those plain plaques were transformed into something glorious and well worth cherishing:
The best projects for a crowd are the ones that all look unique in the end!
Another way to use these would be by putting fresh flowers in the cups with a bit of water.
"Queen of Cute" Kelli B. shows her creation:
An afternoon of crafting works up a thirst, as you can see. Maureen's "crocs" come in handy as she goes full toe to reach the water fountain.
And a good time was had by all!
Holy water fonts, cost per project: under $2 (99 cents for plaques, plus decorations and cups; shot glasses come in packages of 50 for about $3.50, but consider improvising with film canisters, deep bottle caps, or plastic Easter egg halves)
Habemus Papam! We have a pope on our shore! What a joyous time for celebration!
Last week, we met a large group of friends to get ready. The children loved listening to the story of Pope Benedict's life as told by his cat, Chico: Joseph and Chico by Jeanne Perego (Ignatius). The nice thing about this biography for children is that it was approved by the Vatican and beautifully illustrated. After storytime, we made birthday cards for the Holy Father and discussed plans to celebrate his 81st together tomorrow. I shared a few memories of Pope John Paul II's visit in 1979 and told the story of the impromptu celebration we had the day Cardinal Ratzinger was elected pope.
Here are ideas for making this Papal visit a memorable one, whether or not you managed to get tickets to any of the planned events:
* Visit Pflaum's website for reproducible activities called "Celebrate the Visit."
* Host a birthday party for Pope Benedict XVI on April 16th. Hang welcome signs, bake a Black Forest cake, make cards--anything to bring joy to the children on that special day. If you do not have eighty-one candles, use sixteen!
* Treat the children to dinner at local German restaurant or prepare an authentic German meal to mark the visit.
* Pray for the pope's safety and success at bedtime every night. Pray for the repose of the soul of Pope John Paul II.
* Yellow ribbon hung outside the home is a symbol of waiting and welcome--adapt this tradition for our Holy Father with yellow and white ribbon, the colors of the Papal flag.
* Create "Papal Visit" notebooks adapted from the Pope John Paul II Memorial notebooks we made three years ago when our beloved JPII passed away. A scrapbook of newspaper clippings would make a meaningful keepsake for the children to show their own little ones some day.
* Talk to the children about vocations, reminding them to ask the Holy Spirit to inspire their choices, remembering to listen for God's call.
* Invite the children's friends over to watch our pope on television.
* Did you know that our pope collects figurines of cats? Have the children make sculptures of cats from Sculpey or Model Magic. Even felt might be used for this simple project.
* Make "Ratzinger Salad."
The day Cardinal Ratzinger was elected pope, we were on our way to a friend's house for a playdate and did not hear the news right away. My friend Elizabeth greeted us in the driveway looking elated, "We have a Pope! It's Ratzinger!!!" Still in mourning for Pope John Paul II, it was such a joyful moment to learn that his dear friend would be our new "Papa." Three or four other families were with us and the playdate turned into a party and celebration of a new beginning. My children still love the dish we christened "Ratzinger Salad" on that day, simply because Elizabeth happened to serve it. Here is the recipe:
Mix cold cooked shells or rotelli pasta, tuna, mayonnaise, chopped red and yellow bell pepper, and chopped tomato in a large serving bowl. Season with salt and pepper.
This salad is delicious and easily multiplied for a crowd.
May you and your children have a memorable visit with the Holy Father! His faithful presence is exactly what our country needs right now.
