Is it possible that a year has passed since the spoon saints made their appearance? It seems only yesterday we were creating our first procession for the mantelpiece!
October 14, 2007
April 15, 2007
March 16, 2007
St. Patrick's Day in Louisiana
is celebrated with spoon saints this year!
I wish I could express to you how much good it does my heart to see these St. Patrick spoon dolls, created by thoughtful Cottage Blessings reader Jean Boyer and her wonderful 6th grade CCD class!
And wouldn't I love a slice of this clever and elegant Celtic Cross cake, also created by Jean for the incredibly lucky children in her class!
Jean, may God bless you, not only for taking the time to share these images, but also for all you do to bring our precious Faith to a new generation!
November 03, 2006
October 11, 2006
"Oh, what spoons these mortals be!"
[Please take a look at Saints of the Season for the original post in this series.]
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As Theresa and I painstakingly crafted our St. Faustina spoon dolls last Friday, Marie (6) sat at the table in a flurry of activity. I was not paying much attention to her, although I had the nagging suspicion she might be using up too many spoons.
In the time it took us to make our two little St. Faustinas, Marie came up with--gasp--the entire cast of A Midsummer Night's Dream! [Marie also gets the credit for all of these photographs.]
This next photo shows, from left to right, Nick Bottom with removable donkey's head, Lysander, Hermia, Demetrius, Helena, and Puck. Oberon makes a partial appearance at the far right:
Here is Bottom's acting troupe, ready to perform "The Love and Most Cruel Death of Pyramus and Thisbe." She even remembered to have one actor (right, within the group) to play "The Wall" and another dressed as the lovely Thisbe:
Proud Titania flits past with her retinue of pixies, Cobweb, Peaseblossom, Moth, and Mustardseed. I love that Titania's wings are larger and fashioned from tissue to give her a regal bearing. She lavishes affection on her cherished changeling boy:
Oberon, upon seeing that boy, looks suitably miffed. Here he glares alongside Puck. We failed to photograph his other attendants, but Marie portayed them with bats' wings, the perfect rivals for Titania's dainty sprites:
Listening to little Marie rattle off these cast members like old friends, I couldn't help offering my frequent fervent prayer. Thank Heaven for these happy, heartening times!
October 10, 2006
Our procession grows
I wish I could express to you how it gladdens my heart to see this procession of saints take shape upon the mantel!
Marie (6) created St. Francis and St. Padre Pio:
Agnes (12) added her patrons, St. Jude and St. Agnes:
Here is Margaret's (9) partially completed Blessed Mother, inspired by Our Lady of Guadalupe:
Margaret also tried her hand at fashioning her own version of St. Francis and his friend, St. Clare:
I love St. Clare's monstrance and the brown embroidery floss cords Margaret fastened to their waists:
Here is Marie's (6) representation of St. Philomena, shown here with an anchor and palm leaf:
And these are our St. Kateri Tekakwithas, created by Theresa (11) and Margaret (9). Theresa added feet to hers, accounting for the height difference. Margaret was disappointed that the face of her doll became smudged. I reminded her that St. Kateri had smallpox, so her face would have had scarring. When she died, the scars disappeared and she was found radiant, earning her the nickname, "Lily of the Mohawks."
October 09, 2006
More Spoon Saints
My children have gone bananas making spoon saints this week, drawing inspiration from our enormous collection of Holy Cards.
Here is a small sampling:
Theresa (11) made her favorite saint, St. Gianna Molla. If you look carefully, you will note that she is holding her newborn baby in her arms:
This is Margaret's (9) rendering of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, wearing royal robes and carrying bread and roses in a basket over her arm. Yellow embroidery floss forms the curls cascading down her back.
Here was the lineup of saints on our mantelpiece several days ago. It has more than doubled since then, with seven or eight more great saints added. I will post pictures as soon as I have them!
October 07, 2006
St. Faustina by Marie, age 6
When the girls and I craft together, we usually run with a common idea, but our finished products are always different. This is six-year-old Marie's version of the St. Faustina doll. In person, her headpiece is three dimensional.
October 06, 2006
St. Faustina, step by step
The girls and I spent a quiet half hour crafting more saints' dolls, each of us using our own imaginations to portray a favorite saint. Theresa and I both worked on St. Faustina to celebrate her feast. Drawing inspiration from a portrait on a holycard, I began by cutting out a simple habit in two pieces:
St. Faustina's gorgeous veil begged for a more three dimensional treatment. By folding a strip of cardstock into thirds and snipping the front in two places before folding it, the base of her veil began to take shape.
The photo above shows the white base before I turned it around and glued it to the "forehead" of the spoon in the photo below. Two neat triangular folds on either side captured the look of St. Faustina's headpiece:
A strip of dark cardstock folded in three places, draped over the top of the head and snipped and folded in the back supplied her veil. I am using my thumb in the picture below to hold down the first rear fold as the glue dries:
In the end the back should look something like the photo below. One more piece of dark cardstock covering the back of her skirt would make the doll reversible.
Here is the finished product. (Placing the doll in front of a Divine Mercy image seemed like a perfect finishing touch):
Speaking of finishing touches, I decided to have some fun by writing on the pages inside St. Faustina's little book:
If all that paper folding for St. Faustina's veil is too complicated for your young ones, consider eleven-year-old Theresa's simplified, but no less attractive and recognizable, version:
Rear view:
St. Faustina, pray for us!
October 05, 2006
Good St. Francis
The talented and enthusiastic children of our Immaculate Heart of Mary Homeschooling group honored our dear Saint Francis in a memorable way. Remember those charming but bare houses, clustered round St. Francis like a tiny European village by the side of a mountain? Well here they are awash in the vibrant colors of childhood:
I hope I won't sound like too much of a name dropper, but there happens to be a lovely young lady from the Bonny Blue House on the right in this next photo and the sweet niece of the Castle of the Immaculate on the left:
The children were only too happy to let me snap photos highlighting their craftsmanship. Each Franciscan birdhouse featured a darling bird perched in front:
and our dear St. Francis in the back. I explained to the children that this adornment turned the birdhouses into roadside shrines, reminiscent of the ones gracing so many roads in Europe:
Here are a few samples:
A pair of best friends made these twin birdhouses:
But those weren't the cutest twins at the party, not by a long shot. These two darlings were:
And their mother, my pal Mary Ellen, looks slim and fabulous already! Having seven children certainly agrees with her.
As if this weren't enough, in keeping with our St. Francis and the animals theme, the wonderful MacBeth Derham arrived toting a large bag of fat acorns to entertain and edify the children with her amazing Squirrel Project:
I know St. Francis would be pleased!
