Here is a craft that would be perfect for the feast of Jesus Baptism in January, the feast of John the Baptist (June 24), or the martyrdom on John the Baptist (Aug 29). I laminated the pictures so they could be hung on our front door or in our bathroom. After reading about St John the Baptist in the Bible this is a fun craft to make and display in your home particularly during special feast days that center around Jesus baptism and John the Baptist. You will need: A grapevine wreath  Images of Jesus Baptism printed on stock paper Sea Shells ~ I bought a small basket of shells from our local dollar store Raffia ~enough to make a bow Hot glue Laminate or contact paper if you are planning to hang it in a spot that could get wet. Instructions: Print, cut out and laminate your baptism pictures. Find a good spot on the wreath to place the image. The bottom side may work nice: Hot glue the picture down. Make a bow out of the raffia and hot glue it to the bottom next to the baptism picture. Arrange the shells and dove image around the wreath.T he kids can help you arrange the shells.  Note: When arranging things like seashells, they often look best if they are odd-numbered clusters. (Groups of 3 or 5 shells of various sizes and shapes.) Once you find the desired arrangement, hot glue it all down. A black/brown twisty or wire works well as a hanger to hang the wreath. Optional extra: Find a good book on seashells at your local library, and you can also talk about all the different kinds of shells God has designed and created. Now hang up your beautiful new wreath! God Bless, ~Jen-Marie

According to scripture and the Second Commandment, the Lord’s Day (Sunday) is meant to be a day set apart from every other day. It’s a day to be together as a  family, a day to rest, and, most importantly, a day to be with the Lord. 1. A day to be with God Because the Lord’s Day is a day to be with God, going to church/Mass every Sunday just makes sense. It shows our love for Him and His family on earth. Plus, if you don’t go it’s a mortal(serious) sin! 2. Day of rest Just as God rested on the 7th day after creating the world, our Sabbath is meant to be our day of rest from all unnecessary work. Even though God made man on the 6th day with the animals, man was called to rest on the 7th day in order to show that he wanted to be more than just an animal. By resting on the 7th day we show that we are not like the animals and that we are a child of God. Sunday ~ A family day. Due to the fact that we are not to be working on Sundays, it’s a perfect day to spend together as a family! It can often be a challenge to find new and interesting things to do together as a family, particularly if you want to avoid making anyone else work on the Lord’s day of rest. By going to the amusement park, the movies, golfing, to a restaurant to eat, or even shopping you are encouraging a business to stay open on this special day and force their employees to work on Sundays. The Catechism states 2187 “Every Christian should avoid making unnecessary demands on others that would hinder them from observing the Lord’s Day” While this is often never considered by most Christians, it is a truth of our faith. Doctors, nurses, firefighters, and other emergency personal are an exception. Face it, accidents happen, and you can’t tell sick bodies to rest from being sick on Sundays!!! As nice as that would be! 😉 Here are a few of our favorite Sunday activities: Sometimes after Mass, we make breakfast (eggs) over a campfire, or we have a campfire in the evenings and make Mt. Pies. We visit one of our local state parks or battlefields. Visit family or friends or a shut-in. Make our own “I Spy” art with our toys and other things around the house, (just like in the books). Make a huge, elaborate train track for Thomas and his friends Board games, crafts, play-doh, painting pictures, etc. Fly a kite. Decorate for the up-coming season/feast days. Go to a local playground. Make-up and perform simple plays (from stories in the Bible or stories of saints) Fishing at our neighbor’s pond “Sunday Party” -No, the other Sunday- Ice cream! Set out lots of different items like sprinkles, crushed Oreos, nuts, chocolate chips, etc, and let the kids make their own special Sunday dessert! Family movie night, with popcorn! *For us, almost all of our Sundays are crafting Sundays. We normally make a Catholic craft to go along with what we are learning! Feel free to add a comment and share what your family does on Sundays. God bless you and your family!~Jen-Marie

This is an art project meant to help kids ages 8 and older learn a simple way of using watercolors. Of course, the abilities of the individual are to always be taken into account, as with any and all art projects. Practice creates better abilities. The object of this project is to practice staying in the lines when using a brush, learning not to press on the brush when using watercolors, learning how to use watercolors, learning that more water makes the paint lighter and less water makes the colors darker and having fun! ***Remember practice will only make you better! So try it as many times as you like… You need: Set of watercolors Thin/small brush Mixing tray Cup half-full of water Napkins Grayscale picture printed on watercolor paper or stock paper Instructions: Print this grayscale picture of Mary and Baby Jesus onto watercolor paper or stock/heavy paper: Click the for a printable page. Now, you are going to use watercolors to color the image. First, make a pool of water in the watercolor “dot” you wish to use. Dab or poke the watercolor “dot” with the bristle end of your brush so the water mixes with the surface of the hard paint, This should create a thin colored liquid. Make sure the watercolors have enough water in them so that the liquid on your brush is thin. Delicately and gently add the colors in the area you want to paint and spread it around in that area staying within the lines. Do not push or scrub hard with your brush. Then, do the same with the other colors and picture areas. Be sure to rinse out your brush each time you switch colors. If needed to mix colors, put a drop of two different colors onto a plate/tray and mix them together to create a new color, then add it to the picture. You may need lots of napkins to dab-up the extra watercolors you may drip on your picture. If you see paint running into the wrong area, use a napkin to dry it off. If you see that it ran but it is already dry, use a wet brush (only water on it) to whip it away. Don\’t worry about filling in all the black areas, you can just leave them black. The colors I used: Mary’s dress – blue Straw – yellow Mary’s Hair – a mix of brown and yellow Skin –  light brown (Brown with lots of water) Donkey – brown Jesus Blanket – cream or off-while This is only one technique for using watercolors, there are other ways. Experiment, and see what works best for you. These painted pictures would be great for kids to give out at Christmas; make them into cards. Remember, practice, practice, practice, and HAVE FUN!!! God Bless, and may your guardian angel help guide you. ~Jen-Marie

I know this is out of season, but I had several wonderful followers ask for the instructions to the Kateri Tekakwitha felt doll. I promised to add the instructions, but I ran out of time before Christmas and then I was preparing for my surgery, but now that I’m in recovery I found a little free time and thought I’d get the instructions and images together and post them for you all. You will need: light brown felt dress *(see felt cutting instructions) some dark brown string for her hair (I used cross stitching string) wooden old fashioned clothespin 4-inch piece of string for her waist a small stick for her cross light brown thread a few tiny Indian beads a small feather for her hair (I used a necklace charm) needle hot glue Line-up all the string in a bunch that is about three inches in length. Use a section of the string to tie the group of strings together in the middle. Cut any ends that are folded and need cut so all ends are string ends, not folds. Put some hot glue on the top and sides of her head. Place the string hair on her head. Now add some hot glue to the back of her head and pull some of the hair back to cover the back of her head. Pull out two strains of her hair to use to tie her brads. Brad her hair on each side and use the extra strings you took out to tie the ends. Picture of her back After cutting out the felt piece which will be used for her dress, be sure the dress is the correct length for your Kateri clothespin. If it’s too long, shorten the length and then round the corners. Now, snip small fringes into the edge all the way around. Like shown… Slip it over the doll. You ma y need to put the dress on from the bottom of the clothespin if her hair is too big for the hole. After the dress is in place, you’ll need to add a drop of hot glue under the felt on the clothespin’s upper chest and upper back to keep the dress from sliding down the clothespin. Pull all the dress parts down against the clothespin. try to form “arms” in the folds of the dress. Then tightly knot a string around her waist. You may need an extra hand to hold the dress down while you knot the waist string. Now, cut off the extra string ends. If the opening on the sides of the dress are showing, hot glue it together. Take your stick and break it into two parts that will be the correct size to make a cross for her to hold.  use the brown thread to criss-cross around the center of the two stick parts to tie them together and form a cross. Hot glue it in her “arms”.  Next, I sewed on a few beads. I added 4 around her neck and 9 around the bottom of her dress. It was just a simple in-out stitch, but if you can’t sew you can use a tiny bit of glue for each bead. I also added a feather charm to her hair. If she needs help to stand you can hot glue her “feet” to a small wooden ring. And there she is all beautiful and saintly!! God Bless! ~Jen-Marie

Our annual birthday party for Mother Mary was lots of fun! But Abby (age 4) was just worried that Mary wouldn’t come! So she allowed our statue of Mary to stand in for the real Mary. Happy Birthday, Mary! Blessed were we the day of your birth!

You may have seen the “ocean in a bottle” craft before, but this is my Catholic twist on this wonderful old craft.  I have simply added a cotton cloud at the top and an image and prayer to our Lady of the Sea.  With Hurricane Irene hitting the East coast and heading for NY it seems appropriate to ask for Our Lady’s intercession for all those who are in need during this troubled time. You will need: Empty 2-liter plastic bottle with a lid (cleaned & labels removed) Clear mineral oil or vegetable oil (I used 1 bottle of baby oil) Water  Funnel  Blue food coloring Glitter  (If you put in a lot it can look kinda like a lava lamp!) Clean stones, shells, marbles, or other ocean items Cotton for cloud Star of the Sea prayer card printed on stock paper- Twisty or wire (about 4 inches long) Tape White craft glue Hot glue Click on the image to save and print it. Instructions: Using a funnel to fill the bottle 1/3 with tap water. Add a few drops of blue food coloring and swirl the bottle around to mix it. Add some glitter. Using the funnel, again, add oil to the bottle until the bottle is 2/3 full; leaving 1/3 of the bottle empty. Add the small stones, shells, marbles, or other ocean items. Make sure the rim and cap are dry, then apply white craft glue around the rim. tightly screw on the cap. Use a layer of hot glue around the outside edge to help keep it from leaking. Wrap one end of the twisty or wire around the bottle’s neck and tape the prayer card to the other end. Add a cloud to the top of your bottle by dropping hot glue around the top and carefully adding the cotton to form a cloud. Be sure to wrap the cotton around the twisty so Mary looks like she’s in the cloud. Turn the bottle on its side and gently rock the bottle to create your very own waves!  Note: The Mary card can be turned so she’s facing the correct way whether you choose to stand the bottle up or lay it on its side. Enjoy! Our Lady Star of the Sea, pray for us and all those who are troubled.

Hours turn into days, days into weeks, weeks to months, and months to years. Time flies by and we just keep moving with it almost like it is pushing us along. Among those many fast-flying minutes how many are moments of true reflection? I think the average, good, Christian will think about God, but how often do we truly stop and feel that He is with us? It’s hard! In our modern “go, go, go” society we rarely claim an opportunity to slow down to take a breath, let alone look around. But in those few rare minutes of true awareness God can always be seen; in every person and in every place. He is all around us, just waiting for us to notice Him. So in honor of those many missed moments, I want to share this photo I took of the awesome sunset that God has just given to us! May God give you eyes to see His many blessings. ~Jen-Marie

Elizabeth always has a hard time choosing, but she finally decided to be St. Helena. (The dress was getting small and she was afraid it wouldn’t fit next year) The dress was one I found at a yard sale years ago. My husband, Jon, made the wooden cross for some leftover wood. Her crown was made with a silver headband. I hot glued on a broken toy earring. Then she wore it just as you would a tiara. It looked awesome and only cost me $1.00 for the headband at the dollar store!

Naomi is St Joan of Arc. This dress is actually a dress of mine when I was little! She just looks too cute! I made the banner she is holding from an image I printed off the internet and a long dowel rod which I bought at the craft store. I used the image from this site: http://www.jeanne-darc.info Here is just the banner image I printed it onto a full sheet of stock paper then hot glued it onto the rod.

Elizabeth had a very hard time choosing!! As always! St Therese was her first pick, but later decided to be St Helena since the dress might be too small next year! Her adult thought and decision was a big surprise! This is a costume my older girls used in past years. It’s a brown robe from Oriental Trading. We used a light brown curtain for her cloak, and a white hooded shirt with the bottom cut off for her headpiece and collar. Then pinned a black piece of material on for the habit. Add a bouquet of roses and you have a St. Therese! Or if you can make a monstrance it could be St Clare. Or St Teresa of Avila with a book and feather pen.

Hannah is St Elizabeth of Hungary. And she’s just happy the dress is comfortable! 😉 She’s wearing a simple velvet robe with a decorative collar. She’s carrying a basket of flowers and foam bread (from the Dollar Store) Her crown and head-covering were simply a headband with shear material hot glued onto it. The headband was already decorated with gems when I bought it at the Dollar Store, but if you had a plain one you could add gems to it. Hot glue the center of one edge of the material to the headband’s underside: She wore it like a tiara, and it kept the material on her head very well!

Jacob decided to be St. Jerome. I think the fact that he’s learning Latin this year helped in that choice since St Jerome translated the Bible into Latin. Jacob’s costume was a brown robe which I bought years ago from Oriental Trading. Over the top of the robe, we added a piece of sackcloth with a hole cut into the middle for his head. A little bit of face paint for a beard, a stuffed lion, and I tied a rolled-up brown paper with a feather to his sackcloth shirt.

Abby as Mary with her baby as Jesus. Her picture pose makes me smile! 🙂 The costume was one from Oriental Trading for a Christmas play. (It’s the white robe and blue headpiece) For baby Jesus, I just wrapped one of her dolls in a white piece of material. Simple and cute!

Rachel wanted to be Saint Winifred. Saint Winifred was attacked by a man who wanted her to do sinful things, but Winifred fought against him. Her attacker cut off her head and instantly his feet were unable to move! When Winifred’s uncle, St. Beuno, came he restored Winifred’s head. She instantly came back to life. Her attacker immediately dropped dead. This very interesting saint sparked that unusual personality in our oldest child.

Joshua is Saint Michael, and he’s ready to fight the devil!!Joshua’s costume is a store-bought knight costume. I bought it several years ago and it’s been used as a Saint George (with a stuffed dragon), Saint Joan of Arc (with a skirt and banner), and now St. Michael …Just add wings!!

Kids love ♥ this game and it’s so simple!! All you need is a toy bow and arrow set and 10 plastic cups! Our bow was one I found second-hand. The arrows and quiver we made. And the cups are just simple plastic cups. I typed up a list of sins and printed them off. Then I taped them onto the cups.  The sins included:  Quick Tempered, Spitefulness, Argumentativeness, Immodesty, lack of self-control, Vanity, Dishonesty, Carelessness, Envy, Rudeness, Unfairness, Laziness, Selfishness, Hatred, Meanness, Disrespectfulness, Impatience, Pride, Greed, Self-centeredness Here’s how we made our arrows and quiver We wanted the arrows to be safe, so they wouldn’t hurt anyone if they were accidentally hit. NOTE: No bow and arrow set could be 100% safe so please watch that the kids are using them properly. Click on the images to enlarge them Our kids had so much fun with this game! And they sure learned a lot about how sin can be more than just the literal Ten Commandments. God Bless, ~Jen-Marie

For several years now, our family has had a baby crib sitting under our tree.  During Advent it’s empty: Christmas Morning Christmas morning the best gift of all can be discovered under that glowing tree!  On the Epiphany  Then, on the morning of the Epiphany, our King of Kings, baby Jesus, is found to be wearing a golden crown, red velvet cloak, and holding a jeweled scepter! The crib is a cradle that my father made for my older girls years ago, but you could use a wooden crate or box. The “hay” is actually raffia. It’s much cleaner than hay because it stays together in the crib and it has very few small pieces to make a mess. Baby Jesus is a toy baby doll, but it’s one I keep just for this family tradition. That makes this baby seem more special to the kids! The baby is dressed in a plain white newborn-size onesie and is wrapped in an old white baby blanket. The King of Kings crown is a golden cardboard crown for kids. I cut down the length and height so it would fit the doll. Then I added a few gems to make it look more royal! The cloak is a piece of velvet. I sewed a drawstring into the top.  I hot glued the decorative edging to the sides since I’m not much of a sewer. The scepter is a wooden ball on a stick. (a styrofoam ball would work) I covered the ball with some of the velvet and tied it together at the stick. Then I glued on some fancy trimming and gems. I covered the stick with a gold ribbon. Another idea: In the first year of this tradition, our kids did a play of the three kings. The kings each carried one of the three  “King of Kings” items. Then they dressed Him as they gave him his gifts. (but if you do this, have the kids dress Him starting with the cloak and add the crown last!) ☺ Hope you all have a blessed Advent while waiting for our Savor’s coming, ~Jen-Marie

The Feast of the Holy Innocents. This feast day is to remind us of the day Herod murdered all the baby boys so he could kill the King of Kings. But Joseph took Mary and baby Jesus to Egypt and escaped the massacre. See Matthew 2:1-18 Today is a special day to remember the babies who have been murdered, especially those who have died due to abortion. Pray for all babies that they may have the chance to grow as God intends and do God’s will throughout their lives. To help stop the anti-life push around the world, the late Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen encouraged the spiritual adoption of an unborn child. This is done by praying that the one particular but unknown child’s life is spared abortion and be allowed to continue to live. To help accomplish this, it was recommended an individual say the following daily prayer for a period of nine months. ~ Prayer of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Please spiritually adopt an unborn baby. For more information go to: http://www.spiritualadoption.org/

A few years back our kids made personal prayer books. I bought small scrapbooks and patterned paper to fit in each page. I also saved lots of religious and nature pictures for several months. The pictures came from several sources, like religious mail, magazines, Christmas and birthday cards, as well as, gift wrap and any other things that I found, which were on their way to the trash. I typed up lots of nice prayers and printed them off. Each of the kids received a copy of all the prayers. Then they chose pictures to glue on the page with it. They had lots of fun making the books and it made prayer time more personal and easier to focus on. Here are some of the prayers I had typed up: _____________ Morning Prayer God, give me eyes that I may see, The treasures you have given me. And give me ears that I may hear, The words of faith that keep you near. Lord, give me strength when I am week, And may Thy goals be those I seek. Grant me courage when I’m alone, And when I face the great unknown. Send me a friend when I’m in need, And let me do a noble deed. That others, too, may somehow see, The One who lives and works though me. ~Clay Harrison ____________ Night Prayer Dear God, I thank you for this day, For all your gifts, for work and play. Forgive the things that I did wrong And make my heart grow pure and strong. Show all the world your love and light and let me rest in peace tonight. Amen ___________ Family Prayer God made us a family We need one another We love one another We forgive one another We work together We play together We worship together Together we use God’s Word Together we grow in Christ Together we love all men Together we serve our God Together we hope for Heaven These are our hopes and ideals Help us to attain them O God. Amen __________ Memorare Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thine intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen. _______________ Prayer To Your Guardian Angel Angel of God, my guardian dear, To whom God’s love commits me here, Ever this day, be at my side, To light and guard, Rule and guide. Amen. ___________ The Morning Offering O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer You my prayers, works, joys and sufferings of this day for all the intentions of Your Sacred Heart, in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world, in reparation for my sins, for the intentions of all my relatives and friends, and in particular for the intentions of the Holy Father. Amen. ____________ Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi Lord, make me a channel of thy peace, that where there is hatred, I may bring love; that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness; that where there is discord, I may bring harmony; that where there is error, I may bring truth; that where there is doubt, I may bring faith; that where there is despair, I may bring hope; that where there are shadows, I may bring light; that where there is sadness, I may bring joy. Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted; to understand, than to be understood; to love, than to be loved. For it is by self-forgetting that one finds. It is by forgiving that one is forgiven. It is by dying that one awakens to Eternal Life. ___________ Children’s Prayer To Mary Dear Mother of Jesus, look down upon me As I say my prayers slowly at my mother’s knee. I love thee, O Lady and please willest thou bring All little children To Jesus our King. _______________ These are only a few of the prayers I typed and added to the books. For more prayers go to: http://www.ewtn.com/Devotionals/prayers/index.htm

We started to say a family Rosary together about 5 years ago. It amazed me how much it seemed to help me and my family life!  So I highly recommend saying a family Rosary! Saying the Rosary may take those precious 20-25 minutes out of our overly busy days, but God more than makes up for it in other ways! I’ve been asked by several people “How can you say a Rosary with so many little kids?” And I was just asked that question again by a wonderful lady who also has her hands full! __________ While every family is different and our tricks may not work for everyone, this is what we found works well for us: When and How: We normally say the Rosary at night after the kids have had their night time snack and the little ones are ready for bed. The room you are praying in needs to be clean – toy, book, and distraction-free. We have a few rules: The bigger kids must stay sitting or kneeling. The little ones must stay laying down or sitting and they normally have a pillow and blanket, too, but no toys! It did take a few days to get them to understand the “no toys, stay sitting” rules!! We just had to keep bringing them back to the room and taking toys. Once it becomes an everyday event the kids just learn to accept it. Now the little kids just lay down and often times they fall asleep. Types of ways we pray the Rosary: 1. With a DVD:  Years ago when we started saying the Rosary as a family we used Rosary DVDs. It helped the kids to learn how to say the Rosary and the images helped them to stay focused. We got the DVD’s from EWTN, but they might be cheaper somewhere else. The DVDs I found to be the best ones for kids are: Use the DVD — “Rosary in the Holy Land” (The one in the picture is different than mine, but I guess it’s the same.) For Holy Land Rosary Link ~Click here! Other DVD — “The Holy Rosary” -it’s the one with the stain glass window pictures. For Holy Rosary DVD with stain glass window Pics. ~Click here! Note: The Rosary DVDs which are made special for kids are often too distracting and seem to make them think it’s more playtime!! 2. With Pictures: We also have pictures of each of the 20 mysteries. They are the 8×10 size and I put them in a poster frame.  For 20 Mysteries Prints ~Click here!   We just display the correct set of mysteries before we begin. Before we had the 8×10 pictures, the kids each had small Rosary books (Simple $1 book) to help them follow along, but those eventually were just too ripped up to use. 3. With Scripture:  Sometimes we will read scripture verses before each Hail Mary. “Rosary of Praise” or “Scriptural Rosary” are good books to use for this. 4. Other ways, times, and places we have prayed the Rosary: We have also said the Rosary on the drive home from different events when we know we will not have the time when we get home.  A few times we have loaded the kids in the van to say the Rosary while trying to get a baby to sleep. We have said the Rosary while walking outside around our property. We’ve said the Rosary at nap time, it helped to put the little kids to sleep. Distracted Kids? We change the way we say the Rosary (with the pictures, DVD, scripture book, etc.) if they seem like they are becoming more easily distracted. **In other words, if we say the Rosary with the scripture book for a few weeks and the kids seem to be losing interest we switch to the DVD for a while. Other thoughts:  It might help if you start saying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, then after a few days/weeks switch to the Rosary. We give each of the kids a turn leading a decade of the Rosary. If you plan to buy or make Rosaries for children, I recommend “all-twine knotted Rosaries” ~ they are much stronger and more difficult for kids to break!! __________ If you are considering trying to say a daily Rosary together as a family, I hope this can help you to get you started. I hope it all made sense, if not please feel free to leave a comment!