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My oldest daughter, Rachel, (age 15) asked to have a sleepover-party with a few of her Catholic friends. She doesn’t normally ask for too much so I really wanted to make this happen. Aside from all our other fun party plans Rachel wanted a craft or two to do with her friends. I came up with two things for the girls to create and I want to share the craft that the girls absolutely LOVED!!!!!  My daughters and I all agreed that this craft is ”addicting”! We all just wanted to keep making them!!  These saint medal necklaces are perfect for Catholic teen’s parties, youth groups, or even All Saints Day parties! They would also make perfect DIY gifts!!BUT here’s a caution to those interested in making these: Be prepared to make more than one pendant, because no body could stop at just one!  To make these saint medal pendants you will need: Saint Medals (no jump-ring  is needed) Washers (We used ¼ x 1¼ sized. A box of 100 only cost $1.50 at our local hardware store.) Nail Polish (LOTS of colors – We bought ours at the Dollar Tree) Nail-art glitter or other glitter (We bought ours at the Dollar Tree, also.) Clear nail polish or clear glittery nail polish (A must if you use glitter) String (we used black waxed string we bought at A.C. More) Fun-Tak or other mounting putty (Found at Wal-mart in the stationary section *Or use super-glue if you prefer.) The first thing you need to do is paint a washer with nail polish. This is the fun part!!! Add glitter while it’s still wet, and allow that to dry. Once it’s dry coat it with clear nail polish (or clear-glitter polish) This will help seal the glitter in place. It also just makes it look more finished. Cut a string to the length you desire. We found that 24 inches seemed to work well. Thread the open ends of your cut string through the saint medal hole. Like this:  Add the washer to the looped end, like this:  Now thread the cut ends into the looped end, like this:  Pull it all tight, and keep the cut ends as even as you can. Center the medal in the center of the washer. The medal will pop out as pictured below:   Add a small ball of mounting putty to the bottom-back of the medal. Press the medal down against the washer to stick them together. You could super glue the medal down, but I wanted to keep the medals nice in case the girls wanted to change the backing that they painted. It should look like this: As for the cut ends of the string, we tied a loop in one end and a large knot in the other so it can be easily taken on and off. You could buy clasps to attach to the ends if you wish.  Here are some of the beautiful necklaces the girls made.(The pictures don’t do them justice! They are so sparkly and shinny!!) The example pictures above are only a few that my daughters and friends created. Yes, these are addicting!!!  I have a feeling we will be making more soon!! God Bless! ~JenMarie

My younger children are at the ”alphabet learning age”. So when I was asked to review the book by Tracy Sands I thought it might fit in well with my lesson plans for the school year. I was a bit surprised when the book showed up at my door since it was not what I was expecting. Many younger kids like stories or rhyming poems. This book is not an easy read book and you cannot sit down and read this book straight through to your child(ren). I found a page (a letter) a day to be plenty for kids to handle. Plus, each page/letter needed discussion time and/or activity time to reinforce the thoughts and ideas. is meant to teach about Jesus, prayer, and the Bible. Each letter is used as a spring-board to teach children many different simple religious concepts. These ideas are very basic and easy to understand, but coming from a Catholic perspective this book is kind of disappointing. This book IS CHRISTIAN. While I saw nothing wrong with the information in the book, I personally would have loved to see more in depth Catholicism in the book’s teachings. I did see many Catholic symbols and ideas peaking through some of the teachings and images, which makes me think the author/illustrator is or was Catholic.  I can see that this book would work well as a teaching tool to reinforce religious concepts as children learn their letters. Although, I personally would add a more Catholic twist to the information given. Also, it could be used as a discussion starter when teaching kids of many ages.  From an artistic standpoint I thought the letter images were beautiful.  The author/illustrator, Tracy Sands , did an awesome job making the images look interesting. Although many of  the letters were not easy for my younger kids to make out, the kids did have fun trying to find the letter shape in the picture. My kids enjoyed the ”Seek and Find” section under each letter image, too. Personally, I found the ”Symbology” section in the back of the book particularly interesting. You can see some of the information on the image’s symbolism and it’s meanings  here on their website.   I was also sent a CD which included 5 songs, including the Christian Alphabet Song . If you feel having a song to go with the book would be helpful than this is an added bonus. Although, the CD only has 5 songs, it is reasonably priced.  Visit website to read more about this book and the other items they sell. NOTE: I was given a free copy of this book and CD in exchange for an honest review. I make no profit from this review.  God Bless. ~JenMarie

My family and I are adamant scapular wearers. From about the age of 7 or 8ish my kids enroll in the Brown Scapular  and start to wear a scapular 24/7. If you don’t wear a scapular I HIGHLY recommend it!! To learn more about the scapular click here  and here . I also recommend you read these books.  These are wonderful books and they have some awesome miracle stories about the brown scapular.   You can buy some really pretty scapulars, but they can be kind of pricey. So on our tight family budget I like to go simple and cheap. Here is a great spot to get a  FREE scapular ! On the feast day of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (July 16) I like to have a little something for my kids to make, color, or create!  Here are a bunch of ideas I found: This is a few past posts from Catholic Inspired: Make an Our Lady of Mount Carmel Felt Doll Click here to see this post Or make this wall scapular craft to decorate your room or home. Here’s more from other websites and blogs: Fun Food for the feast day: Scapular Brownies from Catholic Cuisine Scapular Cake from Catholic Cuisine Coloring pages:  Coloring pages from Coloring Book 4 Kids here and here  Coloring pages from My Catholic Source here and here More beautiful coloring pages from Hope you see something you can use! Have a blessed day! ~JenMarie

I’ve seen many beautiful examples of these little Triduum displays, so I thought you might like to visit a few of these websites and blogs to get some inspiration to make your own. Craft, Interrupted  has this fun Easter garden. Here is a neat tomb; it\’s an egg!  See this at Toddler Activities at Home Familia Catolica has made clever use of a potato in this garden. Go check it out! The Crafty Homeschooling Mama as a great post about this lovely garden: At the Butterfly Ball made this cute little display.  Mary and Joseph\’s Gem has a few pictures of this colorful garden. A Holy Experience  has pictures of this garden.  Visit The Frugal Homemaker for this tutorial.  JOY-filled Family has a beautiful garden, too. Visit Tiffany to see her Resurrection Tomb Terrarium

Our Lord said to St. Francis of Assisi, “Rebuild My Church!” My kids thought this craft was so much fun! But before we stated I read about St. Francis from our "Once Upon a Time Saints" book. “But that night, he (the pope) had a dream. He saw the great Church of St. John Lateran falling, crumbling into dust, and only one ragged little man was holding it up. It was Francis. Our Lord said to the pope, “This is the man through whom the church shall be rebuilt.”” St. Francis of Assisi Craft After reading the story about St. Francis of Assisi my kids made this craft. All you need is: the printable - download below (stock paper is best) building material like:-brown or red paper square “bricks”-wooden craft sticks, cut in half-toothpicks-mini rocks scissors (and cutters if you are using sticks) glue (we used Tacky white glue) Download the St. Francis Craft Here:  It is super simple and fun! Just print out the St. Francis and church printable and glue your “building material” around the image of  St. Francis. Feel free to be creative about what “building material” you will use! Choose the 6 small printable templates or the 2 larger templates. Here is a quick view of the craft pages: God bless. ~JenMarie

My kids love to give me weeds - I mean  flowers - during spring and summer! Some days they bring me so many flowers I don’t know what to do with them all!! Most of these floral bundles are tiny and cute. In fact they are so tiny they don’t fit in any of my vases. Most vases that stores sell are large vases for bouquets you receive through a florist. They just don’t work for the little bouquets that my sweeties hide behind their back and try to surprise me with! Really, a 3 inch tall bouquet just falls down into a deep 10 inch vase. It just doesn’t work! So what should I do with the tiny bouquets that are so lovingly given by my biggest, little fans? Maybe I can just secretly throw them into the trash? Oooh, if my young little fan club found out that I was throwing those flowers into the trash I would be in BIG trouble!! The feelings of my little crew would be worse than the way Naomi felt when Joshua fed Prince Charming to the dinosaurs!! Besides, if I did trash the flowers, I’d have to explaining to the little upset faces what happened to the beautiful posies my precious posy pickers picked!  What to do; what to do! My solution:  Votive candle jars! Many small votive candle jars are a nice size for my tiny bouquets of flowers!! This past spring, while I was at a yard sale, I found a set of 5 votive candle jars which were held in a small shallow basket. These have been working GREAT for holding my petite perfumed posies!!! The posy pickers are thrilled to fill up all 5 jars. I display the jars with their basket and my statue of the Blessed Mother and the infant Jesus. I added a few strings of pearls to make it look a little more royal for Our Lady.  The pearls really added a nice accent to the basket! It’s been such a joy!  Not only do I now have great little vases to display my tiny flowers, I’m also able to share them with my Mother Mary!! Can you get any better than that?!? Here’s another cool thing about it….They are easy to clean!! Love it! It’s nice that my kids can freely bring in flowers to give to Mary! That might be a nice new tradition for teachers to do in the month of May for Our Lady, too! Votive candle jars are easy to find at thrift shops or even a regular store in the candle area. Be creative! I like to think ”outside the box". Now, if I could get my hands on one of these: Click here to see on Amazon I could put a statue of Mary in the middle, where the large vase is. Then add little flowers all around, in the votive candle jars!! That would be sooo pretty! I’d just have to figure out how to add something to the middle to support a statue. Oh, well, just a thought….. Oh, by the way – for any one concerned – Prince charming was able to escape from his hungry captives.   He only sustained minor paint scraping and a disappointed Naomi who tossed him down when she realized the doll wasn’t actually hers. It was her sister’s – Abby! What a disappointment! Well, at least Charming got out with all his limbs intact! God Bless you and your family! ~JenMarie

This cross is a fun, simple and FREE activity to create at Bible camp, while sitting at a campfire, or on a nature walk. It’s also great for Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha’s Feast day (July 14) All you need: (all free!!) two sticks (one shorter – one longer) a long stem of green grass. (about 1 to 2 feet long)You could use twine if you wish. Carefully tear off the grass blades from the grass stem. Criss-cross the two sticks so they are in the shape of a cross. Place the long grass stem behind the criss-crossed sticks.  Leave about 3 to 4 inches to use to tie a knot when finished.  Wrap the long end around the criss-cross sticks about 3 times. Then switch directions and wrap it around the opposite corners 3 times. Take both grass stem ends and knot them together. Use a knot like you use when you start to tie your shoe.  Use this knot two or three times. Break off the extra stem. That’s it! It’s great for bored kids on a camping trip! Hope you can use this idea! God Bless! ~Jen-Marie

To make our cross we used a few old wood pieces we had laying around our house. With our house under constant remodel, finding wood is easy! For those of you who are lucky enough to have a completed house, you could buy some thin lattice strips or other pieces of wood at your local lumber store (Lowes is great!). My  “Handy-Hubby” used two small screws to attach ours together, but if you don’t have a “handy-significant-other” string wrapped in a criss-cross pattern at the center should work, if tied tight! Lent Our Lenten Cross looks like this all Lent until Palm Sunday. I used a purple robe from our nativity costumes to drape over the cross, and I made a paper Crown of Thorns. For the instructions to make a paper crown of thorns click here . Palm Sunday Again I used a robe from our nativity costumes(I love to recycle!). The palm is paper. Click here for instructions on cutting a palm. Spy Wednesday I used glitter foam to make a blue bag with silver coins. I also added a black string to the bag. Holy Thursday Using glitter foam I made a chalice and host. I know this is not what Jesus would have had, but I wanted my kids to realize that Holy Thursday was the first Mass.  Good Friday I added a large black scarf, three red drops, and a red slit (cut from red glitter foam) and I added the paper crown of thorns . Holy Saturday It’s empty Easter Here I used another robe and a bunch of fake lilies. If you would like to make your own paper lilies  click here . Okay, That’s a lot of pictures!!  Hope that explains it all!  Have a meaningful Passion Sunday and Holy Week, and a wonderful Easter! God Bless. ~Jen-Marie

Here’s a simple idea to make for the kids if they are doing a skit of Our Lord entering Jerusalem or use it to decorate your home for Palm Sunday (Passion Sunday).  It’s just a simple paper palm! You’ll Need Green construction paper and scissors. Fold the paper in half longways. Cut out a half leaf shape with a thin stem. Now cut out wedges.  Be sure the leaves, which are left behind, are pointed and the bottom of the leaf, at the steam, is flat. Open it and you have this: It’s great for decorating on Palm Sunday! I used one to decorate our Lenten Cross… God Bless. ~Jen-Marie

Here are lots of ideas for you to help you celebrate Our Blessed Mother’s Birthday (Sept 8) Family At The Foot Of The Cross:  Blue praying arms pretzels The Careless Catholic:  Nice list of books and more Ten kids and a Dog: Nice cake and coloring activity Sugar and Spice and All Things Nice:  Beautiful cake for Mary Ten kids and a Dog:  Made Cards for Our Blessed  Mother’s Birthday Slightly Crunchy Catholic: Another Beautiful cake for Our Blessed Mother\’s birthday! Training Happy Hearts:  Fun day 2010 Fun day 2011 An Abundance of Rainbows:  Queen Mary’s Children Party fun! Three-Sided Wheel Fun books and ideas Family at the Foot of the Cross Beautiful post and party St. Anne and Baby Mary Felt Doll / Statues Felt Doll / Statues or Mary’s Nativity

As I was sitting at my dining room table making my Advent seasonal plans and I came up with this idea for my girls to make for St. Lucy’s day. After creating one, to test my idea, I thought, “Duh!! I feel sooo silly…This is a nice easy activity for the kids to make their own Advent wreath.” — You see I’ve had a destructive, yet cute, baby in the house for the past 14 Christmases and I have never had a real Advent wreath to sit on our dining room table. So this paper wreath is as close as we have ever gotten to having one! Sounds silly I’m sure, but that’s just how it’s been! I just never thought to much about it till this year!  This Advent wreath is super easy, all you need is colored paper, scissors, glue, and tape or staples. Because I originally planned to make this a St. Lucy’s  wreath, the colors are different in the pictures than they are for the Advent wreath.  Cut out two strips of green paper. We cut ours in a zig-zag type pattern, to give it more of a wreath look.  Staple/tape the two strips together at the ends to create a circle. Cut 3 tall rectangles out of purple paper and one tall rectangle out of pink. (or, as pictured, cut 4 white for St. Lucy) Staple/tape them to the wreath. They are the candles. Now draw four teardrop shapes on yellow paper and add a little orange to the bottom to make it look like a flame. After cutting them out we drew orange flames to the other side, too. Staple/tape one flame to the top of the correct colored candle throughout the weeks of Advent. Cut out circles from red paper to make berries. Use glue to add them to the wreath. We used the berries to cover our staples. It worked well! My little “test subject” was so excited about the cute little wreath-hat! She didn’t want to wait till the 13th (St Lucy’s day) to make them and that was okay, because she was just as happy to make one for the start of Advent as an Advent Wreath! I’m sure my girls will have just as much fun making them again to wear on the 13th, too! Cheers to happy kids! 😉 God Bless. ~JenMarie

Our home is all decorated for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe! We made Mexican flowers from tissue paper and added an image of Our Lady to the center of each. These flowers proved to be very versatile decorations! You will need: 2 to 3 colors of tissue paper 2 to 3 twist-ties tape a small image of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Download below) scissors Download Image and Instructions Here: Cut the tissue paper into different sized squares. We made the largest about 12″ by 12″ and the next was about 8″ by 8″ and the third 4″ by 4″. Fold each square like a fan. Use a twist-tie to tie the middle together. Unfurl the fanned sides and tape the edges together to form a circle. Do this for all your colors. Layer the three tissue paper circles together, by sticking the twist-tie of one through the center of the one larger. Twist all the ties together in the back. It will look layered like this: Now cut out your Our Lady of Guadalupe image, as shown, and tape it to the center of the flower. Note: My older kids (ages 8 and up) could make these with ease. But my younger kids needed more help particularly with the twist-ties and opening the fan. How did we use them? My girls wore them in their hair! Or on a hat! They look great around our statue! And on our bulletin board! Blessings to you and your family on Our Lady’s Feast day! ~JenMarie