St. Mary Magdalene’s feast day is July 22 (New and Traditional calendars) The story from John 12:1-8 tells us how Mary Magdalene anointed the feet of Jesus with expensive perfume. So for her liturgical ornament Elizabeth and I decided to make a perfume bottle (an older style). We used light blue felt, and a light blue permanent marker. We folded a 2×3 inch rectangular piece of light blue felt in half and cut half a perfume bottle shape from it so that it could be opened into a full bottle. Then we added a light blue marker outline and glass-glare. The shaded-outline really makes it ”pop”! A silver threaded loop was added to hang it on our Liturgical Tree.  St. Mary Magdalene, pray for us! God bless. ~JenMarie

St. Peter Julian Eymard’s feast day is Aug. 2 in the new calendar. He began his love of Jesus at a young age and became a priest at the age of 23. He had a devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and tried to spread that love to all those around him. He is the founder of the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament. Read more about him HERE , HERE , and HERE . Because of his love of the Blessed Sacrament, Elizabeth and I made a monstrance for this ornament. We used yellow and white felt, as well as, gold pipe cleaners and a brown sharpie marker. This is a double-sided ornament, so all the felt parts are doubled.  We cut the gold pipe cleaner into short 1 inch strips – they are the rays of the monstrance. We used the yellow felt to make the stand part of the monstrance. We made the host from white felt and we the cross was added with a sharpie brown marker.  We glued the small strips of gold pipe cleaner to the back of one of the yellow felt shapes. Then layered the second yellow shape on top. We glued on the hosts – one on both side. I recommend using hot glue to make this ornament.  You may like to visit Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament on St. Peter Julian Eymard’s feast day. St. Peter Julian Eymard, pray for us. ~JenMarie

St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross was born Jewish (Edith Stein).  She converted to Catholicism and was baptized at the age of 31. She later became a Carmelie nun. Only a few years later she was taken to Auschwitzgas by the Nazis and killed in a gas chamber on Aug. 9th 1942. She is celebrated on Aug. 9 (new calendar) – the anniversary of her death and entrance into heaven. Read more HERE and HERE . Because of her Jewish background, Elizabeth and I made a Star of David and added a cross to the center. We made 2 identical yellow triangles and over-lapped them to make the star. We outlined them with a black sharpie marker. Then we used two small brown felt strips to make a cross in the center of the star. St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, pray for us! ~Jen-Marie and Elizabeth (Crafting Buddy)

The feast of St. Martha is July 29th (new and traditional calendars). She was a friend of Jesus and the sister to Mary Magdalene and Lazarus. Because of the story in Luke 10:38-42, Elizabeth and I decided to go with a house keeping theme. So we created a broom.  We used dark brown and yellow felt to create this ornament. We also used a brown permanent marker to add ”bristles” to the broom. This ornament is double-sided so it looks the same on both sides. Although we don’t have it pictured, we did make two broom handles and glued them back to back. This made the ornament more stable.   St. Martha, pray for us! God Bless. ~JenMarie

I grew up a farmer’s daughter. My family moved onto a 60 acre farm when I was only 3 weeks old (not that I remember). My father was a hard working man who worked 2 full time jobs – as a farmer and an electrician. He needed both jobs so he could afford to put his 5 kids into a Catholic school. That old farm was the only place I lived and loved for the first 14 years of my life. The Gettysburg Civil War era farm house was always in need of repair, but it felt like home.  When I turned 14 years old my father made a smart, life-changing decision.  He decided to give up farming and to focus on being an electrician and a dad. The only problem was selling the farm. Sadly, selling a farm is never easy. After all, most people are not interested in working a farm, especially a 60 acre farm with over 2,000 turkeys and 30 cows. The realtor said it could be many years before a buyer would show interest. That information was heartbreaking to our family. If you have ever decided to move or sell a house you might understand how upsetting it can be to hear that you may need to wait several years before being able to finally move. After hearing the news, we put our trust in St. Joseph. We prayed each night for St. Joseph’s intersection. To make our prayers feel more special, my mom placed our 18 inch tall St. Joseph’s statue in a prominent spot in the front window of our old house. To the shock of the realtor and us, we sold the farm in less than 3 months! The 60 acre turkey farm was bought by a lovely young couple who were just married. In fact, they are still there today – 23 years later. (Now you have enough information to calculate my age!) Yes it was a shock and an obvious blessing from God. But what happened next only made this everyday miracle even more interesting. When the big moving day came, lots of relatives (who owned trucks), came to help us move. In all the shuffle of packing boxes and loading trucks, the large St. Joseph statue sitting in the front window was respectfully over-looked and left to be packed till last. The caravan of trucks was about to head down the road, so I climbed into the font seat of my dad’s truck. As I waited anxiously to get going, my mom handed me the statue. I held St. Joseph on my lap as the parade of trucks drove toward the new house. Around each curve and over each bump I held him and protected him, till we pulled into the driveway of the new house.  My dad opened the truck door and took the statue from me so I could climb out of the truck. Then, he turned around, opened the door to our new house, and walked in holding the statue which was now cradled in his arm. He placed St. Joseph on the kitchen counter – right in the heart of the house. The awesomeness of that moment didn’t dawn on us till later in the day. It seemed so fitting that the St. Joseph statue was the first item to enter the new house. After all it was St. Joesph, our intercessor in heaven, who helped to make the move possible! Our family has had a deep devotion to St. Joseph since that day. We have had many everyday miracles occur because of his intercession, but his intercession in buying and selling homes has been the most relevant in our everyday lives. My husband and I have bought and sold houses 3 times since we have been married. Each time we prayed to St. Joseph for help, and each time we were totally amazed at how quickly our houses sold.  If you are selling or planning to sell your home, pray to St. Joseph. He may or may not be able to help (God has a reason for all things), but I’m sure he will help if he can. About St. Joseph Home Selling Kits You may have heard about the St. Joseph home selling kits. Some of those kits bother me. They tell you to bury a St Joseph statue upside-down in the ground till he finds you a buyer. The prayer that accompanies this kit states: — Yikes! I don’t know about you all, but that seems very superstitious, strange, and downright disrespectful! Placing the statue in a place of honor worked perfectly for my parents, as well as, my husband and I. You don’t need to bury the statue. St. Joseph – in heaven- will hear your prayer whether or not a statue of him is buried in the ground. After all, the most important part of asking St. Joseph for his intersession is PRAYER!!  But if you feel you should do some thing with a statue, that’s okay – after all, it is a physical way of praying and that’s good – *but* I recommend creating a special place of honor for the statue (as you would the real saint.). It is a more respectful way of asking for help.  Once your home sells be sure to hold St. Joseph in a place of honor in your new home, too. Maybe make plans that a statue of him is the first item to enter the new home and plan a special family event to thank this wonderful saint for his help!  All those who are selling a home, take heart. I’m sure St. Joseph will do his best. So, pray, pray, pray! May God bless you and all those who live with you in your home. ~JenMarie Did you have a home selling experience that you’d like to share? How do you feel about burying a St. Joseph statue? How has St. Joseph interceded for you? How do you honor St. Joseph in your home?

With the hot summer months now upon us in the Northeast, this cool, edible craft is just right for the feasts of the Sacred Heart and Immaculate Heart. The fun, jiggly jello and the cool, juicy peaches, are a nice mix. My kids enjoyed creating them just as much as eating them! It’s a great way to satisfy your child’s spiritual and snack needs.  You will need: 1 box of red Jello – 6 oz box – whatever flavor you like – cherry, strawberry, or punch can of peaches – we used a 29 oz can but that was more than we needed – slice them thin chocolate sprinkles flower sprinkles pretzel sticks – you only need a handful or two heart shaped cookie cutter (if possible) flat, un-slotted spatula/turner (or whatever you call it; the name depends on where you live)  plates to put the jello hearts on – so the kids can decorate them Make your jello ahead and pour the liquid into two 13×9 inch pans. Chill till it’s that fun solid-jiggly texture. Using a heart shaped cookie cutter, cut hearts into the jello. Use the spatula/turner to gently remove the hearts from the pan and place two hearts side-by-side on a plate. (This is the hardest part.) The key is to gently tap the spatula against the plate as you slide the heart off the spatula. Now cut the peaches into small, thin slivers. Place them at the top of the heart. Try to make them flare out so they look like flames. I let my older kids (8 and up) help with this part. Then all the kids added their own chocolate sprinkles to one of their hearts to create a ”crown of thrones” and they added flower sprinkles to the other to make the ”crown of flowers”.  They used a whole pretzel stick and a half stick to make a cross on top of the heart with chocolate sprinkles. All the kids had a fun, jiggly, and giggly time creating these treats! Although, Caleb thought the best part was eating the jello! Don’t have a heart shaped cookie cutter? If you don’t have a cookie cutter, try smashing up the jello and spoon some onto a plate to form the two hearts. It’s not as clean of a look, but my girls liked the ”gem” look that these have. I made the ones pictured above with the leftover ”scraps” of jello that were around the cookie cutter shapes. Waste not; want not! 🙂  Till later, God bless. ~JenMarie

For our first Liturgical Saint Ornament we created St. Veronica’s veil. This was a nice easy one to start with! St. Veronica’s feast day is July 12 (That’s her historical feast day.) This ornament was created with only a small piece of off-white felt, black and brown permanent sharpie markers, and a needle & tread to hang it (We used gold thread.).  Elizabeth created most of this one. God Bless. ~JenMarie

Sts. Anne and Joachim are remembered and honored on July 26th in the new Catholic calendar (Traditionally – July 26th for Anne and Aug. 16th for Joachim). While we don’t know much about these two saints, we do know that they were blessed to the the parents of an amazing woman – Mary the Mother of God. How special was this couple that God allowed them to conceive a baby with no original sin!? Wow! What a blessing! St. Anne and St. Joachim, were the first teachers of Our Blessed Mother, so my daughter, Elizabeth, and I decided to use a book for one of the symbols. Because Anne would have also taught Mary how to keep house, cook, and make clothes, we use a spool of thread as another symbol. We used maroon, light blue, light brown and white felt to make this ornament.  The book was make with a larger maroon rectangle shape which was folded in half. We added  three smaller, white, rectangle shapes inside the folded maroon rectangle to form the pages. It was all hot glued at the ”binding”.  The spool was a light brown spool shape and a few small strips of light blue to make the ”thread”. The spool was glued onto the book. The above picture has a better view of the spool of thread.  Sts. Anne and Joachim, pray for us. God bless you all. ~JenMarie & crafting buddy, Elizabeth 🙂

We celebrate the feast of St. Bridget of Sweden on July 23. (Her traditional feast day is on Oct. 8th.) She married around the age of 14 and had 8 children. (Including St. Catherine of Sweden). St. Bridget was a visionary and after her husband died she worked hard trying to restore the Church. She is the founder of the Brigettine nuns, and the patron saint of Sweden, Europe, and widows.  The symbols on the ornament which we created for her includes a ”pilgrim’s” staff,  because she took MANY pilgrimages. The staff is accompanied by a book – another common symbol of her’s.  Read more about her HERE and HERE . We used gray, dark brown, maroon, and white felt to create this ornament. We glued the staff onto a white oval for stability (we used hot glue). The book was created using a gray rectangle (the cover) and thee small white rectangles (the pages). It was all glued (hot glue) together at the book’s ”binding”; so it will partly open. Then the book was glued onto the oval with the staff. A silver threaded loop was added so it could be hung on our Liturgical tree.   Note:  St. Bridget of Sweden is also known as St. Brigit, St. Birgitta, or Birgitta of Vadstena. She is commonly confused with St. Bridget of Ireland, whose feast day is Feb 1. St. Bridget of Sweden, pray for us! May you all have a blessed day! ~JenMarie

St. Kateri Tekakwitha is a new saint who’s feast day is July 14th. Elizabeth had a hard time coming up with a symbol for this beautiful saint. So I helped with the design.  To create this ornament, we used dark brown felt, off-white felt, a black permanent sharpie marker, thread, small Indian beads, and glue. (We used hot glue, but high quality craft glue will work.)  Two strips of brown felt formed a cross and two feather shapes with black marker detailing were the decoration on the cross. We glued all the parts together. Then, using thread, we made a few beaded dangles and threaded them onto the feathers. To give the feathers more of a feather look we cut slits in the sides. Just don’t cut all the way through!  It’s just a small tribute to such a wonderful saint! St. Kateri, pray for us! Till later, ~JenMarie

St. Christopher was a very large and strong man. In his kindness he often would carry pilgrims (travelers on a religious journey) across a river. One day a child asked to be taken across. St. Christopher was happy to help. He placed the child on his shoulder and carried him across the river. The child became heavier and heavier, till the weight became almost too much to hold. Then he realized it was Christ – the Lord of the world- that he carried. (Christopher means ”Christ-carrier”). Read more about St. Christopher – here .  St. Christopher\’s ornament includes two symbols: one for St. Christopher and one for the Lord of the World. St. Christopher is represented with a travelers staff  and sack. Our Lord is represented in the image of the world with the triumphant cross.  We used dark brown, off-white, light brown, and light blue felt to create this ornament. We used a light blue marker, a green marker, and a brown marker to make the world with the triumphant cross. Brown marker was used on the sack, too. All the parts were glued onto an off-white oval-ish shape so they could be hung on the liturgical tree.  St. Christopher shared his feast day (July 25th) with St. James the Greater. St. Christopher, pray for us. Have a blessed day! ~JenMarie

The second ornament Elizabeth and I made was for the feast of St. Benedict, whos feast day is celebrated on July 11 (in the NEW calendar). His traditional feast is March 21.  Scholastica’s feast day is celebrated on Feb 10.  These two saints are twins, so we just kept them together.  This ornament was made with maroon and off-white felt, black and brown permanent sharpie markers, half of a gold pipe cleaner, and a small plastic dove (optional). All the parts were glued together. Hot glue or a good quality craft glue will work. (I prefer the hot glue – it lasts longer and it’s quicker.) The book was decorated with the brown and black markers. Dots were all that was needed to make the ”writing” on the book. Marker details add a lot! The dove was a nice touch, but not necessary. The dove is really the symbol for St. Scholastica – not so much St. Benedict.  God Bless. ~JenMarie