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Sept. 23 is the feast day of St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina. Here are a few copywork pages you might like to use after discussing this wonderful saint! I created 6 different sheets with 2 different quotes.  The levels range from early writing to cursive writing. So you can choose the learning levels you need. The two quotes are: “The devil is capable of confusing the most brilliant mind.” – St. Pio  “Don’t allow any sadness to dwell in your soul, for sadness prevents the Holy Spirit from acting freely.” – St. Pio St. Pio was such an amazing man. These two quotes are so down-to-earth and give us such a great perspective on our need to stay alert and God-centered  during our lives. We need to keep joy in our hearts and we need to be humble. Without joy and humility the devil will win over us.  Joy and humility do not come easy. They are a mindset that we must work hard to gain – during every moment  of each day. In order to gain them we must realize that God is in control and His plan will always be the right way – We must TRUST at all times .   – Be still and know I am God. –Psalm 46 Download This Work Sheet Here: May God bless your day with His joy and peace! ~Jen-Marie

Earlier this summer my older teen daughters had their cousins over for a sleepover. The girls were looking for a craft to do, so we quickly whipped together a simple- yet useful – project. These are upcycled boxes covered in Catholic images from old cards, magazines, and catalogs! To make these you will need: boxes – We used cardboard craft boxes ($1.00 at AC Moore), but you could also use paper mache boxes or wooden boxes. images from, old cards, religious mail, religious catalogs, etc. scissors mod-podge paint brush Just cut out a bunch of images and arrange the images on the box. After you are happy with your design, use mod-podge to the back of the images and attach them to the box. After the glue has dried decoupaged the boxes – covered the images with a few thin layers of mod-podge to make them smooth and strong enough to withstand use. Allow the mod-podge to dry between coats. The girls created lots of different faith-centered designs! Some of the decorations they even added to the inside of the box lid. Our boxes were bought at AC Moore. Most craft stores have lots of boxes to choose from. You could upcycle tissue boxes, cereal boxes, and other boxes, too! Cover them with paper first if needed. Happy Catholic crafting!! God bless you all with joy! ~Jen-Marie

Mother’s day is coming during the month of May – which is also the month we honor our heavenly mother, Mary. It’s a great time to think about flowers! So with this in mind, I created this printable bouquet and vase! It has beautiful flowers and a sweet image of Our Lady holding the infant Jesus. This paper bouquet is easy to make and could be a beautiful gift for mom or grandma. It also would be a beautiful decoration for your May altar or use it as a centerpiece for your table! I know we will be using ours as decorations for our Mother Mary Tea party this year! Although we made ours for the month of May, these are 100% perfectly usable on any Marian feast day!  So feel free to create this project anytime! To create this you will need: the printable pages - Download below colored pencils or crayons scissors stapler or tape (we used a stapler) glue or glue stick 7 oz disposable plastic cup – ours were 3 1/2 inches tall. a sheet of green tissue paper a sheet of green construction paper Download the Vase Craft Here: First print the pages (regular paper is fine). Color the Mary and Jesus image, the butterflies and flowers. If you are giving this as a gift, you can write a message to the recipient in the boxed area below Mary. Note: the printable does not have the writing under Mary as it’s pictured in the image above. We added that to this sample. Once you have colored it the way you like, cut out all the parts. Staple (or tape) the one end of the Mary box to the other – to form a tube. Add the 7 oz plastic disposable cup to the inside of the tube and staple the top of it to the top of the paper tube (in the back) Be sure it’s sitting level before you staple it.  Note: The paper tube is not tight around the cup. If you make it tight it is more likely to wrinkle and/or fall over. The plastic cup will help keep your flowers and greens from falling out. Now, fold the butterflies in half and open them up again. Staple the middle of the butterfly to the area around image of Mary. (or tape it down) This will give them a flying-3D look. Cut your sheet of tissue paper in half. Then cut each half in half again – diagonally. Take the middle of each part and form a point. Stuff the point into the cup along with some green leaf-like strips, which were cut from the green construction paper. If you don’t have green tissue paper you can just fill the cup with green strips of paper, but the tissue is a much better filler. Now fluff-out the greens and add your flowers.  Some of my kids fluffed theirs out so much it made these kind-of top heavy. When they finished creating them they sat fine, but if it’s frustrating to the child, add a few small rocks to the bottom of the cup. Use a glue stick to attach the flowers to the greenery. There you have it – a beautiful bouquet! You’re ready to be a florist!! 🙂 This bouquet craft can be enjoyed by a wide variety of ages. Obviously, the quality will not be as great for younger kids, but they can still enjoy it. Here is one my 4 year old made. My 4 year old, Caleb, was thrilled with his! He sat and admired it for quite awhile before he moved it into his special place in his bedroom. 🙂 Here are a few more examples which my girls created: We had light and dark green tissue paper. I thought I’d show you both so you can decide which shade of green you like best. This could be a small group activity! A small group of kids could make one bouquet together. There are 9 flowers, 2 butterflies, and the Mary vase which all need colored. Allow the children to pick the part they want to color. Then they can all share in the assembly of the bouquet. This is great way for a few siblings to create one of these bouquets for Grandma or Mom! Enjoy! ~JenMarie

The feast day of the Exaltation of the Cross reminds us that Jesus was victories over evil! The cross is a sign of Jesus’ victory! That doesn’t mean we automatically will get to heaven; it means that Jesus has unlocked heaven’s door. It’s up to us to open the door. The only way we can do that is by showing God that we love Him. We need to give God our mind, soul, heart, and body. We need to do our every deed and action for Him! Each time we look at a cross or a crucifix we should remember that we need to give our lives to God because He gave His life for us so we would have the ability to enter heaven. This ornament depicts a cross towering over the world! It was created with tan, dark brown, and light blue felt. We used a green and blue permanent sharpie marker to draw the world on the light blue circle. We added silver glitter glue to the cross and around the cross and earth. We also added gold glitter glue around the tan felt area.  We added a threaded loop of gold thread and hung it on our liturgical tree! We will be posting Our Lady of Sorrows tomorrow! Hope you have a blessed day! ~JenMarie and Elizabeth

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

I already posted about this craft in our Good Friday post, but I wanted to share the finished crosses my kids made. They worked hard on these and they had a great time! You will need: Download Instructions - below black paper toothpick (we cut/broke ours in half or smaller) scissors glue Download Instructions Here: To start this craft I recommend drawing a cross onto the paper for the kids to fill in, it makes it easier for them. Have the kids fill in a section of the drawn cross with glue and then cover the glue with toothpicks. Then move onto another section of the cross. Do this until the cross is covered.  Allow the crosses to dry and then cut them out leaving a small black edge around the outside.  Here are a few close-up pictures of a few crosses. This craft was easy and they turned out to be a very nice cross to hang in the kids’ bedrooms! This project was inspired by  Home Grown Learner post. God bless! ~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