Celebrate St. Brigid's Feast Day - Here are some ideas!

Saint Brigid's feast day is on February 1. I almost missed it! St. Brigid was really awesome, and Irish, and friends with St. Patrick. Trying an Irish craft or recipe (such as St. Brigid's bread) to celebrate her feast day would be a great idea!

Definitely don't miss your opportunity to make a St. Brigid's cross! 

Find the How to make a St. Brigid's cross on Family Fun.

You don't need straw to make this- you can use pipe cleaners!

 I also keep seeing this children's book, St. Brigid's Cloak.

I really want to get this book for my kids- it looks cute!

Also, Waltzing Matilda has a free printable coloring page of St. Brigid! Isn't that awesome? Hope you guys enjoy this great feast day!

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Celebrate St. Valentine's Feast Day- And Link Up Your Ideas, Too! :-)

As promised on Catholic Icing's facebook page, I'm hosting a St. Valentine's Day Link up in honor of this oh-so-popular saint. That's right- a saint! Catholics are reclaiming St. Valentine's Day! Whoot!

First I'm going to share my past St. Valentine's Day ideas!

Here are the heart shaped cinnamon rolls 

I made for St. Valentine's Day.

Last year we made some

awesome decoder Valentines!

Also check out my post on 

how to make a Catholic John 3:16 Valentine.

These are my favorite- check out these

cleverly paired Bible Verse Valentines!

I also have a few Saint Valentine's Day round ups from last year including making a Valentine for your sweetheart (this includes some ideas for Valentines with your vows- so cute!),  Spiritual bouquets for St. Valentine's Day, Catholic St. Valentine's Day Crafts, and some more St. Valentine's Day ideas (including a coloring page and a printable from Paper Dali). And I still have more to come this year! :-)

We'll also be reading this St. Valentine Book. It's a cute book, and my children and I did learn a thing or two about St. Valentine. ;-) I was actually lucky enough to find a great deal on this book a few years ago at Ross. 

Now it's your turn! What are you doing for St. Valentine's day? How have you celebrated in the past? Link 'em up! :-)

If adding a link, please link back to this post within your post. Feel free to use the image above, but it's not required. Also, link straight to your Saint Valentine post, not your generic blog address.

URG! Linky Tools started charging for link ups since I posted this, and they seriously deleted the existing links! I put up a new linky below, so please put your links back up! I didn't even get a chance to visit them all yet! :'(

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Craft a Monstrance with a Gold Doily

Catholic ABC's Week: 18
Letter of the week: M
Theme: Monstrance
Saint of the Week: Mother Teresa
Craft: Monstrance Craft

Supplies needed to complete this craft:

• Gold Doilies (Available in the cake decorating section of your local craft store. I got a package of 12 for about $2.50)
• Gold Paper (I bought just one sheet in the scrapbooking aisle for 60 cents. It was enough for about 10 monstrances.)
• Glue Stick
• Stick on Jewels (also available in a craft store)
• Foam Board and/or Paper (You can get foam board at the Dollar Tree, and each board will yield enough to make 4 of these).
• Marker

This week in my preschool co-op class, M is for "Monstrance". This was a great craft for my class!

I cut the pieces out ahead of time so the kids could put them all together. If your kids are good with scissors, I would let them cut the pieces themselves. I first had them glue down a piece of green paper for the table (so the monstrance wouldn't appear to be floating). We used green because we are currently in ordinary time. Next they glued on the golden sticks for the monstrance, and then the doily. The "host" I just cut out of white paper and drew on a cross with a marker- have them glue it in the middle and decorate with jewels however they want.

As they're working on their craft, talk to them about how the monstrance is gold and decorated with precious jewels because of how special Jesus in the Eucharist is to us.

I really like the one my 4 year old, Lydia, made on purple paper! I would have liked to offer the kids in my preschool class to make them in different colors, but it wasn't feasible with so many kids.

 

Because Lydia is older than the kids in my preschool class and she is learning to write her letters, I wrote the word "Monstrance" lighly with a pencil and let her trace over it with a black marker- then erase the pencil marks. 

We also talked about circles at preschool this week, so this craft went along perfectly as a Catholic circle craft! Also, consider a field trip to adoration this week for your child to see a real monstrance. Our church has a special hour for children's adoration, and I'm taking them tomorrow (weather permitting...).

Grab Bag Ideas for the Letter M: (be sure to check out the Classroom Script for directions on using the grab bag.) Monkey, Money, Man, Monster, Moon, Moose, Mother Teresa holy card, Motorcycle, Mouse, Mug, Magnet, Marble, Mouth (from Mr. Potato Head), Monk.

For More Resources, check out the Catholic Toolbox lesson plans for the Letter M. (Her M lesson is on Moses.)

Catholic ABC's runs here at Catholic Icing every Wednesday with the new letter of the week. You can get the details of this program by checking out the Classroom Script.

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Candlemas Activity and Craft

I wrote this post for Candlemas last year, but most of you weren't readers back then and I really liked this idea, so I thought I'd run it again. You can also check out my post from last year on ideas for celebrating Candlemas here, and my roundup of candle crafts and food ideas here. St. Blaise's feast day is also coming up on February 3, so these candle crafts will be useful for him as well! :-)

Candlemas is coming up on February 2, which is the feast of the presentation of Jesus in the temple, and the traditional end of the Christmas season. Among many things, this a a traditional day to bring your candles in to be blessed and to light candles in your home. There is often a procession into mass with candles as well. Click here to read more about Candlemas.

This is a craft I came up with where you make faux candles out of rolls of change, then you take them to mass on Candlemas to put into the collection basket! :-)

Completed Project

What you'll need:

• Rolled Change
• Paper (white, yellow, and orange)
• Decorative Paper (optional)
• Glue Stick
• Scissors

Start by rolling some change. This can be a good math
activity for elementary aged children!

Cut your paper a little longer than the tube of
rolled change, attach with a glue stick.
Allow the extra length to overhang the top.


Fold down the top to close the same
way you did with the top of the change roller.


Cut teardrop shaped flames from yellow paper, leaving
a tab at the bottom. Embellish with a football shaped
piece of orange paper and attach with a glue stick.


Fold the tab backwards and use it to attach the
flame to the candle with glue.

If you use white paper, your kids can decorate the candles with markers or stickers. Voila! Your "candles" are ready for the collection basket! :-)

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First Reconcilication Gift Ideas

Today I decided to tackle a reader question from Julie in Minneapolis:

I have a 2nd grade son making his first reconciliation soon..do you have any ideas or gifts (do you give gifts for that???) on how we can celebrate it? document it? they are just doing it during the school day so there is nothing sponsored by the church ..just wondering what people do for that..thank you!!

I was reading this email and thinking that as Catholics, we tend to wait for first communion to celebrate. I consulted this topic with my favorite Catholic forum and on my facebook page. I got some response that first reconciliation was more of an "inward accomplishment" so therefore not calling for the same celebration that other sacraments do. Given that I've never heard of a "First Reconciliation Party", I thought most other Catholic must feel the same way. Even so, first reconciliation is a sacrament, and could still be recognized as a mile stone... no?

Have you guys heard of first communion banners? (I'm pretty sure I was the last Catholic on the planet to hear of them). Anyway, I think it would be super cool to give your child a craft set to make his or her own First Communion Banner as a gift after their first reconciliation. That way, it can be a gift, but because they also use it at the First Communion it becomes a memory item for both! Catholic Child Catalog has quite a collection of first communion banner kits you can order. I like this "Lamb of God" one! Isn't it beautiful? Everyone can be a successful crafter with these easy-to-use kits!

A First Reconciliation certificate would certainly be a nice way to commemorate this special occasion, and you can print a free first penance certificate here! (Isn't it great to find stuff for free online?!)

I got sooooo many replies from families that went out for ice cream after their child's first reconciliation that I'm going to go ahead and proclaim it a Catholic tradition! (Do I have the authority to do that?) No matter. Whether you spring for Baskin Robbins or make Sundays at home with the kids, take it to the next level by making it symbolic- eat vanilla ice cream because it's white for "purity". :-)

Ok, I'm excited about this first reconciliation gift idea that came from a facebook fan- Give your child an eraser! I thought this was such a cute idea! I've seen these erasers "for big mistakes" at the Dollar Tree. This is a great way to recognize the sacrament in a symbolic way without filling your house with more dust collecting trinkets, or breaking the bank. This might be a cute gift idea to send to your God child for their first reconciliation. Let them know you haven't forgotten their important religious day!

If you're more of the "trinket kind", (and I know us Catholics like our trinkets) I like this Act of Contrition Wall Cross. It's classy looking and keeps the Act of Contrition in mind, which is awesome. :-) Anything with the act of contrition on it would be a great idea (such as a holy card or a wall plaque).

If nothing else, make your child a special dinner. You know, lay down a nice table cloth, put out some pretty china, the works! Just because you're waiting to break out the cake and balloons for your child's first communion doesn't mean you can't celebrate your child's first reconciliation. Anyone have one of these red plates? Crack that baby out of the china cabinet! Whoo hoo! ;-)

How does your family celebrate first reconciliation?

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This Little Light of Mine Craft

Catholic ABC's Week: 17
Letter of the week: L
Theme: Light (This Little Light of Mine)
Saint of the Week: St. Lucy (and btw, Lucy means "light")
Craft: This Little Light of Mine

Supplies needed to complete this craft: (All of these supplies are available at the Dollar Tree)

• Disposable Punch Cups
• Plastic Tea Lights (or real tea lights)
• Assorted colors of tissue paper
• Glue
• Paint Brush

I got our plastic punch cups at the Dollar Tree- 12 for $1. The kids in my preschool co-op class are only 2, so I thought this would be best. If you're working with older kids, you could actually do this craft with something glass (also from the Dollar Tree). 

Also because my kids are 2, I went with fake tea lights. These I also got at the Dollar Tree, 2/$1. I later saw them in a different section of the store 3/$1. They come with batteries and everything!

 

Start by cutting the tissue paper into little squares. Just fold it up a bunch of times before you start cutting and you will be able to cut like, a million squares at a time. I usually limit the color pallet for my kids when they do crafts. I gave them only yellow, lime green, and pink tissue paper. You can achieve orange by layering.

Mix your glue to be about 2 parts glue one part water- just eyeball it. I mixed it in the extra punch cups. Then stir until mixed. Have each kid turn their cup upside down on the table, and paint the outside with the glue mixture. Stick the tissue paper on as you go. Encourage overlapping for experimentation with color. If they have the patience, also paint over the outside of the tissue paper with the glue to make it smooth. This technique is called decoupaging.

When the glue is dry, put the candle inside and let your light shine! The effect of the candle behind the tissue paper will be similar to stained glass. Here's how it will look in the dark:

Be sure to sing "This Little Light of Mine" and act out 'hiding it under a bushel' with the kids. They will love it!

Grab Bag Ideas for the Letter L: (be sure to check out the Classroom Script for directions on using the grab bag.) Lizard, Lilac, Lion, Lamb, Lollipop, Lipstick, Locomotive, Lotion, St. Lucy Holy Card.

For More Resources, check out the Catholic Toolbox lesson plans for the Letter L. (Her L lesson is on Loaves and Fish.)

Catholic ABC's runs here at Catholic Icing every Wednesday with the new letter of the week. You can get the details of this program by checking out the Classroom Script.

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Dollar Store Haul

I often find religious stuff at the Dollar Tree, and was inspired to bring you guys a "Dollar Store Haul" post (fashioned after Heather's posts at Dollar Store Crafts). So here are some Catholic things you can currently be stocking up on at the Dollar Tree. (Products do vary some from store to store). For those of you who don't already shop at the Dollar Tree, everything is $1. So you should start. :-)

Religious Stuff at the Dollar Tree

 

I have gotten all kinds of religious stuff at the Dollar Tree in the past including statues, stations of the cross stickers, religious candles, and religious gift bags. They also have kid bible stories on CD, and bible flash cards. You've just gotta keep your eyes open. Here are some things I saw at my Dollar Tree this week:

Stand up crosses. I have one of these in every color the Dollar Tree has ever carried. :-)

 

Aren't these little angel boxes adorable? Very Raphael.

They also have some with doves. Doves are a symbol of the Holy Spirit, so these could be used for weddings, baptisms, confirmation, Trinity Sunday, etc. Sometimes there's more dove stuff in the wedding section.

 Another random religious find- these "Jesus" suncatchers. My kids love to paint suncatchers, and I usually keep a few around for a rainy (or in our case, snowy) day.

Seasonal stuff at the Dollar Tree

Valentine's Day has taken over at my Dollar Tree. This is a great cheap source of many things St. Valentine, and his feast is around the corner.

Also, think outside your Valentine's Day box. Stock up on heart stuff for celebrating the feasts of the Sacred and Immaculate hearts. This is also a great time to stock up on rose stuff for St. Therese. 

There's also a good selection of St. Patrick's Day stuff at the Dollar Tree- stuff for crafting, and stuff for decorating.

My favorite St. Patrick's Day find at the Dollar Tree are the adorable napkins!

Also check out the Mardi Gras stuff. Yes, we are having a very late lent this year, but Fat Tuesday will still be here before you know it.

Craft Stuff at the Dollar Tree

I get a significant amount of my craft stuff at the Dollar Tree, including pom pom balls, pipe cleaners, pony beads, glue, watercolor paints (for kids), fun foam, stickers, twine, glue sticks, glitter glue, kid scissors (2 for $1), tissue paper, construction paper, glitter, doilies, popsicle sticks (regular and colored) and sometimes even feathers, pool noodles (yes, I consider these a craft supply) and scrapbooking stuff. The Dollar Tree is a great cheap source for craft supplies!

You can also find a variety of Styrofoam balls etc...

along with wreaths and floral arrangement stuff.

Don't get any markers from the Dollar Tree. They will be dry before you even open the box- it's sooooo not worth the savings. Some of my other favorite places for cheap finds include the Dollar Spot at Target, and also the "Everything Under $5" aisle at Michael's. Also take advantage of Christmas clearance everywhere you go right now in stocking up for next year. Think "St. Nichoals". Loved shopping with ya'll today! ;-)

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