J E S U S Craft - Make an Optical Illusion

Given that the month of January is dedicated to the holy name of Jesus, I thought this would be a perfect Catholic craft for this month! If this only looks like an abstract mess to you, trust me- the picture below actually says Jesus 4 times:

This is supposed to be an optical illusion, but I'll be honest and say I can't not see the "JESUS" when I look at it anymore. However, for anyone who's lost, you have to look past the popsicle sticks to see the word "JESUS" in this craft. Look at the one below and see "JESUS" written in purple:

I hope I haven't lost anyone. :-) To make this craft, you'll just need some popsicle sticks, paper, glue, and scissors. Popsicle sticks actually cut nicely with a nice, sharp pair of scissors, and you can get colored popsicle sticks at the Dollar Tree. 

Start by gluing 2 popsicle sticks together long ways, overlapping the ends a bit. You will need to make 2 of these. Then cut 3 popsicle sticks in half (making 6 little half pieces) and glue them between the two long sticks like ladder slats. You need it to create 5 boxes total, one for each letter in "Jesus". It's best if the first box for the "J" is a little narrower than the rest.

Then glue on little pieces of popsicle stick in each square to create the letters J E S U S. The letters don't look perfect, but it is neat. I think the word actually looks a little digital.

I thought it would be cool to glue some colored cellophane behind this one and tie on a piece of yarn to create a Jesus sun catcher. Here's how it turned out:

Here's one that was crafted with multi colored popsicle sticks

and glued onto black paper. I think it's a little harder to

read than the others. My husband says he can't see this one at all!

It is easier to glue the popsicle sticks down onto paper or foam board then it is to create them "free standing". This craft is a little advanced, so I think it would be appropriate for middle school aged kids up to adults. It might be a great craft to do with a high school youth group. Speaking as a former art major, this craft would be an excellent art project for studying positive and negative space. You could also use this to study contrasting colors. I really like the one that is yellow and purple, and I'm willing to bet it looks good with other pairs of contrasting colors as well.

My daughter loves running her fingers through the popsicle sticks and tracing the letters in "Jesus". Could you instantly tell that it said "Jesus"? Was it hard to read? Please let me know what you thought in the comments. Thanks, guys! :-)

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Holy Name of Jesus Song and More!

The month of January is dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus. I was thinking for a Holy Name of Jesus Song, you could try singing the "B-I-N-G-O" song only use these words:

"There was a Virgin had a Son and Jesus was his name-o! J-E-S-U-S, J-E-S-U-S, J-E-S-U-S, and Jesus was his name-o!" 

Here are some more ideas for celebrating this month:

I love this Holy Name of Jesus Craft from

By Sun and Candlelight.

Also, check out these Holy Name of Jesus Cupcakes

from By Sun and Candlelight.

If you have some letter cookie cutters, you can spell

out "Jesus" with your cheese like Muffin Tin Mom.

You can also do a Name of Jesus Spelling Activity

if you have the right cookie cutters.

Family at the Foot of the Cross made these

Name of Jesus Muffins that I thought were cute.

Needles 'n Thread has a few embroidery patterns with

IHS on them. These could also be used for coloring

pages or a number of other crafts, including embroidery :-)

Find one here and the other here.

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