Rice Krispie Treat Grotto for Our Lady of Lourdes

The feast of Our Lady of Lourdes is on February 11. Last year I saw this grotto made from fruity pebbles on Catholic Cuisine, and I thought it was one of the most adorable Catholic feast day celebration ideas I had ever seen! I knew I had to try my hand at making one this year! :-)

I didn't actually have a statue of Our Lady of Lourdes, so we just used the Mary from our Little People Nativity set. I get that it's cute to make a grotto out of fruity pebbles or cocoa pebbles because of the play on words "pebbles", but I opted for regular rice krispies.

First I made a regular batch of rice krispie treats. Some of them were spread flat into a pan like normal, but some of it I molded for the grotto using my bunt pan.

Warm rice krispie treats are surprisingly easy to mold any which way you want to. I read somewhere that if they start to set up too fast, you can use your hair dryer to make them pliable again. (If you wanted to make a big grotto, I think you could totally fill the bunt pan and cut it in half for the grotto piece.) Then I cut the sheet of rice krispie treats into squares and built my grotto as best I could.

I decided it looked boring and unfinished. It needed something more. So I whipped up another batch of rice krispie treats (only with cornflakes and green food coloring- like the cornflake wreaths you can make at Christmas time) to add some greenery cascading down our grotto. This was super easy to do while this stuff was warm! Just blob it on there- it looks so natural! ;-)

It still seemed to be missing something... so I added a few roses at Mary's feet. They were also really easy to make. Just take a long skinny piece of a fruit roll up and roll it into a tiny rose. Voila!

I think the greenery and roses are just what this grotto called for! Now all this grotto needed was Mary! (Honestly, I seriously considered making a little spring filled with blue jello also, but sometimes you just gotta know when to stop. Lol!) If I had a little Fisher Price St. Bernadette, I might have made the jello spring.

By the way, I'm in love with this platter it's on!

I had waaaay too much fun making this with Lydia! Then, we brought the grotto to a super bowl party. Ya, don't invite the freaky Catholic Icing lady to your super bowl party without expecting a Marian treat- lol!

It might be more fitting to watch this St. Bernadette children's movie while enjoying this edible grotto treat, but whatever floats your boat. Go check out the fruity pebbles grotto on Catholic Cuisine- Jessica has a completely different way of assembling one of these than I do!

Related Posts:
Grotto Craft
Ideas for Celebrating the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes
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Explain the Immaculate Conception to Kids

Catholic ABC's Week: 14 
Letter of the week: I
Theme: Immaculate Conception
Saint of the Week: St. Ignatius
Craft: Immaculate Conception Coloring Page

[Download Printable Version Here]

This Immaculate Conception coloring sheet was drawn by me last year. It is designed to help children (and all Catholics for that matter) understand that the Immaculate Conception refers to Mary being conceived without original sin; it is not referring to when Mary conceived Jesus.

Symbolism in this picture includes Mary in the womb of St. Anne (wearing her signature veil). St. Anne and Mary both have their backs turned towards the apple tree to visually state that Mary was conceived without original sin. There are 3 beams of light coming down from the sun that stand for the trinity. Also, the snake (Satan) is unhappy about what has happened here.

Grab Bag Ideas for the Letter Ii: (be sure to check out the Classroom Script for directions on using the grab bag.) Iguana, Igloo, Indy car, Ice cream cone, Indian corn, Inch worm, toy Iron, Invitation, Ivy, Island, Icon, Immaculate Heart, Insect, Instrument.

For More Resources, check out the Catholic Toolbox lesson plans for the Letter Ii. (Her Ii lesson is on Isaac!)

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. We will be taking a few weeks off from this at Christmas. God bless!
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Assumption of Mary Triptych Craft

The Feast of the Assumption of Mary is coming up on August 15. This is a Holy Day of Obligation, meaning you need to attend mass on this day. However, for 2010 it's falling on Sunday, so you'll already be at mass anyway :-)

I found this awesome idea from Nicole on 4 Real Forums to make an Assumption Triptych with the Immaculate Conception on the left, the Assumption of Mary in the middle, and Mary as Queen of heaven and earth on the right. What a great idea! And yes, Nicole posted complete directions for the Triptych Mary Craft! I also found some examples from others:

Check out this beautiful version on 

Homeschooling Down Under.

Here's another from 

Ten Kids and a Dog.

I love this idea and it's perfect for this month because the 'Queenship of Mary' Feast day is coming up later this month on August 22 :-)
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Immaculate Conception Coloring Sheet

Alright everyone, here comes my coloring sheet debut! The first coloring sheet I've ever drawn is (drum roll please)... The Immaculate Conception! The Feast of the Immaculate Conception is coming up on December 8.

I'm hoping for this coloring sheet to convey the message that this day is celebrating the conception of Mary herself, and not her conception of Jesus. This is a very common misconception amongst Catholics, but I think this depiction will help children to understand.

[Download Printable Version Here]

Symbolism in this picture includes Mary in the womb of St. Anne (wearing her defining veil). St. Anne and Mary both have their backs turned towards the apple tree to visually state that Mary was conceived without original sin. There are 3 beams of light coming down from the sun that stand for the trinity. Also, the snake (Satan) is unhappy about what has happened here. Here's an example of this sheet already colored in:

All printable coloring pages are my own artwork and are free for any not-for-profit use by individuals, families, or educational organizations. Copies may not be sold or reproduced for profit. If you'd like to post this project for others to find, I would ask that you link to my post and rather than my individual downloads. Thanks!

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Feast of the Immaculate Conception- Dec 8

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception is coming up in a week. Here are some ideas for celebrating and getting the whole family involved :-)

By Sun and Candlelight had a whole slew of ideas to celebrate the Immaculate Conception. They baked sugar cookies, made an ornament, bookmark, and more!
Motherly Loving made an Immaculate Conception candle to light while saying their Immaculate Conception Novena.
I found this beautiful garden craft over on In the Heart of My Home. What a beautiful way to celebrate the Immaculate Conception.


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