Family in Feast and Feria - crafts

The Visitation

noreply@blogspirit.com (Jennifer Gregory Miller) — Thu, 31 May 2007 16:07:00 -0400

Why was I thinking that tomorrow was the feast of the Visitation? I know -- because I can't remember what day it is. May is already over!

But TODAY is the feast of the Visitation, the second Joyful Mystery of the Rosary.

I've uploaded a coloring page on my other blog-in-progress. Don't ask me when I'll ever get that up and running. I'm still trying to find a theme that doesn't put the page titles across the bannerhead.

The coloring page is from an old coloring book I bought years ago. It's crumbling, and I need to scan the rest of the pages before it isn't usable. The illustrations are so lovely.

Today we are going to color this page, pray the rosary, and talk about this feast. Mary left such an example of charity, and practicing the Corporal Works of Mercy. Ds and I drove out to visit my mom today, a little in keeping of today's theme.

Not Eggsactly Something You See Everyday

noreply@blogspirit.com (Jennifer Gregory Miller) — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 10:44:37 -0400

A little follow-up on my pysanky post. I joined the Yahoo Group Eggs-Psyanky and am getting all sorts of pointers and wonderful links. Most of those in this group are true artists, and it's a wonder to behold their work.

Some of the artists had pysanky eggs in the White House Easter Egg Collection. You can can view them State by State. To see previous years, just change the year in the web address. The Texas egg which is featured is done pysanky style. The eggs are just breathtakingly beautiful!

One of the artists also shared the art she has done with tiny eggs, like finch and canary. Note the rosary; it's simply exquisite! Here's a closeup.

Pysanky

noreply@blogspirit.com (Jennifer Gregory Miller) — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 21:32:26 -0400

The egg is one of my favorite Easter symbols. The bursting of new life out of the white eggshell tomb really is a strong symbol and reminder of the Resurrection. Decorating eggs is one of my passions, and I have a long time love for the beautiful Ukrainian eggs, or pysanky.

It all started in the spring of 1982, when I was a freshman. Every year our family decorated Easter eggs with crayons and food colorings. We incorporated Easter and Christian symbolism, covered the eggs with designs. Every year my mother wanted to find a way to create some eggs that were unperishable, so we could enjoy them year after year.

There was an article in our local newspaper, briefly illustrating this art. Even in the black and white illustrations I thought it was fascinating, so I clipped the article. Then my mother's friend passed on an article from the CGA World about this Ukrainian tradition of decorating eggs, and how to make pysanky, because she thought I would be interested. And then I found in my mother's files an old Ladies Home Journal article my mother had clipped showing an alternative way to design these eggs with just permanent markers. The next year the front cover and centerfold of the Games Magazine my father received featured some gorgeous pysanky , with the game entitled "The Egg Hunt", to find only two out of the many eggs that were exactly alike. I spent hours looking at the intricate designs, the vibrant colors, the rich symbols. I was completely hooked!

I still have those clippings...I enjoy seeing how my rabbit trail unfolded. I spent 1982 Lent and Easter coloring some very special eggs. I only used fine tip permanent markers, as I had no idea where to find supplies to make authentic pysanky while living in Northern Louisiana! So I created my own interpretation. My mother still decorates her Easter table with these eggs my sister C. and I decorated.

In 1986 my family moved to Northern Virginia. We found out that the Ukrainian National Shrine in Washington, DC, hosted a Ukrainian bazaar and pysanky workshop. My mother, my youngest sister and I attended. I was in heaven! After only reading about it for years, I finally was able to create an authentic pysanka!

I've talked ad nauseum about this art at the 4 Real Learning Boards. I have posted numerous links and resources for making pysanky.

Here's a slideshow of the small collection of Ukrainian eggs we have here. I made 3, dh made two, and two others were from other artists.

Unless I actually go to the Workshop in DC, I don't find time to create them with my 3 year old, but I hope to get him involved in a year or two and start him on this journey. At the workshop I saw some young boys and teenage boys creating some beautiful works of art--if they can do it, my son can try, too!

What's wonderful is that no matter what you create, uneven, squiggly, blobs...it always is a beautiful egg at the end, a perfect reminder that "Christ is Risen! He is Risen, Indeed, Alleluia"

Knit and Pray

noreply@blogspirit.com (Jennifer Gregory Miller) — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 10:44:27 -0500

I've gone back to knitting and crocheting. I always have a project going, but I haven't been working on them as much. I'm not great, but it is just a wonderful experience to work with my hands. Since we have more silent times during the Lenten season (no TV), it's a prayerful time, too.

What spurred me was Nissa's Crochet Along. I bought the pattern of these scrumptious mittens. I haven't finished my first batch, but my son was thrilled. I was making royal blue ones, out of my yarn stash.

One thing led to another. My son loved the mittens, but wondered if he could have WHITE mittens, like in one of his favorite books The Mitten by Jan Brett. I agreed, but as I had no white yarn, we made a trip to our Needlecraft store.

AND, after telling one sister that I bought some yarn, she gave me her stash of beautiful, fuzzy, multi-colored yarn. She had intended to learn to knit and make a scarf for herself. That was a year ago, it was just sitting in the bag. AND...it just so happened to be near this sister's birthday, so I put down the crocheting and knitted the scarf for her.

It was a total labor of love. I had to redo it 5 times, and the fifth time when I dropped some stitches I had to get expertise help from my shop owner. I was NOT going to do it again. I was feeling like a failed and incompetent knitter, but with the fuzzy yarn she said it's like "knitting blind" -- you can't see the stitches. That made me feel a bit better. I finished the project, my sister loves it and we're all happy!

This week our diocesan paper had this wonderful article Rhythm of Knitting Invites Reflection, Prayer which echoed my reflections on knitting (and crocheting).

I'm not coming up with original thoughts, though. Have you seen Mary G.'s wonderful knitting blog? I'll never reach her skill level, but I love to sit at her feet and learn.

And read Rita Munn's reflection on Knitting. Just wonderful!

St. Rafqa, unofficial patroness of knitters, pray for us!

NOW is the Time

noreply@blogspirit.com (Jennifer Gregory Miller) — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 16:40:00 -0500

Ash Wednesday is in two days...the Season of Lent will begin. As usual, I'm not ready! I haven't made too many concrete plans. I have some spiritual reading in mind, definite fasting from sugar and TV, more prayer. Besides a meatless Friday, I hope to have one more day of meatless meals, incorporating beans, which we don't do at this time. I will be making a retreat during Lent, also.

There are other things I need to focus my attention -- working more with my son, organizing his play and learning environment, introduce some atrium and Catechesis of the Good Shepherd presentations, work on my house, work on my sinful habits, exercise more regularly. I'm exhausted just thinking of all this, but my life definitely needs some revamping and kickstarting! I'm nervous even writing these things down, because I get discouraged so easily. I set my sights high and find I end up doing nothing well!

Preparing the environment to reflect spiritual changes of the Lenten season has been the focus of this thread from the 4Real Learning Forums. It's wonderful to have visual images to remind me and help me to persevere in this season.

Here's one of my visual reminders: finished my ceramic trivet for Lent. I have been trying to make one for each season. The NOW Cross is from a small pamphlet my mother used titled Holy Lent by Eileen O'Callaghan. The NOW Cross is a reminder of the passage from St. Paul, 2 Cor 5:20-6:2, "Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation!"

Since one of my biggest faults is procrastination, this is an extremely appropriate reminder.

Not Exactly Spoon Saints....

noreply@blogspirit.com (Jennifer Gregory Miller) — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 08:34:53 -0500

Since Alice's great Spoon Saint craft I've had these wooden spoons lying around in our craft bins. We had fun making our little St. Valentine cards for special family members and thought we'd work in the spoons somehow. Okay, so they aren't saints...but thanks again to Alice for the inspiration point.

Recycled Christmas Cards

noreply@blogspirit.com (Jennifer Gregory Miller) — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 11:40:00 -0500

I'm a bit late for Dawn's Loveliness Fair, but I just wanted to share this little craft that I've been doing for years that makes a perfect gift. It requires medium skill, as it can be somewhat challenging to fold and glue just right...and a bit messy in the glitter department.

I'm talking about old Christmas cards recycled into Christmas ornaments. My eighth grade teacher taught us how to make these. She made them when she first married and had no money to decorate her tree. She covered her tree with these and they have been her favorite ornaments. I've been making them ever since that art class...that was 1982. Imagine my surprise when this book from Martha Stewart came out and I saw my ornaments...but lacking the glitter. I found instructions online here, so I won't try to reinvent the wheel. But a few tips from years in making....

Supplies needed: Christmas cards--front with picture, and cards with a solid colored back like gold or silver, blue, red, green.
Circle and triangle templates --The site above gives an example, but you can make them bigger, which will make the entire ornament bigger. Just make sure the triangle stays in proportion to the circle.
Glue Tacky glue, or something that dries fast, doesn't run, and holds well. I haven't tried all the new glues to know if a better one than Tacky glue would work.
Scissors
Thread or string--to suspend ornament
Glitter--

If you don't save your cards, it's not hard to get people to give you their old ones. I've got a whole large box full, and always get more. People now know that I make these, and always are donating. I've also been successful from Freecycle, friends that tell their friends, etc. My sister's in-laws are antique dealers and come across old cards that aren't valuable...and pass them my way.

Since I have a large supply, I sort them by types of pictures. I like to have my baby Jesus, Holy Family, Wise Men, Shepherds, Christmas tree, Santa, etc. all separated. I use large envelopes to keep them separated. I trace the circles and cut out, then I divvy up the ornaments. I try to match color themes, so things don't clash. I use 15 picture and 5 solid colored circles for each ornament. Fold the circles on the triangle.

When you make the first "row", before you put the 5th circle, cut a length of crochet thread, knot it in a circle (make a large knot) and then glue it inside the first row, to come out through the top. Be generous with the glue...this will suspend the ornament, and when this breaks off, it's harder to find a way to hang the ornament. Add the 5th circle and then continue with the next row, which will be 10 circle, but alternating with a picture and a solid color. Then complete the 5th row, creating the globe ornament.

Since I use glitter, the edges don't have to be perfectly lined up. The glitter will cover up a lot of faults. Using glitter glue or tacky glue, make a line of glue along each edge and sprinkle with glitter. I do the glitter in stages, letting parts dry so I can hold onto the ornament while glittering the rest.

Here are the photos on Flickr...and the badge below.

www.flickr.com

Although simple and inexpensive, they really are beautiful and make wonderful gifts.

St. Martin's Day

noreply@blogspirit.com (Jennifer Gregory Miller) — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 09:20:00 -0500

It's November 11 already? How time flies! Well all my best-laid plans...this post will be much shorter, probably to your relief! Today is the Memorial of St. Martin of Tours, also known as Martinmas in England or Martintag in Germany.

So many customs are associated with this day. This 4RealLearning Thread has all sorts of ideas and links related to this day.

A wonderful book to read about this saint is Martin of Tours: Soldier, Bishop, Saint by Regine Pernoud, translated by Michael J. Miller. I really enjoy Regine Pernoud's books, and this is no exception. She bases the biographical information on St. Martin on the writings of his contemporary and companion, Sulpitius Severus and gives the historical perspective. It's quite interesting and inspiring. I haven't finished the book, but a few thoughts I thought I would share:

This is just trivial information, but it piqued my interest. Although the most common picture of St. Martin is the depiction of him as a Roman soldier cutting his cape in half for the beggar, who turns out to be Jesus. I realize now the coloring is incorrect. It's usually painted as a red cape, but Pernoud explains:

The white chlamys or cape was the uniform of that elite guard which served the emperor, the members of which were called candidati, which means "men clothed in white". It was a cloak with a slit, fastened at the right shoulder with a brooch; the upper part of it was lined with lambskin, and perhaps it was that lined part that Martin cut off with his sword to give to the beggar.

St. Martin was born 3 or 4 years after the Edict of Milan, where Constantine declared the Christians were free to practice in the public. So he was born after the age of martyrs. His life showed true saintly qualities to earn him to becoming the first non-martyr saint.

What really impresses me in reading his life is is the zeal and love for Christ and His Church. He gave all to the poor, prayed, fasted, and many miracles worked through. What a contrast to our era. We live in such a lukewarm age...where is our faith? We witness so few miracles now...and I wonder is it because our faith isn't even the size of a mustard seed, and our spiritual lives so shallow that we can't get our faith to grow? I'm the first to accuse myself. Here I am rising late, sipping my coffee in a warm, comfortable home. Where is my prayer, my fasting, my sacrifices, my spiritual and corporal works of mercy? Through the intercession of St. Martin help me see my indifference and ignite my soul so that I may persevere.

So many miracles worked through him or his intercession even after his death. A pilgrimage to see his tomb was the second most popular pilgrimage in the Middle Ages, after St. Peter's in Rome. St. James Compostela in Spain was third, and usually those pilgrims to see St. James basilica stopped by at the tomb of St. Martin's on the way. Sadly, the basilica and the relics were destroyed first by the Huguenots and what was restored also suffered destruction during the French Revolution. I spent a good amount of time yesterday trying to find out if any relics remain, as there was mention that small amounts were rescued. Some remains of the original basilica have been found and trying to restore. If anyone has links or information that might have photos or more information about relics or the church, please let me know.

One of my sisters has in-laws from Germany. One cousin-in-law brought back some authentic St. Martin's Day paper lanterns. So tonight we hope to have a bonfire, a little St. Martin's parade and family fun. There are similar to these instructions, so yesterday I bought materials and attempted a homemade version. Instead of plain paper I bought some sheets of decorated vellum that has transparent qualities. The vellum has wonderful folding ability, also doesn't tear as easily. I bought thin dowels and cut them in half, and for lighting I used a battery operated LED votive light. I'd prefer something smaller, but this will work for now. I poked holes in the pole and used crochet thread to attach to the pole and the lantern. I also used craft sticks as suggested in the directions for the back of the lantern, poked holes and then attached to the crochet thread.

My first lantern took some time to figure out the directions. I skipped decorating with crayons or markers, as my paper had a design. It is a challenging project, requiring a bit more nimble fingers, so I'd say definitely it's more appropriate for older children or adults. It's a little time-consuming, at least for the first one. But since it will be used at night, the dark is all-forgiving and you can't see mistakes. The kids will love it!

I'm out of memory space on my blog right now, so I can't post the pictures directly here. Here's my Flickr compilation with explanations, and below some sneak previews. I'm struggling with getting them in the right order...but I'm out of time.

www.flickr.com

Now, the weather report. I love the old weather proverbs connected to some of the Church's feast days. Martinmas is no exception. Right now in Virginia we are experiencing some delightful warm, sunny weather. This is referred to St. Martin's Summer, or Indian Summer. But one other weather lore:

If the geese on St. Martin's Day (November 11) stand on ice, they will walk in mud at Christmas.

My favorite custom is geared towards grown-ups. Today in many places around the world the new wine would be blessed. St. Martin's wine or "Martiniloben" can then be tasted for the first time. Beaujolais Nouveau is frequently released on this day, and a perfect new wine to sip and toast to St. Martin!

St. Martin of Tours, pray for us.

The Most Beautiful Picture in the World

noreply@blogspirit.com (Jennifer Gregory Miller) — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 12:35:00 -0500

Happy All Saints Day! There's a discussion at 4RealLearning for some All Saints craft ideas. One idea is simply to contemplate heaven, and perhaps draw or do a collage, picturing what heaven would be. A wonderful story to accompany this activity would be from Father Brennan. This comes from another volume, maybe Angel Food or another one, but growing up all I had was this book, and I remember this story well:

The Most Beautiful Picture in the World

By Gerald T. Brennan from Father Brennan’s Favorite Stories

When you open a book, what's the first thing you do? I know. You look at the pictures. When you open the newspaper, the first thing you do is to look at the funnies. Yes, you look at the pictures. Why do boys and girls go to the movies? They go to the movies because they like the pictures. Well, I like pictures too. We all like pictures, because every picture tells a story. Now I'm not going to show you any pictures, but I am going to tell you a story.

This story is about a man who drew pictures. The man was an artist. He painted pictures. I suppose that I had better tell you the artist's name. Well, his name was Lloyd.

Lloyd was an old man. For forty years, Lloyd had painted pictures. Pictures of trees. Pictures of mountains. Pictures of rivers. Pictures of ladies. Pictures of horses. Why, Lloyd could paint anything. People came from all over the world to see and buy Lloyd's pictures.

One day Lloyd decided that he would paint the most beautiful picture in the world. It would be Lloyd's last picture, because Lloyd knew that he had not long to live. Well, Lloyd thought about his picture for a long time. He planned his picture. He wanted his picture to be the most beautiful picture in the world. It was to be a picture of Heaven, and, of course, a picture of Heaven would have to be good. That's why Lloyd spent so much time planning his picture.

After several months Lloyd began to paint his picture of Heaven. He took his time. He was very careful. Lloyd didn't want to make any mistakes. Lloyd wanted his picture to be the most beautiful picture in the world.

Lloyd spent many months on his picture. He worked day and night. At last, the picture was finished. It was beautiful — a beautiful picture of Heaven. In the center of the picture stood Jesus. Mary and Joseph stood at His side. There were angels in the picture. Popes. Bishops. Priests. Nuns. Doctors. Lawyers. Nurses. Teachers. Mothers. Fathers. Indians. Negroes. Cowboys. Every person in the picture had a smile. Everyone seemed to be happy.

The old painter was happy too. His picture was finished. He had painted the most beautiful picture in the world. Lloyd was tired, but happy. He went to bed and fell asleep.

In the middle of the night the old painter awoke. His room was a blaze of light. There was a Stranger in the room. A Stranger with a brush in His hand. The Stranger was painting on Lloyd's picture.

The old painter jumped out of his bed. "Stop! Stop!" he cried. "You are spoiling my picture."
"No! No!" said the Stranger softly. "I am not spoiling your picture. You spoiled the picture and I am making it right. Don't you know, Lloyd, that there should be children in your picture? Why, Heaven is filled with children."

The Stranger smiled, and the painter smiled too. But just then Lloyd felt that he knew the Stranger. Yes, he did know the Stranger. Why, the Stranger was Jesus. Yes, Lloyd was looking into the face of Jesus. Before Lloyd could say another word, Jesus disappeared. Lloyd was alone.

The old painter looked at his picture. There were children in the picture. Jesus had painted children in the picture. The picture had not been spoiled. In fact, the picture was more beautiful than ever. Of course, Lloyd was very happy. Jesus had helped with his beautiful picture. Jesus had helped Lloyd to paint the most beautiful picture in the world.

"Heaven is filled with children!" Jesus said those words over nineteen hundred years ago. And that's just what Jesus said to the old painter. Heaven is for children. Heaven belongs to you. You belong in Heaven, close to Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

You know, boys and girls, sometimes people think that children are not important. Well, that's wrong. Jesus doesn't think that way. Oh, no! Jesus thinks that boys and girls are mighty important. Jesus wants every single boy and girl in this world to go to Heaven. Jesus wants you to go to Heaven. Jesus wants you to save your soul. Remember, there is only one thing that can keep you out of Heaven. That's mortal sin. That's why I am always telling you to keep away from sin.

Some day I hope to go to Heaven. When I walk into Heaven, I'm going to see the most beautiful picture in the world. I hope that every one of you will be in that picture. I want to meet you in Heaven. Jesus wants to meet you in Heaven. Jesus wants you to be in the most beautiful picture in the world. You will be there, won't you?

Table Decorations for the Liturgical Year

noreply@blogspirit.com (Jennifer Gregory Miller) — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 15:10:00 -0400

I'm not as crafty as Alice or Dawn or the dozens of other creative 4Real Moms, but this is something I've been mulling over that I thought I'd share. It's a work in progress....

For our daily dinners, we usually gather at a small kitchen table. I've tried decorating the table to reflect the Liturgical Season in the past. I have tried using tablecloths and placemats without success. Cloth napkins would be a possibility, but right now, because of a little person, these aren't a perfect fit. The temptation to pull the placemats and tablecloths off the table is too great, and the added laundry from all the experimental eating is just too much. I don't have enough variety of items to replace every day, and I can't speed up the turn-around time in the washing process. So I've been pondering another solution, and I've decided to make ceramic trivets for the Liturgical Year. I use trivets every evening when I put out the hot serving bowls and platters, so this solution is perfect for our family.

This idea came to me slowly. My son and I have had several get-togethers with my sisters and their children at a paint-your-own-ceramic-pottery place, the one located right nearby. Each visit I've painted a small square tile -- the least expensive choice, but it also is a blank canvas feel. I'm under pressure to finish quickly, so it's not a gorgeous piece of art. My son finishes his tile much quicker than I do mine, so I need to hurry! But it's still a lot of fun.

Supplies:
Unfired and Unglazed Ceramic Tile -- I've been doing 6" tiles
Pottery Paints, brushes, glaze and Kiln (that's why I use the place)
Cork Backing (Con-Tact Brand adhesive back)
Adhesive (E6000 craft adhesive works best)

Painting tile is a different technique. You start with the lightest color and then go to the darker colors. And the more layers you paint the darker the color will be when it is fired and glazed. It's hard to gauge exactly what it will look like until it is completely done.

I love Christian symbolism, and have posted before on this. I could spend hours pouring over books explaining and picturing symbols of Christian art. Here's where I mainly get the inspiration for ideas for the tiles.

After the tile is painted and is glazed and fired, it needs a no-slip backing. I bought some thin cork board in a roll made by Con-Tact. I tried using 6 inch cork tiles, but they were too thick and also shed cork more readily than the Con-Tact cork. The E6000 was recommended to me as the best to work with the ceramic, and it's readily available at Wal-Mart and other craft stores.

I only have 3 tiles made so far:

Advent -- this is the one I want to redo. I need less dark background to make the candles stand out, and include some words, like "Veni, Veni Emmanuel" around the wreath.

Christmas -- This one is my favorite. I started with a foam stamp the store had available.

Marian Feast Days (also the Trinity) -- The Fleur-de-lis is a symbol of the Holy Trinity and of the Blessed Virgin Mary. According to Church Symbolism by F.R. Webber, "It is thought by many authorities to be a conventionalized form of the Annunciation lily. Many forms of the fleur-de-lys exist....Their details may vary, but there is always the erect, spear-like vertical petal, and two other petals which curve downward on either side. Sometimes stamens are shown, and even the tips of two more petals."

I'm thinking of the others I need to make, and some ideas: one for Lent -- purple and a plain cross; Holy Week -- red background and a crown of Thorns; Easter -- gold or white background, with an Easter symbol like a lily, bursting pomegranate, peacock, eggs; and perhaps one with a symbol of Christ like a monogram IHS to display for feast days of Our Lord. I should make something for Ordinary Time of course -- maybe two, one to reflect pre-Lent (Mardi Gras) and after Pentecost. And later on I would like to have a tile for each member of the family with the symbols of their patron saint(s).

Just in case you think I don't allow creative juices to flow for my son, have a peek at his work. We just came from the beach, and so he was originally striving to recreate a beach scene. I actually love the colors and the free flow. He's only 3 years old. If you want to purchase his artwork you'll need to get in line...I already have a buyer lined up for this one. ;-)

There are a few other suggestions to use the tile if trivets aren't your thing. There are wooden frames available to frame the tile, so it can be displayed either standing or hanging on the wall. There are also trays that hold a number of tiles (different sizes). I would love to fill a tray with decorated tiles and use it for the birthday and nameday celebrations. I'm even toying with the idea of a hand-painted backsplash, but I haven't quite got the design in mind.

There are places to purchase unfired tiles (in smaller or larger sizes, too). There might be a local pottery class that rents out use of a kiln, so this could be a larger family hands-on art project than just a tile here and there.