Listen to God's voice at the foot of the crucifix." ~St. Gaspar del Bufaro~
Showing posts with label Art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Art. Show all posts

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Lenten Burlap Calvary Canvas Art




In my previous post, I mentioned a new found love that I have for using burlap to decorate Lent in the home, as it represents sackcloth used in early Christian penitential sacrifices.
When I picked up this burlap at Hobby Lobby last week, I picked up white canvas boards and these products there as well.  I had a very special project in mind...
The Hill of Calvary has a meaningful place in my heart, not only as the place of Our Lord's Passion, but also the burial place of my dear, late, husband, Chris.  The cemetery where Chris is laid to rest is Calvary Cemetery and it is fitting that he is buried at the top of the hill, as he too died on Good Friday, (1994) sacrificing his life...Defending his family in love.  I never stop missing him, especially as Lent rolls around year after year.
It's difficult to find Calvary Hill artwork so I decided to make my own.  This came from the heart alone~NO skill required but cutting and glueing! (I still claim my craft-handicapped disability;-)  It is very easy and inexpensive.
Step 1:
Use masking tape to outline the crosses on 3 black pieces of felt.  I used an 11x18 size canvas.



Step 2:
Cut-to-fit and cover white canvas frame with burlap and hot glue.
Step 3:
Cut out the felt crosses, using your masking tape as a guide.
Use a few pieces of the scraps to design your "hill."
Step 4:
Leave masking tape in tact to prevent the glue from seeping through.  Use tacky glue to adhere the backside (masking tape) to the burlap frame.
Step 5:
Do you save old buttons?  My mother-in-law does!  We used them to fill in decorate the hill...All colors, shapes, and sizes, to represent all of us whom Christ died for out of the greatest of love.







My 10 yo daughter wanted to use paint to design her own Calvary Canvas.  I was inspired by something similar that my friend Christa did on white canvas last year for Easter...I think she found it on Pinterest?  If I gather the link, I will certainly share it here. {I recently joined Pinterest so I'm trying to fumble my way around there without spending too much time on it!}  My friend Patty also used a similar technique for some cute snowflake art.

Instead of white, we used the extra burlap we had to wrap this 5X7 canvas. (Same procedure mentioned above)

She used masking tape to design/mark her crosses...
Then picked colors of acrylic paint that she thought represented the sky on Good Friday and painted over the masking taped crosses.
It didn't look very attractive until we peeled off the tape when it dried!
This 5x7 size fits nicely inside a large wreath...


But she opted for her room! 
(We had this stencil on hand so she added the word Hope at the bottom...Fitting indeed:)

+Praying your Lent is leading you closer to Calvary, where we find hope at the Foot of the Cross+



Thursday, March 22, 2012

Holy Week Art Project And Easter Book

Passion of Christ Newspaper Art Scene

This is an easy and fun art project for Holy Week!  It also leads to great discussion about the Holy Cross as the instrument of glory for our salvation.
The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.~1 Cor 1:18~

We got the idea from my daughter's art class using ripped up newspaper.  She originally made this piece of newspaper art.  
The whole idea got my liturgical wheels turning since it IS Lent after all;) I thought the black construction paper made the perfect back drop for Calvary.  Relaying my thoughts to Princess started her engine and she went straight to work, designing her own Passion of Christ Newspaper Art scene! 

I think this project would be good for ages 7 and up.  My daughter is 9 (4th grade).  It's a bit messy since you have to rip up a bunch of newspaper but it cleans up easily.

Supplies needed:
Black construction paper
Old newspaper
Glue stick or Rubber Cement

1. You start by making the basic shapes of the 3 Calvary Crosses by ripping out regular newspaper. (Not cutting, but ripping)
Rip pieces of the dark colored ads for Christ crucified.  
Place pieces in the shapes that you see best fitting.  Each child might have a different idea of how this might look!  It's neat to see how their imaginations and creativity play out in amazing ways...Much better than mine:)
Use various colors from the newspaper ads for the hill and the stormy sky to complete the landscape and the project.
We hung the finished project on our Lenten mantel...I love the view from a distance:)
We hope you are inspired to give it a try!

He himself bore our sins in his body upon the cross, so that, free from sin, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.~1 Pt 2:24~

I also have a quick book recommendation.  At the beginning of Lent, I mentioned the legend of the Dogwood tree in relation to the Cross that hung our Savior.  I have since found and ordered a beautiful picture book that I just love.  The rich illustrations and story tie in the message of Easter in a new and beautiful way... You won't be disappointed!
+It would be the perfect Easter basket addition or gift+

And one last quote to share... love this one!
"Worship him who was hung on the cross because of you, even if you are hanging there yourself."~St. Gregory Nazianzen~

Equipping Catholic Families

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Animals, Art, and Hair That Sticks Out

I always enjoy hearing tid-bits about how other family homeschools operate.  Sometimes we can learn new things, just from a little detail here and there so I thought I'd share one of my discoveries.  Over time, I have found it most successful when we study our science and social studies, one subject at a time, over a week's period. (This would be instead of trying to do both subjects in the same week)

Our daily mornings include math and language arts, ideally finishing at lunch time.  Then we rotate weeks for science and social studies in the afternoons.  Sometimes I will also devote a week to a particular writing assignment if we need more time than our regular mornings.
Soooo...
This week was science week!
One of my sisters was visiting this week from Oregon.  Her husband was away on business so we got to spend some fun time with her and my niece, plus new baby on the way:)
One of my favorite things about homeschooling is the flexibility, not just with scheduling, but also with subject matter and curriculum.  For example, yesterday we combined an afternoon of science AND art.
Sound like an odd combination?
Hey, it worked and it was so much fun...even for this Mama who struggles with finding science much fun*wink*
This Wildlife Center has been on our "science bucket list" and our Princess (who loves animals) has been dying to check it out!
It's primarily a refuge for injured, sick, or abandoned wild animals.  
We met Bella, the Red Fox...
who quickly became a favorite!  She was quite lively and definitely interested in us. What a friendly fox:)
Skunkie the Skunk...
who UNkindly sprayed us with her stinky perfume.  Can you believe that got captured on film?  Look at that thick and smelly fog...P-U!  She didn't like us gawking at her one little bit:)

This was a beautiful barn owl...whose name I forget:(
But the highlight was Fizzle the Squirrel who rolled around in this plastic ball.  Everywhere we went, he'd follow us!  The littles got the biggest kick out of him:)
Afterwards, we headed home for an art project tying into our field trip.
It was perfect timing that we had recently re-discovered an art book that held instructions for drawing the same animals we had just met at the Wildlife Center.
The art came alive because of our personal encounter with the animals!
 Later on we also spent time looking into habitats and information about the animals we learned about here.

The latter part of the week was spent studying static electricity with the youngers and all of the fun ways that electrons work...Always Fun Good review for Mama too:)
Hair that sticks out is always a hit!
You should see MY hair in the morning...I don't even need a balloon to make it stick up or out, nor can science explain it!

Do you have any tid-bits to share?



Thursday, December 29, 2011

Catholic 12 Days Of Christmas~(Day 5 & 6)

Day 5: (December 29)
Feast of St. Thomas Becket
Theme: The Nativity of the Lord

Reflect and Read the Nativity of the Lord, as a family, from the Gospels (Matthew 1 and 2 or Luke 1 and 2)  We will be following a long with the beautifully illustrated picture book, The Nativity.  The focus of our discussion will be the angels and shepherds.  The angels first proclaimed the Good News and the shepherds made haste, or rushed in from the hills, to see God's promise fulfilled with the birth of the Messiah.  
Discussion questions:  How can we be heralds of the Gospel?; Have we seen God's glory in our own lives?; In what ways can we rejoice with the angels: "Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice!"~Psalm 96~  How can we move closer to the Lord, keeping the shepherds in mind: "The shepherds went in haste, and found Mary and Joseph and the Infant lying in the manger."~Luke 2:16~
Respond:  Make an angel craft AND a Gingerbread Manger.  We used this Usborne book as our guide for this hand print angel art.
Angel Baby in action...
I am not a "messy Mom" so I always have to relinquish my desire to keep things neat and clean.  This is a struggle for me and something I always have to work at!
The end results are usually worth it when hands and faces (and sometimes hair) are all cleaned up!
(Especially when art project turn out so cute:)

The older kids worked on this Gingerbread Manger with Dad:) Yep, I admit we bought the 'cheater' supplies so it was pretty effortless.  
The Claydough Nativity set can be found online here. By the way, mine came in a nice plastic encasement for storage and protection...That makes the price a little more bearable.  Plus, they sure are cute!
As I've mentioned before, Dad is pretty good at this stuff:)  He wanted to create a humble and simple manger, without any gumdrops on the roof.  You know what that means? More candies from the kit for the kids to eat right away:)
As you can see, they used Nutella for the frosting on the Gingerbread Manger....YUM.  "Somebody" got a fun sampling of the Nutella:)
We browned some coconut for the manger hay and this is the finished project, mostly edible! (Except for the claydough figures of course)

Pray:  Stations of the Manger that were created last year.
Today we also decorated our white Christ candle that we light each night during the Christmas season.  It was simple to add some Nativity stickers and glitter.  
Our parish bulletin had a nightly Christmas table blessing that I Mod Podged to the back of the candle for easy prayer access!

Just in case you are wondering if we are some "holy family", think again!  I always like to point out that we are not perfect by any means.  Striving for holiness is something we take to heart but we certainly have a long journey ahead with routine struggles:) For example, we no sooner get done with our pleasant angel discussion tonight and our 3 year old Angel Baby yells out from her bedroom: "MOM!  My jammie drawer is all jacked up!"  Well, it certainly wasn't a 'sweet as an angel' exclamation but I got a good chuckle anyway ...Hmmm, wonder where she heard that one?  Time for nightly Guardian Angel prayers! 

**Dad and 2 older boys are serving dinner at a local homeless shelter with our Parish Youth Group.  Praying this makes up for a few of our imperfections*wink*

Day 6: December 30th
Feast of the Holy Family

Reflect upon Jesus living a real human life with a Mother and Father chosen by God.  Discuss how our parents were chosen by God to raise and care for us.  How can we follow the example of Jesus as a child?  How can we follow the example of St. Mary and St. Joseph as parents?
Read the Letter of St. Paul to the Colossians 3:12-21.  Discuss how we can treat eachother as St. Paul writes to the Colossians.
Respond: Do something together as a family today, even if it's just sitting down for a meal.  Today our Dad will be gone to work so the rest of us plan on attending daily Mass and getting donuts afterwards.  Didn't the Holy Family eat donuts?  OK, maybe not...But it's still a real treat for us:)
Three of our children served daily Mass for the Feast of the Holy Family. Army Dude helped Father T. give us all a good dousing of Holy Water for a blessing...Sure beats a shower!

  Our activity will be picking the name of a family member from a hat.  We will spend a little time writing about the great qualities of that person and why we love them.  The letters will be read in the evening around dinner or prayer.  Dad can e-mail us his letter from work!

Pray for all families, including those from our Christmas cards started earlier in the week.
"God and Father of all, you gave us the Holy Family to serve as an example of love and obedience.  Grant to all people, in family homes or alone, the grace to hold in honor the bonds of love and respect which bind the human race chosen for adoption as your children, through Jesus Christ your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen.
~Magnificat Morning Prayer~


Christmas Devotion to the Holy Family
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,
From the heavenly household on high
Look upon all earthly households today,
Pray for us!
Holy Family,
You were not welcome in Bethlehem;
Embrace those rejected by the world.
Pray for us!
Holy Family,
You were sheltered in a stable;
Protect those who have no home.
Pray for us!
Holy Family,
You heard the angels' song;
Sing to us of heaven's joy.
Pray for us!
Holy Family,
You faithfully observed the divine law;
Show us how to do the will of God.
Pray for us!
Holy Family,
Protected and guided by St. Joseph,
Pray for us!
Holy Family,
Cared for, looked after by Holy Mary,
Pray for us!
Holy Family,
Fulfilled by the Presence of Christ,
Pray for us!
Be our strength in life,
Be our hope in the hour of death.
Pray for us. Amen.



The family is a school which enables men and women to grow to the full measure of their humanity... 
" O God, who in the Holy Family left us a perfect model of family life lived in faith and obedience to your will, help us to be examples of faith and love for your commandments."~Pope Benedict XVI~
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