share our JOY

JOY{filled}family

striving to radiate Him always

Craft Basket Wednesday ~ March 3, 2010

by Filed Under: Crafts

Craft Basket Wednesday
Sparkles was invited to a birthday party but could not attend.  She was bummed but took the opportunity to offer it up.  Praise be to God for Sparkles.

I decided to resort to a staple gift that all girls love, a personalized lap desk.  I had to pull out my paint pens.  It’s been awhile since I’ve used my paint pens.

The best part of the gift was Sparkles personalization on the back.  I hope to find where I stored the picture.

SIMPLE Lent Activities

by Filed Under: Crafts, Lent

Lenten Calendar
I found my inspiration from Jessica and have modified this year’s calendar.
Lenten Cleaning
We attempt to prepare our physical house as well as spiritual house in preparation for the Resurrection of Jesus. 
Here is our cleaning outline for the year and pictures from our Lenten cleaning in 2009.
Sacrifice Beans
Each child is given a jar and she is responsible for depositing a bean for her act of kindness or sacrifice. We generally do not have the children remove beans but this year we have decided to have the children remove beans from their jar for not being “Christ-like.” We wanted to try it this way this year since Sparkles is preparing for her First Communion.
Resurrection Eggs
**UPDATE**
Resurrection Eggs Tutorial
Rose made her first set of Resurrection Eggs with Sparkles’ Godmother years ago.  We have incorporated them every year since.  I’m not sure where she found her material but I have continued to use her narration and eggs contents.   I hope to have a tutorial soon since I’m planning this as the craft for my next Little Flowers meeting.
Almsgiving
We forgo treats, daily pleasures and wants to donate to our local Life Center & Catholic Bishop’s Maternity Home.  We attend Mass on Holy Thursday. The girls present their Lenten collection. Rose presents the family’s flower offering for the Altar of Repose. It is a long evening for the children. Mass starts at 6pm and ends at 9:30.  Mass is followed by Adoration.  (We’ve yet to last through Adoration since we drive 1 hr each way to Mass).
Fasting
We observe Good Friday in solace. This hasn’t always been the case but we finally answered God’s prompting placed on our hearts. There are no activities (sports, entertainment, and the like) – only Mass, family prayer, viewing of the Passion and our Good Friday meal.
For years we have eaten tomato soup with a grilled cheese (for kids). The kids We have grown to enjoy this soup very much. So much so, that I’m rethinking its place as a Lenten meal. However, Sweetie does call it Jesus’ blood.
Lent Link-Up

Embroidery ~ St. Clare Dolls

by Filed Under: Crafts, Little Flowers, St. Clare of Assisi

Embroidery ~ St. Clare Dolls
St. Clare is the patron saint of embroiders.
This was the craft chosen for Little Flowers ~ Saint Clare of Assisi and the virtue of Joy-Mirthfulness.
 SUPPLIES:
  • Crochet Thread (weight 5-10) – thicker than embroidery thread and does not require unraveling as does embroidery floss.  I doubled the crochet thread for the Little Flowers to avoid the need for re-threading.   (Embroidery thread (ET) was used for small areas)
          dark brown – tunic 
          black – veil
          nude – face, nose, hands, feet (St. Clare of Assisi never wore shoes or socks)
          gold – halo, monstrance    
          white – wimple (starched white part of the veil)
          green/blue/brown (ET) – eyes
          pink (ET) – mouth
STEPS:
          Place printed sheet under fabric
         Trace image onto fabric with a water soluble fabric pen
  • Place fabric w/ image into an oval embroidery hoop
  • Embroider using the running stitch
Running Stitch—This stitch is used for outline and padding. The needle is carried in and out of material making small up and down even stitches. Take several stitches on needle before drawing it through.
 
Embroidery Links

The More, The Better

by Filed Under: Crafts, Glass Tile Necklaces

Rose and I made more tiles for Christmas gifts.  We’re hooked.
for Rose’s girlfriends
for Godmothers and other special women
the entire collection
Rose used a ball-chain necklace and black cord necklace for her friends.  I used a higher quality sterling silver chains that I found here for the Godmothers.  I used keychain rings for the St. Joseph tiles for the Godfathers (not pictured).
The paper weights were for our parish Priests and Rose’s choirmaster (2 paperweights are not shown).  I used the holy cards from our Priests’ first blessings and 25th Anniversary.  Rose selected a card with Gregorian chant for her choirmaster.
for nana and auntie
The top large medal was for Nana.  It is reversible with sis’s kids on the other side.  The bottom medal was for Auntie (Rose’s Nina).  It’s reversible with Our Lady of Guadalupe on the reverse side.

Our Newest Craft – Glass Tile

by Filed Under: Crafts, Glass Tile Necklaces

I’ve been working on some crafts-gifts.  I made these cute necklaces for my husband’s female co-workers.  I made key rings for the male co-workers (which I forgot to photograph).

These were my first attempts.
I purchased all of my supplies (aside from the paper) from this store and used this tutorial.
Rose and I have plans to make many more necklaces this week for gifts.  I hope to take pictures of them all.

Subscribe to our Newsletter