O Night Divine

ABC of December Saints

Contributed by Catholic author Tanja Cilia a challenging wordsearch!  Print out the PDF file and see how your children do. The solution is included in the printout.Hi dden in the grid are the names of 36 Saints whose feast days fall in December. Not all of them are well known so there is a teachable moment here! You find the saints be searching in eight directions.  Have fun and leave a comment if you or one of your children finds them all.

 

Download ONDWordsearch

Thank you so much Tanja for sharing this!

Bottle Cap Ornaments

To go along with the dowel tree we made these fun bottle cap ornaments. This particular set is for the "O Antiphons." We are also making one of the "12 Days of Christmas" so that we can continue to hang a set of ornaments on the tree each day of the Christmas season. 

              

These ornaments are quite simple to make if you have some beading/jewelry making supplies.  It's also a good way to recycle bottle caps. Some bottle caps are decorative like the ones from IZZE bottles in the picture below and can be used as is (after washing). Others with writing and logos you don't want to see need to be painted before using. You can also buy "craft" bottle caps at many craft and hobby stores.

Materials:
-beads (various colors to match theme)
-24 or 26 gauge jewelry wire
-crimp beads
-bottle caps
-spray paint (optional)
-foam mount sticky tape
-wire cutter
-chain nose  or crimp pliers
-awl or thin nail
-hammer
-images for picture (clip art, old Christmas cards, holy cards, photograph, etc.)

Make two holes close together in the rim of each bottle cap using an awl or thin nail. 

 
  
Cut a piece of wire approximately 3 1/2 inches in length. Thread wire through holes as shown.
 

Twist wire together tightly.

Thread selected beads onto wire: 3-5 is a good number depending on the size of beads chosen.

 

Add crimp bead and pinch closed with pliers. This keeps the beads from sliding off.  Bend wire to form small loop. 

Cut out desired image or picture to insert into bottle cap. A quarter makes a nice template for getting the correct size. For the "O Antiphons" I used these images at Catholic Culture. Cut and pasted into a Word document they turned out to be the perfect size to fit. Use double backed sticky foam or tape to adhere image inside of bottle cap. The ornament is now ready for hanging. 

 

 

 

Dowel Christmas Tree Craft

 
When I saw this simple, yet cute dowel Christmas tree last year in Paper Crafts magazine I knew it would make a great centerpiece for hanging all kinds of symbolic ornaments at different times throughout the Advent and Christmas seasons.  Ideas include Jesse Tree ornaments, O Antiphons, 12 Days ofChristmas, apples and bread for a Paradeis tree, ethnic tradition ornaments, and more. It could also be used during other seasons or times of the year as a display as well.  I like that it also has the triangular shape - for the Trinity.

Materials for tree:

one 1/2 inch dowel
one 1/4 or 3/16 inch dowel
acrylic paint, brown
fluffy or fuzzy yarn, green
wood block or circle (for base)
white school glue

Drill 1/2 inch hole in center of base. Paint wooden base piece and let dry. Cut 1/2 inch dowel to an 18" length.  This will be the center pole of the tree.  Cut the thinner dowel into three pieces with lengths of 12 1/2", 10 1/2", & 8 1/2" respectively. In the center pole, drill small holes to fit the thin dowels at 6 /1/2", 11" and 15 1/2" from the bottom. All lengths and distances are just what we used. Different lengths could be used if you wanted a smaller or larger tree - just position and size proportionally to get the triangular effect.

Slide thinner dowels through the drilled holes, centering each. Brush white glue on the dowels and  wrap yarn around. Keep yarn closely wound so the wood doesn't show through. I did center pole first, then each branch segment separately.  Leave small segment at bottom of center pole dowel free of yarn so that it will fit into the base.  Let glue dry.  Insert tree into base and decorate.

(Bottle cap ornament idea coming soon. )

Feast Day Paper Play Sets

Just in time to celebrate some Advent traditions of our faith around the world, Vee at Paper Dali has released two paper doll play sets.  Christmas in Sweden Paper Doll Set which celebrates St. Lucia Day and some additional Swedish Christmas traditions and Las Posadas (A Mexican Christmas) Paper Doll Set which focuses on the nine day celebration of "The Inns" leading up to Christmas in Mexico.

       
Each of these exclusive, multi-page paper doll sets are available as PDF downloads for only $4.  It's always nice to have quality hands on activities for the children to learn about traditions of our faith and cultures around the world.

Also available from Paper Dali's free historical paper doll collection are St. Lucia (w/ Unit Study), St. Juan Diego, Nativity Figures, and St. Nicholas (w/ Unit Study) for use during the Advent and Christmas seasons. 

Preparing the Manger

One of my favorite Advent traditions, particularly with a family with younger children, is preparing the manger for Christmas. This is the tradition of helping make Baby Jesus' bed soft by extra efforts we make during Advent. In my experience of various Advent devotions, this one, although simple, really touches the young children. The manger or crib is a symbol of our hearts, as we prepare for Christ's coming at Christmas. Advent is the time of preparation, preparing the way of the Lord.

I also think this helps the child to prepare actively for Christmas. Whether or not you believe in Santa Claus in your house, the child is watching his own behavior, and will be able to see extra ways to do good deeds, be promptly obedient, saying prayers well, extra helping without asking, etc. all Advent long.

My uncle made my mother's manger. It’s a very simple pattern my uncle made out of some scrap shelving material (hence the one-sided black color and the rounded edges). The triangular bottom of the manger is ideal for quickly giving a sense of progress in lining the manger in softness. And now having my own house and family of my won dh made our own manger. It's thrilling to pull it out every Advent.

For further explanation about this old French Catholic custom, see my article on Catholic Culture

My uncle was raised on the farm, and this was his own design from leftover wood. As I'm not a country gal, I just took it for granted that it was a similar design he saw on his farms. And so this past Friday when our family went to visit Mount Vernon, I was thrilled to see a feed manger for the hogs in the exact same shape as our family manger! To be able to point that out to my son helps drive home that Jesus was laid in the animal's feeding trough. It was definitely not plush, soft, or gently fragrant surroundings. It provides all the more reason to work hard at filling the manger with hay from our good works and prayers.

While Advent has already begun, it's never too late to start this project. I've provided the pattern in case you want to make your own: manger.pdf instructions.

For the original size, the boards are about 3/4 to 1″ thick. The insides of the manger are 11 3/4″ long. One board is 4 3/4″ wide, and the other is 5 1/2″ wide. The sides (x 2) are 5 1/2″ tall, and at the lowest point is 5″ and tapers into 8″ wide at the top. The dimensions can be adjusted to a different size, depending on what size and “lifelike” the doll is.

The hay or straws we used when I was young were wood shavings from packing material. Now the craft stores sell small bags of “straw” which are longer wooden shavings. Bits of rafia also would be suitable. I try to not pick materials that would be too small so that the children wouldn't see progress in filling the manger.

We use a vinyl doll, about 6-8″ old Vogue doll, similar to my mother’s, which I found an inexpensively eBay a few years ago. The body wasn’t in perfect condition, but I knew it would be covered up by the clothes. My mother believed (and I agree) that baby Jesus should be held and touched and caressed by the children, not a statue that they can’t touch. That brings the reality of a newborn baby closer to home. The clothes are a simple sac pattern, with gathered neck and sleeves, cut from white flannel. I asked my mother to make mine "just like hers". It might not be the description of "swaddling clothes" but it's our family tradition I want to recreate.

Alice Gunther also shared a wonderful craft, Take-Along Mangers and Take-Along Mangers in Miniature that could be used for this custom. This could be the child's individual manger, by his/her bedside. This echoes the idea from Helen McLoughlin from Family Advent Customs:

On the first Sunday of Advent each child in our family receives an empty manger. A sugar box covered with bright paper will do as well. At bedtime the children draw straws for each kind deed performed in honor of Baby Jesus as His birthday surprise. The straws are placed in the child's manger or box daily. It is amazing how much love a child can put into Advent when he is preparing for His Redeemer's coming in grace.

On Christmas each child finds an Infant in his manager, placed on a small table or on a chair beside his bed. Usually it is a tiny doll, beautiful dress; but one of our children receives a Hummel Infant year after year. This custom, which in no way interferes with the larger manger in the living room, fills the child with a longing in Advent, and gives him an image of his Redeemer as his first happy glance mornings and his last impression at night during the entire Christmas season.

As Mrs. McLoughlin mentions, both the family manger and individual child mangers don't work against each other, but with each other.

On Christmas Eve after Mass or Christmas morning before opening presents, we process with candles and singing and one child holding baby Jesus to place him in the manger, and a few prayers around the Crib.

May the Christ Child find safe haven within our hearts at Christmas!

Written by Jennifer Gregory Miller

For the Feast of Mary, Mother of God

For years now, it has been a dream of mine to decorate a dollhouse for Christmas. The scene is set in my mind's eye--miniature presents wrapped in foil, lights twinkling in every window, infinitesimally small wax tapers, a beribboned tree teeming with angels shading thimble-sized nativity, and, of course, a table set extravagantly for a doll's Christmas feast.

Now, given the fact that we barely put up the life-size tree this year, you can just imagine how the dollhouse fared. Still, it occurred to me a while back that I could still have a piece of the dream, something to make the children smile and let the dolls know they have not been forgotten--a miniature Christmas hearth.

We started with an unpainted wooden doll's mantel, available in the dollhouse aisle at the craft store:

One coat of Folk Art paint in "parchment" added a bit of depth:

The stockings--created by my ten-year-old daughter with the greatest enthusiasm imaginable--were hung by the chimney with care glue:

Each one is slightly different:

We added a beautiful miniature triptych, purchased a while back at our local Catholic store (this could easily be replaced by a cut out from a Christmas card or small nativity scene):

I can't resist showing you what the back of the triptych looks like:

Greens from the tree and red ribbon add a crowning touch:

Just for fun, we put the miniature mantel on the floor beside our real mantel for scale (it's too bad our fire had already burned to ashes, or this would have been a lovely picture):

Our mantel makes a timely display for the Feast of Mary, Mother of God:

An old friend of ours hopped right off the tree to check her stocking:

We are hoping to keep our minuscule mantel decorated for a while, adding new embellishments for Candlemas, Lent, Easter and May. [I say "hoping" because the things we strive for and the things we actually do are often quite different!] Another fine addition would be a miniature fireplace screen. Perhaps I will ask the production crew to work on one tomorrow.

Happy New Year's Eve, dear friends!

St. John

God our Father, you have revealed the mysteries of your Word through John the apostle. By prayer and reflection may we come to understand the wisdom he taught. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Today marks the feast of the Apostle and Evangelist St. John, who bears the distinction of being the only apostle who was not martyred, although it's not as though they didn't try (a little more about this later)!

St. John was the brother of St. James who together formed the "sons of thunder."  Along with St. Peter, these two were the only other witnesses to the Raising of Jairus's daughter, the Transfiguration and the Agony of Our Lord in the garden and it was he alone among the chosen twelve who remained in fear and suffering beside the Blessed Mother at the foot of the cross.  There he obediently received the command to care for her.  He is also counted among the four evangelists, or gospel authors.

Legend has it that St. John was given a poisoned cup of wine, which he blessed, only to have the poison rise up in the shape of a serpent and depart.  His symbol is the eagle, for his "gaze pierces so far into the mysteries of heaven and his version of the gospel begins with a lofty prologue that is a poem of the Word become flesh." (The Catholic Source Book, ed. by Rev. Peter Klein.)   It is from his gospel that we receive one of the readings for Christmas Day Mass.

On this third day of Christmas you might like to carry on the European tradition of blessing wine to drink at the evening meal.   Here is a recipe is from A Continual Feast by Evelyn Birge Vitz  for St. John's Wine, a traditional hot spiced wine.
1 quart red wine
3 whole cloves
1/16 teaspoon ground cardamom
2-2in. cinnamon sticks
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup sugar

Pour the wine into a large saucepan.  Add the remaining ingredients.  Boil for 5 min. (after 5 minutes the alcohol is virtually all evaporated).  Serve hot.  Yield:  8-10 servings.  (this recipe is credited to the Catholic Cookbook by William Kaufman.)  As always, many thanks to Catholic Culture , which provides us with the Blessing Prayer for St. John's Wine

If you would like to try an eagle craft today it's a good bet you'll have enough items on hand to try this simple Paper Roll Eagle. 
 

Mini-Nativity Craft Idea

Hello friends, please visit me at Sweetness and Light this week for a fun craft to do for Christmas Eve or before.  It kind of follows sweet Alice's Miniature theme she so skillfully thought of! 

I hope you enjoy my post and enjoy your final week of Advent, many blessings to you!

A Celebration of Saints...

Meredith has a wonderful, resourceful post called A Celebration of Saints Tree Craft.  This will really make the Advent and Christmas seasons memorable for your children. 

Go check it out!

Advent Calendar Tutorial

My lovely and talented friend Nissa has devised a really pretty Advent calendar to make.  Go here to find the step-by-step tutorial.