June is the month dedicated to the Sacred Heart. In the year 1672 Our Lord Jesus appeared to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque and asked her to promote a special devotion to His Sacred Heart as a symbol of His love and mercy for us. (You can read more about this devotion here and here. ) We had our First Friday gathering here today and so our theme was the Sacred Heart.
As it is Pentecost Friday (surely you've seen this story about Paul VI and the Octave of Pentecost) and also during Embertide, we made these flame cookies:
Lydia and Anna made sugar cookies, and then iced them with a mix of yellow and red to resemble flames. I took an extra holly leaf cookie cutter that I had (a fifteen cent Christmas clearance item) and bent it a bit to make the flame shape like so:
For the younger children I printed out some nice coloring pages found here. They look very nice glued onto red construction paper like so:
The older children's Sacred Heart craft is seen above. Now, I must tell you that I just came up with this idea last night. All week my children were asking me what our craft was going to be and I would say, "Something for the Sacred Heart". As we dashed off to the craft store last night half an hour before it closed my girls kept asking, "But what are we going to buy?" And I repeatedly insisted, "I have no idea." I told them we'd figure it out when we got there, and I reminded them of Mrs. Gunther who says she walks through the aisles of the craft store praying to the Holy Spirit for inspiration. Mary Rose remarked it was like the book she just read, in which the family was having twins but didn't have a van large enough for the family, but the Dad said if God gives the twins He will also provide for all their needs. She concluded if God is giving us the party with our friends, He would also provide the inspiration. "Yes, that's it exactly," I told her.
So I sang Veni Sancte Spiritus under my breath as we walked into Michaels and the first thing we saw was a large display of wooden frames. I told the girls to grab a stack and we were on our way to our craft (I think my girls were quite relieved that I didn't need to sing the next line). The frames come in ovals and rectangles and have a little peg stand included and are only a dollar apiece. We found small heart plaques and a few other items and we were soon dashing home to make the prototype. Here is Lydia's sample project:
Start by using a wood burning tool to create the crown of thorns. I had Josiah do the crowns on some extra hearts so the younger children wouldn't have to do it themselves. Start with the wavy lines and then add the thorns.
Next we painted the heart with red acrylic paint watered down to a transparent 'wash' consistency. A paper towel is adequate for blotting on the wash, and you can add a second layer of paint around the edge of the heart to add more depth to the look. By using the watered down paint the crown is still clearly visible.
The frames were painted with plain acrylic paint and left to dry. The flames were cut from some neat crinkly orange scrapbook paper I found, and the crosses from gold paper. I purchased one of those gold metallic paint pens for the writing and it worked very nicely. The hearts are simply glued onto the frames with craft glue, and then the flame and cross are glued on as well.
I always enjoy seeing the variety of the children's finished projects as they add their own unique creativity and special touches.
They make a very nice addition to our June altar.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!
Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!
Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!
That is a gorgeous craft. You celebrated the Sacred Heart's love for your family so beautifully.
Posted by: Leticia Velasquez | June 06, 2009 at 12:10 AM
Everything turned out so beautiful! The wonderful crafts, the cookies, the coloring pages... Everything!! Thank you so much for sharing your great ideas and lovely pictures with us all. =)
Posted by: Jessica | June 06, 2009 at 11:26 AM
Just gorgeous Kimberlee, what a fun project, thanks for the great ideas! Happy month of the Sacred Heart to you all!
Posted by: Meredith | June 06, 2009 at 01:27 PM
Wonderful, Bravo! This is a special month for me, I am actually a Margaret Mary,and I so wanted a great craft.......thank you agian for saving me:)
I too remember Alice saying she prays at the craft store, I do every time I walk into Michaels.
Posted by: molly | June 06, 2009 at 10:19 PM
Absolutely beatuful, Kimberly! We made these on Saturday.
Posted by: Ruth | June 09, 2009 at 11:17 AM
This is such a great craft. I have never thought of praying thru the craft aisles! I will try it! Thanks
Posted by: Tara De Lucia | June 09, 2009 at 04:01 PM
The Holy Spirit absolutely lead you to a wonderful craft! After morning Mass today, we got the supplies and began making them today!
Posted by: Emily | June 10, 2009 at 04:47 PM
AS always you inspired us-
http://fourpluspets.com/
you have the best ideas.
Posted by: Steph | June 14, 2009 at 06:26 PM
Terrific site! Looks like you have a lot of fun with your faith & your family. With a friend, I just started a blog on living the liturgical year (liturgicalyear.wordpress.com) and referenced your sacred heart crafts on it. Nice pics & directions. God bless!
Posted by: Anne | May 07, 2010 at 12:06 AM