Friday, February 26, 2010

Portable Stations of the Cross

When our moms' group talked about having Stations of the Cross at the park, I had to do some Serious Thinking. We didn't have enough trees spaced out for Stations. Nor did we have any structure that we could tape/nail/glue/affix our Stations.

Then I came up with this:


These metal garden stakes were perfect for presenting a Station, and we've been able to tote them to different parks, have the children set them up by sticking them into the ground, and then ... praying!


Materials:
  • pictures for each station (I downloaded the free set from The Bookworm, a longtime favorite blogger of mine.)
  • sticky back foam sheets
  • popsicle sticks
  • glue
  • metal garden markers (You can get these from your local garden-supply shop.)

Steps
These may be obvious, but there's no harm in explaining it, right?

  1.  Print and cut the Stations.
  2. Cut the sticky foam sheet in half.
  3. Glue a Station to one half of the sticky foam sheet.
  4. Lay one cut piece of the sticky foam sheet underneath the garden marker.
  5. Place the other half on top of it. This puts the two parts together, one with the picture, one without. And it seals it in nicely, so the Station plate doesn't slide around.
  6. Make a cross with the popsicle sticks.
  7. Glue the cross to the top.
  8. Pray!


For more ideas on celebrating Lent, visit the great blogs at Catholic Icing's Lent Link Up.



    Blessings,

    Saturday, February 20, 2010

    Blessed Miguel Pro

    Last updated: March 30, 2010

    Placing This Site Under His Care

    Blessed Miguel Pro holds a special place in my heart. With his wonderful sense of humor, playfulness, creativity and deep strong faith, Blessed Miguel Pro is like a spiritual brother to me. And I place
    Paper Dali under his patronage.

    I first discovered Blessed Miguel in a little Mexican bookshop in Los Angeles years ago and picked up Ann Ball's book "Blessed Miguel Pro: 20th Century Mexican Martyr." I had not known there was a Catholic persecution in Mexico, wrongfully assuming it's always been highly pro-Catholic. And it just pulled me in. I'd never read of such an outrageously funny, brave and devout person saint like him before. And now here I am, placing a site under his patronage and spreading the word about him.

    Read About Bl. Miguel Pro
    If you do not know about this marvelous Mexican priest and martyr, I encourage you to read about him and get to learn more about him. A good starting point for almost all things Miguel is the Blessed Miguel site once maintained by Ann Ball (may she rest in peace) and now under the direction of Lawrence LeLeux and Father Ray Bucko.

    A few months ago, I read another Ann Ball book dedicated to Miguel Pro. She wrote it for her grandchildren to know and love this saint as much as she does. The book is called "Jose Finds the King" (Behold Publications). Right now, I'm working on a project inspired by this lovely book. If you've not read it before, do put the book on your reading list.

    Paper Dali Miguel Pro
    On this site, Miguel has been Paper Dali-fied. You can find him and a few drawings of his disguises that he wore during his underground work in Mexico. In this photograph on the left, you can see Bl. Miguel Pro dressed as a dandy. I love his expression here and his nonchalant stance. The best part of the picture, though, is that a policeman is passing him in the background. Wanted by the police for his being a Catholic priest, Miguel looks amused by it all.

    On Paper Dali, Blessed Miguel Pro is one of the more popular saints. (He's only a little behind St. Joseph and St. Juan Diego.) Every now and then, I receive emails from people who are having fun with his little set.

    If you do use his Paper Dali, do drop me a note or comment here and let me see how he's doing. Here are some friends of Paper Dali Miguel:
    Rosario at Beads4Prayer
    Lori at Catholic Baby Steps


    De Todo Un Poco (A Little of Everything)
    This video montage shows pictures spanning Bl. Miguel's life, his martyrdom and relics of his adventurous, loving life.

    Author Ann Ball's site has a page dedicated to this "merry Mexican saint." Though she is now with the angels, a priest friend continues running her site and spreading the word of Blessed Miguel Pro.

    The Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe has a page dedicated to the martyr Miguel Pro. The site is in Spanish, but even if you do not speak Spanish, you will enjoy seeing the rare images of Miguel Pro's belongings, including the sweater that he wore, the pocket watch he had, etc.

    Get the superquick rundown of his life in a short video by the Catholic News Agency.

    Viva Cristo Rey!

    Friday, February 19, 2010

    St. Joseph Virtual Shrine

    Check out Evann's beautiful and inspirational St. Joseph shrine online. (And be sure to make time to craft the 3-D St. Joseph activity. We made them last year and sent the pictures to Evann.)

    Thursday, February 18, 2010

    The Paper Dali Mini Tour

    For fun, I thought I'd take you for a short tour around the lab. (I recently saw pictures of a fellow crafter's office and it seemed a fun post to write.)

    Upon first entering Paper Dali HQ (or "the office" or "the lab" or "the woman cave"), you are met by a welcoming cheerful owl drawn by my daughter.


    Now, let's say a prayer and have a cuppa something warm and cozy. Yes, that is the Divine Mercy shooting forth his graces onto a wee little owl. The owl is me, naturally, and the picture keeps it in perspective. I'm round, awkward and slightly clueless, and Jesus pours forth His graces and love on me despite it all. Yay!

    Did you get some tea or coffee? Hot cocoa? I'm having mate cocido, which is a delicious tea from Argentina. And makes one a bit hyper. As if I need that.


    My desk is a huge old-school 1960s office desk, inherited from my husband's grandfather (may he rest in peace). I'd show you the lovely monstrosity, but then you'd catch a glimpse of all my (paid) work. And considering my Real Job isn't aware of my having a blog, I won't be sharing that part of HQ. But half of my desk looks like this:

    Next, enjoy a glimpse at my inspiration collection. These small whatevers are at the corner of my desk. Holly Hobbie reminds me of being a child and nature and sweet flowers. The Tennessean mug is from the award-winning newspaper where I once worked. (I was Lois Lane.) The small turtle is from when I won first place in my first-grade spelling bee. I kept it all these years because that was a huge feat for me, considering I'd only been speaking English for one year. Then the beribboned picture of St. Therese of Lisieux holds a tiny relic. She reminds me of doing small things with great love. And then St. Maximilian Kolbe rounds out the bunch. He's the patron saint of editors. Considering I edit for a living, I've got him watching my back. And pens. And computer.

    My Argentine folk dolls remind me of where my family's roots are. And they remind me of the loved ones there. I miss it.


    My daughter's drawing of us helps me focus on why I work. A St. Teresa of Avila card made by a sister of the heart reminds me to pray her beautiful prayer. A smallish picture of St. Veronica is there for obvious reasons. And then Cary Grant and Irene Dunne remind me not to take it all too seriously. 


    Yes, there are quite a few pictures of Cary Grant. No lab or woman cave or office can be without him.



    And that's a mini tour of Paper Dali headquarters! 




    Tuesday, February 16, 2010

    Prayer Jar

    Instead of just writing down a petition for our Lenten prayer jar, I decided to draw the little petitions. Each strip has a picture and the beginning of a prayer for a child (or adult, actually) to finish. To enjoy, just download the page, cut along the dotted line, put them in a jar, and then put it in an accessible spot. During Lent, a child (or adult) can take out a strip during breakfast and begin the day with a prayer.

    Wednesday, February 10, 2010

    Craft for Charity: a Dolly Drive for Haitian Orphans


    Dolly Donations is in full swing with its toy drive for a Haitian orphanage devastated by the earthquake. The Abundant Ground Foundation, which is providing food and necessary items to the displaced families, will be taking homemade dollies that are donated also. These dolls will be given to children who have nothing else to call their own.

    If you would like to make a doll, please read the details here about sending it.


    Creative Commons License ... and please do NOT offer my works as downloads from your site.