Las Posadas Winner | La Ganadora

Drum roll, please! We had our Christmas Eve Eve drawing this morning. (I'd show you the pics, but my BlackBerry isn't working.)

The winner of Las Posadas is: Martha from Una Vida en Construccion! (Un aplauso fuerte para Martha, la ganadora!)

Congratulations! Felicitaciones, Martha! Por favor, mandame una notita a mypaperdali@gmail.com con tu dirrecion electronica, y te mando el PDF de Las Posadas: A Mexican Christmas.

Y mil gracias por todos los comentarios tan lindos que me dejaron. Aprecio cada uno ... y me alegro que han disfrutado de mis dibujitos.

Thanks so much for taking the time to leave your lovely comments and participate in the drawing.

Feliz Navidad! Merry Christmas!
xoxo
Vee

A PDF Giveaway: Las Posadas, A Mexican Christmas Set

For some last-minute fun, I thought I'd give away one copy of my Las Posadas: A Mexican Christmas PDF:

This downloadable PDF features my hand-drawn paper dolls, clothes and accessories for a paper-doll Christmas, Mexican-style. The set includes (in both black-and-white and color PDFs):

• the daddy
• the mommy
• the daughter
• the brother
• a traditional Mexican outfit for the daddy
• a traditional Mexican dress for the mommy
• two posadas outfits for the daughter
• two posadas outfits for the son
• accessories, such as a pinata, Nativity figures to carry during Las Posadas, lanterns and a guitar for a Rodriguez family member

So, let's have ourselves a drawing then! To be entered in the Las Posadas with Paper Dali drawing, just leave a comment. I'll be taking names (in a good way) until midnight (Pacific time) Dec. 22.

On Friday morning, Dec. 23, I'll go old-school and write up the names then have one of my children pick a winner and post the winner's name here. It's short notice, but it was Xhonane's fun idea.

Let the drawing begin!
xoxo
Vee

Chiming in About Doodling

I recently had a post about the importance of doodling. A couple of teachers chimed in with their thoughts, and I felt compelled to share them here.

What strikes me as some kind of wonderful is that they understand that the most important fact is that a student is learning and absorbing information. Crummy teachers make it all about themselves, whether everyone is looking at them, whether they are like the star on the stage, whether their students are transfixed by them. Excellent teachers are ones whose primary focus is to impart knowledge and encourage their students to use their brains and learn material in the manner that works best for the students. And if that's doodling, so be it!

Their comments:

"Thanks for posting this! I have always been a believer in doodling, and encourage my youth that I've given journals to to doodle freely during our catechetical sessions (I always present them with unlined journals/sketchbooks so they'll think outside the lines, as it were). My experience has always been that people that doodle actually engage much better in learning than those that are looking at their watches, drumming their fingers, counting the minutes to their next meal, etc. Yay, doodling!" (from Wayhip)

"Just wanted to say that one of my students is now going to be taking doodling to the next level and using his gift of drawing to create a 'graphic essay' for Captain Blood! Drawing is allowing him to tap into his analytical ability in a way that writing does not provide. He will still be doing some writing, but the emphasis will be on the artwork." (from Persephone Writes)

Happy doodling!
Vee

The Ultimate Saint Lucia Post

Have you awakened early to sweet singing? The scent of delicious Swedish pastries? The vision of your oldest daughter (or in my case, my only!) dressed in a white gown with a red sash? Then it must be Saint Lucia day!Or maybe you have a modified version like us? Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls, anyone? Either way, happy Saint Lucia day!

I've compiled all my St. Lucia day posts into one. A paper doll, notes for a unit study, instructions for a cute little peg doll ... It's all here for you. Enjoy!


Update: The Saint Lucia printable is now part of the "25 Days in December: An Advent Coloring and Activity Book."  Visit my Etsy shop to purchase the coloring book for just $8!

How We First Learned About This Feast Day: 2007
Inspired by reading "Kirsten's Surprise," my daughter asked me if we could celebrate the feast day of Saint Lucia, which is December 13.

This was in August. We are not either Italian or Swedish, but we are Catholic. At least I knew that Saint Lucia was the famous Lucy of the brutal martyrdom.

After a little bit of research, I learned about the beautiful, sweet ceremony that commemorates this day. Saint Lucia, with her bright shining candles, reminds us to be the light in the darkness. And her offerings of food and drink remind us to be giving and kind to others. The white gown symbolizes the young woman's purity and the red reminds us of her martyrdom.

By December, we were ready to celebrate this day.

At 5:34 a.m., my daughter woke up early to prepare breakfast for the family. (Because she is seven years old and it's our first year, I also woke up to help.) Many families make St. Lucy bread, but, being pressed for time and tired from last night's ice skating, we opted for easy bake cinnamon rolls.

As they baked, she dressed in her St. Lucia outfit: a simple white gown and her candle crown. The gown was a white snow princess outfit that we bought the day after Halloween for $10. The candle crown was from Hemslojd Swedish Gifts.


She took the rolls, poured the coffee in a mug for her daddy and put everything in a tray. Then, she quietly went to wake up her father for work. He woke up, very surprised to see his little girl wearing candles in the dark but touched by her bringing him breakfast in bed. She then took some cinnamon rolls to her brothers' bedroom, leaving them by their bed. (Traditionally, in Sweden, she would have awoken the household with song, but her little brothers get grumpy if awoken early.)

Then, the three alert family members ate cinnamon rolls together and talked a little about how St. Lucia went out in the darkness, shining her light to others.

UNIT STUDY FOR SAINT LUCIA DAY


History
Learn about Saint Lucy here.

Read this excerpt from Catholic Encyclopedia: "Lucy's name means "light", with the same root as "lucid" which means "clear, radiant, understandable." Unfortunately for us, Lucy's history does not match her name. Shrouded in the darkness of time, all we really know for certain is that this brave woman who lived in Syracuse lost her life in the persecution of Christians in the early fourth century. Her veneration spread to Rome so that by the sixth century the whole Church recognized her courage in defense of the faith.

Because people wanted to shed light on Lucy's bravery, legends grew up. The one that is passed down to us tells the story of a young Christian woman who had vowed her life to the service of Christ. Her mother tried to arrange a marriage for her with a pagan. Lucy apparently knew that her mother would not be convinced by a young girl's vow so she devised a plan to convince her mother that Christ was a much more powerful partner for life. Through prayers at the tomb of Saint Agatha, her mother's long illness was cured miraculously. The grateful mother was now ready to listen to Lucy's desire to give her money to the poor and commit her life to God.

Unfortunately, legend has it, the rejected bridegroom did not see the same light and he betrayed Lucy to the governor as a Christian. This governor tried to send her into prostitution but the guards who came to take her way found her stiff and heavy as a mountain. Finally she was killed. As much as the facts of Lucy's specific case are unknown, we know that many Christians suffered incredible torture and a painful death for their faith during Diocletian's reign."

Reading
Read the above materials and Website.

Read "Kirstin's Surprise" (an American Girl book).

Geography
Look up the different countries in which St. Lucy's feast day is celebrated:

Italy (her birthplace): Italians celebrate by eating small cakes or biscotti shaped like eyes, in memory of her having her eyes gouged out. A bit gross? Maybe, but they're not really eyes, after all, and the cakes taste good. They also light huge bonfires, also in memory of St. Lucy being a light to others in the darkness of troubling times and also for her using candles to light her way to serve the poor. Sicilians pay tribute to a miracle performed by St Lucy during a famine in 1582. Their prayers were answered by bringing a flotilla of grain-bearing ships to starving Sicily, whose citizens cooked and ate the wheat without taking time to grind it into flour. Thus, on St. Lucy's Day, Sicilians don't eat anything made with wheat flour, but eat a cooked wheat called cuccia.

Sweden: The oldest daughter in each household brings coffee and traditional pastries called lussekatter (Lucy cats) on a tray to her parents before they arise in the morning. She wears a white gown, scarlet sash, and a crown of greens and four, seven, or nine lighted candles. If she has other sisters, they are dressed in white and carry lit candles, and accompany her. Any brothers? They are called "star boys" (not Star Wars boys) and wear tall, cone-shaped hats decorated with stars. Some towns choose one girl to represent Saint Lucy at a celebration. Why the candles on the wreath? It's in memory of St. Lucia's going through the darkened woods, bringing food to the poor. In those days, she couldn't have used a flashlight, so she put candles on a wreath around her head, so her hands would be free to carry items to the poor.

Switzerland: Lucy accompanies Father Christmas. She doles out gifts to girls; he, to the boys.

Writing
Write four sentences about Santa Lucia.

Describe how to dress for a Saint Lucia celebration.

Copy the following prayer to St. Lucia: "Saint Lucy, you did not hide your light under a basket, but let it shine for the whole world, for all the centuries to see. We may not suffer torture in our lives the way you did, but we are still called to let the light of our Christianity illumine our daily lives. Please help us to have the courage to bring our Christianity into our work, our recreation, our relationships, our conversation -- every corner of our day. Amen." (from http://www.catholic.org/)

Music
Listen to "Lucia Celebration and Christmas in Sweden" (which has the narration in English, songs in Swedish).

Art
Make St. Lucy bread.

Make a paper Santa Lucia Crown.

Discuss the Lucia painting by Carl Larsson.

Have the student draw their own version of the Lucia painting.

Saint Lucia and Star Boy Peg Dolls

Materials needed for the St. Lucia Doll:
a wooden doll pin
yellow yarn
glittery red pipe cleaner
glittery green pipe cleaner
glittery gold pipe cleaner
white felt
peach felt
thin-tipped markers (not thick because they smudge the face)
pink highlighter
hot-glue gun (THE most important crafting item of all)
scissors

Before you do anything else: Draw a little face on her using paint or thin-tipped markers. (FYI: Try this out first on another hidden part of the wood, so you know whether the color will smudge. A pink highlighter, by the way, is awesome for rosy cheeks. A Sharpie is terrible for eyes, for they end up smearing the color.) It's best to draw the face first, for you don't want to have invested a lot of time in the doll then goof on the face and have all that time wasted.


1.) I took a scrap of white felt, wrapped it around the doll pin (aka "body")and trimmed it to make it look like a gown. Once I was satisfied, I put down the white felt and put the hot glue on the wooden body and QUICKLY put wrapped the white felt on her as I had just done.
2.) Cut out little half-circles from the peach felt for her hands.
3.) Cut out white triangles for her sleeves.
4.) Hot-glue each half-circle hand to the bottom of the sleeve.
5.) Hot-glue the sleeves to her sides for arms.
6.) Measure out a long piece of yellow yarn for her hair.
7.) Hot-glue the top of her head and QUICKLY swirl the yarn on her head in a circle.
8.) Measure out long sections of yarn and braided it then tie each end of it.
9.) Hot -glue on the top of her head then put the braid there, so it looks nice.
10.) Cut out a bit of glittery green pipe cleaner to wrap around her head as a wreath (but don't attach it yet).
11.) Cut out little pieces of glittery gold pipe cleaner for the candles.
12.) Attach the "candles" to the green "wreath" just by tucking them at the end.
13.) Wrap the wreath around her head so it looks nice.
14.) Wrap a bit of glittery red pipe cleaner for her belt.
15.) Admire your handiwork!

Materials for the Star Boy:
hot glue gun
a wooden doll pin
yellow yarn
white felt
little blue star cut from blue felt
markers (thin-tipped for his face)
scrap of "boyish" material
peach felt


Before you do anything else: Draw a little face on him using paint or thin-tipped markers. (FYI: Try this out first on another hidden part of the wood, so you know whether the color will smudge. A pink highlighter, by the way, is awesome for rosy cheeks. A Sharpie is terrible for eyes, for they end up smearing the color.) It's best to draw the face first, for you don't want to have invested a lot of time in the doll then goof on the face and have all that time wasted.


1.) Cut out a scrap of the boyish material, wrap it around the doll pin (aka "body") and trimmed it to make it look like a gown. Once satisfied, I put down the scrap and put the hot glue on the wooden body and QUICKLY wrapped the material around him as I had just practiced.
2.) Cut out little half-circles from the peach felt for his hands.
3.) Cut out triangles from the boyish material for his sleeves.
4.) Hot-glue each half-circle hand to the bottom of the sleeve.
5.) Hot-glue the sleeves to his sides for arms.
6.) Measure out short bits of yarn for his hair.
7.) Hot-glue the top of his head and QUICKLY drape the yarn over his head, so it looks like a pageboy haircut. As soon as it cools, trim the hair to the desired length.
8.) Cut a triangle of white felt and roll it up like a cone for his hat. (You might have to do this several times to make sure it fits him.) Once you have the desired fit, hot-glue it so it stays.
9.) Hot-glue the stars to Star Boy's hat.
10.) Hot-glue the top of Star Boy's head and QUICKLY place the hat on it.
11.) Admire your work. : )

Saint Juan Diego's Feast Day & Our Lady of Guadalupe

This morning, I drew Our Lady of Guadalupe, but did not color her in. I thought it might be fun for the kids to learn the symbols and meanings of the colors, color her, cut her out and then use her in playing. The more complete image with the rays and a more filled-out angel is seen on Juan Diego's tunic later in this post.

You can download her from here.

Here's the key to the symbols and colors:

Sash: The position of the sash (it's up high) and the folds in the tunic show that the lady is pregnant. The color should be black, which is symbolic of the Aztec maternity belt.
Pattern of the dress: Be sure to draw decorative flowers. The flor y canto pattern (flower and song) connect her to the native people and suggest divine revelation.
Her dress: A light rose/pale red is for the color of dawn. This color was hugely important to Aztecs, who saw considered the color to be the symbol of life, blood and earth.
Stars on the mantle: The eight-point gold stars are arranged as they would have appeared to Juan Diego in the night sky that winter in December 1531. Mary is also known as the Queen of Heaven, hence the stars.
Mantle: The blue-green color is the one worn by royalty according to the native people. The gold trim is symbolic of royalty and a person meriting great respect.
Moon: The moon was worshipped by the native peopole. By her stepping on them, it shows how the old gods do not exist, only the one god. Color the moon black.
Angel: In Aztec culture, only honored people would ever be carried around on someone else's shoulders. The angel supporting the Blessed Mother show that she deserves the highest honors and that even angels care for her. Color the angel wings maroon, gray and blue.

And then comes Saint Juan Diego ...

Far and wide, the most popular Paper Dali is the very humble and plain Saint Juan Diego. The story of how humble and kind Juan Diego was and his extraordinary encounter with the Blessed Virgin Mary ("La Virgen de Guadalupe") resonates with all of us who long to be as obedient, loving and humble as dear Juan Diego.

Read more about Juan Diego here.

Download a free black-and-white Juan Diego coloring page.



Download the tilma to color and place over Juan Diego here.

3 New Favorite Advent/Christmas Albums

My daughter recently unearthed our bin of Christmas music, which means we've been listening to a lot of Louis Armstrong, Elvis Presley, Vince Guaraldi, and Frank Sinatra.

In addition to those beloved albums, though, we've some new favorites. I thought I'd share some of them with you. And maybe you can share a bit of your faves in the combox, too. (Note: If Grooveshark is acting up, just click on the song title, and you can listen to the song for free there.)

Songs of Joy & Peace
One of my favorite albums came out recently (read: 2008). Yo-Yo Ma's sparkling gem of an album is called: "Songs of Joy & Peace." Everything about is so pretty and sweet. Plus, the diversity of music styles make it FUN.

Some pieces give me the happiest goosebumps, too, such as the gorgeous "Dona Nobis Pacem":


You can listen to the whole album for free on Grooveshark. (Buying it would also be lovely.)

Christmas Songs
Another favorite is the Jars of Clay "Christmas Songs" album. The rendition of the sweet "Drummer Boy" is one of our family's favorites. And when they sing "Christmas Time is Here" and ... Yes, the whole album rocks.

Here's "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" for your listening pleasure:



Navidad
For a dash of Latin-flavored Christmas music, check out Lara & Reyes. They are a jazz-influenced Latin-guitar instrumental duo. This album has the usual Christmas songs, but played with a definitely unique sound.

Here's a glimpse of their Latino Christmas-ness in "What Child Is This?"


So, what are you folks listening to? Any recommendations? What's your favorite song?

Peace and blessings,
Vee

Paper Dali on Facebook

Paper Dali is now on Facebook. For reals!

Be sure to like Paper Dali, and get the skinny on what's new, little extra doodles, snapshots, and just the flotsam and jetsam of a creative Catholic life.

I just launched it last night. So, come on in, and let's make it a party!

Immaculate Conception Coloring Page

In honor of the Blessed Mother's feast day, I drew a little coloring page of her parents, Saint Joachim and Saint Anne, daydreaming of the baby Mary.

Download the Immaculate Conception picture here. (It's in landscape format, by the way, so make sure your printing option is set for it!)

Some folks erroneously believe that Catholics think that the Immaculate Conception is the feast day of Jesus's conception. As if we don't know that a baby is in the womb for 40 weeks. Hee! No, no, my dears, the feast day is in celebration of Mary's Immaculate Conception.

The idea is that "The Immaculate Conception means that Mary, whose conception was brought about the normal way, was conceived without original sin or its stain—that’s what 'immaculate' means: without stain" (Catholic Answers tract).

The tract explains it better, but let me make a few quick points that I've shared in RCIA talks:

• The fact that Mary was conceived without sin does not mean that Mary did not need a savior. She most definitely did! Fulton Sheen writes about Mary's being saved in this way: Imagine that there's a road beside a ditch. Everyone who walks along the path ends up in in the grimy ditch, and Jesus needs to pull them out of it. Now, along comes Mary, who is about to tumble into the ditch. Jesus saves her from falling into the ditch, so she remains clean and pure. However, she still needed to be saved by Him, or else she would've been dirtied, too.
  
  
• "But how? If Jesus wasn't born yet!" Jesus did exist, however. Jesus always existed. Don't forget that he existed before the Incarnation. Also, God sees all of time; He is not limited by it.
  
  
• People have asked, "Why would God bother?" It makes sense, though, doesn't it? If you were going to be born into the world, would you not start by clearing up a place in it? God began by guiding the Jewish people out of the polytheism around them and towards monotheism, then giving them prophets to let them know of the Messiah. Slowly, throughout time, God prepared a place. And He chose to have Mary as His mother and prepared her by making her immaculate and pure for the Christ Child.
   

To learn more about the Immaculate Conception, check out this article at the Catholic Encyclopedia.

Saint Nicholas's Feast Day: Dec. 6

Download a free black and white PDF/coloring page of Saint Nicholas. 
 
For more activities, craft ideas, lesson plans and everything Saint Nicholas, visit the beautiful and informative
Saint Nicholas Center.

Our plans this year are an adaptation of last year's plans:

I will need to bake special cookies the night before. It'll be fun to do it while everyone is sleeping, so they won't know what to expect exactly. I'll use the above Saint Nicholas coloring page to decorate the basket filled with treats.

This year, we will have a yummy special breakfast of hot chocolate and Haselnussmakronen(German Hazelnut Macaroons):

• ¾ cup (6 oz) sugar
• 1 cup (7½ oz) ground hazelnuts (filberts) or almonds
• 1½ tablespoons cocoa
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 egg whites
• a pinch of salt

Whisk egg whites until stiff. Add the sugar and continue whisking until the mixture stands in stiff peaks. Add the remaining ingredients and fold in gently. Drop teaspoonfuls of mixture onto a greased baking sheet at least 1-inch apart. Allow to stand. Bake in oven at 300° for ½ hour. Carefully transfer to a cooling tray and store in an airtight container. They will keep for several weeks. (From Feasting for Festivals: Customs and recipes to celebrate the Christian Year by Jan Wilson)

St. Nicholas's Morning

The children will find their little shoes by the fireplace filled with some presents to open immediately. (This is wonderful because: 1) it directly relates to the story of Saint Nicholas and 2) it makes this day one for gifts and Christmas can be focused on the birth of Christ. Yes, they still receive some gifts from family, but they get their gifts from us on St. Nicholas's day.

We will drop off a "surprise package" of food and nonperishable items at our local homeless shelter. The food should be items that we chose together at the store.

We can play a game related to Saint Nicholas or St. Nicholas memory,and watch "The Boy Who Became Santa" in the evening ... while we eat more cookies, of course!

It's also the name day of our little one. Happy saint's day, little Nico!