Free All Saints' Day Coloring Page [Downloadable PDF]

Ever since I was a little girl, the saint have been very dear to me. The idea of having heavenly friends, these companions in the faith journey, amazed me... and continues to do so.

As I thought about All Saints' Day this year, I wondered how whether Bl. Miguel Pro gets to play his guitar. Amid all his crazy adventures as an "undercover priest" in Mexico during the Catholic persecution, he once said, "I  see God’s hand so palpably in everything that almost—almost I fear they won’t kill me in these adventures. That will be a fiasco for me who sighs to go to heaven and start tossing off arpeggios on the guitar with my guardian angel."
 
So, I had to draw my favorite saint with a guitar in hand. And then, I imagined St. Therese flinging roses as promised: "After my death I shall let fall from heaven a shower of roses.  I will spend my heaven doing good upon the earth."
 
After Bl. Miguel Pro and St. Therese showed up behind the celebratory cake, the Blessed Mother and St. Joseph (with the Child Jesus on his shoulders) showed up. Naturally, St. Michael the Archangel (or is that Gabriel? He seemed to hang around St. Joseph more) showed up. And then St. Maximilian Kolbe, who is always pictured so seriously, smiled in happiness when he saw the scene. St. Francis had a little birdy tell him about the party. And St. Peter had the keys to the church. Finally, St. Elizabeth of Hungary brought some freshly baked bread because, well, she's known for it.

The party hats and balloons are needed because it's a celebration! What's a feast day without some delicious eats, music, and balloons? (OK, the balloons may just be me...)

If you'd like to celebrate, too, feel free to print out my free All Saints' Day coloring page in this downloadable PDF.

(Also, you might want to check out this free feast day planning page for today and all upcoming holy days.)

xo
Vee

All Saints Day Party With a Touch of Halloween: A Paper Doll Playset

A photo posted by Vee Jarski (@paper_dali) on Oct 10, 2015 at 6:57pm PDT

Halloween packs a two-fold punch of irresistible awesomeness for children: candy and dress-up. Do you celebrate it or opt to celebrate All Saints Day instead?

At Casa Paper Dali, we've had a funny sort of relationship with Halloween. We've never quite celebrated it, but we've never quite ignored it either.

When my firstborn was four (and at the age where strangers at stores ask, "What are you going to be for Halloween, little girl?"), she had a terrible allergy to Red 40 (a popular food coloring). Just a little consumption of Red 40 would unhinge her for hours, shaking and crying.

Between that allergy and her fear of Halloween decorations (you never realize how spooky Halloween decorations really are until you shop in October with a very sensitive kid), we opted to just make special dye-free treats and do a movie marathon instead. She received the fun of having a special day with treats and dressing up to hand out candy---all stress-free.

Eventually, she outgrew this dye allergy, but by then, she was accustomed to getting treats without having to knock on strangers' doors for them and choosing the flicks for movie marathons. Her siblings after her all liked the idea of dressing up to pass out candy to trick-or-treaters while eating their own treats and watching movies.

"Would you like to go trick-or-treating?" I asked the children.

"Can I just have the candy?"

 Celebrating All Saints Day

In time, my understanding and love of the liturgical year grew, and I discovered the beautiful blogs of Catholic mothers, reading everything I could about how to celebrate different saints' days and feasts. (Catholic All Year's Baby Steps to Living a Liturgical Year article is a beautiful, honest guide to start doing so.)

We eventually made All Saints Day parties with friends part of our celebration, eclipsing Halloween and making time to spend with our holy friends in heaven.

There's always good food because we're Catholic and games, such as:

• St. Peter Fishing Booth
  Each child tosses a mini play fishing pole and hooks a toy. You can use a kiddie pool for this. We've had a sibling hide on the opposite side of the booth and pin fun things to the hooks. 
• 7 Deadly Sins Bowling Pins Game
  Use a child's play bowling set, label each pin with a deadly sin, get a plastic ball and label it "grace" and then knock down as many sins as you can. 
• St. Therese Flower Toss
  Display a photo of St. Therese of Lisieux. Each participant receives a rose (real, paper or otherwise) to toss to the picture. Whoever's rose is closest wins the prize. 
• Pin the Halo on the Archangel
  A sweeter version of "Pin the Tail on the Donkey," participants get to pin a halo on an archangel. (Feel free to use my St. Michael the Archangel drawing for this game!) 
• St. Isadore Pumpkin Roll
  Each participant rolls a pumpkin from a designated starting point to a designated finishing line. Whoever gets there first, wins. 
• St. Christopher Relay Race
  Participants race from a designated starting point to a basket filled with baby dolls (i.e., "baby Jesus") then have to hurry back to the finishing line while carrying the baby doll on their shoulders. 
• Follow the Straight Path Race
  Use some wooden blocks or beams for a fast-paced balancing game. Participants race across the straight path to get to the finishing line first. You can also do an alternate version and use a stopwatch to see which child has the best time across the beam. 
• Miguel Pro Dress-Up Relay Race
  Designate a starting line and finish line. At the finish line, put a box and an outfit to dress into in the box. Have a box for each contestant. On "Go!" the kids run to the box, put on all the clothes and then race back. (Blessed Miguel Pro was known for donning disguises as he performed his priestly duties and evaded police during the Catholic persecution in Mexico City.)

You can find more ideas on my Ultimate All Saints Day post.

An All Saints Day | Halloween Paper Doll Set

 My younger boys love playing with paper dolls, and so I recently drew and put together this All Saints Day paper doll playset for them:

 This set was difficult to name for my Etsy shop because it's both Halloween and All Saints Day. The four paper doll kids go trick-or-treating and receive treats from the three paper doll grown-ups. But the costumes are those that Catholic children use for All Saints Day.

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You can download the 15-page PDF for just $8 from my Etsy shop.

Feel free to share your All Saints Day ideas in the comments!

Saints Coloring Pages and Inspiration for All Saints Day

Need some coloring pages for your All Saints Day party? Looking for some saints pages for your Religious Education class?

I've some budget-pleasing PDF coloring books at my Paper Dali Shop for you!

Saints Coloring Book, Vol. 1, features coloring pages for...
1. Saint Elizabeth of Hungary (and her tertiary outfit)
2. Saint Joachim, the Blessed Mother's father
3. Saint Anne, the Blessed Mother's mother
4. Saint Joseph Mukasa
5. Saint Clare of Assisi
6. Saint Martin de Tours (and the beggar he helps)

Saints Coloring Book, Vol. 2, features coloring pages for...
1. Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta (and a printable quotes page)
2. Blessed Mary, Queen of the Rosary
3. Saint Martin de Porres
4. Saint John of God (and a coloring page of people he is patron for)
5. Saint Damien of Molokai
6. Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton (and her wedding dress and her Sister of Charity outfit)

Saints Coloring Book (June) features coloring pages for...
1. Saint Justin Martyr
2. Blessed Anne Mary Taigi
3. Saint Anthony of Padua
4. Saint Juliana Falconieri
5. Saint Thomas More
6. Saint Alena

Happy crafting!

The Ultimate All Saints Day Party Post

Updated Oct. 28, 2011
Planning an All Saints Day party? Or just need an excuse to dress up like your favorite heavenly peeps and eat yummy treats? Me, too!

So, here's my Paper Dali guide to a fabulously fun and sweet All Saints Day Party. This post is packed with game ideas, ways to give Halloween candy a Catholic flavor, and ideas for using Paper Dali printables for a party.

Invitations

Pick pictures from the Saints archives, color them up, paste them to construction paper, and you've an inexpensive but creative invitation to send to friends.

Game Ideas
For the past few years, friends and family have gotten together to celebrate All Saints Day with a party. We meet at the park, and each family sponsors a "booth" (a table or just an area set aside for a game). Every family volunteers to facilitate a game and also bring prizes for participants. (Please note: We picked up these ideas through our reading of various online sites and books, so I'm not sure where credit is due. But thanks to the brilliant moms who came up with these ideas.)

• St. Peter Fishing Booth
  Each child tosses a mini play fishing pole and hooks a toy. You can use a kiddie pool for this. We've had a sibling hide on the opposite side of the booth and pin fun things to the hooks.
• 7 Deadly Sins Bowling Pins Game
  Use a child's play bowling set, label each pin with a deadly sin, get a plastic ball and label it "grace" and then knock down as many sins as you can.
• St. Therese Flower Toss
  Display a photo of St. Therese of Lisieux. Each participant receives a rose (real, paper or otherwise) to toss to the picture. Whoever's rose is closest wins the prize.
• Pin the Halo on the Archangel
  A sweeter version of "Pin the Tail on the Donkey," participants get to pin a halo on an archangel. (Feel free to use my St. Michael the Archangel drawing for this game!)
• St. Isadore Pumpkin Roll
  Each participant rolls a pumpkin from a designated starting point to a designated finishing line. Whoever gets there first, wins.
• St. Christopher Relay Race
  Participants race from a designated starting point to a basket filled with baby dolls (i.e. "baby Jesus") then have to hurry back to the finishing line while carrying the baby doll on their shoulders.
• Follow the Straight Path Race
  Use some wooden blocks or beams for a fast-paced balancing game. Participants race across the straight path to get to the finishing line first. You can also do an alternate version and use a stopwatch to see which child has the best time across the beam.
• St. Martin de Porres Broomstick Relay Race
  Set up a starting spot and finishing line, then have the children push an object by using a broom (a symbol associated with St. Martin) to the finishing line. First one there wins.
• Saints Ring Toss
  Print out pictures of the saints then affix them to sticks then put them in the ground (like garden markers). Have a small hoop (a plastic embroidery hoop works) and the kids can decide which saint to  put a hoop around. If they make it, they can get candy and a holy card related to that saint.
  

Party Food

You can get good ideas from Catholic Cuisine. The gals there do a fab job of creating yummy eats for liturgical feasts. Any post for a saint will do in a pinch for an All Saints Day party.

Also, the St. Nicholas Center features fun ideas for St. Nicholas, including cookies.

We've bought a St. Lucia crown from Hemslojd, a Scandinavian-themed shop, which has a lot of other Saint Lucia-related items (including cookies).

Catholic Candy Ideas

Take your regular Halloween candy and give them a Catholic flavor!

Here are some ideas:

• Creepy Peeper Mix = St. Lucy Cupcakes
  Our local dollar store had chocolate eyeballs for sale. I had to have them! They were the perfect cupcake toppers ... and we just called them "St. Lucy Cupcakes."
•  Gummy Snakes = St. Patrick
• Hershey's Kisses = Blessed Miguel Pro (Miguel Pro loved Mexican chocolate, so you can use any chocolate and Blessed Miguel would be the perfect patron saint for it!)
• Candy Rings and Necklaces = Any Catholic king or queen (Think St. Wenceslaus, St. Margaret of Scotland, St. Elizabeth of Hungary, etc.)
• Candy Pumpkins and Candy Corn = St. Isidore the Farmer
• Candy Fangs = St. Appolonia (the patron saint of dentists)
• Sweethearts (or any Valentine's Day candy) = St. Valentine
• Swedish Fish = St. Peter
• Red Hots = St. Florian (patron saint of firefighters)

Pumpkin Carvings

After reading this devotion for pumpkin carving (yes, really), I thought it was cute enough that it made me want to carve a pumpkin ... and talk about good things while doing so. You can find some Christian-themed pumpkin carving patterns at:

Catholic Cuisine's Saint o' Lanterns 

Squidoo's Christian Pumpkin Carving Page

Ways to Use My Paper Dali Printables

In addition to just printing out my saints paper dolls and coloring pages for, well, coloring, you can also use them for different All Saints Day party decorations and activities. Print them out to:

• Create invitations, signs and table settings.
• Wrap candy bars with them.
• Decorate paper bags for trick or treating.
• Cupcake toppers.
• Holy cards.
• Prizes (Just tape some candy to the picture!)

Saints Crafts from Paper Dali

I also have a few saints-related crafts for you, too:

• Color and print my Mother Teresa quotes print out and share them. Just add a slit and slide a lollipop through it. Or candy.  
• Make a St. Valentine matchbox craft.
• Make a St. Teresa of Avila bookmark.
• Print out a St. Patrick's Day note card. (Hey, All Saints Day is his celebration.)
• Make a St. Joseph peg doll.
• Make a St. Lucia peg doll with felt.

Hope your All Saints Day celebration is glittery fun and yummy with dashes of the holy, too. And if you're still hankering for some All Saints Day celebration ideas (or just feel like being a looky-lou), check out the great ideas from various bloggers at Catholic Icing's All Saints Day Link Up.

Blessings galore,
Vee