Merry Christmas…from the McConkey Minions!

I usually make some kind of crazy family gift…and this year I decided to make our first ever family set of matching T-shirts.  I know it’s a bit of a stretch to call this a Catholic craft…but I think it was a hit as a family gift, building on our own funny little family culture.

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Happy Saint Token Tutorial

Another craft with Happy Saints!  I keep finding new ways to use them in activities for the kids.
What a vast collection over at Happy Saints! 
Make sure to find the new Happy Saints Year of Faith Banner!
I can’t wait to print and display mine!

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I Spy…ALL SAINTS in NOVEMBER!

Which I Spy…November Saints do you like best?

I realize that my little wooden painted saints sometimes look like they are kissing…but it’s hard to keep them from moving around on the glass!

This technique of making photo-collages is really fun!

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I Spy…October!

  Awesome Saints in October!  Which one is your favorite?          I Spy…July!    I Spy…August!    I Spy…September! We have been playing I Spy…the Saints for a couple months!  Check out these DIY Photo Collages of the Saints…using a scanner and our specialI Spy…Holy Coins!     Other

Arma Dei: Equipping Catholic Families

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It’s My Feast Day Plate!

There are so many posts out there about decorating a plate with a sharpie, that I thought that I would give it a try…and convert it to Catholic!

I have a little plastic plate for the kids that says “it’s my special day” and it’s amazing how it still appeals to the kids, even though it has definitely lost that new plate shine! I have decided that we need to make a bigger deal about our Patron Saint Feast Days, but life happens and I don’t always manage to cook up something special!  I thought it could be handy to have a special Saint Plate for those special Feast Days. I deliberately made my Saint illustration a little ambigous, so that it can hopefully pass for any of our favorite saints! I created a Saint Plate Template and tried to use carbon paper to transfer the drawing. That didn’t work at all! (Does anyone know how to transfer a drawing to porcelain or china?)

You can download the Saint Plate Template as part of One Page Printables Craft Kit

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I Spy…September!

Here’s my I Spy…September!

I’m just curious…which collage do you like the best so far?

 Check out I Spy…August!

  Check out I Spy…July!

 Check out I Spy…Holy Coins

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Cool 2B Catholic Crayon Batik

Ever since I reviewed Suzy’s Crayon Batik and Faux Stained Glass Tutorial, I have wanted to try my hand at Crayon Batik!  I bought a couple cheap t-shirts while my kids sorted through our old crayons, peeling the wrappers and placing them by color in an old muffin tin. We melted the crayons in the oven. That’s a strong smell…you will want to open the windows and put on the fan. The muffin tin is also very hot…remind the kids to keep hands away from the metal and the hot wax! We quickly learned that painting with wax takes some patience!  Every few minutes, the wax cools down and gets lumpy and becomes very difficult to paint with.  We would then put the muffin tin back in the oven to re-melt the wax.  We also cleaned the brushes in boiling water to melt the hardened wax. When we were finished painting with the wax, we liked how vibrant the colors were!  The t-shirt at this stage was pretty clumpy with the hardened wax all over it. Ironing eliminates the hard clumps of wax, but also softens and mutes the colors a little bit.  We noticed that the painting now had a more airbrushed effect with softer, kind of fuzzy outlines.

We decided to add puffy paint to outline our letters for a more finished effect.
Do you like the airbrushed or outlined look best?

This is my first attempt at a picture tutorial for pinterest!  Please pin! read more...for Equipping Catholic Families!

I Spy…August Saints!

At the beginning of July, I began a new feature….the monthly I Spy…the Saints!
series of photo collages made with a scanner!

Check out I Spy…July!
Check out DIY Photo Collage with a Scanner for tips on this technique
Check out I Spy…Holy Coins! made from sacramentals in Joseph’s room

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DIY I Spy: with a Scanner!

My brother took my kids with their favorite treasures and toys to a print shop (years ago!) and made this photo-collage with a photocopy machine. They made 11″x17″ photo-collages and they are so cool to look at…capturing the interests of the kids at the time.

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Catholic I Spy: Holy Coins!

 

Our kids have been collecting various ‘holy treasures’, especially on our Catholic Bookstore tours.  We have been known to pack up the kids for a driving trip, solely planned around Catholic Bookstores we want to visit.  This may sound odd, but when we discerned that we would self-publish the book A Treasure Chest of Traditions for Catholic Families, we were just very eager to get the word out and meeting Catholic Bookstore owners was a lot more fun than cold calling by phone.

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