Up here in Canada…we still have a few weeks left of school. I have been compiling a list of DIY Gifts you can put together for your favorite Catholic Teacher or Catechist. These are unique, inexpensive and will be a welcomed go-to activity for years to come in their classroom! Teach the Faith in fun, new ways! You can even make a copy of the same Catholic Printable for your own family set, while you’re at it!
a Year of Faith Gift for Teacher
May 31, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Continuing with our series Unique Gifts for Catholic Teachers and Catechists, here is another unique DIY Gift idea!
The Year of Faith Tower Tumble template includes 2 pages of Catechism categories and answers, specially formatted to fit the Jumbling Tower or JENGA® blocks.
another Unique Catholic Teacher Gift!
May 30, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Continuing with our series on Unique Gifts for Catholic Teachers, Catechists and Grandparents, how about creating a personalized Prayerbook with the help of our All Season Prayer Bank Craft Kit?
A few weeks ago, I shared my own Pinterest Prayer Book, incorporating awesome artwork collected on Pinterest with our favorite family prayers. I used a travel photo album purchased at Walmart and added our favorite holy card images, prayer cards, unique religious artwork and printed prayers from the prayer-packed craft kit.
Guess Who needs a Catholic Teacher Gift?
May 28, 2013 by 3 Comments
This post is a continuation of a new series on Unique Gifts for Catholic Teachers, Catechists and Grandparents! Our Guess Who?! series of FREE printables have been very popular this year: Guess Who?! The Saints! Guess Who?! The Cardinals! Guess Who?! The Popes! How about printing all three, laminating and trimming the templates and including them with a purchased game of Guess Who?!
Catholic Teacher Gifts with Poker Chips
May 27, 2013 by Leave a Comment
This post launches a new series on Unique Gifts you can print and assemble for your favorite Catholic Teacher, Catechist or Grandparent!
Catholic Teacher Gifts with Poker Chips!
I have made a few different games using poker chips from the dollar store! These are made quite easily with 8.5″x 11″ label paper (also from the dollar store) and a 1.5″ circle punch. The label paper makes it quite easy to adhere images to poker chips. If you choose to have the images printed on regular paper and mod podge them to the poker chips…please either:
Merry Christmas…from the McConkey Minions!
December 26, 2012 by 3 Comments
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.
Custom 3D felt Car Mat
April 26, 2012 by 2 Comments
Sometimes I just have to make something…with my hands …and Adam’s 2nd birthday this last week offered the perfect opportunity. With left over felt from the Felt Castle Fort I made last year for Bridget, I just started cutting felt, beginning with an 8 track. I knew I wanted houses, garages (pockets) to hold the little cars and a few things to make it different from anything I have seen.
I found a link for Homemade Car Mats and I liked some of the ideas I found. I still plan to put a drawstring in the seam so that it can close and carry the cars. A circular mat would lend itself better to the drawstring closure, but I think that this will work too.
Handmade Ipod Nano Holder
December 29, 2011 by 4 Comments
Kelly loves the ipod nano that she received for her 13th birthday. It’s just that it’s so cute and SMALL! That’s our Canadian quarter beside it…see how small it is? It’s a little too easy to lose! I thought I’d make her something to keep it a little more safe and visible!
I made a little ipod holder out of felt.
I chose orange felt to match Kelly’s tangerine colored ipod nano.
Sorry…I don’t have a pattern…I just made it up as I went along. It was also night-time and I didn’t take any pictures. I put the whole thing together while we watched The Mentalist. Not bad for one hour’s work!
For the open window of the ipod holder, I wanted to reinforce it, to make it extra strong to keep the shape. Using the sewing machine, I sewed the white square of felt onto one of the orange pieces, before I sewed all the pieces together. I used a tight zigzag stitch to make it really strong. After it was secured in place, I carefully cut the inside square out of the white felt, and then the orange felt to reveal the window of the ipod nano.
I used the machine to sew the two pieces inside out, together with a third (white) piece to make a pocket for the earphones.
I sewed the white flap into the side seam with the machine…and just had to double check it before I sewed the other side seam. I was just a little surprised that this worked! When I turned the felt right side out…it was just want I wanted!
I like the chunky handmade look of the felt with hand stitches, so I reinforced all the edges (and the bottom of the earphones pocket) with hand stitches.
I used the machine to reinforce the button hole…not so neatly.
I didn’t mind reinforcing the earphones cable hole by hand. I wanted to get the right location for the earphones cable hole, so I did this after the rest of the ipod holder was sewn together.
I was pleased at how secure it feels.
Clearly, I am an amateur at sewing, but I think the imperfections are part of its charm!
(That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.)
I like the look of it and Kelly likes it too! She now has a cozy home for her ipod nano and earphones.
I was inspired by these “mixed tape” felt cases. These are infinitely more professionally made and available for purchase at this etsy shop.
Unique Homemade Gifts + Linky
December 16, 2011 by 4 Comments
Check out these special gifts I have made over the years for all of our extended family for Christmas: Homemade Family Treasures!
You can make your own perpetual Calendar too…
with this Catholic Family Calendar Printable or this Kelly Comics Family Calendar printable.
The first one can be alot of work…
but the good news is that it gets easier to make additional sets,
and they will be treasured by Grandparents, Cousins, Aunts and Uncles…
Homemade Family Treasures (Christmas Gifts): Links of Light Bulbs (9)
December 13, 2011 by 7 Comments
These gifts build family culture! They may not cost too much, but they are a great way to collect family memories and strengthen the bond of family! The good news with these homemade gifts is that once you create and format the first one…the others are easier to produce,
but will be treasured for years to come!
(1) Perpetual Calendar
This is one of the gifts we have made over the years for our whole extended family…one for each household and tailored to our family tree.
We created a template with 12 year old daughter Kelly’s awesome Kelly Comics and added family birthdates, First Sacrament dates, family Patron Saints’ dates and over time we continue to add any monumental firsts and family events and the dates that our loved ones have passed away.
