Equipping Catholic Families

newest member of The Catholic Illustrator’s Guild

June 16, 2011 by Monica McConkey Leave a Comment

Our Kelly is the newest member of The Catholic Illustrator’s Guild.
Check out her introduction.

Hello!
My name is Kelly and I will be 13 in November.

When I was in Kindergarten, I was very unapproachable and stubborn. I cried. a lot. On my first day of school, my teacher suggested that we all draw self-portraits. Though all the other kids had A LOT of fun doing so, I tried and tried to make my drawing as good as something my older sister would draw, and failed. I cried and cried and even said the “s” word (”stupid”). What can I say? I was a Kindergarten rebel. I vowed never to draw again. But how could I do THAT?!? As weeks followed, although I remained unmanageable, I began to draw. In fact, the classroom was suddenly covered in my drawings. Yes, THAT is where I got my start.

Filed Under: link-up, Catholic Bloggers Network

I Spy…the SAINTS!

June 6, 2011 by Monica McConkey 1 Comment

I Spy…December! I Spy…November!

I Spy…October!

I Spy…September!

I Spy…August! I Spy…July! To find out how I made these photo-collages easily at home, check out Catholic I Spy…with a Scanner! read more...for Equipping Catholic Families!

Filed Under: link-up, Catholic Bloggers Network

IKEA helped me with my felt fort!

June 6, 2011 by Monica McConkey 3 Comments

I can’t believe that IKEA is selling these soft fruit, vegetables and carpenter tools…and that I discovered them just when I finished making my FELT FORT for Smidge’s birthday!
They are a whole $10 per kit, with anywhere from 9 to 15 pieces, but they are already made and come with little material baskets or a tool belt! They have more sets too! I think I saw cupcakes and a whole breakfast tray of food.

Filed Under: DIY Crafts, Family crafts

Description of A Treasure Chest of Traditions for Catholic Families

June 1, 2011 by Monica McConkey Leave a Comment

A Treasure Chest of Traditions for Catholic Families is a 304 page book offering ideas for activities, crafts and recipes to help families celebrate the various Seasons and Feast Days of the year. With fun-filled activities, we can build our own family traditions while passing on the richness of our Catholic Faith. Guided by the Liturgical Calendar, the book journeys through the Seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter and the 2 spans of Ordinary Time. The months of the secular calendar are woven in, providing the context for Feasts and monthly Devotions. Saints are introduced as their Feast Days occur, offering details and legends about their lives and providing suggestions for family activities surrounding them. Various sections within Ordinary Time suggest that this time can be anything but ordinary! A section entitled “Extraordinary Events in Ordinary Time” offers activities surrounding special events in family life (births, moving, Sacraments and “firsts”).
A section entitled “Everyday in Ordinary Time” offers ideas for installing other family rituals to bring the family together and integrate the Catholic Faith into daily living.
The summer months bring “Cathletics” to Ordinary Time, offering activities to pass on basic catechism, while another section introduces simple prayers for children.

Suggested activities are intended to prompt families to actively practice their Faith, delving into Church celebrations and allowing these festivities to spill back into home life.Check out ordering information for

Filed Under: Treasure Chest crafts and activities

Felt Fort for Cool Kids!

May 31, 2011 by Monica McConkey 14 Comments

all those years of architecture school finally paid off…This was definitely not a quick craft project, but it was a lot of fun and we can still add to it! We decided Smidge needed her own little castle fort, that fits over our kitchen table! I didn’t make it too girly…just so Adam will think it’s cool for years to come.

Filed Under: DIY Crafts, Family crafts

magic party for a 5 year old

May 26, 2011 by Monica McConkey Leave a Comment

This is our 4th 5-year-old Magic birthday party, inspired by my dad who likes to do magic. We wanted to have a craft for the kids to decorate and cool stuff to send them home with, including a real magic trick that our very own magician will teach them how to do! Consistent with our family tradition, Sigurd the Wizard (a.k.a. my dad) will perform his excellent magic show extravaganza, with the birthday girl as his assistant.

Filed Under: birthday party

Cardboard Box to Puppet Theatre

May 11, 2011 by Monica McConkey 4 Comments

Years ago, I cut two windows in a cardboard box and covered it with black fleece. I strung a simple curtain over one of the openings using some black cord and added some shiny trim.

This has been our finger puppet theatre for about 10 years…

Filed Under: DIY Crafts, Family crafts

Mother’s Day Rosary Spiritual Bouquet

May 6, 2011 by Monica McConkey 3 Comments

We wanted to make a special present for Grandma and we wanted to celebrate the Month of Mary too! We decided to make our own version of the Spiritual Bouquet of Prayer Petal Flowers. Since Bridget can’t really read yet, we didn’t need the prayers written on the petals as they are in the Craft Kit. I thought we would focus on the Joyful Mysteries and talk about all 5 as we pray one decade of the Rosary. I printed out some of my favorite clipart from Nippert Artworks: all 20 Mysteries of the Rosary. I used my new 2.5″ hole punch that I purchased for the Frozen Juice Lid crafts. Bridget liked picking the petal colors. I was happy that we found some postcards from a Church we visited in Australia and could include this beautiful image in the center of the Joyful Mysteries flower. We tried to lay out the picture before we started gluing, but I don’t think we realized how much the petals need to overlap. I think Grandma will like this flower for Mother’s Day…especially when she learns that we were offering our prayers for her as we said the one decade of the Rosary while we made the flower.

I’m linking to Catholic Icing’s First Friday Link-up

Filed Under: link-up, Catholic Bloggers Network

Blessed John Paul the Great, pray for us!

May 1, 2011 by Monica McConkey 2 Comments

Blessed John Paul the Great, pray for us! This is the Pope John Paul II TY doll made by my friend Lucia. Pope John Paul II is very dear to our hearts! We were inspired to continue with our family apostolate Arma Dei by encouragement we received when the Holy Father received our Treasure Chest book at World Youth Day in Toronto in 2002. read more...for Equipping Catholic Families!

Filed Under: link-up, Catholic Bloggers Network

Wooden Peg Passion Play

April 13, 2011 by Monica McConkey 13 Comments

I just love the little wooden dolls that I see painted in various crafts…in fact I keep adding these ideas to my Try This At Home linky…kind of like my own little to do list of crafts for someday.

Filed Under: link-up, Catholic Bloggers Network