30 Ways to Celebrate Mary During Mary {Shareable Resource}

It's almost May, the Month of Our Lady! To help you and the families you work with celebrate, I pulled together an easy to share resource. Click below to download a four page pdf file. The pdf contains 30 little thumbnails that are all links to FREE Marian resources, perfect for just about one each day of the month.

The resources are intended to reach a wide variety of ages, while of course some are meant for older kids and some for younger, hopefully families can find ways to make them work for most K-8th kids. The links lead to different ideas for art, coloring pages, prayer, food, videos, music, and more. And again, they are all free!

Many of the ideas come from my blog, just organized in a different way. But I also have some favorite resources from many other parents, teachers, creators, and small business owners. Once you get to their sites, I hope you check out all they have to offer.

Please feel free to take this pdf and email it directly to anyone you think can use it. You are welcome to include it in a school/parish newsletter or include a link to it on your website. I designed it this way for exactly that purpose- hopefully it is easy to get in the hands of your family and the families you know and work with, helping all to pray and learn during this month.

You might also like the shareable pdf of 50 ideas for the Easter Season (remember, we celebrate until Pentecost!)

Make Your Own Marian Shrine

As May Crownings approach, I know that many are saddened that our traditions in schools and parishes celebrating Mary are on hold. But there is no better time to honor Mary in our homes and ask her intercession over our families. We can certainly have a May crowning with our own Mary statues at home and encourage our students to do the same. And it might also be fun to have a little craft project make-your-own shrine that would fit perfectly on a child's bedside table or dresser. Keep reading for a printable shrine in both color and black and white you can easy share with the families at your school or parish!

Here's a little excerpt of why we honor Mary from the printable I created for this project:

"We love Mary because Christ loved her first. God chose Mary from all other women to ask to bring Jesus into the world, and Mary said yes! Her whole life was spent glorifying God. At His death on the Cross, Jesus gave the Church His Mother as our own. We often honor Mary by having a picture or statue of her in our homes and churches, much like you hang up pictures of your family members. One way to show Mary your love and ask for her prayers is to create a little Marian Shrine. You can decorate it with flowers and candles. Sometimes we also have a May Crowning. We celebrate Mary by giving her a crown of flowers, remembering that Jesus has made her the Queen of Heaven. Our love for Mary is because she always leads us to her Son."

Here are the steps to make these shrines. They are also included on the first page of the printable to make it easy to mail these in packets or include in an email for those of us finding ways to support families during the current stay at home orders. (Sharing is totally ok to do with resources from my blog if you are a parishes or school, fyi! I want to help you as much as I can during this strange time).

Choose and print either the color set or the black and white set. I printed on cardstock, but regular paper will work too. If starting with the black and white set, add your own color with colored pencils, watercolors, or crayons:

Cut out all pieces (no need to be precise on the flowers- just cut a bubble around the details):

For the shrine background, fold on the solid lines and cut on the dotted line. Overlap and glue the pieces on either side of the cut:

Cut, fold, and glue the triangle stand on the back of the Mary statue. (FYI, this is based on a truly beautiful white marble statue in the Cathedral of St. Mary in Peoria, IL. It is believed that this is the statue that Venerable Fulton Sheen made his consecration to Mary on the day of his Ordination to the priesthood! I do have it as a sticker with his episcopal motto in my Etsy Shop too!)
You can fold or trim the bottom a little to help with balance if needed:

Cut out the flower crown and (with grownup help) cut the dotted line in the center with an exacto or other sharp knife (or just cut around the flowers and glue directly on Mary’s head). Decorate your shrine with the garlands and flowers:

Set Mary in the center, place the crown on her head, and lay the bouquet of flowers at her feet. Then sing your favorite Marian song or say the Hail Mary!

Hey, a quick favor! I'm committed to continue to bring you free Catholic education resources, as I have been for almost ten years on this blog. No fees, no ads, no hoops to jump through, just free printables for your home and classroom. Would you consider taking a second to subscribe to my blog as a show of support if you don't already? I only use your email to send you the most recent post and all the printables straight to your inbox so you don't miss anything! You'll also receive my free collection of over 100 prayer cards and mini books in your first email! You can sign up just over in the right column where it says "Posts Straight to You!." If you are on a mobile device, you'll have to scroll to the bottom and select "View Web Version" to see it. And you can always email me at looktohimandberadiant (at) gmail (dot) com and I'll help! Thanks so much!

Click here for the pdf that contains the background info and instructions, a few assembly photos, two pages for the color shrine, and two pages for the black and white shrine:

“His Mother said to the servers, ‘Do whatever He tells you.’” ~John 2:5

I'll be back in a few days with a round up post of ideas for Mary and May, but in the meantime you might also like these posts:

Easter Bible Journaling

Happy Easter!
One thing I've really found great joy in during the Stay at Home order is spending more time Bible Journaling. I've loved it as a creative outlet and a tool for prayer, and it has filled me with peace in a way few other things have. Honestly what kicked me back into the creative groove was this amazing Emmaus Road Bible Journaling kit from Open Journey. It's been a perfect tool to pray with during this Easter Season so far, and I wanted to show you all it has to offer in case you'd like to try it yourself!

But first, a big reminder--- these are things you DON'T need to have in order to try Bible journaling:
-A big journaling Bible
-Loads of artistic talent
-Fancy schmancy handwriting
-Lots of expensive supplies
-etc.

However, you can still benefit from Bible journaling with:
-A heart open for prayer
-A connection to God as Creator and our ability to create
-The desire to dwell in Scripture beyond just reading

I do have a Catholic Journaling Bible, which I love, but have also added art in a regular Bible for many years. You also can journal and add art to a favorite notebook or prayer journal. I do have some favorite supplies that I share here (and this post is about pens), but seriously- you can get started with a pen, a gluestick, and some scissors. Be not afraid! ;) If you are nervous, starting with a kit might be the way to go!

(Open Journey sent me this Bible Journaling set in exchange for my honest review. All opinions and photos are my own. You know I only share things I have used and love!)

Ingrid Blixt is a Christian artist who creates Bible Journaling kits that incorporate her amazing multimedia art with a devotional inspired by the practice of Lectio Divina. You can read more about her methods and see some of her process videos on her website here.

I'm excited to be working with Ingrid to share her new kit, focused on the story of the Road to Emmaus, which is one of my very favorite Easter narratives. This new kit is filled with so many lovely elements that really are a perfect fit for prayer in the whole Easter Season. I'd love to show you a little more about the kit and what I made with it.

Ingrid sent me this Road to Emmaus devotional kit, which is a full set of physical tools to help you create and pray. All of the art and writing is hers, and you can tell that every piece of this kit was made with care. Some of the elements are even hand stamped and hand sewn! The packaging was a gift in itself, and everything could be reused as decor in a journaling entry. Depending on how you are going to use it, you might prefer the flexibility of one of her digital kits instead! Ingrid also has some awesome prints and vinyl stickers in her shop.

The set is much more than a pack of stickers- everything is centered around a collection of key Scripture and comes with a lovely devotional booklet to guide you through praying while you create.

If you head to this link, you can watch my unboxing of the kit on Instagram and see all the goodies inside! (It's archived in my #KatiesBible Highlight and is about halfway through the collection)

I had two distinct first impressions as I opened my box: 

-One, the quality of everything in this kit is outstanding. I can't overemphasize the thought put into the elements and the guidance of the Holy Spirit in Ingrid's original work. She has then translated her art and writing onto extremely well made materials for us to use. From glossy coverstock journaling cards to vellum sticker sheets, as well as die cut elements and ribbons made from silk saris, each little piece was impressive. My favorite part of the kit (and maybe the thing I was the most surprised about) was the set of four original stamps. The collection of Easter lilies and Psalm 148 will be able to be used over and over again long after the other kit elements have found a home. The stamp set alone adds great value to the kit.

-Two, I was blown away as well by the quantity of elements in the kit! So many pieces to use in all different ways, including varying sizes and materials. As I worked with the kit, I never felt like I needed to "ration" certain pieces or strategize about how to use them with out running out. As a matter of fact, after I made everything I'm about to show you and more, I had so much left over I split it into two piles and mailed a little collection to a couple of my students who also love Bible Journaling!

For an exact list of everything included as well as dimensions, you can check out the kit listing here.

Ok, enough description- on to some photos of what I created. I will admit that Open Journey's multimedia layering isn't my typical Bible Journaling style, so it took some stretching to still make it my own. I wanted to try some new techniques while still adding art to my journaling Bible that was still "me." In the photo above about the Road to Emmaus for Luke 24, I incorporated the Open Journey vellum stickers with watercolor, paper, and stamping. Immediately above, this entry about the work of the Spirit in Psalm 104 is just watercolor, pen, and an Open Journey die cut. I did get brave and do a little splatter painting- not something I've done in my Bible before. ;) Ingrid's elements certainly make it easy to have a lovely looking page using only a few steps.

Below, I put that gorgeous lily stamp to good use with black ink overlaid with gold embossing. Heat embossing with stamps is another thing I hadn't tried in my Bible, and wow, I love how it turned out! I wish you could see the shine and dimension of this page!

This image of Christ's hand reaching for ours caught my eye long before I knew I'd be working together with Ingrid. You can see a clearer picture of it here. I got my kit right around the time of Pope Francis' Urbi Et Orbi Blessing which focused on Mark 4. I thought Ingrid's painting paired perfectly with that story and this page will always remind me of the Pope's reflection during the pandemic. This one was done with a cardstock element, pen, and layered watercolor.

And I know we are not quite to Pentecost yet, but the Road to Emmaus story certainly points us in that direction. This entry for 1 Corinthians 2 was deceptively easy. The lettering is mine, and the rest of the pieces are Open Journey vellum stickers on top of the writing. They apply so smoothly and go on clear, so it looks like it is painted right on the page.

With all of these awesome supplies, I got inspired to set up a little notebook for Holy Week to help me pray in the absence of our beautiful liturgies. I found a partially used notebook, ripped out the pages that were no longer needed, stapled in some tabs, and got to decorating. I'm actually still using this notebook during the Octave of Easter. It was a gift to be able to also make it beautiful so easily with the Open Journey elements. The cover was made with acrylic paint, more lily stamps in both black ink and gold embossing, cardstock die cuts, paper, the vellum sticker of Christ's hand (I just can't get enough of that one), and a piece of the sari ribbon.

Here you can see the gold embossing a little better. The clear polymer stamps were so easy to use and cleaned up like a breeze:

The roses at the bottoms of these pages are a combination of vellum stickers and cardstock die cuts from Open Journey:

And another page with the lily stamps and my own Alleluia stamp:

Now, even after all those Bible Journaling entries and decorating a Prayer Journal, I still had lots of pieces to play with. So I made a few handmade Easter cards to stick in the mail:

And a couple more for Pentecost (or to save for a future Confirmation):

And even a couple that I plan to send to kiddos who are eagerly waiting on their First Communion:

I think that Ingrid's work speaks for itself. You can find her across social media as well as others who are using her kits to make beautiful things. If you are looking for a new tool to help you enter into prayer with art and creativity, I'd encourage you to go check out all she has to offer!

Way of Light Easter Bible Study for Google Classroom

Alleluia! Happy Easter! One of my favorite Easter traditions is the Way of Light, which are 14 stories to mirror the 14 stories from the Way of the Cross. Each of the stations in the Way of Light highlights the events that are recorded in Scripture from Easter to Pentecost. You can read about the origin of the Way of Light in this article. 

Several years ago I created some Way of Light activities intended to help kiddos enter in to the Easter Season. See my original activities about the Way of Light (with printable coloring books and activities) in this post.  Or here is a seven part Bible Study if you'd like to study it yourself.

I really enjoyed using those resources for parish events and with my 5th graders, but they are not quite right for my middle school students. Plus as I'm teaching from home, I needed something I could send to them digitally. So for my students this week, I created a digital Bible Study to introduce them to the Way of Light. It is a Google Slides file with a couple of slides researching the origin of the Way of Light, one slide for each of the 14 Stations, and a reflection slide.

You can see a few examples of the slides here:

There are 18 slides in all (one title, two research, fourteen stations, one reflection):

There are instructions on the first slide with how to save/edit/share the file. I hope that the Way of Light helps you/your kids/your students truly celebrate the Resurrected Christ this Easter Season!

50 Ways to Celebrate the 50 Days of Easter {Easy to Share Resource!}

As we wrap up this unique Holy Week at Home, we are about to enter into the Easter Season- an Easter Season that will also... at least start... at home. After such a warm response to the need of the Holy Week at Home Family Retreat, I wanted to provide something to help you keep the momentum going in your own home or a resource easily shared with your classroom or parish.

I LOVE the Easter Season- all 50 days of it! And while I think it will still feel a bit like we are stuck in Holy Saturday until we are able to return to the Sacraments, to our schools and churches, to a more familiar and joyous way of life, the truth is that we are still an Easter people no matter the circumstances. Even if we have to endure the entire Easter Season without the Sacraments, even if we are surrounded with uncertainty, the truth of the Resurrection is real. Christ is risen from the dead, has triumphed over the grave, and has saved us from our sin. And that news is worth sharing.

As with Holy Week resources, the internet has blessed us with SO many options for celebrating. You can carry on your favorite traditions and do some research to add in new ones. This 50 Ways in 50 Days guide is intended to give you a starting point as well as to make it easy to share those ideas with others who might not know where (or have the time, etc.) to begin.

Click below to download a seven page pdf file. The pdf contains 50 little thumbnails that are all links to FREE Easter related resources, theoretically one for each day of the Season. They are loosely arranged from Easter to Pentecost, with special Feast Days (Divine Mercy, Ascension, Saints, etc.) labeled in between.

The resources are intended to reach a wide variety of ages, while of course some are meant for older kids and some for younger, hopefully families can find ways to make them work for most K-8th kids. The links lead to different ideas for art, coloring pages, prayer, food, videos, music, and more. And again, they are all free! (Here's what one sample page looks like)

Many of the ideas come from my blog, just organized in a different way. But I also have some favorite resources from many other parents, teachers, creators, and small business owners. Once you get to their sites, I hope you check out all they have to offer.

Please feel free to take this pdf and email it directly to anyone you think can use it. You are welcome to include it in a school/parish newsletter or include a link to it on your website. I designed it this way for exactly that purpose- hopefully it is easy to get in the hands of your family and the families you know and work with, helping all of us have a happier and holier Easter.

I pray that we all experience the true joy of the Resurrection and look forward to dwelling richly in the hope of Easter all season long!