Five faves: Crafts for Mothers and Daughters

Here is a list of some crafts that we have made in the past or are planning to make for our next mother/daughter tea.  There are so many activities that can be done, I think it is really important though to make sure that the craft has a message that can be recalled long after the tea is over.  If you have any additional ideas, please add it to the comment box.

1

This was one of my favorites from a few years ago.  There are craft kits to make princess style mirrors, but we bought mirrors from the dollar store, decorated the handles and then glued foam tiara cut outs (also from the dollar store) to the top of the mirror, so that when each girl gazed in the mirror, she saw herself with a princess tiara.  This craft was part of our talk about seeing ourselves as princesses of God.  The talk included elements of modesty (a princess always wears special clothing and dresses a certain way) and how the girls should be treated and treasured.  Our mirrors came with small pocket mirrors that I told the girls they could carry with them and take out whenever they wanted to see one of God's great and perfect gifts--themselves.

 

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This next one was not only fun but taught an important lesson.  We used toilet paper rolls and Popsicle sticks to make knitting looms.  The looms were part of a talk on how the girls were knit together by God.  Not only did the girls enjoy knitting and went on to knit long after the tea was over but they understood how intently God concentrated on each of them to the smallest detail. Knitting is also a useful skill.

  

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This is one of the crafts we are completing this year for our Mother/Daughter tea.  I think the girls will really enjoy picking out the puzzle pieces and designing their frames.  I am going to take a photograph of each mother/daughter pair and send it to the families to put in these frames as a special memento.  I like the phrase "I love you to pieces."  Since we ask the girls and moms to dress in their Sunday best, we won't be painting but, I am going to get some glitter glue and small embellishments to decorate the frames.  The use of puzzle pieces is significant because our lives are puzzles that God has already worked out, we need to seek His Wisdom when deciding which piece should go where. They also symbolize how families fit together to make art even though we are all a little different, we are each a perfect fit for here we have been placed.

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4

Ribbons, beads, and Catholic symbols are a great start for any craft.  We have made many versions of this bracelet: bracelets with Miraculous medals, necklaces with crucifixes, etc.  This year, we are using pocket tokens that I found in my "mother/daughter" stash from a few years ago that have a heart cut out of them and the words "love is patient" stamped on the top.  We are going to slip it onto some ribbon with an assortment of beads on either side, then attach it to a  keyring to use as a zipper pull for a backpack or jacket.  The possibilities are endless.  I like using the ribbon because it is pretty and comes in so many colors, but also there is no hardware needed or slippery elastic string to tie.  It also requires patience and perseverance to get the beads on the ribbon, a good lesson in virtues.

 

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Lastly, we have a special craft for Mary.  Living like Mary should be the goal of every Catholic woman and girl, what better reminder of her than a miniature garden terrarium.  When we did this, I purchased small Our Lady of Lourdes statues that from Autom.  Each was only about three inches high.  We learned about which flowers have been named to honor Mary and then chose some of the smaller ones to put in our terrariums.  Marigold work well for this because they are a good size and grow easily.  I originally found the instructions for making these on CatholicIcing.com, however Lacy appears to have removed the page with the directions. 

Father's Day Giveaway

Check out this great give away, just in time for Father's Day.  Saints365is hosting a wonderful CD and book package giveaway.  Click on the link below to enter.
 

http://saints365.blogspot.com/2014/06/lighthouse-catholic-media-fathers-day.html

May Your Kingdom Come

Every little girl at some point dreams of being a princess, I believe it is because deep down that is exacly what we are called to be, our innate design.  We are daughters of the King of kings.  We are each a princess, an heir to the greatest Kingdom there is.  Long before my daughter was ready for a serious "Mother/Daughter" about puberty and body changes, she was still in need of reminders of who she is.

From the time she was five, I have hosted some type of mother/daughter tea party for the girls at church.  Our themes have varied but the essence of the message was the same.  You are loved, you are special, you are a princess of God.  There are so many times that I have spoken those words, and needed to hear them myself.  In this post, I am going to outline how to set up a tea for young girls ages 5-9 and go over some of the more special teas I have hosted.  This is such an awesome opportunity for moms and daughters to take some time and focus on each other.  I wish I had more photographs of these teas, but since I was usually the sole coordinator, I was either busy setting up or trying hard to carve time out for me to spend with my own daughter.  The teas themselves do not need to be eleborate to be successful, find some other moms with girls of similar ages and host a mother/daughter tea party yourself.

 Our little princess at last spring's Princess Ceremony.

First, you need to have a little theme.  This should not be one that requires an exorbitant amount of time or money--the purpose of these teas is to store up treasures in Heaven, remember!  Here are three of my favorite themes that we have hosted.  The first is based upon Veggie Tales' Sweetpea Beauty.  This movie is delightful, it is funny and wholesome, and a great counterpoint to the modern princess mentality that focuses on looks and wealth.  My second favorite tea was the Mary Tea.  I hosted it on the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes and all of the food symbolized different titles for Mary.  I got much of my inspiration from Jessica and her other blog Catholic Cuisine.  (After all, if we are princess of a mighty King, we need to remember our Lovely Queen!).  My last theme that I would like to share came from The Princess and the Kiss by Jennie Bishop.  After completing the first six lessons in Life Lessons from the Princess and the Kiss, we had a beautiful Princess Ceremony.

Giving Cogirl her special gift at the Princess Ceremony. 

 You can notice tow things, I was fairly pregnant with Little Man and this was one of my simpler tea set ups because of it.

After choosing a theme, choose the food you will have.  Keep it simple whatever you do.  Store bought items and simple small treats are all that you need to make it special.  Organize, who will bring what, where you will host it and then gather simple but elegant plates and cups.  For the larger tea parties, we used disposable one however for small ones at my house I used my china.  Anything from Chinet to china and everything in between can be made special and beautiful.   Tomorrow, I will outline activities and crafts to add to your tea party, each of them teach a lesson and/or enhance bonding between mother and daughter.  Please check back for more ideas as we continue down this series of mother/daughter growing.  Please like my page on Facebook and check out my boards on Pinterest--I am building a mother/daughter board presently. 

In closing, I am going to post my usual opening talk for all of my tea parties, feel free to use them and to share them.  Thanks.

How many of you have ever dreamed of being a princess?  Have you ever wanted to live in a beautiful castle?  Did you know that you already are a princess?  You are the best kind of princess, God's princess, and He made you like no other princess that has ever lived.  You are specially crafted, knit together by God's own Hands, beloved from the moment you came to be.  God knows everything about you, He planned every inch of you and picked the family you would come into.  He even knew, before you were born, that you would be here, at this tea party, today.  God knows everything about you, and loves you deeper than you can imagine, He is your King, the King of Kings.  Your palace isn't here on earth in some far away kingdom, your castle is in the greatest of Kingdoms, God's forever Kingdom and each time you say yes to Him, you add to your riches in Heaven.  

Now, every King needs what to help Him in His Kingdom?  That's right, a Queen.  Our Queen is our beautiful and Blessed Mother, Mary.  She said the ultimate yes to God as His princess and is now Queen of Heaven and Earth.  Mary was once a little girl like you though, she understands all that you are feeling and questioning and wondering.  She was also an earthly mother, and knows the struggles a mother must go through.  Mary, who has felt every joy and hurt, every wonder and worry, every good and bad; is there for you always.  So let us begin by praying the Hail Mary to our marvelous Queen.