Feast of St. Nicholas Golden Ornaments

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Nicholas of Myra and Lycea.  This popular saint performed many miracles and helped many people during his life.  He saved the people of Myra from famine.  He protected sailors at sea.  He resurrected three children who were killed by a butcher for food during a famine.  And of course, we all know the story of how he saved the merchants three daughters from a life of immorality by secretly giving their father gold for their dowries. 

We also all know how the legend of this beloved saint has evolved into the secular character of Santa Claus.  In our home, my daughters do get gifts from Santa Claus on Christmas morning, but they also receive a visit from St. Nicholas on his feast day.  St. Nicholas leaves them golden dollars, fruit, a small religious item, and a few trinkets every year.  I make sure they remember his generosity every year, too.  We read The Life of Saint Nicholas the Wonder-Worker by Nina Seco and say a special prayer.   Until this year, I've never done a craft for his feast day, though.   This is a craft that will be a bridge between St. Nicholas Day and Christmas.  So, if you don't have time to get supplies and do it today, you'll have time between now and Christmas. 

Of the many symbols associated with St. Nicholas, this one can also be used for Christmas decorations.  The symbol of three golden balls reminds us of the three dowries St. Nicholas gave to the merchant.  This symbol also makes lovely Christmas tree ornaments that are meaningful to us, but also blend in with other Christmas decorations.  And they're super easy for kids of all ages to create.

Supplies:

3 smooth foam balls

Toothpick

Scissors or paper cutter

Sponge or Styrofoam board

Gold paint

Paint brush

Thin ribbon

Straight pins

Thumbprint St. Nicholas icon

Decoupage glue

Embellishments (optional)

Directions (repeat for each ball):

1. Insert a toothpick into a ball.  Insert other end in sponge or Styrofoam to hold it while you paint and while it dries.

2. Paint the ball gold, and let it dry.

3. Attach the St. Nicholas icon to the ball with decoupage glue.  Smooth it out and paint a layer of glue over it. (You can do this for each ball or just one in the set). Let dry.

4. Fold ribbon over once to make a loop, and attach it to the top of the ball with a straight pin.

5. Add any optional embellishments.

 Instructional Video

Festal Life Cycle Chart

As the mother of two young daughters who love to do craft projects and art, I'm always looking for new project ideas, especially those that allow me to teach them a little more about our faith while they're having fun. Over the years, I've found many small projects to help celebrate and teach about individual feast days. Such projects have been great for telling the story of each feast, but they lack the ability to present the larger context of Orthodoxy. They don't tell the whole story. That is why a few years ago, my older daughter Hummingbird and I made a "life cycle" chart of the 12 major feasts and Pascha. This is a great project that offers some flexibility for accomplishing it. It can be done all at once or throughout the year as each feast day approaches. And while it would be the perfect start to a new church year (or school year if you do home school), it can be started at any time of the year. That's the great thing about the perpetuity of the Orthodox story, and that's exactly what this project is designed to teach. Once the chart is complete, you can return to it at each feast day and illustrate the lasting nature of the Church and what she teaches us about the life of Christ. It is important to show children that although the events happened only once in an earthly sense, they are forever happening now in a timeless way. This is why many festal troparia are in the present tense, as is that of Pascha -- Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life.
To do this project you will need a poster board, construction paper, or other large paper. You will also need icons for each feast day; icon cards are great, but you can also print out thumbnail images in a pinch. And finally, you'll need a pencil, and markers or colored pencils, and optional stickers for embellishing. If you're doing this with a young child, you'll need to do most of the work, leaving the gluing and embellishing for little hands, but older children can take a more active role in the process.
            Step 1: Draw a large circle on your paper. It need not be perfect, but there are plenty of great options for tracing -- plates, bowls, round pans -- if you'd like it to be.
            Step 2: Glue on the icons. Pascha should be in the center of the circle. Place the Nativity of the Theotokos at the top and follow the circle around, adding each icon in calendar order.
            Step 3: Label each icon. At the very least this should include the name and date of the feast, but it could also include the troparion or kontakion, or a list of important figures (ie. Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Father, and John the Baptist at Theophany). You could even start with just the name and add more details to the label each year as your children grow. We wrote in our labels, but you could also print out labels to glue on, thereby giving the little ones more work.*
            Step 4: Embellish. Let your children add their own personal touch by adding a title (The 12 Great Feasts or The Life of the Church in Feasts, perhaps) or border with markers or stickers.
*Steps 2 and 3 can, of course, be done together for one icon at a time if you're doing this bit by bit throughout the year.
When you're done, your project may look something like this. Whatever its final form, you will have a festal memento to which you can return feast after feast, year after year, as your children continue to grow in the faith.

Dormition Craft with Video

The Dormition of Mary, the Mother of God, is an opportunity for us to remember a woman who said "yes" to God.  Mary obeyed God's will for her despite her fears and doubts, despite how difficult saying "yes" would make her life.  She is an example for us all of how we, mere humans, can lay aside our will and accept the will of God. 

I am a perpetual planner.  I want to know what's going to happen and organize how it will happen.  When things are uncertain, it is very difficult for me to accept them.  It is difficult for me to accept that even though the path ahead looks scary and fraught with danger, God is guiding me and has a plan for me if only I will accept it.  I am not always a good example to my children on how to be obedient to God.  I am grateful that the Virgin Mary committed herself to carrying out God's will, so that even when I fail, I know of a perfect role model for my children.

As we teach our children about the life, death, and assumption of Mary into Heaven, what better way for them to remember and cherish her than with a 4x6 framed icon of the Dormition.

Supplies:
Blue craft foam (2 5.5x8.5 inch pieces)

Craft foam in your color choice

4-6 pieces of blue tissue paper in 4.5x2 inch strips

Twist tie, cut in half

Scissors, paper cutter, and/or Xacto knife

Glue
Embellishments
Paper of your choice

Icon print of the Dormition

Directions:
1. Cut a rectangle large enough for your icon to show through in one piece of blue foam.  Put glue on three edges and press together with the second piece of blue foam.  Insert icon through the open frame edge.  Then, glue that edge, too.

2. Stack the tissue paper and fold accordion style and tie the twist tie around the center.  Gently pull up one sheet at a time to form a flower. Glue the flower to one corner of the frame.

3. Using this template cut a crown out of the last piece of foam. Decorate the crown with sequins, gemstones, glitter glue, or other embellishments.  Glue the crown to the frame.
4. Cut out title caption from template, and glue on the top or bottom edge of the frame.

Instructional Video