A Hug from Mary

A Hug from Mary

by | May 29, 2025 | Craft Tutorials

The past few months I’ve been reading Catholic Mom Calm by Sterling Jaquith. In this lovely book, the author suggests many ways to come back to calm in stressful situations, such as breathing, taking a walk, praying, and listening to calming music.

A few weeks ago, I was blessed to learn an additional way to come back to calm: asking for a hug from Mama Mary. In this month of May, a month to celebrate Saint Mary and all moms, I am sharing with you a little reflection on how I came to learn this beautiful way to come back to calm.

A Hug from Mary

I often think that anything good I do in my mothering is by the grace of God and by the beautiful example of Saint Mary and of my own sweet mom. As a child, my mom was always there for me, holding my hand when I did not feel good, listening for hours as I told her about all my concerns, giving me a look of love and compassion.

Last week when my parents happened to be visiting, my little six-year-old had a very rough night. She tends to have difficulty sleeping, and she often wakes up with what could be called night tantrums. She is really asleep, but she is having a temper tantrum, and perhaps a bad dream, at the same time.

As this was going on for quite some time, my dear mom got out of bed and came upstairs to see if she could help. I said she could pray, but that was probably all. We seem to just have to wait this out, and my daughter eventually fully wakes up and calms down.

Of course, my mom was happy to pray, but she also gave me a loving hug and said, “This is hard for you.” I responded, “No, this is hard for her.” That is what I always think, because my daughter is the one going through this terrible night tantrum, and that must be hard. My mom continued to hug me and said again, “This is hard for you.”

And I started to cry. Yes, I guess it is hard for me. Outwardly, I stay pretty calm through these storms, but my mind is actually full of worries. It’s hard to get up multiple times a night and wonder how to face the next day so tired. It’s hard to have your child cry out “Mama! Mama!” but she tells you to get away because she is not really awake and does not realize you are there. It’s hard to try to console your child, but nothing seems to work. It’s hard to worry the rest of your family will be mad that they are woken up by the tantrum too, because you feel like it is your responsibility to calm things down. It’s hard to wait to see the answers to prayer.

Later that night, my daughter calmed down (as she always eventually does). Then, before going back to bed, we cuddled together on the couch. We began to look at a beautiful book my parents had given us. In the book, there is an image of Mary greeting Elizabeth. Mary’s hands are gently on Elizabeth’s shoulders and Mary is giving her a look of love and calm.

Seeing this image of Mary made me think, “Mary is always there for us to give us a hug.” I was blessed that night to have a hug from my own mom in the middle of the night. We moms need hugs from our mom, and acknowledgements that we might not like to admit, “This is hard for you.” Normally, though, our own mom is probably not there in the middle of the night to give us a hug and sweet, reassuring words.

But Mama Mary, the very best mom, is truly always there for us. We can ask her for a hug in hard times, and she will surely give us one, any time of day or night, along with a look of love.

Mama Mary, pray for us!

If bringing calm to your mothering is something you hope for too, Catholic Mom Calm is a wonderful read!

The book my daughter and I looked at that night also brings calm: Our Father: Our Prayer of Hope. This coffee table worthy book is filled with beautiful reflections and art, including Ghirlandaio’s painting, The Visitation.

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Thank you for stopping by sparklesandsprinkles.blog today.

May God bless you abundantly today and every day.

Note:  Some links on this page are Amazon Affiliate links.  Sparkles and Sprinkles is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Other links may or may not be affiliate links.  We provide links because we have found these products or services beneficial, and we think you might too.

Peg Dolls for Holy Week and the Easter Season

Peg Dolls for Holy Week and the Easter Season

by | May 28, 2025 | Craft Tutorials

A number of years ago our family painted a few peg dolls for Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Last year, as we were having our Seder meal on Holy Thursday, I thought, “It would be wonderful to have peg dolls for the Last Supper.”

It took me a year to get around to figuring out what they should look like. I wanted each of the Apostles to have a symbol to signify who they are. There are many possible symbols for each Apostle seen in iconography, statues, and paintings. We chose symbols for each Apostle for their simplicity for children and their connection to something memorable in the Apostle’s life. (Scroll down for a free PDF guide.)

This Holy Thursday we worked together as a family (including grandparents!) to create the peg dolls for the Last Supper scene. While given a specific symbol for each apostle, everyone was encouraged to choose their own colors and styles for the apostles they chose to paint. For the table, we are just using a simple block of wood. Perhaps we’ll paint some food on the table next year? (The book pages shown behind the peg dolls is The Easter Story by Brian Wildsmith.)

I’m so excited to share with you our ideas for the Last Supper peg dolls, but I’m even more excited to share another beautiful and unexpected joy…

All throughout the Easter season, the peg dolls have been on our dining room buffet, and our children play with them almost every day! This has truly become a way to naturally encourage the celebration of Easter all 50 days. When my children play with the peg dolls, the dolls talk of Jesus having risen from the dead, and it’s as if we can feel the Easter joy and excitement of that very first Easter, everyone abuzz of this joyful news! Seeing my children play with these Easter peg dolls makes me think we might want to add more, like the many different people in a French Santons de Provence scene at Christmastime.

Would you like to make a Last Supper peg doll set? We have a FREE printable for you with possible symbols for each Apostle. Use the symbols as a starting point, and use your own creativity to make them your own. I think children especially love to play with the dolls they have made themselves. Encourage each artist to choose his/her own style, clothing and hair color, etc.

Click on the image below for a link to the FREE PDF.

aplostle peg dolls

We also added Matthias to join the group in the Easter season. We chose two symbols for Matthias, a heart with a cross in it (as a reminder that Peter prayed, acknowledging that God knows everyone’s heart), and some sticks (to represent being chosen by casting lots).

 

“Then they prayed, ‘You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this apostolic ministry from which Judas turned away to go to his own place.’
Then they gave lots to them, and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was counted with the eleven apostles.”
 – Acts 1:24-26

I used a permanent fine point pen to write the name and symbol of each Apostle on the bottom of each peg doll.

Wondering what supplies we used? We used 2 3/8  inch size peg dolls, Apple Barrel acrylic paint, and paint brushes in a variety of sizes. It’s also helpful to have toothpicks (for the eyes and other small details), paper towels (to dry the brushes), and a plastic table cloth to protect your work surface. Mod Podge is optional (but recommended) to protect the paint.

For more ideas on creating peg dolls for Holy Week and Easter, please visit our post, Homemade Easter Decorations that Last. Other peg dolls you may want for the Easter season include resurrected Jesus (showing the wounds in his hands and feet), Mary the Mother of God (we made her with happy smile and a heart), Mary Magdalene (with a jar of oil), Mary the mother of James, and some angels and soldiers.

If I had the woodworking skills, I would love to build an upper room as we near Pentecost. For now, we are building an upper room out of blocks.

Reading beautiful picture books helps to enrich understanding of the Easter story. Some of our favorites, which we like to place near the peg dolls, are The Easter Story by Brian Wildsmith, and The Holy Spirit and the Greatest Adventure by Gracie Jagla.

 

 

May God bless you in this Easter Season and always!

Note:  Some links on this page are Amazon Affiliate links.  Sparkles and Sprinkles is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Other links may or may not be affiliate links.  We provide links because we have found these products or services beneficial, and we think you might too.

Dried Flower Paper Eggs

Dried Flower Paper Eggs

by | May 2, 2025 | Craft Tutorials

Happy Easter!

We love to make Easter decorations that can be used year after year (see our post “Homemade Easter Decorations that Last” for more ideas), so we were thrilled to see this paper egg idea on Returning Grace Designs that inspired our Easter craft this year.

While it is possible to purchase dried flowers, we decided to save money by drying our own flowers (plus that means, we got to enjoy a vase of beautiful flowers on the counter… just one hydrangea bunch goes a long way in making dried flowers, and the rest are left to enjoy.) No need to fear drying flowers… it is super easy and can be done in the microwave in minutes. Our video tutorial will give you step-by-step instructions to make drying flowers a breeze + show you how to decorate your paper eggs. 

Ready to get started?

Gather your supplies…

  • paper eggs
  • Mod Podge
  • a paint brush
  • flowers (a fresh bunch from the store or garden or pre-dried flowers)
  • microwave, glass dish, and paper towels (if drying the flowers yourself)
  • wax paper or parchment paper (on which to place the eggs while the Mod Podge dries)

Let’s make some eggs…

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Thanks for stopping by sparklesandsprinkles.blog today!

We wish you a joyful Easter season!

Note:  Some links on this page are Amazon Affiliate links.  Sparkles and Sprinkles is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Other links may or may not be affiliate links.  We provide links because we have found these products or services beneficial, and we think you might too.

Helping Children to hear God’s Voice

Helping Children to hear God’s Voice

by | Feb 9, 2025 | Craft Tutorials

I had the blessing this January of reading Hearing God’s Voice: A Catholic guide to listening prayer by Jonna Schuster.

I’m a cradle Catholic with a deep love for the Lord and my faith. I love to pray, but still, this book was able to add clarity and depth to my prayer life. (I will add, though, that I think this book would be loved by anyone who is open to God’s voice or is seeking for God, even if not Catholic. So if you are a reader of another faith, this book is still for you!)

Jonna’s book helps explain questions like, “Was that God speaking to me, or was that just me thinking that thought?” or “Why would God, who is so big, want to talk to me, who is so little?”

Jonna so beautifully explains how to listen well to God, and the overarching message in the book is that God loves us so much and wants to speak to us of his love. When I finished the book, I felt like I had been on a retreat, and my heart was so full of that message of God’s love… weeks after finishing the book, that deep message of love remains in my heart and mind.

As I read the book, I thought, “I wish I could have had this depth of understanding of hearing God’s voice my whole life, rather than waiting until now.”

I also kept thinking, “I really want to share the ideas in this book with my children!” So, I decided to create a worksheet for my children to help to share the main ideas in Jonna’s book. We had such a delightful time using this worksheet and talking about how we can hear God’s voice, that I decided to share this lesson idea on our blog, so that you can share these beautiful ideas with your children too.

Our printable worksheets and lesson plan ideas are available in our Etsy shop. They are designed for families and faith formation classes.

The printable worksheet has a heart image and the words “God is love” because the main message in the book is that God loves us so deeply and wants to share his love with us.
Once you, the parent or teacher, have read Hearing God’s Voice, you can print out any version of the Hearing God’s Voice heart printable you like, and then follow our ideas about sharing it with your children (or use it in a way that works for your family or class).
Inside of the heart are a number of words from the concepts in the book of the ways that we may “hear” God. I tried to select many key concepts from the book, while keeping it at a reasonable number of concepts for children. You’ll find after reading the book that talking about these concepts will come naturally.
You can certainly add other words into the heart that you find important. As you talk about the concepts with your children, you can also explain that the opposites of these words would not be ways that God speaks to us. For example, God is encouraging to us – He does NOT speak mean and discouraging words to us that make us feel bad about ourselves (those things are from the evil one).
My six-year-old, ten-year-old, and I did this Hearing God’s Voice lesson this past Sunday in place of our regular faith formation curriculum (Into the Deep, which is wonderful, by the way. Definitely check it out if you are looking for a lovely faith formation curriculum!). The lesson went really well, and we are so excited to share the idea with you! 
Here is what we did:
  • We started with the sign of the cross and an “Our Father” prayer.
  • Then I told my children, “Today we are going to be talking about listening to God.” I asked, “Can you tell me about how you hear God?” They thought for a bit, but they were not sure how to answer. I then rephrased the question as, “When do you feel closest to God?” They said, “When I pray,” and “When I’m at Mass.”
  • I then told them about this great book that I read about listening to God and that I wanted to share the ideas with them because there is no need to wait until being an adult to have a clearer understanding of how to listen to God.
  • I let them each pick a version of the heart picture that they liked best, and I gave them some colored pencils.
  • I let them take turns picking the words that we would talk about (in any order). Once they picked a word, they colored in the block letters while I shared with them about that concept. I shared information I remembered from the book, as well as my own life experiences. I asked them questions about how they might have experienced listening to God in that way, and they asked great questions too!
  • I had thought that we might only get through a few of the words and continue the lesson another time, but to my surprise, they were really into this and wanted to keep going and talk about all the words in one lesson! (If you do this lesson with your children, listen to their cues… no need to finish it all in one sitting.)
  • At the conclusion of the lesson, I wanted to include a song. I thought about picking one in advance, but instead, at the end of the lesson, I asked my children what song they thought of after our conversation about hearing God’s voice. They very quickly said, “Ooo child, don’t you know I love you?” (the song is actually called, “Just as you are” by Ryan Stevenson). I love it that they thought of that song, as that song really captures the essence of the message in the book… how much God loves us! We had such a joyful lesson, that we actually had a little dance party to that song… so fun! 

Would you like to get the heart worksheets and lesson plans? You can find them in our little Esty shop.

Yes, please, I want the printables!

Note: You can find the Hearing God’s Voice book on Amazon. Reading this book is essential before using this lesson plan.

Note:  Some links on this page are Amazon Affiliate links.  Sparkles and Sprinkles is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Other links may or may not be affiliate links.  We provide links because we have found these products or services beneficial, and we think you might too.

A Year of Printable Garlands to grow in God’s love

A Year of Printable Garlands to grow in God’s love

by | Jan 30, 2025 | Craft Tutorials

Bring joy to your decor all throughout the year!

Would you and your family like to have a bundle of sweet and simple crafts ready to make to celebrate all year long?

In celebration of Sparkles and Sprinkles turning 3 this year, we put together a bundle of our holiday garlands we hope you will enjoy.

When our family started our little homeschool learning blog 3 years ago, our signature printable became garlands (we are not sure what inspired this, but we just kept thinking of ideas for more…). Our first one was a Valentine “Love is…” garland with scripture from 1st Corinthians. Each of our garlands has a message of God’s love. What a gift it is to have visual reminders in our home of how much God loves us!

For the first time ever, we have created a bundle (at a big discount) of all of our holiday garlands. Now you don’t have to pick and chose which garland you might like, you can download the whole bundle at once, and have it ready to print as each holiday arrives. The bundle includes Valentine’s Day (in French and English), St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, 4th of July, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

The garlands are easy to put together with simple supplies (cardstock, hole punch, scissors, and ribbon or yarn). All of the garlands are digital downloads, so you can download them all at once, and print them as needed, year after year. Most of the garlands have room for personalization, giving you and your family a joyful opportunity to gather around the table and color and talk together.

We hope you and your family will enjoy these garlands just like Kristine, who said in her review:

“I absolutely loved this. This is perfect for families, individuals, Sunday schools , children, and adults.” 

The 3rd Anniversary garland bundle includes the following garlands:

Individual garlands are normally $3.99, but the bundle has a special discounted price. The entire holiday garland collection is only $12.99 (likely less than buying just one store-bought garland). Plus, until February 14, 2025 the garland bundle is an extra 10% off (no code needed).

Click here to get the garland bundle on Etsy

Wishing you and your family so much joy all throughout the year, with sweet reminders of God’s abundant love!

A Christmas Carol – printable quotes to grace your home throughout the Christmas season

A Christmas Carol – printable quotes to grace your home throughout the Christmas season

by | Dec 26, 2024 | Craft Tutorials

We love printable garlands, and we’ve been meaning to make one for the Christmas season. Today we are sharing with you some printable wall art and garlands with quotes from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

 

What inspired us to create these printables? Reading A Christmas Carol as a family this Advent season and spending the first 3 weeks in December doing the Read Aloud Revival Christmas School. Though we had heard of it before, we never took the leap of faith to switch gears from our regular curriculum and do Christmas School (which really takes place during Advent, to prepare for Christmas). We are so glad we did this year!

We so much enjoyed doing the Read Aloud Revival Christmas School that we were actually sad when it ended, even though Christmas vacation was about to begin. We hope hanging up these quotes in our home will help us to remember the joy of Christmas School… and if you did Christmas School, or you are just a fan of Dickens, perhaps you’ll love them too. You can find the printable quotes to frame and the garland in our Etsy shop. 

 

Thanks to Christmas School, as we headed into Christmas vacation this year, our hearts and our home felt so much more ready for Christmas than they normally do when Christmas vacation begins.

I felt inspired to spread the word about Christmas School because it was such a blessing for our family, and we imagine some of our readers might like to learn more about it. Christmas School is designed for homeschoolers, but it could be used (at least partially) by all families (perhaps on the weekends or evenings during Advent).

Christmas School is different every year, but this year Christmas School was based around Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Christmas School provided us with a complete curriculum (except for math) for 3 weeks in December, including writing, grammar, art, music, science, and history. I’m not usually one to completely follow a curriculum (because I like to go along with my own inspiration), but I was so happy to follow the Christmas School curriculum… truly a feast of beautiful learning!

We found ourselves looking forward to getting up every morning and reading from Little Christmas Carol (lightly edited and sweetly illustrated for children by Joe Sutphin), and then filling the day with things like learning about the history of nativity scenes, and then putting up our own… learning about conifers and evergreens, and going on a nature walk to find some in our neighborhood, and then heading out to pick out a Christmas tree… making punch to celebrate Dickens-style… learning about Christmas songs… reading and writing poetry… baking… doing art projects… and so much more!

 

Our 5 year-old says, “Christmas school is the funnest!” And though we might say it differently, we all feel the same! Christmas school allowed us to learn and grow in the typical school subjects, while also preparing our hearts and our home for Christmas. 

Because our hearts are so full of sweet memories of Christmas School this year, we decided to create printable wall art and a printable garland with some of the most beautiful quotes from A Christmas Carol.

“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.”

“For it is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child Himself.”

Whether you did Christmas School this year too, or you just love Charles Dickens, you might like to print these printables as a reminder to keep celebrating throughout the Christmas season. You can find them on Etsy. (Your purchase from our little Etsy shop helps us to cover blogging expenses. Thank you so much for your support!)

Once the printables are downloaded, you can re-print them whenever you like, year after year. You’ll want to print them on cardstock or printer-friendly watercolor paper. For the garland it is helpful to have a 1/8″ hole punch, a 2.25″ circle punch (or scissors), and narrow ribbon or twine. Complete instructions are included in the download.

After the stockings come down on Christmas morning, the garland could perhaps take their place along the mantel… as a reminder to always keep the spirit of Christmas in our hearts. Little framed prints can be placed around the house as a happy reminder that Christmas continues as well.

To find out more about Christmas School, you can visit Sarah Mackenzie’s Read Aloud Revival. Read Aloud Revival is our go-to place to find peace and reassurance in our homeschool all throughout the year too.

Wishing you a joyous Christmas season!

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Note:  Some links on this page are Amazon Affiliate links.  Sparkles and Sprinkles is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Other links may or may not be affiliate links.  We provide links because we have found these products or services beneficial, and we think you might too.