The Jesse Tree Project: I love these patterns!

This is the year our family will be doing a Jesse tree project. Sure, I'd tried it in the past, but it became little more than adding ornaments to the tree when we decorated.

And then I had a chance to review Our Family's Jesse Tree from Faith & Fabric. I love the fact these projects are do-able despite any crafting ability, are simple enough for children to create and come with daily devotions for our family. So we'll be revisiting this tradition in 2015!

Add caption

You can learn more about this book on my blog, Use Resources Wisely.

15 Minion crafts to celebrate the Minion movie launch

Today on my Girl Scout blog, Use Resources Wisely, I'm sharing 15 fun and unique ways to craft your way toward celebrating the launch of the new Minions movie. Check it out!

Christmas Gift Idea for a Girl Scout Troop: Custom Ornaments

As a Girl Scout leader, I'm always on the lookout for interesting ways to inspire the girls in our troop. I want them to believe that with time and effort, they can accomplish much. And, being that we are a church-based troop, I want them to always remember that faith is not separate from their actions.

I typically have not done Christmas gifts for my girls, though I've seen it discussed a lot on the leader Facebook groups I participate in. But I got a little divine inspiration recently from Pinterest. I stumbled on an image in my feed of an old prayer card with the Virgin Mary with Girl Scouts. The back simply stated the Girl Scout promise. I looked but didn't have much luck finding online - with the exception of finding a set of 100 in bulk. That, and if the other fourth-graders are anything like mine, no matter what the intention, the card would likely be lost in a corner someplace.

A trip to Michaels inspired me. There was a 1/2 off sale on porcelain ornaments. A little Modge-Podge, a printout of the image (scaled to about 3 inches square), and I had a unique gift that hopefully the girls will remember and keep in their homes as they grow up. All for roughly $1 per girl.

Our Lady of Guadalupe crafts for kids

The feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is one of my favorite Catholic traditions I have adopted.

Dating back to 1531 in Mexico,  the celebration marks the appearance of the Virgin Mary to a poor man, Juan Diego, who was later named a saint.

I love this description of the lessons of this event, found on catholic.org:

The first lesson is that God has chosen Mary to lead us to Jesus. ...The second lesson we take from Mary herself. Mary appeared to Juan Diego not as a European madonna but as a beautiful Aztec princess speaking to him in his own Aztec language. If we want to help someone appreciate the gospel we bring, we must appreciate the culture and the mentality in which they live their lives. By understanding them, we can help them to understand and know Christ. 

We began celebrating this tradition in our family five years ago, when my daughter began participating in the church's children's processional. We have since grown that part to include crafts, scout patches and activities to help the children better learn and appreciate this aspect of Catholic faith tradition. 

We have adopted a tradition of creating a commemorative Christmas ornament that is simple for the kids to make. Last year's was a simple paper ornament that included a picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe. This year's will likely be a little more complicated as we have an older group. We are looking at these two options:

The Catholic groups for both Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts also have patches the children can earn for learning more about St. Juan Diego, and the Archdiocese of San Antonio has an Our Lady of Guadalupe Girl Scout patch as well.. All three of these resources offer ideas and activities to help school-age children learn about this aspect of their faith.

What has worked with you when sharing the culture of your faith with your children? Share your ideas and experiences below.

Follow Robbie's board Catholic | Christian Crafts on Pinterest.

Reindeer Stocking Stuffers (Non-Alcoholic Ideas)

I love the six-packs of reindeer I see everywhere on Pinterest. You know the ones, where a few pipe cleaners and googly eyes later, you have a heap of reindeer out of beer bottles.

I'll also confess: I don't know that I love the message.

There's something kind of wrong about your 6 year old giving his uncle a six-pack for Christmas, you know? Even if it's cheap, and funny, the underlying message is, well, just strange.

If you'd like to rip off the reindeer idea in a non-alcoholic way, here are a few options for reindeer "stocking stuffers" from the kids:

• Hot sauce bottles (like we did for my brother, pictured at right)
• Root beer or other specialty sodas
• Barbecue sauce bottles for the bbq lover
• Real maple syrup
• Specialty olive or other nut oils for the chef

It's cute, it's inexpensive and it allows your kid to let out his creative side without sending a mixed message of sending alcohol for the holidays.