Archive for February, 2010

For Winter Fun one of our crafts was bottle cap necklaces.  These

are easy and fun to do.  The supplies are a little tricky to find if

you don’t know where to locate them.

Here’s what you need:

Here’s a close up of the washers and magnets.

• Bottle Caps  (you can get plain ones cheap on eBay) or recycle your own.
• Small magnets about 1/4 of the size of a dime.  You need one for each necklace ( I bought these on eBay too)
• Cord.  You can use anything.. but I found these faux suede adjustable necklace cord on.. where else? eBay.
• Glue
• Glitter
• Buttons or charms
• Permanent marker
• rhinestones
• paper (for the circles)
• clear “mod podge” type glue.
• small Stiff paint brushes
• toothpicks (sometimes help to place rhinestones or stickers)
• Stickers that will fit inside the bottle cap. (We bought ours at Hobby Lobby)
• Washers.. You will need as many of these as you are have cord for.
• Scissors

Cut out a paper circle and glue it to the bottle cap. You can see

that my circle is NOT perfect.  If you have one of those Cricut things

you could use that to cut out more perfect circles.

Swipe a thin coat of glue over the paper.

Add some glitter.

Add a button.. and the thick modge podge type glue on top.. let it dry.

Add the magnet to the back of the bottle cap, and then attach it

to the washer on the necklace.. and you are done!

I stole/adapted my ideas from this HERE It’s a great site!

Focus: Lent is a time to look inward to seek how we might more fully accept God’s love and peace and grace in our lives.

Objectives:

• Youth will take part in a game to review basic facts about the season of Lent.
• Youth will create masks as a way to reflect on our inward sin.
• Youth will discuss the story of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness.
• Youth will participate in a worship experience to consider their own journey of Lent.

Materials needed: Bibles, copy of questions for opening activity, undecorated masks, markers and scissors

1) Opening Activity: (10 minutes) Play “One Step Forward, One Step Back.” Line group across the middle of the room and ask the questions below. Those who get the answer right, take one step forward. Those who get the question wrong take one step back. The “winner” (and aren’t we ALL winners?) is the first one to cross the finish line where you are standing. What do they win? Hmmm? How about something purple? (I’m going to give them some purple candy)

• The official (liturgical) color of Lent is red. True of False? (False. It’s purple – representing royalty and repentance.)

• Lent lasts for 40 days, not counting Sundays. True or False? (True.)

• The word Lent comes from an old Anglo-Saxon word meaning “midwinter.” (False. It translates “springtime” since that is the time of year the season generally falls.)

• The 40 days of Lent are a reminder of the Bible story in which Jesus spends 40 days alone in the wilderness and is tempted by the Devil. True or False? (True. It also recalls the 40 years the Israelites wandered in the wilderness.)

• Lent begins with Ash Wednesday, when people often have the sign of the cross made of ashes placed on their foreheads. Most often, these ashes are made by burning palm leaves from the previous year’s Palm Sunday service. True or False? (True.)

• The ash is supposed to represent the story in which Jesus places dirt or ash on a blind man’s eyes to make him see again. True or False? (False. The ashes represent humility and our own mortality – from dust we came and to dust we shall return.)

• Many people give up something during Lent. The point of this practice is to show your willpower. True or False? (False. It is a practice of self-denial that allows room in your life for God to do something new.)

• Fasting is a common practice in Lent but the one day people don’t fast during Lent is Sundays. True or False? (True. People traditionally do not fast on Sundays as Sundays are to be reminders or a foretaste of the coming resurrection.)

• The phrase “Glory to God” is traditionally never spoken during Lent and does not make its return until Easter morning. True or False. (False. “Alleluia” is the what many churches abstain from saying in worship during Lent.)

• The last week of Lent is known as “Holy Week.” True or False? (True.)

• On Maundy Thursday, the last Thursday in Lent, we recall the last night and meal that Jesus shares with his disciples. True or False? (True.)

2) Digging In: People often wear masks during the Mardi Gras activities that come just before Lent. Masks symbolize the way we often try to hide our sinfulness or our true nature. Lent is a time of taking off our masks, of examining our true selves, of being real before God so that we can come to understand that God knows us fully, forgives us, loves us, and encourages us to grow and become all we were created to be. Within this context, give youth an unfinished paper mask.  (Click here to get a printable mask)  or You’ll need this Template for a Mask

Ask them to decorate the outside of the mask with words, images, and colors that represent how others see them – their “outside” self. On the inside of the mask, encourage them to display their “inside” self – their fears, their doubts, their shortcomings. When finish, invite responses from youth about the experience of creating these masks.

3) Going Deeper: (20 minutes) Invite youth to read the story of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness (Matthew 4: 1-11). Ask one or more persons to read the narration, another to read the words of Jesus, and one or more to read the words of the Tempter. Help the group to explore this story where Jesus goes off on his own to do some soul-searching and , in a sense, confront his own demons. The journey Jesus takes into the desert — the journey to be alone with God and to seek God’s guidance about our true identity — is the journey we are all invited to focus on during Lent.

ASK:

• What do you think Jesus might have had to give up to go out in the wilderness by himself?

• The things the Tempter offers him are not intrinsically bad: food in a time of hunger, political power in a time of Roman oppression, a leap of faith. So why do you think Jesus resists these temptations?

• What memories do you have of times you faced choices that at the time seemed like good ideas but were ultimately led you in an unhealthy or unfaithful direction?

• Share what you do when you want time alone to think/pray/reflect. Where do you go? What do you do?

Ask youth to reflect on how Jesus gives up much to go out in the wilderness to move closer to the heart of God. What do they make of the artist’s interpretation of the Tempter? Distribute note cards and ask participants to draw a line down the center. Invite them to echo Jesus’ journey by writing on one side of the card something they will consider “giving up” during Lent (food, TV, internet, etc.) and on the other side something new they would like to take on during Lent that might help them connect more deeply with the experience of God in their daily lives (prayer, random acts of kindness, helping their parents, going to worship, reading the Bible, exercise, etc). Encourage youth to keep these note cards and place them somewhere that they will see them daily in the coming weeks of Lent.

Finally, invite the group to gather in a circle and place their completed masks in the center as an offering to God of both their inner and outer selves. Conclude together with a prayer of confession and assurance of pardon.

Felt Heart Clips

These could be crafts for Winter Fun, a Valentine’s Party or as a teacher gift.  We chose hearts (because it was close to Valentine’s Day)

Here’s what you need to complete the craft

• felt shapes
• needles (with eyes big enough for your girls to thread themselves)
• magnetic needle holder.  (You don’t really need this, but it is REALLY helpful)
• scissors
• Thread I like to use tatting thread or DMC Floss.  Regular thread is too thin
• clothes pins
• Buttons
• glue (hot or elmers)
• pencil

The craft could have just buttons sewn  on it for Brownies or Daisies..

If you are working on a needlework badge some girls might want to try

their hand at embroidery.

Make sure you knot their thread…

Once they have lined their initial, help them tie it off on the back.

Add a couple of buttons.. glue the clothes pin to the back.. and you are done!

For this one, I chose red and white.

These could be given as teachers gifts, just embroider GRADED and

NOT GRADED on the shape.  Your teacher will love them!

I’ve done these with mittens and used them as Christmas Ornaments.