Shrines for Our Lady

Since the month of May is Mary’s month, the kids and I created a project that gives her a special place in each of their rooms.  We created little shrines out of popsicle sticks!

Mary has always been an important part of my faith and prayer life, but so much more so since I became a mother myself.  I have a beautiful picture of Mary holding the infant Jesus hanging above the crib in the baby’s room.  At night, when I am up nursing, I often look at that picture, and think of her, all those years ago, sitting up with her son, loving, feeding and rocking him.  It is a powerful blessing that our Lord was human, and was part of a human family, and had a human (although perfect) mother.  Being a mother has made me realize how close the Lord and his mother really are to me and my family.

What is more, I always rejoice in the quiet moments in the day when I can say my rosary.  I have gotten into the habit of saying it while I rock the baby to sleep for her afternoon nap.  At that time my toddler is already down for his nap and the house is quiet.  I’m not going to lie–sometimes I nod off for a second myself–but this quiet time with the Lord and the familiar rhythm of the rosary is much needed spiritual food for me.

If you and your little ones want to create shrines for Our Lady this mouth, it is a very simple project.  All you need are some popsicle sticks, hot glue, paint, mod podge and a picture of Our Lady.

The pictures below show you how to create the shrine.  Because hot glue is involved, this is a job for an adult!

Although it is hard to see in the last picture, you lay another base stick, then the side pieces, and then the roof pieces–repeating until you have a stack of four roof pieces.

And then, you break out the paint, take off the boys’ shirts and get painting.  I had the joy of doing this project at my sister’s house.  It was April and we were snowed in (only in Minnesota).  So, that meant it was crafting time!  My little guy had fun crafting with his big cousins!

So…not all the paint got on the shrines….

Once the shrines are fully painted and dry, give it a good coat of mod podge and add embellish, if desired!

Here is one for my daughter’s room.  Thanks for CraftProjectIdeas for the letter beads and sequence.

My niece made her’s very colorful.

Here’e the one my toddler painted…using a lot of paint!

And…I couldn’t miss out!  I made one for my kitchen, where it feels like I spend most of my day!