Celebrating the Saints on First Fridays

This year we have decided to get together on the First Friday of each month, with our Homeschool Group, for Mass followed by a potluck and a variety of crafts in honor of some of our favorite saint feast days for each month.

Our first get together for the year was this past Friday, the feast of St. Therese, and we had such a great time!   To be quite honest, with the Baby Shower the weekend before, contractors still coming and going, feeling a bit overwhelmed with homeschooling this year, not to mention a conflict in plans (We had Father coming over for dinner and to bless our home at 4:30 pm and the Homeschool Event was scheduled from 12-4, 30 minutes from our home!), I wasn't as prepared as I would have liked to have been, but it all came together in the end and it was such a lovely day!

Here are some pictures from our afternoon:

~ Cupcake Rosary ~ 

Since October is dedicated to the Most Holy Rosary, we brought our annual "Cupcake Rosary" to share! 

  Being the feast of St. Therese, I topped each of the "Hail Mary" cupcakes Beads with a Chocolate Rose. 

~ Our Lady of the Rosary ~

One of the creative mothers in our Homeschool Group set up a table for the children to create their own Rosary Boxes!

~ St. Therese, The Little Flower ~ 

Now, being the feast of St. Therese, I HAD to make sure we'd have a craft in her honor!  I had one late night and early morning to prepare - most of which was spent baking 59 cupcakes and a Rose Cake (for our dinner with Father, and which I FORGOT to photograph this year!) - but after borrowing a few supplies in addition to a discount on medals from the local Catholic Bookstore on the way to Mass, the children were able to make Sacrifice Beads! 

I also had a couple beautiful coloring pages and a paper doll for the children to color as well. 

~ The Holy Guardian Angels ~ 

There was a great display and craft in honor of St. Michael and the Holy Guardian Angels: Foot and Hand Print Angels! 

Watching My Secret Friend: A Guardian Angel Story - DVD

~ St. Francis of Assisi ~ 

At one table the children could all make Pipe Cleaner Creatures.  My children LOVED this craft and we will have to make some more here at home sometime soon!

At another table the children could make Pine Cone Bird Feeders.

There were a couple other tables set up with lots of worksheets, activity pages, and coloring pages.

(Most of which were linked to in this post.) 

~ A Few More Pictures ~ 

My children are all ready looking forward to next month!