The Levitan Website
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Christian Crafts 1
Easter Garden
Easter is not just about chocolate eggs or funny rabbits. It's a celebration that Jesus conquered death, and this craft provides a graphic reminder of that fact.
You will need:
- Large tin foil dish, baking tray or planter,
- Damp, clean sand,
- Toilet roll middle,
- Large round stone,
- Several small, flat stones,
- Small plants, e.g. alpines,
- A small piece of white cloth about 6cm long and 2cm wide,
- Balck and brown paint and paintbrushes.
What you do:
- Paint the inside of the toilet roll black or dark brown, and the outside, at one end, dark brown (where it will show poking out of the sand). Leave to dry.
- Fill the tray with an even layer of sand.
- Towards one end, place the toilet roll centre pointing diagonally from a corner into the centre of the tray.
- Mound up the rest of the sand over the toilet roll so that only the painted end is visible.
- Place the small stones to make a path leading from the open end of the "tomb" towards the opposite corner.
- Plant the plants to make a scene with small "trees" and "shrubs".
- Roll up the cloth and place it just inside the "tomb".
- Place the large stone to one side of the "tomb" entrance.
- You can, of course, add other embellishments, e.g. three small crosses on top of the "hill" above the tomb.
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Palm cross
Another Easter activity that reminds us about the true nature of the event is making (and then handing out) palm crosses for Palm Sunday.
You will need:
- Strips of card 1cm wide and 27cm long,
- Strips of card 1cm wide and 35cm long,
- Ruler,
- Pencil
What you do:
- Take the shorter strip of card and mark it at 1cm, 2cm, 3cm, 9cm and 21cm points.
- Fold the card neatly at each point as follows:
- At 1cm fold towards the opposite end.
- At 2cm fold in the same direction.
- At 3cm fold in the same direction (as if you are building up a circular shape).
- At 9cm fold back in the opposite direction.
- At 21cm fold towards the 9cm fold (making a sort of coat-hanger shape).
- Flatten the card to make the crosspiece. Make sure there is a little gap through the middle of the little folds.
- Take the other piece of card and tuck the end into the gap made by the crosspiece central folds, Do not push it right through the gap. ("a" on picture)
- Gently turn the long strip round the back of the crosspiece (b) and tuck the other end into the opposite side of the crosspiece's centre fold gap (c) - pull it through the gap (d) all the way. This should form a T-shape that is tight enough to hold the crosspiece securely.
- Measure about 6cm from the crosspiece along the long strip and fold.
- Push the end back through the gap until the fold forms the top of the cross.