Color A Celtic Resurrection Butterfly Cross

       I used metallic ink pens to color in my teacher's sample cross drawing. These inks really stand out if you draw with them on dark or black construction paper. Although, I chose to draw on a nice acid free paper for this particular activity (construction paper fades rapidly). The project is designed for students fourth grade and up. I've included patterns for the butterfly and cross below for those of you who would like to draw a cross very similar to mine. I colored the floral part of my design with Rembrandt colored pencils. These have a nice velvety texture that sharply compliments the metallic inks.

      The butterfly in the modern Christian church, and when I say modern I mean within the last 100 years, is used as a symbol for resurrection. This is because the metamorphosis that takes place during the life cycle of butterflies mirrors the lives of regenerated Christians in both life and death after the Holy Spirit indwells them personally. The cross, in turn, symbolizes the beginning of this resurrection process because of the ultimate price of salvation paid for us through Christ's death on the cross and His resurrection from the tomb.

      Encourage your students to frame their work if they are pleased with the results. I have found that many parents love to receive simple drawings such as these for a birthday or Mother's Day and/or Father's Day gift.

This is my teacher's sample of a Resurrection Butterfly Cross.
Students can use all kinds of metallic ink pens to color in their
 sketches. They will need to use a white or yellow colored pencil
to trace around their stencils before applying the inks. Although I
chose silver for my sample, this pattern would look just as
 attractive in gold or copper inks.

Click directly on the image to download the largest possible file.
 You will need to fold an additional piece of paper and
place the dotted lines of the cross template on top
 of the fold to cut out the entire cross pattern.

More Links to Cross Drawing/Coloring Projects:

• Bible Verse Easter Cross from The Glitter Queen. Also more cross projects here and here again by Kids & Glitter.
• Color Crucifixion Symbols
• Color a Early Pectoral Crucifix
• Jesus, died for our transgressions
  

Craft An Empty Tomb Easter Egg

The finished empty tomb Easter egg, front and side.

    I crafted this empty tomb Easter egg with air dry clay, a half shaped, Styrofoam egg and paint.      The egg form also has a hollow interior and I will post a photo of what these look like just as soon as I can take a picture. 
      For those of you who may be a bit intimidated by shaping your own stones from clay, there are shallow molds for sale in craft and hobby shops for the very purpose of crafting stone walls. The results are so nice that the purchase of one of these is an excellent investment. 

      After pressing the air dry clay into a mold, (shown below) simply adhere the printed clay to the Styrofoam egg with tacky white glue. You will then need to continue working while your clay is still wet. Use a toothpick or a fork and work the clay surface a bit by pushing deeper crevices between the stones to create a more three-dimensional stone wall surface.      I let my stone tomb egg dry over night then I painted it's interior with black acrylic paint. Next, I painted the exterior stones with shades of grey and pale browns. Being satisfied with my final results, I then pasted a cross shaped sticker to the interior of the egg shaped tomb and gave my entire Easter egg a coat of acrylic varnish.

• Color The Women at the Sepulchre
• "He Is Risen Indeed!" Butterfly Coloring Page
• Color The Pieta

Craft an Egg Carton Cross

Above is a unique 3-D, memorial, cross craft for Sunday School students, grades 3, 4, and 5.

      I glued the egg carton parts to a sturdy piece of cardboard and left my construction to dry overnight. Then, I used a toothpick to gently poke many holes into the mache carton cups so that I would be able to insert the silk flowers later. Give students a wide variety of discarded old magazines and recycled paper to tear into small pieces. Glue these randomly to the background of the cross picture to assimilate foliage. Then, dismantle a spray or two of silk flowers and poke these buds into the holes on the cross. All the while adding a generous application of tacky white glue to the ends of each flower before pushing it into each hole. Leave this project to dry over night. In the end, each student will have a unique, three dimensional cross to decorate their home with for Easter Sunday. 

• "Raise Up The Cross!" coloring page
• Color Easter Lilies for Lent

About Egg Cartons

      An egg carton or egg box (the British English term) is a carton designed for carrying and transporting whole eggs.

A filled egg carton.

      These cartons have a dimpled form in which each dimple accommodates an individual egg and isolates that egg from eggs in adjacent dimples. This structure helps protect eggs against stresses exerted during transportation and storage by absorbing a lot of shock and limiting the incidents of fracture to the fragile egg shells. An egg carton can be made of various materials, including foamed plastics such as Styrofoam, clear plastic or may be manufactured from recycled paper and molded pulp by means of a mechanized papier-mâché process.

      Before its invention, eggs were carried in egg baskets. The egg carton was invented in 1911 by newspaper editor Joseph Coyle of Smithers, British Columbia, to solve a dispute between a local farmer and hotel owner in Aldermere, near present day Telkwa, in British Columbia, over the farmer's eggs often being delivered broken.

      The egg carton "box" was further developed by H.G.Bennett (Riseley UK) during the 1950s and became the norm for egg transportation during this period.

      Unlike many products, trademarks and advertisements for egg brands are usually printed on the food container itself rather than on a separate container (as with breakfast cereals). This single-layer, distinctive packaging distinguishes egg cartons from different producers or quality on the retail shelf.