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
  

What Easter Should Mean?

      Does Easter mean to you only the wearing of a new hat, a new frock and the studying of fashions as worn by others? Do you let it bring to your little ones only the rabbit's nest of colored eggs or the fluffs of yellow chicks? Does it strike no higher chord in your being than the fact that spring is at hand and you must have light and becoming apparel?

      Easter is more than all these. It is the force in nature that brings the leaf, the bud and at last the glowing blossom from the clod. It is the resurrection of the life of those things we call inanimate because they cannot talk to us; how much more than the springing into being of the good that may be dormant in our hearts?

      What the little ones should be told this Easter morning is that the life of the world itself is new; that the grave cannot hold within its confines the mighty spirit of growing things. So I beg of you to not dwell too largely upon the sadness of the cross and the crown of thorns, but rather upon the glorious truth that those were but small in comparison with the glory of Christ's rising. 

      If the remembrance of the freeing from the tomb means anything in teaching Christianity it means the beauty of the resurrection; It means that the very spirit of "Christ risen from the dead" is to be carried out in real life; that joy and fresh, glowing happiness are to be taught and believed in. Gloom has no place on Easter day. What is past is past; troubles that have come are gone; pain that has been suffered and cured is to be forgotten, and this is the meaning that Easter should bring into every mother's morning greeting to her little ones.

      "You were ill yesterday, but you are well today." You are to live as if the sun was newly born, the skies newly washed in their sunny blue, the stars but just freshly placed to shine to give you pleasure, the moon sailing like a beautiful round globe for your eyes to see. All these mean a keener enjoyment, a better understanding, and you will find response in each small body and loving heart of the practice be the teaching of the Golden Rule, not only today, but all the year. by Emma Irene McLagan, St. Louis Globe-Democrat.

A powerful worship song from the album "Glorious" by CFNI
Watch more Kari Jobe music videos at http://www.godtube.com/artist/kari-jobe

Citizens Of Heaven

       And when now the dignified forms of another world appeared before their raptured vision, when they beheld the pillars of the old covenant in conversation with Jesus-namely, the majestic lawgiver, Moses, and the mighty prophet, Elijah-must they not have felt already as the citizens of another and higher sphere, as members of that blessed assembly of the just who are gathered on the other side, at home with the Lord? In such company it is no wonder that Peter exclaimed in ecstacy: "It is good for us to be here." It seemed to him as if he was greeted with the salutation of the world to come: "Now, therefore, we are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God." Ephesians 2: 18-19 Charles Gerok, D. D. (Germany)

"Consider the lilies . . .

Click on the image to download the largest file.

Description of Coloring Page: text "Consider the lilies how they grow they toil not, they spin not" from Luke 12:27, large bouquet of tiger lilies

More Lilies and Scripture Combinations to Color:

• Isaiah 55:12 Lilies and Pansies
• Color a Easter Cross with Lilies
• A paper doll called Lily
• One Easter Lily's Mission - poem
• At the last supper, color Jesus as he washed his disciples feet...
  

Don't forget to drag the png. or jpg into a Word Document and enlarge the image as much as possible before printing it folks. If you have a question about this scripture coloring page, just type into the comment box located directly below this post and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can.

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 stained glass windows from melted crayons

      Remember melting crayons to create beautiful stained glass window art when you were a kid? My Sunday School teacher did this in class with us many years ago. We would shave crayons with small hand-held pencil sharpeners onto white tissue paper. Then our teachers would carefully cover our tissue and shavings with wax paper and carry the layers over to an ironing board and melt them by rubbing a hot iron over the surface of the wax paper. 

      You can actually achieve the same melted effect by using a hair dryer if you wish. I also remove the wax paper after it has cooled. This only takes seconds to accomplish and then all you need to do is cut a black template from construction paper in order to frame your melted master piece.

      This craft needs adult supervision and patience. I've used some stained glass window frames for me teaching samples that are a bit complex. Design stencils for window frames that are simpler if your students are younger.  Have the children cut out the frames before shaving and melting crayons.

Above you can see that a small hand-held pencil sharpener is quite adequate for shaving crayons. Remove the paper first and don't use too many dark colors for your mix, otherwise, the results can turn a bit muddy. I used the original cut templates for my teacher's sample so that I wouldn't need to cut my stencils twice. After this I then created a template from the sample that could be printed out in black and white so that my students only needed to cut out the center of the design.

Just left, you can see the stained glass window taped onto an actual window. The colors a very brilliant. I have limited my color choices to reds, oranges and yellows in order to emphasize a monochromatic palette. You may wish to teach students about color mixing or the color wheel during this lesson by requiring young students shave together particular color combinations.

More Examples of Melted Crayon Crafts:

• Wax Paper Sun Catchers for Kids
• Melted Crayon Eggs
• Color a Heart Shaped Crayon Design

More Stained Glass Easter Window Coloring:

• Crucifixion window from Chartres Cathedral
• The Last Supper Window at Chartres Cathedral
• Jesus washes the feet of his disciples...