We were inspired by the book Bambinelli Sunday. See Bridget’s review below!
We decided to take advantage of the SNOW DAY … and make our own Bambinelli.
I was intrigued by 2 different homemade recipes for dough I found online: one for salt/flour dough and one for corn starch/baking soda dough. The corn starch dough made a cool kind of dough and it’s nice and smooth and bright white, but we must have done something wrong, because it will not keep its’ shape. The trusty salt dough was easier to work with and even though it can get a little crumbly, we like how our Bambinelli turned out.
We actually made THREE Bambinelli (is that plural?) and then we baked them as slowly as we could in our oven with no down button, so at 350 degrees, periodically turning off the oven so that they wouldn’t get too crispy.
Yes, they got a tiny bit crispy, but nothing that paint couldn’t take care of.
Adam really likes painting…but sometimes he gets monologing. We like his work anyway, even if he gets a little carried away with the red paint.
We think that maybe Bambinelli just got kissed a lot. In the end, Adam decided to give Baby Jesus a white onesie.
We’re looking forward to getting our new little Bambinelli blessed by our priest this weekend. Hopefully, he’ll be familiar with this cool tradition that seems to be pretty popular in Italy!
I was blessed to meet both the author Amy Welborn and the illustrator Ann Kissane Engelhart and receive a signed copy of Bambinelli Sunday from Franciscan Media .
This is a beautiful picture book, explaining the wonderful tradition of children taking their handmade Baby Jesus figures to St Peter’s to be blessed by the Pope! The little boy is spending time with his Grandparents while his parents are away and the story shows the challenges he faces. He’s a little lonely because he’s the new kid in the neighborhood, he’s a little sad (missing his parents), a little too shy to talk about it and he seems a little uncertain in his creative endeavors (sounds familiar!).
It bugs me a little that he took one of his Grandpa’s Bambinelli without really asking, but we’re all kind of glad that he did.
His special trip to Rome is packed with a beautiful lesson in generosity and a couple wonderful blessings! The story is beautifully told…and the illustrations are extraordinary!
Bridget’s Review:
Bambinelli Sunday is another great book and the things I really like are: It’s cool how they really go to Rome, see the Holy Father and get blessed. I also like how the Grandfather brought the baby Jesus he had fixed and how Alessandro gave the little girl the Jesus he snuck, even though he didn’t want to. He was really happy when his parents (who had left for something) had come to Rome! But, what was really smart is that it said “This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:12) from the Bible. The pictures are also nice because they mixed the colors and made the pictures realistic.
Do you need your own copy of Bambinelli Sunday? Check out Franciscan Media!
Just in case you’re looking to add this awesome book to your current Amazon order, here is my Amazon affiliate link. I thank you in advance for the literally dozens of cents I could possibly earn from your purchase. I think I’m a dime off my next $10 gift card. wooHOO!
I had never heard of this tradition, and I love it! And I’m especially enamored of Baby Jesus well clad in a onesie. How adorable.
What a fun idea! I love them!