Something that has become more and more apparent as my kids one-by-one enter adulthood, is that while my vocation as Mom never ends, it does change! I remember those days of mothering with littles running around the house. They needed me for the physical things; food, drink, shelter, safety, comfort, and clothing, and they were learning so much in terms of basic skills and interests, subjects at school, and picking up prayers, Bible stories and beliefs of our Catholic Faith.
Family Gifts from Amazon
December 2, 2024 by Leave a Comment
I don’t know about you, but the Christmas Shopping List is pretty daunting. I’m hoping to get a couple gifts for the whole family and then chip away at getting a few items for each person. While I’m scouting out these purchases, I decided to recommend my absolute favorites, in case that’s of use to you!
First, to make the most of Advent this year, I highly recommend All About Advent written by Katherine Bogner and illustrated by Shari Van Vranken.
This book is a comprehensive compilation of the Traditions and Teachings of the Liturgical Seasons of Advent and Christmas. I think it’s the best and most beautiful book on Advent and Christmas that I have ever seen!
Here is my previous review with more pictures!
If you plan to pray the Rosary with your family, this is the classic version my husband was taught by his family!
Rosary Novenas to Our Lady
December Saints Days and Devotions
November 18, 2024 by Leave a Comment
December Saints Days and ADVENT!
Equipping Catholic Families for December Saints!
Advent begins with the first Sunday of Advent on December 1st!
Here is our monthly summary of crafts and family traditions related to the Monthly Devotion, Key Feast Days, and the appropriate Season of the Liturgical Calendar: Advent!
We’ve got a very special Advent Calendar Craft Kit available and it combines the Jesse Tree, O Antiphons and December Saints Days, all in one!
It also includes 36 Jesse Tree / O Antiphon / Christmas ornaments and the St. Andrew’s Christmas Novena Prayer Tracker…and all of these you can print at home!
Jesse Tree / O Antiphon Advent Calendar, Ornaments and Novena Craft Kit PDF
Jesse Tree / O Antiphon Advent Calendar PDF
It’s not too late to get a little Christmas Shopping done AND jumpstart your Advent Prayer!
Buy Prompt Me to Pray for your best buddy who prays, and pick up the Prompt Me to Pray through Advent and Prompt Me to Pray through Christmas booklets to bump up your prayer right into the new year!
See the
Prompt Me to Pray through Advent and Christmas Bundle
*The Prompt Me to Pray Booklets
are available by PDF or printed and shipped to you!
Key Feast Days in December:
- St Francis Xavier (December 3)
- St John Damascene (December 4)
- St Nicholas (December 6)
- St Ambrose (December 7)
- Immaculate Conception (December 8)
- St Juan Diego (December 9)
- Our Lady of Loretto (December 10)
- Our Lady, Queen of Angels (December 11)
- St Damasus I (December 11)
- Our Lady of Guadalupe (December 12)
- Bambinelli Sunday (December 12)
- St Lucy (December 13)
- St John of the Cross (December 14)
- O Antiphons (December 17-23)
- Expectation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Dec 18)
- St Abraham, St Isaac, St Jacob (December 20)
- St Thomas, St Peter Canisius (December 21)
- St John of Kanty (December 23)
- The Birth of Jesus (December 25)
- St Stephen (December 26)
- St John Apostle (December 27)
- Holy Innocents (December 28)
- St Thomas Becket (December 29)
- Feast of the Holy Family (December 30)
Check out the St Nick Bundle at the Arma Dei Shoppe for great stocking stuffers!
Get FIVE decks for just $48!
St Nick’s Shoe Stuffer Bundle
Season of the Liturgical Calendar: Advent!
- Anticipating Advent: Prep for Advent: Summary of Crafts and Activities
- Keep Christ in Christmas: read Him, look for Him, pray to Him, visit him, share Him, give for Him; live for Him Keep Christ in Christmas
The Advent Calendar
The Advent Calendar is a great way to countdown the days until Christmas.
Our own Jesse Tree and O Antiphon Advent Calendar is available by PDF and includes SO much!
This PREMIUM Craft Kit offers black and white templates to help you countdown (and pray!) through the days of Advent, with:
+one Letter-sized (8.5″x11″) fully illustrated Jesse Tree/O Antiphon/Saints Advent Calendar*
+one oversized (10″x15″) fully illustrated Jesse Tree/O Antiphon/Saints Advent Calendar*
+36 double-sided (2.5″) fully illustrated Jesse Tree/O Antiphon Advent Ornaments
+one fully illustrated Catholic Anticipation Prayer / St. Andrew’s Novena Prayer Counter
*ADAPTED for Advent 2024!
Advent Calendar, Ornaments and Novena Tracker
Advent Calendar (in two sizes)
You’ll find lots of chocolate covered ones in the stores now, but you can make your own and fill it with dollar store Nativity figures, holy medals, Saint pegs, Super Saints, printable Advent Quest challenges and your favorite treats or chocolates. There are so many ways to make an Advent Calendar (including this one we made years ago) and we found 35 [Awesome} DIY Advent Calendars here.
Fill up your Advent Calendar with faith-filled toys, treats and prayers:
- Advent (+Lent) Quest
- Advent Prayer Pockets
- Nativity Figures
- Super Saints Quizzing Cards
- Painted Saints
The Jesse Tree
The Jesse Tree is a wonderful faith-filled activity with Biblical symbols and figures and readings for each day of Advent. Jesus’ Lineage unfolds each day, leading up to His Birth on December 25th. You can make a nicely crafted banner like our The Family Handprint Jesse Tree and bring it out for Advent and Lent each year!
If you don’t want to just print yourself our BRAND NEW, SUPER EASY Jesse Tree Advent Calendar
Here are some of my other favorite Jesse Tree kits and tips:
- Our Family Jesse Tree from Faith and Fabric
- Jesse Tree Ornament Exchange
- My Jesse Tree: The Ultimate Guide to Making a Jesse Tree
- Printable 3-D Jesse Tree Ornaments by Drawn2BCreative!
- The Mosaic Jesse Tree at To Jesus, Sincerely
- Jesse Tree O Antiphon Advent Calendar Printable by Arma Dei
The Advent Wreath
It can be tricky getting those 3 purple and 1 white candles at the last minute, so we often pick them up throughout the year when we see them…or we’ve been known to tie purple and pink ribbons around white candles, in a pinch.
We’ve also used Dollar Store Votive candles and dressed them up in purple and pink!
One year, we made this Mailbox Blessings Advent Wreath and wrote little notes to each other throughout Advent, placing them in these adorable little mailboxes.
DIY Advent Wreath with Dollar Store Votives
Advent Prayers
Advent is an excellent opportunity to ramp up our family prayers…morning, before or after meals, around the Advent Wreath, in the car (bustling around to different events) or at bedtime!
Here are some of our prayerful craft kit printables to get you started:
- Prompt Me to Pray through Advent
- Prompt Me to Pray through Christmas
- Advent (+Lent) Quest
- Advent Prayer Pockets
- All Season Prayer Bank
- Prayer Journal Prompts
- Journal Prayers and Novenas
New Family Traditions
This time of year there is a lot of talk about different activities and family traditions to help focus Advent within the family. Don’t try them all at once! Choose one that’s right for you and get your kids involved to keep it going throughout Advent. If good deeds and sacrifices are part of your Advent tradition…consider Nesting…for Sock Baby Jesus.
This year we hosted a Sock Baby Jesus Workshop! Every kid made their own Sock Baby Jesus and we even made a couple more to give to a few other families in our Parish!
Preparing the Nativity
Christmas Gifts
- Kelly Saints Christmas Ornaments
- Reproducible One-of-a-Kind Gifts
- Stash of Kelly Saints Blessing Cards
Looking for a gift for your Mom or best friend?
Check out our Catholic Stamps at the
Prayer Impressions Journal Stamp Shoppe at Arma Dei!
We now have 145 Consecration, Prayer Journal, Accountability, Signature, Saints, Seasons, Sacraments and Rosary Stamps!
All the Advent resources you will need!
November 17, 2024 by Leave a Comment
This coming Sunday is the Solemnity of Christ the King and that marks the LAST DAY of the 2023-2024 Liturgical Calendar!
Advent begins in TWO weeks on December 1st! Are you ready?
We’ve got a Jesse Tree O Antiphon Advent Calendar that you can print and use right away to organize your family’s Advent!
2024 Jesse Tree O Antiphon Advent Calendar
We’re also offering the same Advent Calendar (in two sizes) accompanied by matching Jesse Tree ornaments the kids can color and hang on your Jesse Tree!. For your convenience, we also include the St. Andrew Christmas Novena prayer counter PDF for the upcoming devotion beginning on November 30th.
2024 Jesse Tree O Antiphon Advent Calendar Bundle with Ornaments and Novena
We are also once again one of 33 contributors to the Catholic Mom Bundle Advent 2024! Once again, the bundle isn’t just for MOMS, but is a great collection of printables for Families, Dads, Teachers and Grandparents sharing the Catholic Faith. Beautifully curated and illustrated cards, calendars (like ours!), crafts, activities, recipes and reflective journals are formatted for EASY PRINT and PRAY! They will keep little hands busy and the family focused on the Coming of Jesus in practical and fun ways.
Craft for Christmas with Handmade Crafts, Activities, and Gifts by Epiphany Catholic:
A guide to creating decorations, ornaments, and gifts this Advent season that is budget-friendly and fun for the whole family!
Praying the Promises of the Rosary is a user-friendly devotional handbook to pray for the fulfillment of 15 Rosary promises.
“Our family loves praying this beautiful rosary devotional! It has helped us all grow in our knowledge and love of Christ, by contemplating the mysteries of His life through the eloquently descriptive, yet intimately relatable reflections. Each time we use it, we are edified by the timeless messages, traditional design, saintly wisdom, and most of all the security of Mary’s promises, which gives us our much-needed daily dose of peace, as we strive towards our eternal reward in heaven!”
Designed for small group catechesis,
Around the Wreath
November Saints Days and Devotions
November 15, 2024 by 1 Comment
Equipping Catholic Families for November Saints!
Welcome to our monthly summary of crafts and family traditions related to the Monthly Devotion, Key Feast Days, and the appropriate Season of the Liturgical Calendar.
Hey, are you ready for the NEW Liturgical Calendar starting December 1st?
We’ve got the NEW 2024-2025 Wall Calendar for Every Day Catholics
Each month has illustrated Saints Days, Solemnities and Monthly Devotions, fasting Fridays and classic monthly prayers and devotions
Illustrated 2024-2025 Saints Calendar PDF includes November and December 2024!
Saints Dream Team Vertical Wall Calendar: $15
Monthly Devotion for November is All Souls!
Key Feast Days in November:
- All Saints Day (November 1)
- All Souls Day (November 2)
DIY Saints Votive Candles - St Martin de Porres (November 3)
- St Charles Borromeo (November 4)
- Feast of the Holy Relics (November 5)
- Dedication of St John Lateran (November 9)
- St Leo the Great (November 10)
- St Martin of Tours (November 11)
- St Josephat (November 12)
- St Frances Xavier Cabrini (November 13)
- St Albert the Great (November 15)
- St Gertrude and St Margaret of Scotland (November 16)
- St Elizabeth of Hungary (November 17)
- Dedication of the Churches of St Peter and St Paul (November 18)
- Presentation of Mary (November 21)
- St Cecilia (November 22)
- St John of the Cross and St Andrew & Companions (November 24)
- St Catherine of Alexandria (November 25)
- Feast of Christ the King (November 26) and a Christ the King Novena Craft
- Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal (November 27)
- St Catherine Laboure (November 28)
- St Andrew (November 30) see Apostle Painted Saints
- November I Spy!
The Christ the King Novena starts on November 17th.
Check out the Divine Mercy Abacus Craft Kit that comes with ALL the Christ the King Novena prayers:
Divine Mercy plus Christ the King Novena Abacus Craft Kit for just $5!
On November 30th, we start the St Andrew Novena
We have a Prayer Counter for that within the
2024 Jesse Tree/O Antiphon Advent Calendar Craft Kit!
and if you want just the Advent Calendar (in two sizes):
2024 Jesse Tree / O Antiphon Advent Calendar Only
December 1: First Sunday of Advent!
The Monthly Devotion for November is All Souls
- All Souls Day (November 2)
Season of the Liturgical Calendar: Ordinary Time
- ALL NEW: Reconciliation Refresher!
- Convert your Calendar or Planner to be Catholic with 461 Saint Stickies
- Catholic Prayer Bullet Journal Prayer-packed Craft Kit!
Saint Stamps! What Would The Saints Say?
Last two weeks of Ordinary Time!
- Make Ordinary Time “Extraordinary”
- Family Culture in Ordinary Time
- Traditions to Start in Ordinary Time
- Adjustable Liturgical Calendar Craft
- Minute to Win it: Birthday Party Printable
- HP Party Printable
All Saints Feast Day (November 1)
- Prep for All Saints Day: Summary of Crafts and Activities
- All Saints Party Games!
- Equipping Catholic Families with Saints Crafts This is a link-PACKED post!
Saints Stamps at the Prayer Impressions Journal Stamp Shoppe at Arma Dei!
Saints Crafts:
- Equipping Catholic Families with Saints Crafts This is a link-PACKED post!
- Saints Stamps! including the NEW What Would The Saints Say? Stamps
- Painted Saints and Wooden Box Church
- See Painted Saints for September
- Saints Stamps Crafts and Prayer Impressions Journal Stamps Shoppe
- Egg Carton Saints
- DIY Saints Votive Candles
- Paint a Saint!
- Kelly Saints Stamps Craft Kit
- 30 Ways to Play with the Saints
- Saints Scripts Rolodex
- Saints Timeline
- Saints Activities with Saints Craft Kits and Cards
- Saint Scripts 1,2,3 Bundle
- Apostle Painted Saints
Get a deal on FIVE decks of cards including our NEWLY-released, completely redesigned Cathletics Playing Cards!
Great St Nicholas Feast Day TREATS fostering LOVE for the SAINTS!
Got your Advent Candles ready?
November 9, 2024 by Leave a Comment
Well, we can’t send you Advent Wreath candles, but we can give you ready-made Advent Calendar printables and activities, some of which you can use YEAR after YEAR!
Advent is such a cool Liturgical Season! Even the secular world is selling ‘Advent’ Calendars stocked with Lego, Funko Pops, or other treats, just as a countdown to Christmas! We can make our Countdown to Jesus’ Birth…all ABOUT Jesus with Bible Stories and Faith-filled reflections and activities, that point all along toward the Nativity.
This Jesse Tree / O Antiphon Advent Calendar is a coloring countdown with reminders of Jesus’ Ancestors and His Love for us.
The Advent Calendar Craft Kit combines the Jesse Tree, O Antiphons and December Saints Days, all in one calendar and includes templates for Jesse Tree ornaments and the St. Andrew Novena.
We also have just the Advent Calendar PDF alone features 2 different-sized templates for the Bible stories-packed wall calendar.
It also includes 36 Jesse Tree / O Antiphon / Christmas ornaments and the St. Andrew’s Christmas Novena Prayer Tracker…and all of these you can print at home!
We’ve got BRAND NEW Catholic playing cards
to fill your boots for St. Nicholas’ Feast Day.
Jumpstart your Advent Prayer!
Buy Prompt Me to Pray for your best buddy who prays, and pick up the Prompt Me to Pray through Advent and Prompt Me to Pray through Christmas booklets to bump up your prayer right into the new year!
See the
Prompt Me to Pray through Advent and Christmas Bundle
*The Prompt Me to Pray Booklets
are available by PDF or printed and shipped to you!
Check out the St Nick Bundle at the Arma Dei Shoppe for great stocking stuffers!
Temporary delays due to Canada Post strike.
Get FIVE decks for just $48 including shipping within US and Canada
Season of the Liturgical Calendar: Advent!
- Anticipating Advent: Prep for Advent: Summary of Crafts and Activities
- Keep Christ in Christmas: read Him, look for Him, pray to Him, visit him, share Him, give for Him; live for Him Keep Christ in Christmas
The Advent Calendar
The Advent Calendar is a great way to countdown the days until Christmas.
Our own Jesse Tree and O Antiphon Advent Calendar is available by PDF and includes SO much!
This PREMIUM Craft Kit offers black and white templates to help you countdown (and pray!) through the days of Advent, with:
+one Letter-sized (8.5″x11″) fully illustrated Jesse Tree/O Antiphon/Saints Advent Calendar*
+one oversized (10″x15″) fully illustrated Jesse Tree/O Antiphon/Saints Advent Calendar*
+36 double-sided (2.5″) fully illustrated Jesse Tree/O Antiphon Advent Ornaments
+one fully illustrated Catholic Anticipation Prayer / St. Andrew’s Novena Prayer Counter
*ADAPTED for Advent 2023!
You’ll find lots of chocolate covered ones in the stores now, but you can make your own and fill it with dollarstore Nativity figures, holy medals, Saint pegs, Super Saints, printable Advent Quest challenges and of course your favorite treats or chocolates. There are so many ways to make an Advent Calendar (including this one we made years ago) and we found 35 [Awesome} DIY Advent Calendars here.
Fill up your Advent Calendar with faith-filled toys, treats and prayers:
- Advent (+Lent) Quest
- Advent Prayer Pockets
- Nativity Figures
- Super Saints Quizzing Cards
- Painted Saints
The Jesse Tree
The Jesse Tree is a wonderful faith-filled activity with Biblical symbols and figures and readings for each day of Advent. Jesus’ Lineage unfolds each day, leading up to His Birth on December 25th. You can make a nicely crafted banner like our The Family Handprint Jesse Tree and bring it out for Advent and Lent each year!
If you don’t want to just print yourself our BRAND NEW, SUPER EASY Jesse Tree Advent Calendar
The Advent Wreath
It can be tricky getting those 3 purple and 1 white candles at the last minute, so we often pick them up throughout the year when we see them…or we’ve been known to tie purple and pink ribbons around white candles, in a pinch.
We’ve also used Dollar Store Votive candles and dressed them up in purple and pink!
One year, we made this Mailbox Blessings Advent Wreath and wrote little notes to each other throughout Advent, placing them in these adorable little mailboxes.
DIY Advent Wreath with Dollar Store Votives
Advent Prayers
Advent is an excellent opportunity to ramp up our family prayers…morning, before or after meals, around the Advent Wreath, in the car (bustling around to different events) or at bedtime!
Here are some of our prayerful craft kit printables to get you started:
- Prompt Me to Pray through Advent
- Prompt Me to Pray through Christmas
- Advent (+Lent) Quest
- Advent Prayer Pockets
- All Season Prayer Bank
- Prayer Journal Prompts
- Journal Prayers and Novenas
New Family Traditions
This time of year there is a lot of talk about different activities and family traditions to help focus Advent within the family. Don’t try them all at once! Choose one that’s right for you and get your kids involved to keep it going throughout Advent. If good deeds and sacrifices are part of your Advent tradition…consider Nesting…for Sock Baby Jesus.
This year we hosted a Sock Baby Jesus Workshop! Every kid made their own Sock Baby Jesus and we even made a couple more to give to a few other families in our Parish!
Preparing the Nativity
Christmas Gifts
- Kelly Saints Christmas Ornaments
- Reproducible One-of-a-Kind Gifts
- Stash of Kelly Saints Blessing Cards
Looking for a gift for your Mom or best friend?
Check out our Catholic Stamps at the
Prayer Impressions Journal Stamp Shoppe at Arma Dei!
We now have 145 Consecration, Prayer Journal, Accountability, Signature, Saints, Seasons, Sacraments and Rosary Stamps!
Brand NEW Guess Who? SAINTS! Printable
October 31, 2024 by 3 Comments
Guess Who? SAINTS! includes 2 templates to fit the original Guess Who? board game.
Get to know the Saints! Ask questions to identify the Saint your opponent has chosen!All original artwork for the Saints!
Get to know the Saints! Ask questions to identify the Saint your opponent has chosen!
All original artwork for the Saints!
Blessed Carlo Acutis and Blessed Chiara included!
You will receive a link to download this digital file by email. This product will not be shipped to you.
All things SAINTS! Amazon FINDS in time for All Saints Day
October 23, 2024 by Leave a Comment
Books about Saints!
These are my most recent favorite books on Saints.
Saints: Becoming an Image of Christ Every Day of the Year is a comprehensive reference book of Saints, perfect for the family library! Not illustrated, but really nice write-ups and easy reference!
Check out Saints: Becoming an Image of Christ on Amazon!
Princesses of Heaven is a beautiful collection of inspiring female saints for your favorite little Catholic princess!
Adorable Disney-style princesses with presented with their holy and heroic stories!
Princesses of Heaven on Amazon
Saints Around the World features irresistible Saints illustrations and it’s a unique collection with many lesser-known Saints and Blesseds (not yet canonized), along with their location in the world.
Saints Around the World on Amazon
Stories of the Saints
Saints Kits, Crafts, and Cards, O MY!
October 23, 2024 by 1 Comment
We’re MIDWAY through October and that means ALL SAINTS DAY is just TWO weeks away!
We’ve got crafts, activities, and prizes for that!
First, a special DEAL:
Saint Scripts Craft Kits
NEW! Equipping Catholics ETSY Shop!
October 22, 2024 by Leave a Comment
Well, it has been over 12 years of selling our Catholic books, quizzing cards and craft kits through our website ArmaDei, but we’ve decided to give ETSY a try!
The problem is, no one KNOWS us on ETSY!
Could you check out our NEW Etsy Shop, and try following us, liking our products that you have, and if possible, writing glowing reviews for them?
We’d appreciate it SO much!
to be redirected to Equipping Catholic ETSY Shop, please click here:
