Making leaves for a doll sized wreath

Hello, friends! Just stopping by to leave a little how-to on something festive. I kind of missed the deadline to make this a ‘first Sunday of advent’ post, but it’s never too late to get started!

This can be used for a number of things-Christmas wreaths, St Lucia crowns, advent wreaths-it really just depends on how you decorate it!

For the leaves (and wreath forming) you’ll need:

-green paper (I used card stock, but I’m certain something thinner like construction paper would be more delicate)

-Some form of thread/string and needle OR thin wire

-Optional: craft glue to stiffen up the wreath

I apologize for the lack of a read more, again! Still can’t do that on mobile.

Cut out as many vaguely leaf-shaped ovals as your heart desires. There’s no set amount; it’s really a matter of how big you want your leaves and how dense your intended wreath will be. My leaves are about an inch long.

Fold in half lengthwise, and then fold again the other way several times along the length of the leaf. (It should kind of resemble a crinkle cut French fry) When unfolded, they’ll ideally have a fold going vertically and a few diagonal folds that meet in the middle.

Thread your leaves onto your string/wire. I used embroidery floss and a needle, but you’ll probably get a stiffer wreath with a bendy wire. You’ll have to fiddle around to get your leaves facing in your ideal directions. It’s okay if they move around while they’re being threaded.

When your wreath has reached a satisfying circumference, secure the ends together to make its circular shape.

I glued mine to more card stock and cut it out so that it had a base to keep it in shape.

If you’re looking to make an advent wreath, I painted four short hot glue sticks purple and pink to make candles as I absolutely could NOT find teeny tiny advent wreath candles. I glued the bottoms to the wreath and base, and covered up the glue blobs with more leaves.

That’s all! Hope this helped the anons in my inbox. Sorry this took so long!

One last doll sized Catholic stuff post for the night!

Does anyone else have these freakishly small statues in their house or is just me? I know I got the crucifix, St Joseph and Child, and Our Lady of Grace pieces at a Christian book store, but the Mother Teresa (?) was something my mother had around and gave me when I was little. I’ve seen similar items on Catholic supply websites (often in bulk, however) as well as Etsy, if anyone’s wondering.

Nellie, resident Jesus lover, is happy to have these in just her size! Her favorite is Mother Teresa, but if we’re getting technical here, St Teresa was actually born six years after Samantha and Nellie’s story takes place. So it’s cool to note that they would be around at the same time, although on different sides of the planet!

Make miniature/doll sized Little Flower ‘sacrifice beads’

My rosary tutorial went over very well! I’ve had several asks discussing Catholic/Christian crafts for doll accessories, and decided to post a tutorial of what I lovingly grew up referring to as ‘Good Deed Beads’.

St Therese ‘The Little Flower’ used a set of beads to count how many times in a day she made a sacrifice, or a good deed. It challenged her to bring acts of love into her daily life. Commonly made resembling one decade rosaries, they double as just that! I made a set with my Little Flowers girl’s group as a child and still have them today. I’ve been making some as a part of Christmas goodie bags for my faith formation students, and thought I’d share instructions on making doll sized ones! (Of course, you can scale it back up to your size if you’d like a matching set!)

To make this, you’ll need:

-Small beads that will ‘fit’ in your doll’s hand. I used bracelet loom beads. Think about what rosary beads feel like between your fingers, and translate that to the size of your doll’s fingers! You’ll need ten in one color and one contrasting bead in similar size.

-19 seed beads, or you can skip that part if you’ve got teeny tiny crosses and medals.

-Some form of thread or string that fits the gauge of your beads and is good for knotting. I used a twisted embroidery floss.

-Scissors

Optional: Two thin needles to thread the beads if your string frays.

Alright, let’s get started, shall we?

Tie a knot at one end of your string. Thread seven seed beads onto it. Tie another piece of string just above the fifth bead, with the ends on this horizontal string about even on each side. Tie a knot above the top two beads.

Thread three beads onto each end of the horizontal string. Tie a knot on both. Ensure strings are knotted tightly, then trim the bottom, left, and right strings. Tie the remaining end to the center of a longer piece of string. You’ll now be working with two strands.

Thread your contrasting bead using both strings. Tie a knot above it.

Now is where you may want to thread your needles.

Thread one of the strings through one of your ten beads. With the other string, thread it through the OPPOSITE end so that the strings crisscross in the bead. Pull the bead down but not all the way; you’ll need to leave empty space between this bead and the knot below it.

Continue this way with your nine remaining beads.

When you’ve done your tenth bead, make a knot at the top. Then on each end of string, thread three seed beads. Knot those two ends together to make a little loop of beads. Trim excess string and you’re done!

You should be able to move your beads from one end to the other and count like this. For every good deed or sacrifice or act of love made, move one bead over. You may also use it to count your rosary decades.

Enjoy your crafting and God Bless you! Sorry for the lack of a cutoff on this post, which I still cannot do via the app. I’m always open to crafty suggestions or questions; just drop a message in my inbox!

Making a tiny rosary/Rosary for dolls

My post about the itsy bitsy rosary I made for a lot more notes than I anticipated, so I thought I’d post a little tutorial.

(I apologize for the lack of a ‘read more’, tumblr won’t let me add a cutoff on mobile.)

What you’ll need:

-Around 25 inches of a fine string that knots well. You can use bracelet making cord, but for this one I used embroidery floss.

-Scissors

-53 small beads of one color. I used macrame/bracelet weaving beads, but something of a similar size would work.

-6 small (same or close to the size as above) beads of a contrasting color

-19 seed beads, unless you’ve managed to find crucifixes and centerpiece medals in the correct scale (if you have, pretty please tell me where to find them!!)

Optional: a very thin needle for threading the beads, but if your string doesn’t fray much you can get away without one.

With beads, always make sure you have a few extra in case you lose some/some are defective (I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten beads without holes. It’s rather hilariously frustrating)

Alright, let’s start! Set yourself up somewhere comfy with good lighting.

Tie a knot at one of your string and thread seven seed beads onto it. Cut a few inches (around five) off the loose end of the string and tie it just under the top two beads, leaving the ends of the short string even on either side. Thread three seed beads each onto the ends of the string you just tied, and make a knot at the ends. Tie a knot above the two top beads on the vertical string. Ensure the knots are tight, and then trim the ends of the bottom and the horizontal strands. This makes your cross.

Thread one of your six contrasting ‘Our Father’ beads (in my case, white) above the cross. Knot, then add three of your main ‘Hail Mary’ beads (green for me), knot again. One more Our Father, then knot.

Thread the last six of your seed beads and tie them so they’re in a loop. It’s okay if they’re a bit loose. Make sure knot is secure, then cut the string.

Tie the remainder of the string onto one side, with two beads on one end and four on the other. Now you start threading your Hail Mary beads, ten at a time. After your tenth, knot, add an Our Father bead, and then knot again. Repeat until you have five sets of ten/decades with four Our Fathers in between.

Tie the string onto the side of your centerpiece with four beads, splitting them in between so that you have three pairs. Secure knot, trim off your excess string, and you’re done!

That’s all, folks! Thanks for reading. If you make one following this tutorial, please reblog with your photos or tag me in your posts! I’d love to see what you’ve done.

My Sunday school students and I made rosaries in class this past weekend. Nellie felt left out, so I made her one. (Aka I wanted to see how freakishly tiny I could make a rosary and my first try just so happened to be AG sized!)

I know I’m not the only Catholic person in the doll collecting/crafting world, so I figured I’d share!

Hey y’all! 💖💜💙

It’s been a while since I’ve been very active in the Taylor Swift side of tumblr, but I’m still supporting her! I thought I’d join in for LGBT selfie night to introduce myself and maybe make some friends along the way?

My name is Kelsey and I have a complicated relationship with my sexuality, which is mostly why I’ve still got only one foot out of the closet. I’m bi, and also like to consider myself a devout Catholic, so you can understand my concern. Despite the fact that everyone I’ve ever met from my church has been nothing but kind and welcoming to people like me, I’m nervous about being publicly bisexual around my peers, elders, and family members.

I’ve been listening to Taylor since I was about eight years old. She and her music have been there for me through every milestone of my late childhood, my tweens, my teens, and my adult years so far. I picked up a guitar because of her and have been playing nonstop since the 8th grade. I sing solo in front of my church every week, and learned to belt my heart out by singing along to Fearless in my bedroom. She taught me life lessons in love, heartache, friendship, strength, independence, and pride. I’m forever grateful for her inspiration, and hope I can one day hug her and thank her for being there for me over half my life.

Love ya, Ms. Swift. Thank you for letting me know there’s nothing wrong with being Me!