Making a Vertical, Wall-Hung Phillipian Star for the Advent Fast

In the Eastern Christian tradition we have a six week fast right before Christmas. This Advent time fast is called the Phillipian Fast, or Phillipo Fast or Philopovka, because it starts on St Phillip's feast day, Nov 14th. One of the ways we mark this time is through a candle holder in the shape of a six sided star. A new candle is lit each week, and the special candle in the middle is for Christmas Eve and maybe Christmas day.  Some traditions have a different color candle for each week with a matching quality to meditate on that week, and others have all red candles for the weeks and a gold one in the center. There are lovely readings and prayer services that you can do along with your family during this time and at the lighting of the candles.

In past years, we've a style of candle holder made of wood it holds lovely tapers and makes a striking centerpiece. Nothing compares to the warm, focusing glow of candlelight.  One of my more recently mobile children has not figured out candle etiquette, and altho' we didn't have difficulties with our older children around matches and fire, this little one makes having flame about a problem. We all seven of us live in a very small house (less than 1000sqft of living space), so space is at a premium, especially on the only table.

A friend came up with the thought of having a Phillipian Star that hung on the wall. What a great idea! But how? and wouldn't the flames of the candles on the bottom melt the candles above extra quickly? And how, and of what materials, could you make a wall scone in that shape that wasn't a fire hazard? More importantly, how could I do it with the skills I already have and on a budget?

I mulled it over for a while, and then it came to me: fake candles! Those battery operated candles, some needle and thread, some glue and materials and *voila* easy-peasy. As I went I modified it to be even easier! and I didn't need to whip out a lot of tools, and it took only 20 minutes to make. Even better: I got everything at the dollar store. Yup, you read that right -- super effective & cheap project. 

tools needed: round place-mat, ribbons, hand sewing needle and thread, scissors, glue, battery t

ealight candles

1) The ribbon was glued onto the round place-mat with fabric glue. It took a little math to get the geometry and placement right, and you do need to allow time for the glue to dry. We did some book reading & kitchen cleaning while it dried.

2) I measured ribbon to go around the side of the tealights to make a loop, careful to singe/melt the edges on a real candle (best anti-fray ever). At first I glued the loops together, but it took too much time, Simple tacking them with a needle & thread by hand was much faster.

the loops of ribbon around the tealights are tacked on only at the top so that it can be lifted to turn the candle on & off

3) Sew on the loops in place at the points of the star by just a few stitches only at the top so that the loops hang down. The faux candles are light-weight and not creating a lot of tension/pull so it doesn't take much. This way, too, it's easy to slide them into the loops (or replace them later as need be), and easy to get to the little stitches to turn them on or off.

4)  I used a staple gun to attach it right to the wall. I also added a bit of left over gold glitter paint to the ribbon lines that make the star and to the center candle. Done! and out of the reach of little hands, no fire-hazard, and still visually striking.

the finished product!

We use ours with six red candles around the edged and a golden one in the middle. The tealights themselves are white, so I made the colors by the ribbons, You could also paint the tops of the tealights if you want -- they take paint remarkably well.  I found some tealights that had red glitter on them like little peppermint candies, so I got some of those for the red candle spots after Thanksgiving for the weeks of December -- because glitter makes everything better *wink*.

Everyone has Their Own Household Chores

I cannot do it all on my own. All my kids have age-appropriate jobs that they do, and everyone helps out. Often, that help is far from perfect, and sometimes it makes the messes worse. Everyone does necessary tasks and I accept the imperfection of it.

When the littles get older the quality of work will improve, but only is the seeds are planted now. My two big kids are already loads of helpfulness and do their work without a hitch. It is SO IMPORTANT that they learn these are things that are normal to do, they need to be done, that they are capable of doing it, and that we value their contributions to the house.

Since many of my children are not reading yet, pictures help. These free printable laundry labels are on their drawers to make it easy to find and out things away. 

See this? This is not me.

Chores in my house:

Everyone has to hop-to when mommy says "Let's tidy up!" and I say something like, "find 5 things that don't belong and put them where they go", and even the toddler tries to be a part of that. It's fast, imprecise, and it happens a few times a day. Also, "who wants to play with little brother in the bathtub" is also a 'job' that could be anyone.

My 10yr old sorts the laundry, puts away her own laundry & helps one of the littles put away theirs, assists at tidy-up times, sometimes sweeps, and is kinda of an all around helper for thing that might come up.
 
My 8 yr old switches out the laundry machines, helps clear & clean the table, puts away her own laundry, helps one of the little put theirs away, assist at tidy up times, and is in charge of the shoe area.
 
My 6yr old and 4.5 yr old put their own laundry away (sometimes with help), and help pick up bits o' garbage (usually old coloring pages & bits of paper), and help with misc tidying time. Sometimes the 6 yr old likes to sort & put away the flatware.
 
adults:  Daddy takes out the garbage/s. I do the dishes and am in charge of food and pretty much everything else. Once a week I hire cleaning help come in and we knock out all the grime and dirt.

Book: "The Aescetic Lives of Mothers"

Based on the below review from Orthodox Christian Parenting. 

Also available here from Amazon. 


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Gleanings from a Book: "The Ascetic Lives of Mothers: a Prayer Book for Orthodox Moms" by Annalisa Boyd

“I heard it said once that motherhood is a type of asceticism. Like the ascetics, mothers find themselves in a situation that requires their utter devotion, self-denial, daily emotional exercises, facing extreme challenges, and much prayer.” (p.17-18)

Those of us who are mothers know this to be true. There are many moments in each day when we give up our own desires to meet the needs of those around us; especially those of our children. How, then, do we have time to “pray without ceasing” while meeting those needs? Annalisa Boyd meets that question head-on in the introduction to her uplifting and helpful book, The Ascetic Lives of Mothers: a Prayer Book for Orthodox Moms.

This book is a must-have for any Orthodox mom who wants to prayerfully raise her children in the Faith. The heartening chapters at the beginning of the book set the reader’s mind at ease that she is not the only mother going through tough circumstances or wondering how on earth to live her Faith in the midst of the mundane tasks of motherhood. The bulk of the book is the myriad of prayers for various situations, which have been carefully gathered and organized by topic, and can therefore be easily found. The book includes basic daily prayers, prayers for times of trouble, prayers for the sick, preparation for confession, prayers of blessing and thankfulness, prayers through the stages of motherhood, prayers for godchildren and other “bonus” children, prayers for the future, and more.

A highlight of the book (and the largest chapter of all), titled “Tea Time at the Abyss”, references this quote:

“Stand at the brink of the abyss of despair, and when you see that you cannot bear it anymore, draw back a little and have a cup of tea.” ~ Elder Sophrony of Essex

In this chapter’s introduction, Boyd reassures the reader, “Let us step back and take tea together as mothers. Of course we may not be able to sit at each other’s tables and sip a perfectly steeped pot together, but we can pray for one another and be an encouragement. We can make a pot of gratitude for all the Lord has blessed us with and sip it throughout the day through prayer and the reading of His word. We can choose to face the difficulties, in the strength of Christ our Lord and lay down the idea that we must somehow bear it all. How freeing is that thought alone? May we take hold of even the smallest moments each day to enter into prayer, allowing us to step back and drink in Christ, for He promises to quench our thirst and give us His peace. Thank God!” (p. 38-39) The rest of the chapter lists topics from “Addiction” to “Special Needs,” which include quotes from scriptures and saints, as well as prayers related to each topic. (Note: some of the prayers in this book are prayers prescribed by the Church. Others are “simply prayers from the heart of one mama to another… (to) be used for encouragement and to promote your own personal prayer time with Our Lord.” ~ pp. 11-12)

This book is a wonderful aid to mothers at any stage in life. While it is aimed primarily at mothers, many of the quotes and prayers will be just as uplifting and useful for fathers, as well. It will be a much-used companion to any parent who adds it to their library and then faithfully uses it to help them to “pray without ceasing.”

“It is of great significance if there is a person who truly prays in a family. Prayer attracts God’s Grace and all the members of the family feel it, even those whose hearts have grown cold. Pray always.” ~ Elder Thaddeus

The Ascetic Lives of Mothers: a Prayer Book for Orthodox Moms by Annalisa Boyd is available for purchase here: http://store.ancientfaith.com/the-ascetic-lives-of-mothers/

Follow the author’s blog, “The Ascetic Lives of Mothers,” here: http://theasceticlivesofmothers.blogspot.com/

Centerpiece Stand-ups of the Twelve Great Feasts -- free printables!

The Twelve Great Feasts are an important way to mark the passing of the year for our families (get your icon wall calendar activity here).  The fantastic folks at Orthodox Christian Parenting wrote about an available resource for these feast days as a great activity, and and extra way to bring attention and focus to the event. I have copied the note in it's entirety here:



The feasts of the Church year are important times for all Orthodox Christians to celebrate! The Antiochian Orthodox Department of Christian Education (AODCE) would like to highlight a resource available on their website, which can be helpful to families looking for ideas of ways to enhance their celebrations of these feasts. The AODCE offers free feast day “stand-up” centerpieces which can be printed directly from their website (at http://www.antiochian.org/1127698508) onto cardstock. After printing, the centerpieces can be folded according to the instructions on each page, and when the slotted ends are tucked together the page forms a stand-up centerpiece.

Each centerpiece is composed of two different sides that will show when the centerpiece is folded into a stand-up. One side displays the icon of the feast, the date(s) of celebration, and a brief description of the feast and icon. The other side of the centerpiece also shows the icon; and has the troparion of the feast printed beside it.

Here are the printable feast stand-ups (click the links to see them):

The Nativity of Mary the Theotokos (http://www.antiochian.org/sites/default/files/assets/asset_manager/7a5285a4ee783b7342ff8f4e1a99f02b.pdf)
The Exaltation of the Cross (http://www.antiochian.org/sites/default/files/assets/asset_manager/804f8cedc57699833cfee4824634a4b5.pdf)
The Presentation of the Theotokos to the Temple (http://www.antiochian.org/sites/default/files/assets/asset_manager/cacb8660b29bdc97f8e8283ff567634e.pdf)
The Nativity of Christ (http://www.antiochian.org/sites/default/files/assets/asset_manager/4d33a647e547b8169d0bb7239ee7754f.pdf)
Theophany: The Baptism of Christ (http://www.antiochian.org/sites/default/files/assets/asset_manager/aae2368f6b752c8cba042e21917405cc.pdf)
The Meeting of Christ in the Temple (http://www.antiochian.org/sites/default/files/assets/asset_manager/0c607395223b6d3ca63332d11fef1dae.pdf)
The Annunciation (http://www.antiochian.org/sites/default/files/assets/asset_manager/43f0fb26601fcc6eb2ee888d5b18ab37.pdf)
The Transfiguration of Christ (http://www.antiochian.org/sites/default/files/assets/asset_manager/44cc08f7375825e0a722417e140a9cce.pdf)
The Dormition of the Theotokos (http://www.antiochian.org/sites/default/files/assets/asset_manager/abbe11671878e0c8d20d278ea0ae08af.pdf)
The feast of the Lord’s Entry into Jerusalem (http://www.antiochian.org/sites/default/files/assets/asset_manager/d5aa72ed369c7b1fc58ddd93ebde329a.pdf)
The feast of the Lord’s Ascension (http://www.antiochian.org/sites/default/files/assets/asset_manager/e99a5a84333ba33b10a74cfd228c33c6.pdf)
The feast of Pentecost (http://www.antiochian.org/sites/default/files/assets/asset_manager/aa2cecccf942072bd7af8ff6fbfcd23b.pdf)
Pascha (http://www.antiochian.org/sites/default/files/assets/asset_manager/9787c3e3606169868df3c45ca8d46e7c.pdf)

Here are some ideas of ways to utilize this resource with your family:
1. Print the stand-ups one at a time, as each feast in the church year arrives.
2. After printing the stand-up, encourage your children to color the icons on it. (The icons are small, so colored pencils or fine-tipped markers will probably work best.) While they color, discuss the feast day and the festal icon together. What do you see in the icon? Why is that written into the icon? What can you learn from the icon about the feast? etc. (If you do this year after year, you may want to make notes of the discussion and/or answers your children give to these questions on the back/inside of the stand-up, before you fold and use it, and then at the end of the feast, unfold the stand-up, date it, and keep it in a binder for future reference. It will be interesting to look back, years later, and see how your child’s coloring and thinking skills have progressed!)
3. Place the stand-up where you can see it and be reminded of which feast we are currently celebrating. Perhaps you want to make it a part of your kitchen or dining room table centerpiece, or maybe you will place it in the family prayer corner: wherever it will be seen and can be used as a reminder.
4. Together as a family, sing the troparion of the feast. The words are printed right on the stand-up. (And the music for many of the festal troparia can be found here: http://www.antiochian.org/music/library/889#library_search.) Sing the troparion at morning or evening prayers, before a meal, etc. Let the troparion help your family remember that it is a feasting time, and why.
5. At the end of the year, challenge your family a “Feast Day Challenge.” Challenges can include working together to put the stand-ups in order according to the Church Year calendar (without looking at the dates on them). You could also ask each member of the family to tell something that they remember about each feast and/or the festal icon. Another idea would be to have a “fill-in-the-blank” contest where you read part of the troparion, omitting part of it, and seeing who can remember the missing part.
6. Save the stand-ups to reuse year after year, or disassemble them and save them in a binder as suggested above, if you want to keep track of your children’s coloring/answering progress. If you decide not to save them, cut out the two icons from each stand-up and make a matching/ “go-fish” game with the pieces, at the end of the year; or use them to decorate cards for godparents or lonely parishioners.

The feasts are such an important part of the Church year that it is imperative that we find ways to highlight and celebrate them. Creating your own copies of the AODCE’s stand-up centerpieces is a small yet tangible way that we can involve our children in preparing for the feast. After they are made, the stand-ups become a visible reminder of what it is we are celebrating, a resource of information, and a way to keep the festal icon and troparion before us throughout the course of the feast.

Making the Cupboard a Joy - Organze it!

Sometimes life gets ahead of me (okay -- often it does), and that sometimes translates to dysfunction. Believe it or not, I love organization, I love sorting, I love things in their place, I love the beauty that comes with a well ordered space -- it's just that tending and chasing little ones, while making another little one, takes priority over anything else.  I get "behind".

My baking ingredients cabinet/cupboard was messy and getting too out of control. It was impossible to take out anything without bumping something else, and things got easily shoved to the back out of reach.  Not to mention how displeasing and non-melodic the sound of packages and bag and wrappers are. To fix it, I got clear sealing jars with hinged lids, and printed out simple labels affixed with tape. 

Doesn't it look so much better?! Now not only are thing easier to locate and I don't accidentally knock anything over, but it's a calm feeling of "...ahhh..." every time I open the cabinet.  It's also easier for my kids to assist in the cooking and food-prep since they can open the jar and scoop out what's needed without fussing with a bag or package.  This was absolutely worth the time and effort -- it pays off almost every single day. 

Make an Inexpensive Waldorf Birthday Candle Ring

There is a lot to love about Waldorf inspired birthday traditions. No matter how you decide to modify and adjust things to your family needs, the focus is on an important life in your growing family and relationships. Even the focus of the table is not the cake, and certainly not the presents. The below idea & technique could be easily adapted for any kind of count-down celebration, too, like Advent or the Nativity Fast.

I really like the use of a candle ring, a circle or spiral candle holder with places for the age number of candles, and you can decide the fill the rest of the spots or not to your liking and needs.  I have seen beautiful examples of these, and many handcrafted wood ones that are well worth buying, but outside of my budget. So I decided to make one that was within my budget and skill set.


I got this wooden, blank 11.5" clock face from Michael's (also available at Hancock Fabrics), and some wooden candle cups at Hobby Lobby. (Note: those stores give a teacher discount, so don't forget your homeschool teacher id card)

I decided on candle cups that would take a standard size taper, which in the US is 7/8", because it will always be easy for me to find candles in the future. I would have preferred something smaller, but I'm trying to make this easy on myself. I used stain, sealer, and scraps of sandpaper I had left over from other projects, so the cost for the new supplies (wood pieces and wood glue) was about $13.

Many people will drill the candle holes right into the ring, but I opted to just glue wooden handle holders right on. I chose a wood glue that would accept stain just in case it became messy (which it usually does).

I started by marking my circle in quarters, then pencilled a rough idea of the center circle to cut out. I used my rotozip to do the cutting, and I am comfortable with the lines not being perfect -- in fact, I think it adds to the charm.

Then we took the cut pieces in and sanded them. In general, I have found there's always at least one kiddo who wants to help with the sanding, maybe more. It is so important to model and share making things by hand with your children. The center piece got sanded and added to the wood building blocks/toys.

The next part was staining it. I thought about all kinds of color schemes and ideas that would be fun, but in the end I decided to stain and seal it with things I had on hand. Reminder to self: keep it simple & fast & doable.  Note: to save time I just dipped the pieces right into the stain and then wiped off the excess. Although this did work, and was fast, it took way longer to dry than if I had just rubbed the stain on with a cloth. Then, I just glued the candle cups in place and let it dry. 

Ta da! I'm actually quite proud of the finished project, and I expect it will contribute to many celebrations in the coming years. It took less than an hour of my actual time (not counting letting things dry and set in between steps). I love how it can be arranged in many different shapes/configurations.


(It was suggested that this would make a great project as a candle holder for the various feasts and fasts of the year, especially the Nativity/Christmas Fast, or Phillips/Phillipo Fast. Simply put on the number of candle holders you need.)