Go with Ease for All Saints Day Costumes - Nearly a Decade of Simple Costumes Revisited

How is it nearly October? 

I have no idea, but I do know October is likely to fly as quickly as the past weeks and months have, so, today, I thought I would share some of our past All Saints Day costumes to get you and yours brainstorming about what your children might wear a month from now.

Mind you, we are not about picture-perfect costumes here. Rather, we go for no-sew, buy-as-little-as-possible, sometimes-last-minute, use-the-kids'-creative ideas costumes.

2011

Photos from our first All Saints Day parties have been (hopefully, temporarily) lost to hard drive failures on old computers. But, I do have a few snaps of our 2011 costumes.

My eldest child is the one in brown here. he wore Daddy's old military tee shirts with a rope around them as a brown monk costume to be St. Jerome.

My youbgest wore a lion costume - borrowed and tested at a family party - as his big brother "St. Jerome"'s lion.

Meanwhile, my daughter used doctor kit toys, a lab coat, and a baby doll to be St. Gianna.

2012

One day I pray I can recover our 2012 All Saints Day photos. When I do, I will try to remember to come back and update here. 

Until then, I do have this photo of my son with his homemade St. Michael costume on.

Plus, I can share that I think my daughter was St. Mary, using a cloak and tablecloths and carrying a baby doll and my youngest was symbolically (an oh so cute as!) St Luke with a hand-me-down horse costume fashioned into a winged ox one.

2013

We were sick for our local homeschool groups All Saints Day party, so we had a belated one with friends that year. 

"St. George" wore dollar store armor with taped on crosses and a red cloth cape.  He carried a weapon and even has a small dragon figurine (which cannot be seen in the picture) to represent the dragon legend says he slayed.

"St. Nina" wore the colors the saint is traditionally pictured in (a red dress, a blue tablecloth for a cape and a white lace tablecloth for a veil.)  She carried a "grapevine" cross and a scroll.

"St. Michael" wore an oversized tee shirt as a tunic, dollar store armor and homemade wings. He carried a dollar store weapon.

For the angel wings, we took a pair of broken Dollar Tree fairy wings and upcycled them.  First, we taped on a white cardstock cut out of an angel wing shape to the elastic arm bands.  Then, using "fancy" scissors, we cut out a bunch of feather shapes, which we glued on in layers.

2014

We enjoyed All Saints Day in a Catholic school gym.

A lab coat, babydoll, and toy stethoscope made me St. Gianna.

My eldest chose to use a tee shirt, the skirt of a dress, red cloth, Dollar Tree armor and a broomstick with homemade symbol attached to become St. Michael.

My daughter sported a hand-me-down velvet dress and cape with a little veil she put together, plus homemade fake flowers in a basket to be St. Elizabeth of Hungary.

My youngest wore an old white tee shirt made tunic over sweat pants and a sweat shirt, taped up dollar store armor, and a red cloth as a cape, plus used a dollar store sword to become St. George.

2015

This was the year that one of my children wore my favorite All Saints Day costume to date.

An old bridesmaid dress and fur stole easily helped me be St. Elizabeth of Hungary.

An oversized tee shirt tunic, belt, red cloth cape, and homemade duct tape battle weapons, helmet, and armor transformed my proud son into St. Mercurius. (He was determined to find a new saint that used a sword and was delighted to find one who used two!)

My favorite to date: St. Elizabeth (with St. John the Baptist, too)! My daughter wore a hand me down dress with an faux belly (laughably repurposed from a huge stuffed bra that my sister made one year when being Dolly Parton for Halloween), plus cloths and table cloths for cloak and veil.

And with no year here seemingly complete without St. George or St. Michael, my youngest used an oversized tees shirt tunic, rope belt, cloth cape, dollar tree armor with duct tape crosses, and duct tape battle weapon to be St. George.

2016

We enjoyed good weather at a local parish hall with just the eating inside.

I wore an old bridesmaid dress, a fur shawl and another shawl atop that, plus carried a basket with flowers and bread to be St. Elizabeth of Hungary.

My eldest wore a blue ao dai from my VietNam travel days with part of a silk outfit from my other Aisa travel days atop it, then used a feather and book as props to become St. Luke.

My daughter chose to layer tablecloths and other cloth over a dress and to carry a handmade "grapevine cross' and scroll to be St. Nina (also known as St. Nino)

My youngest went with St. George again using homemade armor over a hand-me-down armor costume tunic with a red cloth cape and homemade duct tape battle weapon sword as a prop

 

2017

We have lost our photos from 2017, but a friend gave me some, and, in them, you can see me with my ususal St. Gianna costume on.

My eldest child can be seen passing by in the background with an old angel costume gown and various cloths layered as a St. Peter costume to which he tied large cardboard keys he had painted. 

My daughter (in the red and white) went easy with a dress and stole as St. Elizabeth. 

My youngest reprised his St. Luke symbolic costume, cracking us upas the winged ox made from a horse costume.

2018

We were blessed to be able to celebrate both inside and out at a church hall with a Marian garden nearby.

I could not find a picture with me in it, but, for the record, I went with my standby St Gianna costume again.

My eldest son wore fake chainmail he had purchased for other purposes with a belt and  red cloth cape, held his two duct tape battle weapon swords, and happily became St. Mercurius again for the day.

My daughter chose to wear the flower girl dress that her cousin had worn at my wedding and to put together a basket of flowers and bread to be St. Elizabeth of Hungary again.

My youngest layered some dollar store armor over a hand-me-down medieval tuniccostume, then ticked in a red cloth cape and grabbed his trusty duct tape battle weapons sword to be St. George again.

2019

Since we got on finding a host location too late and could not find an inside venue, we had a potluck All Saints Day Picnic and Party, so opted to create costumes that were easy to move and play outside in and also could be layered pending the day's weather.

St. George, of course made a comeback for my Middle Ages loving eldest son who had bought faux chainmail and a mock sword earlier in the year.

I went with my long-time standby, St. Gianna, again.

My daughter tossed together a St. Zita, patron saint of domestic servants and homemakers costume using a simple skirt, apron, cloak, and broom.

My youngest son decided to be St. Jose Sanchez del Rio, modeling his clothing and a homemade prop off of typical saint card photos of the saint.

And, my husband, who is not the costume type, went with nknown Saints in Heaven by sporting a duct tape question mark on the front and back of his shirt.

2020

Sadly, 2020's party - which was scheduled to be outdoors at a friend's farm due to the pandemic - got canceled due to weather.

I'd also LOVE to see pictures of you past costumes. Do share them with us by posting them as comments or on our Facebook page. Thank you so much!

For more All Saints Day inspiration and ideas, enjoy clicking through to scroll our All Saints Day archives.

Saints in heaven, pray for us!

Learn and Pray on the Memorial of the Passion of John the Baptist

August 29 is the Memorial of the Passion of John the Baptist - a rather gruesome Biblical story to relate to sensitive children, but one that can be shared with a focus on John's virtues, rather than the details of his death.  Holy Spirit Interactive does this succinctly, reminding us that:

"(John the Baptist) would not remain silent while sin and injustice were happening. He asked people to be sorry for their sins, obey God and be His friend as true happiness comes only from God."

The Newman Connection also does a good job at offering a succinct explanation of the day, with a well written practical take away:

St. John the Baptist spoke the truth with great courage in calling others to a true change of heart, and to embrace the ways of God.  He did this not only by preaching, but also by example.  He fasted in the desert, and prepared the way for Jesus.  He had such a great courage, that he wasn’t fearful of speaking out about the immoral activities of his day.  This was the reasoning that led to his death, but he continued.  We can learn a lot from his life.  We too, can embrace the ways of God and speak out of the immorality of our day, and with the help of St. John the Baptist, we can prepare the way for Jesus to those around us. 

On this day, we will be bringing out our St. John the Baptist peg doll, which was painted by my youngest about a year ago for a peg doll swap we did with siblings and friends.

I love that he chose St. John the Baptist to paint for the swap, because St. John the Baptist is indirectly his name saint.  (My son is named after great-grampy, who went by Jack, but was named John Baptista after John the Baptist.) So, I thought it was great how my son wanted to paint his name saint...

...in multiple...

... and learn more about St. John the Baptist and his symbols...

...so he could share St. John the Baptist's story with friends.

 

Of course, the peg swap was not the first time we shared about S. John the Baptist with friends before.  A couple years ago, we celebrated John the Baptist's feast day through stories, food, water balloon games, and a baptism tray. If you're looking for lighter activities and ideas, go take a peak at what we did:

Any which way, you decide to honor the Memorial of the Passion of John the Baptist, it is worth thinking about the spiritual applications of St. John the Baptist's story as shared by Fr. Michael Van Sloun at Catholic Hotdish.com:

"The Baptist had a number of outstanding spiritual qualities.   He was a fierce advocate for truth and justice, fought hard for what is right, demonstrated his faith in a very public manner, walked in straight paths and urged others to do likewise, directed attention away from himself to Jesus, had a humble estimation of himself, and endured the suffering that came his way.  These admirable traits serve as inspiration and guidance for our spiritual lives."

The article there is not long as is quite worth a read to get an overview on the historical event of St. John the Baptist's death, its Gospel context, and its spiritual significance.

For more in depth details about St. John the Baptist, including links to many beautiful artworks, head on over to CatholicTradition.org's John the Baptist page.

Also, consider sharing this prayer with your family:

O God, who willed that Saint John the Baptist should go ahead of your Son both in his birth and in his death, grant that, as he died a Martyr for truth and justice, we, too, may fight hard for the confession of what you teach. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

~Collect Prayer, as shared on Catholic Culture, where you can find more details about the Memorial of the Passion of John the Baptist

May we all speak truth with courage, as St. John the Baptist did, calling others to true changes of heart, and speaking out against immorality.

St. John the Baptist, pray for us.

John the Baptist's Life in Food and Water Balloon Games? You Bet!

Three years ago, I recommitted to celebrating our family's Name Days and Baptism Anniversaries.  This year, our local Catholic homeschool community committed to celebrating at least one saint day a month together.  This past week, those two commitments converged and what resulted was a fun, faith-filled party!

I had planned for our group John the Baptist party to proceed, in order, with:

• an opening prayer

• a picture book and chat about St. John the Baptist

• a hands-on Baptism learning tray

• snacks

• water balloon fun

• free play 

However, hungry bellies demanded flexibility in the flow of the day.  Since the Saint Day celebration began right after an outdoor rocketry class that had gone a bit long, it made sense to kick off with food first.

John the Baptist Fare

We opened the celebration with a chat about John the Baptist using food as a teaching tool.  Basically, all the children gathered around a picnic table on which our party fare was laid out and, after praying the Sign of the Cross, I wondered aloud what connection some of our snacks might have to John the Baptist.  Based on the children's responses and some Q&A led by me, we were able to highlight some of John the Baptist's life story.

Among the John the Baptist-related fare were:

St. John's Honey and Fruit of the Spirit

John the Baptist is said to have eaten wild honey and locusts in the wilderness, so I brought raw local honey to put in a bowl and some fruits for dipping in it.  I asked others to contribute fruit, too.  With these as a focal point, we chatted about how John the Baptist lived in the wilderness and how, when he began to teach and baptize people, others thought that, perhaps, he was the Messiah.  However, John said, "I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming... He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit..." (John 3:16)  We, then, talked a bit about modern baptism,
 
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Iced Honey-Lavendar-Lemon Tea

Nina helped me prepare a simple honey-lavender-lemon tea by boiling water, squeezing lemons, and then adding the juice of the lemons, some raw, local honey and lavendar to the tea, before refrigerating and icing it.  The honey reminded us of John the Baptist's diet and the sweetness of faith; the lemon reminded us of the sourness of sin made sweet by accepting faith, repenting and practicing Reconciliation; and the sweet fragrance of lavender reminded us of the sweetness of Jesus coming to be with us on earth.  


Unfortunately, I forgot to bring our lovely glass pitcher and some pretty paper cups, so the tea would look lovely for serving.  Luckily, it was just as refreshing served from my friend's plastic pitcher into recycled baby food jars!

Jesus Being Baptized in the Jordan River Juice Wigglers

I made "John and Jesus at the Jordan" using the same juice wiggler recipe that I typically use, but sans any honey or maple syrup since the organic apple juice I chose for it was sweet enough!  (I opted for apple juice because (a) it has no dye in it the way blue drinks would and (b) the Jordan River often looks brown in pictures.)
 
I wanted to lay the Jesus figurine we have from our Galilee Boat with Apostles Play Set into the river, but I could not find it.  So I used one of the apostle figurines as Jesus instead and, then, stood the Noah figurine from our Noah's Ark Play Set next to him as John the Baptist.  This should have been easy, but - oops! - when I went to lay "Jesus" in what I thought was a cooled and half-gelled "Jordan" river, I took the dish of wigglers out of our fridge too quickly only to discover the Jordan was still in total liquid flow form.  Thus, a wave of it landed all over my fridge and floor.  What a mess! Thankfully, there was still plenty left to gel to act as a focal point for telling what is perhaps the most popular Bible story related to John the Baptist.

Trinity Pretzels

We had both gluten-full and gluten-free pretzels, which, I had initially thought might be used made to make "locusts" a la Catholic Cuisine's ideas.  However, when the aforementioned kitchen mishap occurred, I decided I wasn't up for more food crafting. Thus, the pretzels simply became another way of pointing us to the Trinity, just as John the Baptist pointed folks towards God.

Circle Time

Once the children filled bowls or plates with snacks, they were invited to come sit on some blankets in the shade with me where we prayed grace, read about John the Baptist and took turns using a Baptism Tray.

I had brought both The Loyola Treasury of Saints and Jesus and John the Baptist with me to the party to share with the children.  However, given the young age of some of the children who came to the celebrate, I opted to read only Jesus and John the Baptist since it had more illustrations.  
 

As we read, I paused often to discuss the significance of certain events within John's life.  I also opted to wrap our reading up before the final pages of the book in respect for our younger and more sensitive children.  I did not feel that some were ready to process the gruesome death John the Baptist faced, but rather concluded by saying the John the Baptist left this earthly life and entered Heaven.

After the story, I brought out a Baptism Learning Tray.  It was absolutely beautiful to see how engaged the children - young and older - were in the presentation I gave, which was quite similar to the one I offered my own children when I first put together a tray like this in 2013.  It was equally as heart-warming to witness each child take such care in baptizing our "baby", who they collectively named Jeffrey Andrew John Jesus.

John the Baptist's Life in Water Balloon Games

Finally, it was time for the water balloon games that the children had waited so patiently for as all our balloons were filled!  Each game was designed to remind the children of a part of John the Baptist's life story.

Mute Like John's Dad

Before the first game, I asked the children if they recalled who John the Baptist's parents were - Zacharias and Elizabeth.  We recalled how an angel appeared to Zacharias and told him that Elizabeth would have a son and that they must call him John, how Zacharias thought his wife was too old to conceive a child, and how Zacharias then was struck dumb until after John's birth.  In memory of the birth of the conception of John, the children were challenged to move water balloons from one bucket to another, making sure each child touched each balloon and not talking at all. 

That done with relative ease, they then were challenged to move the balloons back to the initial bucket without using their voices or their hands!

Leaping in the Womb

Before our next game, the children recalled the story of the Visitation.  We talked about how John and Jesus were cousins and how when Mary, withchild with Jesus, and Elizabeth, carrying John, met, John lept in Elizabeth's womb.

To recall this story, the children were challenged to hop, with a water balloon betwixt their knees, as fast as they could.

Two Tunics

For our third game, we recalled how John the Baptist was a great teacher who pointed the way toward Jesus.  We remembered how he said, "Whoever has two tunics should share with the person who has none. And whoever has food should do likewise." (John 3:11)

Then, in teams, we attempted to toss and catch water balloons using large tee shirts.  It was so much fun! 

Baptism with Water

 

Finally, we discussed again how John the Baptist baptized people in water while Jesus came to baptize us in the Spirit.  In honor of this, we had a free-for-all balloon baptism battle!

After that, the fellowship, fun and water play continued.

What a fun event it was!  Perhaps something we enjoyed will inspire a future faith-based event for you and yours.

What are some of your favorite John the Baptist books, activities, games and resources?