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Shelly Rappmund, Deanna Rappmund Sanchez and Raelyn Rappmund led a fun, hands-on crafts and activities workshop for the ACC.
Carol Baass Sowa | Today's Catholic |
By Carol Baass Sowa
Today's Catholic
SAN ANTONIO • “Lions and camels and sheep! Oh, my!” With some donkeys and doves thrown in for good measure, the Rappmund sisters’ “Creative Crafts for Catechists” workshop on July 8, part of the Archdiocesan Catechetical Center’s (ACC) summer classes for religious educators, was a veritable Noah’s ark!
When it comes to creative, inexpensive crafts to enhance religious education classes for children, nobody beats the Rappmund sisters -- Deanna Rappmund Sanchez and Shelly and Raelyn Rappmund. Referred to by Cherryl Sagan, ACC’s media resource consultant, as “three of the ‘craftiest’ ladies you’re ever going to meet,” the trio are longtime presenters in this field, continuing the family tradition of their mother, the late Rosemary Rappmund of Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in St. Hedwig.
Attendees had to choose nametags in the shapes of the above-mentioned animals as an ice-breaker, covering their tags to find others in their chosen species by vocalizing their animal’s distinctive calls -- cooing, bleating, braying, roaring and, well, approximating dromedary communication.
As in a children’s classroom, this led to much laughter, followed by the participants discussing the reason for their choice in animal and having to convince Noah why they were a likely candidate for the ark. “You need land? We’re going to find you a seaport!” offered a peaceable Dove.
The sisters reported their favorite stores (and source of their craft materials) as being Wal-Mart and Dollar Tree, with the animal cut-outs used as tags purchased at the latter in a package of 30 for $1.
The Rappmunds are fond of recycling items and the little fishing poles were bamboo sticks from someone’s yard, with the netting being left-over from a wedding. Popsicle sticks would work just as well, they noted.
On the feast day of Our Lady of the Snows, rose petals are released over the sanctuary of her church in Rome, leading to an accompanying craft project of making little gift bags of rose petals which, it was noted, can be inexpensively purchased at Hobby Lobby if one keeps an eye out for the half price wedding goods sales they hold every few weeks. The result is a box of faux rose petals that can fill 25 little bags for just $1.99.
Another popular handicraft was creating a stemmed “rosebud” out of two bottom-to-bottom Hershey kisses tightly wrapped in cellophane, attached to a pipe cleaner stem with green floral tape -- again, all inexpensive items. These candy roses can also be part of Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day classes, used in a May crowning of Mary or delivered to nursing homes.
For this and dozens of other projects demonstrated in the full-day class, participants each had the opportunity to produce their own versions and to take home patterns, along with a CD guide. Some fun projects called for group efforts, a memorable one being constructing king-size rosaries with beads cut from flexible foam “pool noodles” ? accomplished for a mere 75¢ with end of summer sales.
A good source for games and activities, the Rappmunds related, is www.diva-girl-parties-and-stuff.com, and for inexpensive religious presents, autom.com and catholicdirect.com. The trick is to keep your eyes open for bargains. Autom.com, they revealed, has Market Sale Mondays, if you sign up for their e-mail list, and offers a page of around 800 items under a dollar.
It was noted the best price for bargain nativity sets is in June and July, and they recalled snaring 6-inch high ones for 49 cents apiece, with another DRE once discovering 29¢ nativities online ? inexpensive enough to order one for every student in religious education.
At days end, the “doves,” “camels,” “sheep,” “lions” and “donkeys” headed home with hands and bags full of crafts and heads swimming with creative ideas for their religious education classes this fall.