We Whisk You A Merry Kissmas

This craft is a sweet surprise for the chocolate lover in your life! A homemade Christmas gift, it's easy enough for children to make and give.

Makes a great teacher gift (hint, hint, hint), stocking stuffer or workplace Secret Santa present.

To make your "Kissmas Whisk"

~~> place a handful of foil-wrapped chocolate kiss candies between the tines of a new kitchen whisk. Or go all out and add some wonderful 100% Venezuelan dark cacao (HEB). Of course, you have to have kisses in there to carry our play on words but any excuse to nibble that dark cacao is scrumptious.

And make sure you embrace that teachable moment for your little ones. Really work with that wonderful word . . . . tines.

~~> Wrap whisk bottom with plastic food storage wrap and tape wrap to handle.

~~> Add a pretty bow or ribbon, and attach a copy of the Kissmas Whisk gift tag for a charming stocking stuffer or 12 Days of Christmas gift.

This could also be an old fashioned (the whisk) romantic (the kisses) gift from Dad to Mom. Dad, make SURE you know her chocolate preferences because Kisses offer choices these days!

I think this gift should be given to family members with a full melodious rendition of,

"We whisk you a Merry Christmas,
We whisk you a Merry Christmas,
We whisk you a Merry Christmas,
Come right over here!"

Then Grandmom or cousin Mark or Sissy gets a big family kiss and hug!

FYI: full, total, complete and all credit for this grand idea goes to Cynthia Townley Ewer. The original post can be found at Organized Christmas. They even offer a printable gift tag in .PDF format.

PurpleGal graphic source: http://www.webweaver.nu/clipart/people/women/2.shtml

Treasure Chest of Fun & Fact

A great find!

Treasure Chest of fun & facts from The American Catholic History Research Center and University Archives

<~~ Here is an example of a page from the archives of ACUA Digitized Online Materials

Description from the American University site at the online archives page:

Treasure Chest of Fun & Fact

A Catholic comic book fondly remembered by generations of parochial school students.
To view the WRLC Digital project click here.

Vatican Timeline

I found this Vatican Timeline at VaticanTimeline.com. I thought it looked like a great Easter present for the family. At $25.00 it isn't inexpensive but looks to be of high quality.

Has anyone any experience with this company?

They also offer a Vatican Board Game. The author is Stephen Haliczer is a Distinguished Research Professor at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois. Dr. Haliczer received his B.A. from Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, and his Ph.D. from St. Andrew's University in Fifeshire, Scotland.

Here is an interesting quote of Haliczer's:

"The Vatican board game really is an effort to dispel some of the mythology surrounding the Catholic Church. In popular culture there’s not only a great deal of curiosity about the inner workings of the Catholic Church, there’s also a great deal of confusion because of the secretive nature of some of its deliberations and processes. . . . I think (playing this game will help people) understand a great deal more about it, and they’ll see that the process involves a careful nurturing of talent over a long period of time. In other words the cardinals that do emerge as possible papal material are cardinals that are seasoned. They have a distinguished record in a pastoral sense as archbishops. For example Pope Benedict XVI, as Archbishop of Munich, was very widely respected in his role as pastoral leader. And then they have experience in two very important areas, serving in episcopal organizations like bishops conferences and synods on the one hand, and serving the central administration of the church, the curia. My game reflects that."

H/T to VoxNova's contributor Blackladder for this find. Original VoxNova post here.

Catholic Gift Resource

Wonderful Catholic Gifts!

So inexpensively priced that you will want to (and be able to) give a donation to help keep this organization up and running! Catholic City

A quick example or two (The Mary Foundation and St. Jude Media)!

The Mary Foundation

The Mary Foundation is the world's largest producer of Catholic CDs. We offer nine life-changing talks:

• Healing and Holiness
  by Vinny Flynn
• Marriage and the Eucharist
  by Christopher West
• Seven Secrets of the Eucharist
  by Vinny Flynn
• The Rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet
  Now with the Luminous Mysteries
• The Mass Explained
  by Fr. Larry Richards
• The Conversion of Scott Hahn
  by Dr. Scott Hahn
• John Corapi's Amazing Story
  by Fr. John Corapi
• Confession
  by Fr. Larry Richards
• The Truth About Mary
  by Patrick Madrid and Marcus Grodi

____________________________________________________

• Saint Jude Media

  With three runaway bestsellers, Saint Jude Media is America's leading publisher of contemporary Catholic fiction.

  Pierced by a Sword
  This beloved, epic story is a must-read for every Catholic. The Number #1 Catholic novel of the decade.

  Conceived Without Sin
  Prepare to plunge deep into a story about men and marriage with characters who will stay with you for a lifetime.

  House of Gold
  A riveting adventure about courage, suffering, and redemption. Take the "long walk" with Buzz Woodward.

CVSTOS FIDEI

I just found a blog that is FULL of Catholic news, posts and information!

Here is the link to CVSTOS FIDEI - Defending the Faith. Enjoy!