$3 and 3 minute St. Lucia Crown

This Friday, December 13th, is the Feast Day of St. Lucy.  Only two days away, you would think it's a bit too late for a craft tutorial, but this one is so quick and easy, you have plenty of time!

The traditional St. Lucia celebration in Sweden includes a St. Lucia crown - an evergreen wreath with candles in it (maybe you remember this from the American Girl Kirsten?).  Lucia is finally old enough to be involved in a bit of her name day celebration, so I was determined to make her a crown this year.  I went to the craft store and bought all these things to make an elaborate (and somewhat expensive) crown. Then I went to the dollar store and found items for a much easier, much, much cheaper version.  Here's what I did:

I bought garland ($1) and 2 two-packs of taper candles ($1 x 2).

Then, I cut the candles in half. You might be able to leave them whole for order kids, but they just seemed too long for little Lucia (and easier to break if they were whole).  I just sawed through them with a steak knife.

I didn't even unwrap the garland - the size it came rolled up in the package was perfect for a tiny toddler head, but if you need too, you can unwrap it and rewrap it in the size you need for your child. I pulled out enough length to go around the garland twice, then pushed the candles down into the garland.  I wrapped the length I had pulled out around each individual candle twice to keep it in place and wound the end of the garland under the wreath to secure it.  That's it.  If you wanted more stability, you could buy stem wire from the craft store and tie it in strategic places.  As is, though, it would work fine for older children and for toddlers, well, I kind of feel like they would be able to pull it apart no matter what.

 Naked toddler not included.

With liturgically colored candles, this could make a decent last minute Advent wreath as well.  (It's not too late to start celebrating Advent!  If you've been wanting to, just jump right in, no need to wait for next year!)  And if you are interested in incorporating more feast days celebrations throughout the year (without becoming overwhelmed), I can't recommend Haley and Daniel Stewart's Feast! Real Food, Reflections, and Simple Living for the Christian Year enough.  It is now available in ebook and PRINT!