Lent

My Small Reminder of Lent

For the last few years I’ve enjoyed decorating for spring as well as all the beautiful things that come along with Easter. This blog has really motivated me to enjoy all the different seasonal decorations.

But believe it or not there has been a sense that I was doing something wrong when I decorate for Easter early in the season. eek…

Why you ask? Well when I was growing up, there was no such thing as spring decorating during Lent. Nope, in my Catholic home, this time of year was very quiet and somber for the most part. There was also a very strong dedication to attending the Holy Week services. Well that and my mom making habichuela con dulce during the weeks before those services. A really yummy dessert made from beans of all things! My sister loved it, I would pretty much ruin the pot by picking out all the little cookies my mom would drop in at the very end 🙂

Did you have any Lent traditions in your home growing up?

Ok, back to that sense that I was completely wrong for even touching anything that was remotely happy and covered in spring beauty these past few years. (Slightly dramatic but hey it’s what I felt)

I couldn’t help but remember the way things were when I was growing up. Not that we didn’t decorate but that it was more of a somber atmosphere during Lent. There were Good Fridays where my father would even turn off radios and TVs out of respect for the day and of course,  for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

So a part of me felt that maybe I should honor those traditions, even if it’s just in a smaller version of theirs, but without giving up my spring decorating. It’s just too pretty to give up! I figured it was also a good time to maybe even learn more about my God, that I love so much, read my Bible more and just slow down here and there. (Such a hard task for me)

I have to confess though I’m a far stretch from being an expert when it comes to Lent traditions as well as any decorating or not decorating rules.

So I hope this very simple decoration is not against any of your traditions but I really wanted to create something that was very simple and a good reminder of Lent for me.

ok guys, I would love to share this very simple reminder of Lent with you.

My Small Reminder of Lent

I chose to use a small white candle for my “small Lent reminder” and then I wanted to add in purple, since that’s the color of Lent.

I feel as if I’m always in the kitchen either washing dishes or making someone something to eat so I figured I’d place my candle right there where I can see it and enjoy regularly.

FYI: Those purple flowers are the same florals that I shared here about a month ago. They dried so perfectly that I couldn’t help but make use of them again!

I love to decorate and craft so my candle couldn’t escape getting all dolled up 🙂 but I kept it really simple…

I wrapped my candle with a purple satin bow, a strip of square shaped rhinestone adhesives from the dollar store and a pretty purple patterned scrap paper that I saved from a wedding card.

(The flat marbles come in at the end)

I wish I could say that I made that pretty bow for my candle but it actually came from the same wedding card that I took the purple scrap paper lined around the bottom of my candle. The bow was already tied as you see here and I just needed to attach it to my candle.

(FYI: Safety first! Don’t light candles with decorative/flammable pieces like this)

I ended up using tape to keep everything in place. This works for me since my candle is against the wall but double sided adhesive dots (pictured below) may work well here too and have a cleaner finish.

I made my candle a few weeks ago and don’t remember what kind of tape I used but I’ve been playing with clear masking tape a lot lately so that’s probably what’s on my candle. Superhold scotch tape works ok too, as well as Double-sided dot stickers.

Lastly, I used a small appetizer plate to hold my candle that I lined with those flat marbles you see in the photos and I used those square rhinestones to line my little plate as well.

I know that this is probably far from traditional for a Lent decoration, especially the rhinestones but it’s hard to get away from what I’m used to doing, which is crafting and decorating.
Besides, this is really to help me remember what Lent is about, and in my heart it’s all about Jesus Christ and what he did for us. He’s royalty to me 💜 so I think it’s ok if I use rhinestones, in my home at least. Let’s just not tell him that they came from the dollar store 🙂

Sending happy, safe, and healthy vibes your way. May God bless you and your family today and every beautiful day to come!