How to Make a Palm St. Brigid's Cross

Palm Sunday means it's time to get busy making neat little palm crosses, hearts and other decorations! With the handful of palms we brought home yesterday I thought it'd be nice to try making a St. Brigid's Cross.

Let me tell you that while they are certainly lovely they are NOT EASY!!!!!!!!!! (Well, at least not easy to make from fresh soft green slippery palms, anyway!) So, after several failed attempts, I discovered a couple of tricks that are sure to guarantee success. What, might you ask, is my secret weapon: GLUE DOTS! My disastrous tangled mess of palms was gloriously rescued by these sticky little angels! Orchestral melodies danced in my head as before my eyes my palms were transformed from Chinese Tavern Puzzle Chaos to Organized and Sturdy Masterpiece! (By-the-way, if you're a crafter and have never used glue dots before you must drive to a craft store stat to pick some up! They're that good.) So, without further ado, here's my Palm St. Brigid's Cross How-To:

You Will Need:

--11 (7 for cross and 4 to tie ends) palms, carefully torn in half (approx. 1/4" w.)

--glue dots

--rubber bands

--loads of patience (er, just kidding...kinda!)



Step 1.
Begin by forming a simple cross from 2 palm fronds as pictured below:




Step 2.
Place a third palm frond on right behind the horizontal cross piece and AFFIX WITH GLUE DOT to secure. Fold over tightly so that ends are pointing down (toward you).





Step 3.
Carefully rotate cross 90 degrees (counter clockwise) and repeat step 2: place palm behind on right side of horizontal palms, folding down at center and securing with glue dots to hold in place.



Step 4.
You are going to keep repeating step 3: rotating cross 90 degrees counter-clockwise to add a new frond to to the right.




Step 5.
Your cross is complete once you have a total of 7 palms in place.



Step 6.
Now it's time to trim the ends so that they are even on all sides (approx 4 inches from center on all sides)


Step 7.
With rubber bands, gather palm fronds and tightly wrap



Step 8.
Wrap remaining palms around rubber bands to cover the them, tucking ends into rubber band. Trim the ends.




Viola!


Your cross should look something like this:




If you're having a tough time with this or need a video additional visuals, try watching this Youtube video: How to Make a St. Brigid's Cross

And besides, it's worth watching just to hear her great accent! As you can see this lady has mad cross-making skills that I can never hope to compete with! :p Hence... Glue Dots!

I hope this tutorial inspired you to try making a Palm St. Brigid's Cross!

And thank you Glue Dots for another craft rescue!!

Happy Holy Week!

(Disclaimer: I have not been paid to promote Glue Dots in any way! I'm just their Number One Fan. Cue: Creepy Theme Music from "Misery.")





Linked to:

Weekend Reflection: Palm Sunday

photo source


"The very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road,

while others cut branches from the trees
and strewed them on the road.
The crowds preceding him and those following
kept crying out and saying:
'Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is the he who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest!'"
-Matt. 21:8-9



On this day, Palm Sunday, I pray that you are filled with the spirit of the Lord.
Wishing you a day filled with His Light as we begin Holy week,
the most sacred week of the liturgical year.
As we turn our eyes toward the Easter Resurrection,
may your soul be lifted and your heart touched by
His love, mercy and grace.