Celebrating Palm Sunday

Every year my family attends Mass on Palm Sunday. Every year we come home with several palm fronds which end up in my bedroom tucked behind my mirror. This year I decided it was time to learn more about the palm fronds, how to properly dispose of our old ones, and how to make those cool palm frond crosses we've seen other make. So...today we read about Palm Sunday, and found a simple yet effective way to make crosses out of our palms. Here's the tutorial we used.


How to make palm Crosses to tuck behind picture frames and hang on your wall


Take a palm that is about 2 feet long and 1/2" wide (if it tapers at the top, this is good!). Hold the palm upright, so the tapered end points toward the ceiling.
Then bend the top end down and toward you so that the bend is about 5 or 6 inches from the bottom of the palm.
About a third of the way from the bend you just made, twist the section you've pulled down to the right, forming a right angle.

About an inch and a half away from the "stem" of the cross, bend this arm of the palm back behind the palm so that it is now facing to your left. Make the bend at a good length to form the right arm of the Cross.

Folding that same section at a point that equals the length on the right side, bend it on the left side and bring the end forward over what is now the front of the cross.

From the very center of the Cross, fold that arm up and to the upper right (in a "northeast" direction) so that it can wrap around where the upright post of the Cross and the right arm intersect.
Fold this down and to the left behind the Cross...

...and then fold it toward the right so that it is parallel and under the transverse arms of the Cross.
Bring it up behind the Cross again, this time folding it up toward the "northwest" direction.

Tuck the tapered end into the transverse section you made in step 7...

...and pull through.

Turn the Cross over; this side will be the front. Trim the tapered end if necessary, remembering that the palm is a sacramental and any part you trim away should be kept and respected as a sacramental! Use that piece for burning during storms.

My son Ryan is afraid of storms. Now he's telling me he's going to burn a piece of his palm frond to keep our family safe during the next storm. Gotta love that kid! All three of them were able to make a cross for their room from the palm frond they brought home from Mass. How cool is that?