Hello my Dear Readers!!
Happy beautiful month of May! To honor our blessed Mother in a special way this month, I wanted to *finally* share with you a little project I began a while back. In an effort to make the Rosary a little more accessible to those of us who find it sometimes hard to pray on Rosaries or Rosary bracelets, I had it in my mind to make a type of rosary that can be counted on as you pass by – a type of wall “abacus.” I came up with this idea because as a mom who is often pacing the house with a baby, I sometimes can’t hold anything else in my hands, and it’s so easy to lose count while praying! Which makes me feel defeated when my nerves are already on edge if said beautiful baby is fussy, teething, or restlessly trying to get to sleep. 😉
So I created this Rosary board to be hung in the family room for this purpose. I didn’t realize though, that this project would turn into something far greater – In creating the wall Rosary, my kids became fascinated with it, and started to be interested in praying with me so they could move the beads along themselves! So we’ve been praying the Rosary together, the kids and I, for months now. I wasn’t really a faithful daily Rosary person, except in phases when I was single and had less distractions. 😉 But I realized that we need the Rosary now more than ever, and although it isn’t always easy to get through, the graces make such a difference in our day. It even becomes a Catechism lesson, and I’ve noticed when I make it a dedicated part of our day, that the kids expect it. Since they’re all so young, I try to let them just “be” and play with blocks or even color while we pray, as long as they do something quiet that doesn’t take up too much concentration and allows them to pray aloud along with me. Now they are memorizing mysteries and we are going over many aspects of our Faith, and all through this beautiful prayer!
SO. Here are the details on what I used to make our family wall/abacus Rosary so you can make your own! I’ve made a couple versions, one that the kids use and can be rough-handled, and one that hangs in our family room (above). Here’s the kids’ one:
I definitely want to experiment more with different colors, but so far this is what I used:
Materials:
- A wood pallet plaque (I got mine from Michael’s for under $5 each)
- Sandpaper
- A good wood stain (I used a beautiful dark cherry stain for my finished one, but the kids’ one is unstained)
- Regular paint brush
- 4 hardware hooks
- Natural jute cord/twine
- Beads that will fit snugly
- Sharpie oil paint markers
- *optional but un-tested: some type of wood finish/sealer
Instructions:
- In a protected work-station, sand down your wood pallet plaque carefully.
- Use your paintbrush to stain wood pallet according to directions (and maybe in garage or outdoors because of fumes). I did about 3 coats.
- Let dry for about 24-48 hours.
- I didn’t use any sort of finishing sealant, but I did notice that the stain took days to dry before it stopped rubbing off when touched, so it might be a good idea to use one. 🙂
- If using a 4-board pallet board like I did, decorate to your preference with oil-based Sharpies on top and bottom boards. I liked the look of the white writing on the dark cherry stain, but have fun experimenting with different colors/designs! I wrote “Sancta Maria, ora pro nobis – Holy Mary pray for us,” but “Ave Maria, gratia plena” is another idea! You have to do a few coats with the markers, but just follow the directions about how to use them and you should be good!
- Let writing dry.
- Arrange 4 hardware hooks on the 3rd beam as shown in the picture by hand-twisting them into the wood.
- I used rose beads to count mysteries and then brown beads to count the Our Father/Hail Mary’s. Any color scheme will do! Thread the beads through the twine, and tie the twine snugly on the hooks. This would be a good time to add a little Marian medal or crucifix if you like too! Don’t forget to secure the Our Father bead with a couple of knots as shown in the picture below.
- Hang Wall Rosary where you need it most and enjoy praying! <3
God bless you, and happy praying!
P.S. I’d love to see your rosary board if you make one! If you’re on Instagram, feel free to tag me so I can see! 🙂 My IG handle is @alleluiaisoursong <3