DIY Lamentations Bier

We're having Holy Week at home this year so we wanted to be able to participate in everything as much as we would have if we could have gone to church for the services of Holy Week. My husband suggested that the kids and I could figure out a way to make a bier to use at home for the Lamentations service. 

A medium sized packing box was our starting point. I cut out the openings leaving extra room on the sides to be able to fold and tape them into pillars. This helps add to the stability of the construction. The dome shape was a little trickier construction just because I haven't built anything like this before. In retrospect it would have been easier to measure the top flat parts on either side of the dome and score and bend the cardboard before trying to tape it in place. If you decide to make one and don't want it to be too complicated then just go with a flat top - you'll still have the dome silhouettes.

After getting everything taped I spray painted the box to cover up the printing on it. I also spray painted the dome gold and added a cross. The paint over-sprayed a bit but I already had a plan to cover that up.

We made tissue paper flowers and hot glued them around the top of the dome. There are a lot of pictures you can find for reference on how to decorate the bier. Some are very elaborate but it's up to you to decorate it how you want. This part would be a lot of fun for little children to help with. They could use stickers, paint, or construction paper to help you decorate the bier.

In our own design we left the pillars empty so that we could decorate them with fresh flowers on the day of. I put some white cloth inside to cover up the bottom of the box.

As challenging as it can be to have Holy Week at home hopefully doing some crafts to help us be able to participate as we would in church will lead to some fun memories.

God's blessings to you as we all head into Holy Week!