The Bible tells us that when Jesus entered Jerusalem, the crowds greeted him with waving palm branches and by covering his path with palm branches. This is why it became customary in many churches for each person attending worship services to receive a fresh palm leaf on Palm Sunday.
One of the customs in my household and my husbands was to turn that palm into a cross.
We usually spend Palm Sunday with husband's parents celebrating Palm Sunday and FIL's birthday (he turns 92 this coming Wednesday). We traditionally have an Italian lunch then FIL's favorite cake (German Chocolate Cake with Coconut Pecan Frosting). Since I am still non-weight bearing, daughter had the pleasure of making the cake today which she actually loves to do since she loves the frosting (yes it is homemade). After cake and FIL opened a few gifts (mostly puzzles), we spent the afternoon doing our tradition of turning our palms into crosses. We then helped FIL do a puzzle then left as he was pretty tuckered out from the whole day that began with church services this morning. Even with his advanced dementia, FIL did not forget how to make his cross.
Here are the steps that we have always used.
Step 1: Hold the palm in your hand horizontally
Step 2: At the midway point of the palm make a fold so that it is bent to a 90 degree angle
Step 3: At the midway point of the palm, fold one piece down over the other so it overlaps and points down toward the floor
Step 4: Fold that same piece you just bent tightly downward so that it wraps around and is now pointing up toward the ceiling.
Step 5: Grasp the piece that has been stationary (unfolded) and fold it across the piece you have been previously working with to create a square.
Step 6: Still holding the section of the palm you just folded over, slide it through the square that you just finished making at the center point of the palm. The exact spot you want to slide the palm through is located on the back of the palm and will go under the first fold you made when starting the folding process in step 3.
Step 7: Pull that section of palm through until the knot is tight enough to not need pressure to hold it in place.
Part 2 begins once the knot has been made and is fully secure.
Step 1: Take the section of the palm that points upward and fold it down. Slide it through the square to create the front of the cross.
Step 2: Take that same piece and slide it back up through the square from the previous step to make the bottom of the cross.
Step 3: At this point you are halfway done. Turn the palm over so that the horizontal section of the palm is facing to the right. As you view it from above you should see a vertical square . Take the piece of the palm now facing the right and slide it through the square to make the first side of the cross.
Step 4: Take the same section of palm you just worked with and slide it through the same square you just used in step 3. The key is to make sure when you do this that you thread it behind where you just slid it through so you do not undo your work.
At this point you are done and have a cross made of palms. There will be some pieces that are uneven and it is okay to trim them off or down to make the palm cross look more uniform. Keep in mind many people make mistakes the first time, but it is okay. Palm is forgiving enough to allow you to try again until you get it right.
