creative jewish mom

Hanukah Menorah From Recycled Cardboard Tubes

Here it is dear readers, a fun Hanukah menorah kid's craft, or adult craft or any age craft that's just plain cute and can be customized in so many ways. You could make this Hanukah menorah from tp rolls or cardboard tubes that the kids decorate first, or you could cut them and then give them to the kids to decorate. Or you could just enjoy it as is!

I knew these toilet paper tubes with the blue insides would come in handy somehow, and I finally figured it out! (Look for toilet paper that's blue with a jeans theme, that's what these were!) Of course I didn't have quite enough blue ones handy, so I was very lucky to find enough with white insides! If your tubes are all brown on the inside, not to worry, you can certainly paint them, right?

You'll Need:

• 11 toilet paper tubes (one to make a template, nine for the menorah and one to extend the height of the shamash)
• glittered craft foam, or glitter
• glue

How To:

Step 1: Draw a candle on the tube as shown on the right of the photo below. Cut out the candle such that you have a piece that looks like that on the left in the photo.

Step 2: Use your cut out piece to trace identical candle shapes on each of the 9 remaining tubes, and then cut out the space around the candle with sharp scissors.

Step 3: Trace the flame onto glittered craft foam, and cut out individual flames and glue to candle.

Step 4: Add a piece of tube to the shamash middle candle so that it will be higher than the rest. Assemble menorah by glueing at the bases with regular glue (hold with paper clips until it dries) or hot glue.

If you'd like to get the kids in involved in this one, give them individual candles to decorate with glitter, sequins, scraps of a paper, yarn etc, and glue on the flame at the end. Enjoy! Would love to see what you do with this idea!

 

Pom Pom Holiday Decor Kids Love To Make

My kids love to make pom poms. Infact they were fighting over the Clover pom pom maker last night as I was making dinner. And I fully expect the pom pom making to continue this evening, which is of course just fine with me. Not a terribly creative activity, but the act of making something, anything, is a wonderful thing and always something to be encouraged. So I think I'll get out some more colors and be on standby to cut the pom poms off the pom pom maker and give them a little hair cut. 

I do think that pom poms hung from a stick (or even a wire hanger?) make perfectly cute holiday decor, so let the pom pom making commence in your house! Of course if you have just too many pom poms when the excitement dies down, you can always use them for great gift toppers or make some of my pom pom flowers for your table. Have fun!

Crocheted Scalloped Bracelet Ornament

Here's a sweet little crocheted scalloped ornament that I made for Chanukah, but that would really look great any time of year. For Chanukah I'll be hanging ornaments from our dining room chandelier and hopefully making some mobiles and garlands with them too. You can always find a place to hang a little handmade touch to bring joy to your home for the holidays!

 

You'll Need:

• thin bangle bracelets from the dollar store
• yarn in your favorite color
• chinese cord (for hanging)
• a tiny bit of embroidery thread
• a crochet hook
• small mirrors
• fish line
• hot glue or any strong adhesive

How To:

Step 1: Make a slip knot on your crochet hook, and then start single crocheting around the bracelet. You'll want to get as many stitches on the bracelet as you can comfortably such that the crocheting lays flat and doesn't start to ruffle which would happen if you crocheted too many stitches in this first row. End the row by joining the last stitch to the first one with a slip stitch.

Step 2: Now it's time for the second row, which is basically a scallop stitch. There are many ways to make a scallop stitch, this is just one of them. Skip two stitches, and in the third stitch from the needle crochet the following in the same stitch (1sc, 1 hdc, 1 dc, 1 trc, 1dc, 1 hdc, 1sc), then skip 2 stitches, make a sc in the next stitch, skip two more stitches and make a scallop in that stitch as stated above. Continue around the bracelet in this manner. You many not have the exact number of stitches necessary at the end so either add or substract to the 2 chain spaces such that it works out. Join to the beginning of the round with a slip stitch. Now you have a gorgeous little crocheted frame that you could use in so many ways, even as a picture frame!

Step 3: Glue a piece of fishing line to the back of one of the small mirrors, and then add more glue and place another mirror on top, such that you now have a two sided mirror to hang in the middle of your ornament.

Step 4: Tie the small mirror to your length of chinese cord, and then wrap the cord around the ornament. You could tie the cord, but that gets a bit bulky, so I choose to bind it with some embroidery thread, a delicate touch that looks great.

Step 5: Tie the top of your cord in knot and hang. Great job, it's gorgeous!  These would look fabulous made in a bunch of pastel and metallic colors and hung just about anywhere. 

Wishing you a wonderfully creative holiday season, with enough time and energy to make some quick home made gifts and to learn a new craft while you're spending time with loved ones. Of course I'm voting for crocheting, though knitting is great too, and embroidery is wonderful.........whatever you choose I know you'll be glad you did! 

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday! Last week we had a great bunch of crafters from around the world including  Canada, The United States, Australia, France, Germany, The United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Denmark, South Africa, Singapore, Muldavia and Macedonia, and for the first time, Switzerland! And of course, the selection of projects was very inspiring, and I've picked my favorites for you here:

I just love love love this fabulous bircage ornament from craft snob, maybe it's finally time to learn to use a welding iron.....and this amazing puppet from jelly fish jelly has hands and face made from sculpted aluminum foil!

Simply lovely chunky knitted cowl from festotu and super cute cake topper animals from sew can do.

Brilliant chopstick lampshade from how joyful, and fun scrap bias trim from between the lines.

Abstract wall art painted by the kids, from Lilla A. and these fabulous paper gems from mini eco.

Punched paper candle covers from design megillah, and amazing skate ornaments made from twigs by michele made me.

Fun "Chanukah in a jar" from altered artworks, and vintage button earrings from busy in Brooklyn.

This DIY studded clutch from inspiration realisation, and this fun upcycled container gardening project from nurture store.

That's all for now, a bunch of super projects right? In keeping with my yearly tradition, Craft Schooling Sunday will be taking a break for the month of December, so here's your last chance to share in 2011, go for it!

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Banana Loaf

I've been meaning to share this delicious whole wheat oatmeal banana bread with you for some time now, just I keep wondering whether the photo is just a little bit strange? You'll forgive me right? I made this cake for Simchat Torah, and rushed outside to photograph it just before the holiday began. My usual outdoor spot was occupied by our Succah so I had no choice but to hold the cake up in front of the gorgeous view and there you have it! If you love banana bread, this one is a winner and quite low in fat and sugar as far as cake goes!

Ingredients:

2 eggs
1/4 cup oil
1/3 cup milk or soymilk or water, use 3 eggs if using water, like i did....
2-3 smashed bananas
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup oats
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup chocolate chips/pecan pieces/craisins/dried blueberries (whatever you feel like tossing in really)

Blend all wet ingredients together (including bananas). Add the oatmeal and let sit for 5-10 minutes. Then add all the dry ingredients at once and stir until blended. Makes one 9x9 cake, or about 16-18 muffins, or one loaf pan filled nearly to overflowing. Bake at 350 F until done. For cake and muffins this is about 12-15 minutes, loaf is longer, more like 1 hour. Gobble it up, yummy!

Chanukah Centerpiece: Yarn Wrapped Hurricanes

Here's a really simple idea for your Chanukah table this year, yarn wrapped vases! You can use this idea to make a stunning Chanukah centerpiece, or make a bunch to place individually. I'd go for a bunch together, as they look amazing in a group. And it's just a simple as wrapping some yarn around a glass vase or even a jar.

I first saw this idea last February on Craft Schooling Sunday here, and decided to try it on a much larger scale with these tall hurricane vases, which I decorated for a community gathering last week. I did actually add some orange yarn to the mix, since that went with the table color scheme, but these looked so amazing with just the two shades of blue that I ran home to grab my camera.

How To: Using vases or jars that are totally straight, wrap the yarn around either the top or the bottom and knot, leaving a tail. Turn the jar or vase while holding the yarn, and slowly being wrapping such that the yarn moves up the vase. Once you've reached the top, continue wrapping in a downward motion until you reach the bottom. Tie off with the tail piece from the beginning and trim. Do the same with another color. Picking two colors in the same family, like red and orange, or blue and light blue, gives gorgeous results, that remind me of the swirled colors inside glass marbles.

And for another idea using yarn and candlelight, check out my yarn wrapped can votive holders. Actually the two would look great together! Happy holiday crafting!

DIY Rhinestone Bracelets For Wearing And Crafting!

I don't know whether you caught all the buzz about friendship bracelets this past summer, but I sure did, and have had the supplies on hand to make some. Well not really the same ones that were all over the web, but just a bit similar. I was inspired by this great post, wherein I learned about the existence of rhinestone chain (where have I been?) and thought of the project here. Then sure enough, some other crafters beat me to it and made bracelets just like the one you see here.....you can check out their lovely version here.

In any case, I really didn't make these bracelets to wear as bracelets, this was supposed to be just a starting point for another craft project, but they truly look so great as bracelets that I just had to share them with you as is!

You'll Need:

• thin bangles
• rhinestone chain
• yarn or embroidery thread

How To: You basically just bind the rhinestone chain to the bangle with either yarn or embroidery thread. The embroidery thread looks lovely and delicate, but it's a bit time consuming, so I then thought of using yarn, which is what I'll certainly be using if I need a few more of these for some upcoming projects. Enjoy! These make great little gifts and teens can certainly enjoy making a bunch of these for friends.

Crocheted T-Shirt Yarn Basket For Holiday Giving

Crocheting with t-shirt yarn is so much fun, and lucky for me I happened to have a few balls of t-shirt yarn on hand. I whipped up this basket quite quickly, which qualifies it as a great green gift for those on your list who'd appreciate such a rustic vessel. I think it would be great to give with a batch of homemade muffins, or holding a gift of toiletries, including maybe some gorgeous crocheted wash cloths. 

Just make sure to make a few, because you'll surely want to keep some on hand to enjoy in your home this holiday season. Really, you can never have too many catchalls......and great for guests to hold their little stuff, or how about one for each child to contain all the little things that collect in their pockets? And best of all, this little basket is of course totally washable!

You'll Need:

• t-shirt yarn, how to make t-shirt yarn tutorial here
• large crochet hook, I used a 10mm
• a simple basket pattern, you can follow mine here, though note that because the t-shirt yarn I made was on the thick side, (and because I was winging it...) my first round of crochet consisted of 1 ch2 and 11 dc into a foundation ring of 6 ch.

Notes:

• I crocheted this basket such that the "right side" is actually on the inside. If your basket will be something that will be placed on a shelf and viewed mostly from the outside, so it is probably preferable for the "right side" to be on the outside. Decide what suits you (the "wrong side" is rougher looking) and when you start the rows for the sides, make sure you're crocheting such that you'll get the desired results. I didn't even think of this as I was doing it, but you can!
• When I crocheted a basket using sheets (which are not stretchy) I had to work at getting the bowl shape. In this case, I had honestly intended to make a straight sided basket, but because of the nature of the t-shirt yarn and the hook size, the sides naturally curved in, which is just fine with me, though I can't guarantee that the same thing will happen with you. Let me know! And now, go whip up some of these baskets and bring some green joy to friends and family!

Chanukah Craft: Tissue Paper Cut Outs

I love tissue paper, and the brilliant colors are perfect for Chanukah decorations. Think light....bright, happy.....and my friends, the idea that Chanukah is a blue and silver holiday is a commercial fabrication, so please don't let it hamper your creativity as you prepare for the festivities which are just one month away, yikes!

I actually did this project last year on the last night of Chanukah for a community get together, so I only shared a snipet with you then. Funny thing is, last year I thought the results were a bit too sloppy, this year I'm amazed at how gorgeous the patterns are and I'm loving the imperfect look as a result of not cutting exactly straight strips! 

When the large candles inside each vase were lit, the effect of a room full of these hurricanes was festive and stunning. Of course small versions of this craft would look great too. 

I assembled the panels before wrapping them around each hurricane, and actually I love them just like this!

I chose to use dreidels and candles, but any shapes or even numbers or letters would look great, which means that this craft could conceivably be done just about any time of year......tuck that one under your hat!

 

You'll Need:

• tissue paper
• pinking shears
• glue

How To:

 Cut strips of tissue paper of varying heights, but all the same length. I measures the diameter of the vase/hurricane and cut my strips just a bit longer.

Fold strips accordion style, and cut out shapes on the fold, such that the shape repeats itself across the strip once unfolded.

Layer strips such that contrasting colors appear within the cut out shapes. Adhere with glue. Note: due to the fact that tissue paper is quite thin, my dots of glue were visible. If you'd like to avoid this, brush on glue with a brush, or if you can think of a better way to adhere these strips (I imagine spray adhesive might work, but the stuff is toxic!) please let me know! All the best, and let the Chanukah crafting begin!

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday! I never tire of telling you about how wonderful this little weekly linking party/get together is due to all the amazing crafters that come to this little spot to share their creativity. Last week we had crafters from places like The United Kingdom, Germany, The Netherlands, Denmark, France, Muldavia, Macedonia, Turkey, Singapore, The United States, Australia and Japan!  And now, for the features, more than usual since choosing was just too difficult!

I am seriously in love with these gorgeous hand made stamps from Geninne's Art Blog.

And this car mat from Lilla A. and this fab neon cord DIY lamp from weekday carnival.

And jute spool candlesticks from family chic, and a fun gift topper from felt so cute 

And this lace top tutorial from yellow suitcase studio, and sweet button bobby pins from the pinterest project.

 

And word discovery bottles from mom 2 two posh lil divas, and yarn scraps gift toppers from little treasures.

And adorable knit booties from learn to knit with katie, and a creative garland necklace from mich in L.A.

And preserving leaves in wax from design megillah, and pumpkin spice play dough from homespun with love.

That's all for now, take a deep breath, it's time for some more inspiration from around the world! Thanks so much for joining me here!