creative jewish mom

Knitting With Ruffles Yarn

Ever heard of ruffles yarn? Not to worry, I hadn't either until I came across this interesting skein in my local yarn store, and just couldn't resist!  Knitting with "ruffles" takes a bit of practice but certainly could be a great detail for a cuff or collar. And a reader contributed a great idea on one craft schooling Sunday, which was to use this yarn to create crewel like effects by sewing down the middle of the yarn. Will try to find the link to that post shortly, and also should mention that I used some ruffles yarn for crocheting an outer layer of petals on a very large chunky flower. So, while I don't think I'll be knitting with ruffles yarn, I will definitely be using it in my crafting adventures!

Chunky Knit Pot Holder From Rope

I just love my chunky knit rope potholder. Or is it a chunky knit rope trivet? Either way, this is one craft I'm going to do again as I think it would make a super great gift, for the right person that is! And with all the crocheting going on around here lately, I have to say, knitting this pot holder was really refreshing.

And yes, while this pot holder is made with garter stitch, you can also knit one row purl one row for the traditional knit fabric, as you can see on my previous post knitting with rope. But I have to tell you, this version here not only has much more rustic appeal, you don't have to worry about the end stitches looking really uneven and the finished piece has a much nicer feeling. In the previous version I did a special edge stitch to help the situation, but it still looks a little funny, so experiment yourself, or take my word for it and go with the garter stitch!

You'll Need:

• cotton rope, mine was a small spool from the hardware store
• large knitting needles, I used size US 17

A pot holder is a great project to practice knitting with rope, but I'm quite sure there are many more projects that could be great, like knit rope bags, knit rope bath mats or rugs, knit rope stool covers, and anything else you can dream of! Enjoy and let me know how it goes. I think this would be a great gift with a batch of homemade muffins or a hearty loaf of bread, don't you?

Hand Built Ceramic Cups

Here's one of my latest handbuilt ceramic projects that I made at my ceramics class just down the street. Though I would at some point love to learn how to use the wheel, for the moment I'm quite content exploring the world of hand building.

These cups were made using the slab technique, and the designs were stamped with wooden printing stamps from India. I choose to glaze the pieces with clear shiny glaze, to take advantage of the gorgeous natural speckled quality of this particular clay. I'll have to admit, the rolled lip was a consequence of using a slap that was just a bit too thin at the edge.....still very new at this, but loving it!

Bunting Banner From Recycled Plastic Bag Leftovers

I walked into my daughter's room one day and spotted this adorable recycled plastic bag bunting on her armchair. Isn't it sweet? I must explain how this plastic bag bunting was made, since I think your jaw might just drop when I reveal the secret. 

So you know those colored plastic grocery bags, the smaller ones that say are used in a vegetable store? Well, they come in a stack, and are somehow constructed such that the bag is actually machine punched as a stack. So that means that as the bags are torn off the stack in the store, there is a little piece left which is punched out to form the handles. Are you with me? When all the bags are used up there remains a stack of plastic bag pieces in the shape of the bunting banner that you see above. So.........some kids figured out that you can make banners by tying those pieces together. Brilliant right?

Oh and by the way, yes, I made that pillow, it's knitted sheets and pillowcases, highly recommended! You can find out how to knit with sheets right here on my post knitting with rags. In that post I talk about making table runners, but in actuality those table runners eventually became delicious pillows!

Winter Tree From Recycled Cardboard

How about making some recycled corrugated cardboard trees to bring a little playful air to your home this winter? Tu B'Shevat (the New Year for the trees) is the next Jewish holiday on the calender, so I've got trees on my mind! I really love the graphics on the corrugated sleave from our flats of eggs and am so happy with how this little tree turned out. Simple to make and would look great parading down the center of a table.

As Spring approaches add leaves and blossoms or even little fruit to your little trees, bringing them to life. How fun is that?  

The tree is made by cutting out two identical trees and then making a slit in the trunk on one from bottom to top, and in the other from top to bottom. You then slide one piece down onto the other, and voila you have yourself a fun 3 dimensional tree that could be the start of so many fun projects. 

For more info and a diagram of a slightly different tree, but one that shows where to place the slits, see my cherry blossom tree craft from the archives. Enjoy!

Crocheted Children's Cloche With Giant Flower

Here's a fun crocheted hat with a giant flower to keep things a little cheerful right about now. Winter has finally arrived in our mountain town in Northern Israel, so I just had to crochet my daughter a few cold weather accessories. Plus she's now ready to wear large flowers on her head so I just couldn't resist! I decided to go with one color for the hat and the flower, but you could certainly have fun playing with color, why not?

You'll Need:

• Pattern for crocheted cloche from Aesthetic Nest, link here.
• Pattern for crocheted rosette flower, see my post here.
• Yarn of your choice and appropriate sized hook.

Note: I used two strands of worsted weight yarn and a size K hook to make a chunkier hat than the pattern calls for, so I had to play around with the pattern a bit, but that's not a problem as long as the person you're crocheting for is at hand! Enjoy.

Blooming Tree Kid's Craft For Tu B'Shevat

Here's an artful blooming tree craft that's great for all ages, and really quite simple. Surprise, this is how we used our pastel circles from my post about drawing with pastels, yesterday. Honestly I'm just so happy with the results, these trees just make everyone smile! 

I'm not altogether sure how we'll display them just yet, but with Tu B'Shevat coming up on the night of Feb. 7th, I'm really happy to have started with the tree-themed crafting!

And aren't these birds that my six year old drew just the cutest? I really think they're such a great addition to our project. Of course you could add fruit or even houses or just about anything to your project or leave the tree trunks bare, that looks great too. Have fun with this one!

You'll Need:

• oil pastels
• black paper
• cardboard
• a glue stick
• some stronger glue or tape

How To:

Draw lots of colorful concentric circles on black paper. Cut out the circles and glue them to a circular piece of cardboard. (We recycled a sleeve from some store bought pizzas that has two round pieces, yippee!)

Cut out a trunk from cardboard and glue or tape to the back of the tree top. Embellish the trunk with drawings of animals or fruit, hang, or make easel backs to make standing trees if you're cardboard is thick enough! Enjoy.

Oh and by the way, you can find tons of ideas for Tu B'Shevat crafts in the archives.

Drawing With Pastels On Black Paper

I'm loving simple geometric drawings done with pastels on black paper. My nine year old daughter did these, and I just had to share them with you as there's something so very satisfying about drawing on black paper with vibrant colors! Needless to say, this is a great little activity to pull out of your hat when needed! 

Of course drawings of any kind are great, but again, there's something about the combination of simple forms and colors on the black paper that looks really great. And while these modern art circles look wonderful as is, we actually made them with a collage project in mind, coming up tomorrow! See you then, and do consider sitting down yourself and having some fun with pastels, time well spent, really!

Crocheted T-Shirt Yarn Rug

You can crochet with yarn made from old t-shirts, and making a little rug from t-shirt yarn is a great way to start! Okay, I have to admit, this rug is so little that I had wanted to add to it before sharing it with you, but there's no time like the present. So grab some of those old t-shirts, or thrift some, and get started..... crocheting with recycled materials is so much fun!

You'll Need:

• old t-shirts
• how to make t-shirt yarn tutorial
• large crochet hook, say at least 10mm
• a little patience

How To:

Just a few words of advice. Do try to use t-shirts of the same weight and yarn of the same width. Do not use t-shirts that are actually ribbed, as some of the undershirts I cut up were, unknown to me. I got into some problems with this rug and had to tear a whole bunch out due to differences in yarn weight which then made my rug look very very wonky....is that a word? (And that is why my rug is so small, alack alas....)

Also, I do love the stripes, but keeping the rug square with even edges is quite a challenge......if you're a perfectionist you may want to try crocheting a round rug first. 

And by the way, if you don't crochet check out my fun woven placemats with t-shirt yarn or even make a latch-hook rug with t-shirt yarn, which I'd love to try someday too! Enjoy!

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Colorful Peacock: A Nine Year Old's Third Oil Painting

I love this colorful and abstract peacock painted by my nine year old daughter. I am so very proud of her and equally happy that she is following in my footsteps, and at an early age! And since I never studied painting myself, it makes me so happy to see my daughter excelling at it.

This is her third oil painting, done from a very dark photograph of a peacock. First, a "study" was done using pastels on black paper, and then she started to work on the painting (with guidance from her teacher) and all its layers. I love the results and especially the non traditional color scheme.

I am looking forward to seeing her develop her own artistic style and I truly hope that in making creativity a part of her life that she will in turn feel a great sense of joy and satisfaction from her pursuits. Of course it's up to her.....no pressure.....well........trying not to put the pressure on anyway!

Of course we sure do want to steer her in the direction of using her amazing gifts, so time will tell. As parents, that's really what it's all about right?. Gently and sort of non-chalantly steering our children down the path that enables them to excel at those things they do best. Come to think of it, I wish someone would do that for me now.......how about you?