creative jewish mom

Price Tag Sticker Candle Jars

Aren't these neon price tag sticker candle jars fun? When I bought some rolls of these stickers I thought I was buying them for my kids. Of course my kids don't have any idea that neon is "back" or that their mom really bought the stickers to satisfy that personal desire of hers for just a touch of neon! 

Making patterns with these little stickers is just too much fun, so give it a try!

If you'd like to keep these jars for future use, I'd recommend a coat of mod podge or any decoupage medium over the stickers.....mind you, the mod podge will make your jars cloudy, on the other hand your work will last. There's no guarantee as to how well the stickers will stick to the glass over time, depending on how sticky they are! Have fun!

And thanks to Design Sponge for featuring my price tag sticker DIY here.

And don't forget to check out  my other price tag sticker posts: price tag sticker gift wrap and price tag sticker snowflakes.

 

Price Tag Sticker Gift Wrap

You can create some fun gift wrap with neon price tag stickers! Just apply them in the patterns of your dreams to brown paper wrapped packages and enjoy! Of course some little gift tags would look great too!

Note: these stickers can either be very sticky or not so sticky. If yours are of the not so sticky variety, you might want to go over your finished piece with a coat of mod podge or a mix of white glue and water to ensure that the stickers won't start peeling of in a moist environment.

 And thanks so much to Design Sponge for featuring my price tag sticker DIY here!

Crocheted Gelt Bags For Chanukah!

Phew, I did it, Chanukah is tonight and I did get around to crocheting little gelt (coins) bags for my young ones. Truthfully giving gelt is really the Chanukah tradition of yore, the idea of giving presents only really snuck in on account of the Dec. 25th holiday, so I realized that the first night of Chanukah would not be complete without these little bags to hold the chocolate coins we traditionally give every Chanukah. (The rest of the year my kids are somewhat chocolate deprived, so they really look forward to this one!)

Given that I was a little pressed for time, I made some chunky, scrap buster versions of my crocheted pouches from last year. You can follow the instructions from last year, (with another example here) or to make bags like these, grab a size K hook, two strands of yarn (in my case the blue versions were a variegated strand and an aqua strand crocheted together, the pink version uses combos of solid colors) and crochet as follows:

Crochet a chain of 4 and join with a slip stitch.

• Round 1: Chain 2 (serves as the first double crochet) and then crochet 12 double crochet stitches into the circle.
• Round 2: Chain 1, Single crochet 2 stitches into every double crochet from the previous round.
• Round 3: Chain 1, working in the back loop only, single crochet one stitch into every stitch from the previous round.
• Round 4: Working in both loops single crochet around and join with a slip stitch to the first stitch of the previous round.
• Rounds 5-16:  
• Round 17: Chain 2, double crochet in each stitch from the previous round, this is the row to insert the drawstring.
• Round 18-20:
• Round 21: Slip stitch around for a really nice finish, as seen in the pink pouch.
•  To finish, weave a ribbon or chord through the stitched on round 17 and tie with a bow. I used some yarn called "ruffles" which I happened to have on hand. More about that later.

 

Fill your little handmade pouches with some chocolate coins and some small prizes, and there will be smiles all around, promise! Wishing you all a joyous Chanukah, and not to worry if you don't have time today to crochet some little pouches, well you've got a whole week to think about it!

And by the way, a reader with an educational site called school sparks wrote to me to tell me about her educational Chanukah work sheets, which you can find here......maybe a great way to keep the little ones busy as you sneak off to do some crocheting? 

 

Hanukkah Kid's Craft: Watercolor Collage

Isn't this Hanukkah watercolor collage just gorgeous? A perfect example of a really creative Hanukkah kid's craft that the whole family can do together! Today, on one of the busiest days of the year when I hadn't yet photographed anything to share with you, it arrived in my inbox from a wonderful reader from the US, by the name of Chavi, who has a blog by the name of skin flint with scissors, and who created this project together with her three young daughters. I think this qualifies as a miracle of Chanukah, a few days early!

 

In the collage you can see dreidels, jolly dancing latkes (potato pancakes) in a pot, a copper menorah, an orange man with a jug of olive oil, and some pink latkes. Mommy made the giant candles and drew the oil jugs and together with her oldest, (eight years old) stuck the collage together with 3D foam stickers. Great job!

 

Rhinestone Yarn Bracelet Ornaments

Rhinestone bracelets made by simply attaching some rhinestone chain to a metal bangle with yarn or embroidery thread are all the rage, so I thought I'd take the idea one step further and make some fun neon ornaments. I love their modern/crafty look and they're so easy to whip up. Best of all, I wasn't sure what to hang from the center of my chandelier together with my instant pom pom garland, and the combo of these two styles and colors looks perfect! I'll make some more yarn wagon wheel stars to hang alone and voila, a great holiday look was born with minimal effort!

And of course while you're at it, make some rhinestone bracelets to give as gifts, use a present toppers or adorn your wrist this holiday season!

You'll Need:

• rhinestone chain
• simple metal bangles
• yarn or embroidery thread
• jewelry making jump rings
• glue (if necessary)
• rhinestone bracelet tutorial

How To:

To make the lower yarn starburst portion, simply tie the yarn around the bracelet and start wrapping across the bracelet and back to a point next to the beginning, and across the bracelet and back, always going through the middle. If you find that the yarn slips too much, place small dots of glue at each point where the yarn touches the rim of the bracelet. Once you've gone all theway around, tie off. 

Make rhinestone bracelets according to tutorial. 

Make chain with the jump rings, and attach the two elements together. You can of course opt to hang small charms in the center of the rhinestone bracelet, but at the moment I'm loving it empty! Have a wonderful, crafty holiday season!

 For some more great crafting ideas using metal bangles, check out my posts from last year, golden sphere ornaments, and crocheted plain and scalloped bracelets.

Toilet Paper Tube Star Garland

 

Here's a fun cardboard tube craft that's great for all ages. We used toilet paper tubes to make these stars or starbursts, but of course you can use any tube thats easy to cut. Children old enough to handle scissors can even do the whole thing themselves. A whole bunch of these will look great hung as a garland or as individual ornaments, whatever works for you!

You'll Need:

• toilet paper tube/rolls, or any cardboard tubes that are thin enough to cut with scissors
• sequins, beads, buttons, embellishments of any kind
• glue

How To:

The small star was made by stacking three slices of toilet paper tube, and the lovely idea came from here. We chose to make a six pointed star, but you can certainly make more sophisticated stars using more slices if you like.

The large stars were quite simply made by cutting vertical slits in a toilet paper tube until about 1/2" from the bottom. The resulting arms were then folded back and decorated with the sequins and a liberal amount of glue. Set aside to dry, and punch a hole for hanging. Enjoy!

Pom Pom Yarn For Last Minute Decorating

Pom pom yarn is fantastic for crafting! I can't say that I would have thought to buy some, but saw a skein for 1 Euro at a discount store in Amsterdam and so I snatched it up. Yup, the last skein waiting for me, which seems to have been a theme of my trip, given my zpagetti story here. After I examined the pom pom yarn, it dawned on me that it would be perfect for making instant pom pom garlands! Of course you don't have to stop there, here's just a few ideas to get you started on your last minute holiday decorating, which in reality isn't really so last minute just yet, but you might like to have these ideas on hand to pull out of your hat in another week!

Glass vases or recycled jars are great for holding votives or candles placed in shot glasses. Wrap them with pom pom yarn and you've got yourself an amazing centerpiece!

I use our dining room chandelier as a focal point for all of our holiday decorations, and so naturally I starting by draping it with pom pom yarn. Some crocheted ornaments will follow to complete the look, but it also looks great as it!

Use pom pom yarn on your table as napkin rings or to tie together a place setting of silverware, a fun look for a casual get together. And or course I'm sure you can think of many more ways to use pom pom yarn here and there to create a joyful atmosphere in your home this holiday season! And of course, you can knit or crochet some great scarves and hats (it's great for adding little puffy details too...)with the yarn after you sit back to gaze upon your crafty and quick decorating!

Hanukkah Kid's Craft With Recycled Plastic Tray

Here's a fun little Hanukkah craft idea to get you inspired to use more recycled stuff in your crafting! Thinking up appropriate Hanukkah imagery can be a bit challenging, but here's a really great one that you can go to town with: houses with windows filled with Hanukkah menorahs! 

Some Shabbat guests brought a bakery coffee cake in a plastic container, with this black tray as the base, which I fortunately washed and saved, as it's the perfect canvas for my six year old's depiction of a starry Hanukkah night!

You'll Need:

• recycled plastic tray, plate, lid, you name it!
• paint pens
• beads
• glue
• hole punch

How To: Paint pens are the secret to creating fun art on a number of surfaces with ease. This tray fortunately has a little tab, so I was able to punch two holes for hanging. Have fun and make a whole gallery of art this Hanukkah!

A Nesting Dreidel Mobile Craft Kit

My nesting dreidel hanukkah mobile is back in my little Etsy shop! Why not get a start on your hanukkah/chanukah crafting with my pdf kit? After all you really can't have too many decorations to fill your house with holiday joy!

The mobile craft kit pdf file is available in either brights or pastels, so there's something for everyone, not to mention a ton of ways to customize this idea to make it perfect for you! 

And by the way, the mobile can be re-worked after Hanukkah to become the nesting houses mobile! Just turn it upside down, make some new holes, cut off the little spindles and voila!)

So head on over to my spanking new Etsy shop, little tzaddik, here, and get a foot up on your Hanukkah crafting, and then you'll be able to put your feet up and gaze at your beautiful decorations, right? 

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!