creative jewish mom

Woven Recycled Bleach Bottle Basket

You can use a recycled bleach bottle to make a really fun woven basket. And when you add a little felt liner, your recycled bottle basket suddenly becomes really amazingly cute. If I do say so myself. Now, I must admit, I made this basket over two years ago, and for some reason never quite fit it into my schedule to take some photos. So in a way this little woven basket craft is new to me too! But now that I'm revisiting this one, I can't wait to make more, and I may even make some to use for gift baskets for Purim......you know for the special people like teachers and such who deserve (and in my case, will expect) something just a bit special.

Here's another similar photo for those of you who love to study things and needed a slightly lower shot.

You'll Need:

• a large opaque bottle, like a bleach or floor cleaner bottle
• colorful yarn, the thicker the better, but a variety of thicknesses is good too
• good scissors
• masking tape

How To:

1. With a kitchen knife, cut the top off your bottle. Thoroughly wash out the piece you'll be using. Trim the remaining basket portion to the desired height with scissors.
2. Wrap a piece of masking tape around the top circumference, and mark off even increments of about 2 cm , or just a bit larger, on the tape. Make sure that you'll have an odd number of pieces so that the over and under process will work out at the end of the round! Place another piece of tape around the bottom of the basket as a guide for where to stop cutting.
3. Cut slits in your basket all the way around, making sure not to cut beyond the bottom guide. (If you take a good look at my photo, you may notice that I cut without marking anything off which is fine if you're just anxious to get going, and aren't a perfectionist, but then you may have to fudge things a bit as I apparently did as I actually cut an even number of pieces, but go figure, this was a million projects ago!)
4. Tie a piece of yarn to one of the pieces from the inside. Start weaving!
5. Make a felt sleeve using a sewing machine and two colors of felt. You could also quite simply glue fabric or felt to the edge to conceal it. Or glue a piece of fabric to the bottom and sides, and then cover the rim with a felt or ribbon edge that covers both the inside and outside rim.

And just for the record, the ever creative Gail over at that artist woman, had a very similar idea which she posted here to my great surprise after I made my basket. I love her version with sections of different sizes and she used foam cups I believe, decoupaged with recycled paper, adding another dimension to this project. So now that you have two source for this wonderful project, collect those bleach bottles and  recycled containers, and lets get started!

A No-Sew Felt Afikomen Bag That's Really An Envelope!

 
Here's a great passover craft to do with the kids! Add some fun to your Passover table this year with this no-sew felt afikomen bag, that's really an envelope! And this project is really simple enough that slightly older kids could do much of it themselves, while younger ones can help plan the design. I have to admit, every year we've actually just used a dishtowel to wrap the afikomen, horrors of horrors! But thanks to this little crafty assignment I did for the folks over at kveller.com, we'll actually have an afikomen bag this year! I do love an elegant Pesach table, but since the whole essence of the Passover seder is to re-tell the story for the children, I do think that some fun elements are certainly in order.

While I chose to decorate the front of our envelope with the wild red poppies that are in bloom right now, the back has the more traditional imagery of the four cups of wine. Of course you really can't go wrong with this one, just about anything would look cute!

And if you don't need an afikomen bag, well this felt envelope could be great for so many occasions, don't you think?

For a complete tutorial, check out my afikomen bag post over at kveller.com. And stay tuned, I do believe there's a matzo cover about to be created as well as some more crafts for the Passover seder! And those colorful wine glasses were a passover craft from last year, which you can find here. Tick tock tick tock, oh I do believe I hear the passing of time— Passover is just two weeks away and there's still so much left to do, gotta run!

A Treasure Chest Gift Box From Recycled Plastic Containers!

Recycle those plastic containers that often hold sprouts or other fruits and vegetables, and make adorable gift boxes in just a few steps! I came up with this idea because we've been eating lots of sprouts lately, including soy bean sprouts (among others) that come in plastic containers like these. And of course I just couldn't throw them out! At the least I thought my kids could use them for making mishloach manot for their friends, but then this fun idea came along, and now I can't wait to make some more! And of course you could use this same idea to make a container from any two plastic boxes, no matter what the dimensions. And if your boxes are clear, so wrap your gifts or treats in some colorful tissue paper that compliments the colors of felt you've chosen. And you could make yours look a little bit more treasure chest like, and get some pirates to deliver them for you on Purim! And if you like my cute painted fruit, you can learn more about them here.

You'll Need:

• recycled plastic produce containers, or even a shoe box could be great too!
• felt
• fabric puff paint, in two colors to compliment the felt colors you'll use
• velcro strips or dots
• freezer paper (for making multiples)
• a hot glue gun

How To:

1. Cut felt "straps" to the width and length necessary for the size of your box
2. Hot glue straps to box such that box opens hinge style according to photo above
3. Now design your buckle, taking into consideration the width of the strap, and hot glue it to your strap. Note: I just discovered another great use for freezer paper! Draw your buckle on the computer, fill a whole page with them (to make multiple treasure chests) and print directly onto the freezer paper by running a sheet through your printer! (make sure waxed side is the side that won't be printed on) Then simply iron freezer paper to your felt and cut out your buckles. So easy with great results!
4. Add details with fabric puff paint. This can also be done before you attach your felt to the box, and would be a good idea if you're making multiples, since it's preferable for the paint to dry in a flat position. Set aside to dry, overnight is recommended, and keep away from little hands as this point!
5. Design a luggage tag (for your greeting) to attach to the handle, or a little pirates map would be great too!
6. Fill with something fun and make your friends happy!

 

Enhance Your Felt Flowers With Crocheted Edging! (And Dress Up Your Fall Table...)

 

With large flowers being all the rage as fashion accessories, I thought it was time to dress up the fall table too! Can't you imagine a long table with a flower like this at each place setting? I originally set out to make napkin rings, but then I realized that one really needn't bother.....just place the flower on top of your nicely folded napkin! And then if you want to use them for another project (like a wreath or gift toppers, or fashion accessories or just about anything...) after the party is over, so they're all ready to go! Creative re-use is always good in my opinion.

Before I tell you how I made these, I should share with you the inspiration for this project. JD, the crochet blogger over at craftgossip.com, put me up to it! That's right, an outright challenge so to speak, to crochet edging on felt flowers, an idea she didn't have time to play with. Now I of course don't have the time either, but I love a good challenge, and so there I was at 11:30 pm one night crocheting in bed! She thought I should crochet around some of the flowers from my felt bouquet, here, but after trying one rose, I decided that it would really work the best with a flower constructed just a little differently. Here's a closeup for you:

You'll Need:

• felt
• yarn, I used baby weight cotton
• a large needle
• a glue gun

How To:

1. Cut out six five-petaled flowers, and one small circle from felt. Determine the size of the flower by making it roughly the size (when it lies flat) that you'd like your assembled flower to be. It's best to make a template and make identical flowers, but it really doesn't matter too much, as you can see, since I cut these out in bed with no template.
2. Embroider a blanket stitch around the edge of one of the flowers, and then crochet an edging, by first crocheting one round of single crochet, and then the edging stitch of your choice. In this photo I used pico stitch, while in the flower above I used the scallop stitch.
3. Now, with your glue gun fired up, fold each flower in half and in half again, cut off the tip and glue to the outside of your felt circle. Continue in this manner with the remaining four flowers to fill the edge of the circle.
4. For the center of the flower, fold your crocheted edge flower in half, and then roll it horizontally, jelly roll style. I found this gives the best results, but you can certainly try something else! Hot glue your rolled flower into the center, and voila!
5. By the way, though the crocheted edging adds a certain elegance, one can certainly omit that step. I have seen tutorials for this type of flower in two places, this technique was directly inspired by the post over at  Jones Design Company, while one can make a very similar flower with slightly different technique from Shad and Lizzie.

Yes, I know, I didn't show you what the pink flower looks like assembled....honestly it's just a bit on the frilly pink side for my taste, so when I find a use for it I'll certainly share the results!

 

How To Make Felt Flowers For A Mixed Bouquet: Tutorial!

Fabric flowers are everywhere these days, and for good reason! They're so simple to make, and you almost can't go wrong if you've got a few simple tricks up your sleeve. And on top of that, if you use felt, (even inexpensive acrylic craft felt like I've used here), it's so easy to cut and holds it shape well, which makes you look good too! I'm not saying this is quick, yes it will take a few good hours, but it's time well spent, and if you make two or more at a time, it's time really well spent!

General How-To:

You'll Need:

• a 6" diameter styrofoam ball, or even 1/2 a styrofoam ball depending on your container.
• four types of felt flowers, in four complimentary colors, instructions below
• hot glue gun
• a suitable pot whose mouth is just slightly smaller than the diameter of your ball

How To:

Either make flowers as you go, or better yet start out by making at least 6 or 7 of each type. Starting at the top of the ball, attach largest flowers first, staggering them around the ball. Fill in with other flower types and try to maintain an even height all around such that the bouquet follows the shape of the ball. You can always trim flowers that stick out too much after they are in place. Attach foam ball to pot with hot glue, or insert a dowel into the bottom of the ball, and affix that to another piece of styrofoam that you've wedged into the pot. (This way you'll be able to use the pot for something else in the future without having to worry about removing the hot glue, and you can easily transfer your arrangement to another pot if the desire arises.)

I used four flower types for this bouquet, (and a fifth that wasn't go great, so I won't bother with that one!)

Here's a simple tutorial on how to make them:

1. The Pink Cherry Blossom

 Cut strips that look like the photo above left. As you can see they needn't be exact or perfect! Roll and adhere with dots of hot glue as you go. Shape flower by pulling down on outer petals. That's it! You can make tiny blossums or big ones, depending on what works for the scale of your project.

2. Orange Generic Flower (anyone got a better name?)

Start by cutting three flowers, two smaller and one larger. The larger flower should have more petals than the smaller ones. Put a small dot of hot glue in the center of one of the smaller flowers, fold it in half, and affix to the center of the second smaller flower. Take these two flowers and affix to the center of the third flower, pinching the blooms at the bottom if desired before affixing. That's it! This flower looks great tucked between the others, such that it's petals stand up a bit.

3. The Rose Bud

I think many of  you already know how to make this oh so popular flower, but if not, so see my post from last year here on how to make a rose bud bouquet. Also a nice project!

4. The Loopy Rose

I came up with this one, since due to time constraints I really needed some bigger flowers that would fill the space nicely. I think the results are worth the extra step, take my advice! You can make bigger sloppier versions of the rose bud, which I just did today for another project, but the results aren't nearly as nice.

Sorry I don't have a photo for this yet but this is what you'll need:

• 1 Completed rose bud (see number 3.) made from  a 3" to 4" circle
• 1 not assembled rose bud made from a 6" circle, and with a spiral cut just a bit thicker than the rose bud. After you've cut the spiral, go back and cut the outside edges in a wave like pattern. and you won't need the little circle in the center, so cut that off.
• 1 felt circle (the base of the flower) about 3-4" in diameter

After you have the above, affix the rose bud to the center of the felt circle base with hot glue. Attach the larger spiral to the circular base, working in a spiral fashion, and starting at the edge of the bud center. You can even apply dots of hot glue in a spiral pattern and simply lay the felt edge into the glue. Watch out for glue gun burns! If your base turns out to be wider than your flower, so you can trim it, and if the outer petals need some help, so go ahead and give them some shape. It's that simple!

I hope you'll give this project a try, and I'd love to see your results!

Make A Mixed Felt Flower Bouquet. You'll Love It!

A Spring bouquet in the Fall? Why not? I do believe that it's Spring in some parts of the world? And festive color is great any time of the year, right? Last year around this time I made a felt rose bud bouquet, here, one of my all time most popular posts, and given its popularity, and how much I've enjoyed it in my home, it occurred to me that I really ought to try making a felt bouquet with a mixture of flowers.

When my daughter was invited to a neighbor's 10th birthday party last week, I said "let's make her something!" And so this bouquet was born. It took me three hours, including figuring out how to make the flowers, and not knowing which base container I'd use, nor what I was doing exactly! I would think that with my tutorial you may be able to do it in less time. Or better yet, do it over the course of a few days, which is much more advisable than making it right before the party...who me? 

So, while buying a little gift certainly would have been much simpler and a whole lot less time consuming, I'm really happy with the results, and I borrowed it back to take photos to share with you!

For a complete tutorial right here, please stop by tomorrow. In the mean time, gather your felt (how about a bouquet of whites and cremes.....with a tiny hint of pink or turquoise?), a 6" foam ball, and an appropriate container. Your ball should fit right into the mouth, such that about 1/3 of the ball sits within the pot. See you soon!

Adventures In Needle Felting Part 1: How To Felt With Wool Yarn

Isn't this fun? I'm happy to say that I've had this idea (or something similar) in my head for a few years now, and it's finally made its way into the physical world!  I treated myself to the basic supplies for needle felting on a trip to the US a full year ago, and today I finally had a chance to open the packages and give those felting needles a try. Yippee!

Now I'm no expert, having tried this exactly once, but I'd say that this technique is best used for decorative items that will receive little or no wear and tear. (Monograms, baby name art work, heartfelt messages....) Yes the yarn is felted onto the base, but if some little fingers really wanted to, they could probably pull the whole thing off, which sure would be a shame, since this is a bit labor intensive. At this point I think I may just have to toss my dreams of doing a blanket in this style, though I'm not giving up just yet. I'm quite sure that  the results vary greatly depending on the weight/type of base material, so I've still got some experimenting to do! Anyone have any experience to share? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

You'll Need:

• a wool base, fabric or knit, I used a sleeve from a felted recycled sweater
• wool yarn
• a pen style needle felting tool, for felting small details and yarn only (all felting tools available at fabric.com, which is where I purchased mine)
• regular needle felting tool: can be used for yarn but is designed for use with wool applique and roving
• a needle felting mat, a large one is the best I think

How To:

The needle felting tools come with complete instructions, but I'll give you a quick summary. Simply lay your yarn on the base fabric and start poking with the felting tool to push the fibers of the yarn into the base. (The idea is to meld the two, which takes some patience.) I used a pen style tool with two needles and worked with the pen such that the needles were parallel with the direction of the yarn. Examine the back of the work to see that the yarn has been evenly felted.

Make A Felt Birthday Chair Slipcover!

What can you do with some pom-poms, felt yardage, and sequin trim, that can create happy memories for your family for years to come? Wouldn't you like to have some ready-made decorations on hand, to honor birthdays or other important milestones? Have you ever had a guest who suddenly announces that today is her birthday? Wouldn't it be great to whip out some decorations at a moment's notice? So here's the answer to all of these questions: a simple felt slip cover that can turn a regular arm chair into a festive birthday throne!

No tricky calculations necessary, just make a simple pattern by tracing the shape of the back of the chair, and then cut out two identical pieces, which are joined at the top only. You can make some ties on the sides if necessary, and the seat piece needn't be more than a simple square that you can also attach with ties or tuck in, depending on the type of chair you'll be using. As for the pom-poms, I whipped these up with my new pom-pom maker that works like a dream!

So hang a fabric backdrop (even over a door, like I did here!), and some felt garlands or balloons, get out your slip cover, and let the party begin! And by the way, in keeping with the theme, a simple pom-pom as a present topper is just as cute as can be!

A Felt Bean Bag For Alphabeans Alphabet Game!

Yesterday I promised that today I would post my packaging idea for the Alphabeans Alphabet Game I introduced yesterday, (post here) so here it is! A felt bean-shaped bag, with colorful beans on the outside, which will safely hold our alphabet beans. Sewing (I've just started learning) is certainly opening up a whole new range of crafting possibilities for me, and I couldn't be more pleased!

It took a bit longer than the 15 minutes I'd intended,  mostly because I decided that I just had to applique a few beans on the bag, and because due to my sewing inexperience I messed up a bit. I don't know what I was thinking, but I sewed the bag (leaving an opening for  the zipper) first and attached the zipper second. Big mistake and a bit difficult, especially since the zipper is on a slight curve. Well at least I learned from my lesson on a small project!e. You can't tell from this photo, but trust me the zipper didn't turn out so well, though it does zip and unzip, so we will be using it!

Just for fun, I made the designs on the two sides just a bit different, here's the other side:

Wouldn't this make a cute gift? And speaking of beans, guess what we're having for dinner? Baked giant lima beans (the same ones I used for the alphabeans) with tomato sauce and cilantro pesto!, a first for me, and if it turns out well, you'll certainly hear about it! I think I've got beans on the brain, so expect some more beany projects in the future. Thanks for stopping by!

Use Felt & Real Branches To Make Decorative Fruit Trees!

Real branch + felt + miniature pomegranates from the dollar store = a fun artful decorating idea for Tu B'Shevat or anytime. Okay, you're right, it does help if you have some large iron frames that are waiting to be filled, but if you don't, you can simply hang a branch like this on the wall, probably horizontally would look the best.

Now I have to tell you, just to let you in on the creative process, this actually started out as a kid's craft project— I cut the felt leaves and my 8 year old daughter glued them on with a glue gun. It looked cute in person, but I could see that it was just a bit boring in the photos.......so then I thought, oh, right add some birds! Nah, cute idea, but not today, that would take too much time. Add something you already have on hand, oh yes, of course little fruit! And lucky for me the pomegranates that I bought for Rosh HaShana and didn't use were actually accessible, yippee. Now I'd like to make another branch like this to fill the adjacent frame, I'll certainly keep you posted!

You'll Need:

• felt, in two colors of green
• a real branch— any size really, or make a bouquet of branches for a vase
• hot glue
• miniature fruit from the dollar store or make you own with foam balls and paper mache
• wire— I wrapped the wire around the crown of the pomegranate and then attached the fruit to the branch with the wire

How To: Cut leaf shapes, glue to branch one at a time, or in pairs, attach fruit. Smile and enjoy!