creative jewish mom

I Am Now On Instagram, Please Follow Me!

Dear Readers, after many many years of holding back from engagement on Instagram, because I am not a smart phone user (I do all things blog etc. on the computer) I realized that if indeed my goal is to share the joy of creativity in general and Jewish crafts with the world, then one needs to figure out how to get to the world, in this case without necessarily letting the world in!

So please follow me @sara.rivka.dahan, right here, and on @creativejewishmom right here. The first account will be all things art related, namely painting and drawing and the second account will be crafts, jewish cooking and all things I share on this blog.

5 Tips to Prepare for Baby’s First Winter

A baby’s first winter is all about fun, festivities and plenty of snuggling! To make the most of the season, parents should focus on keeping their little ones cozy. These tips will help you prepare your home and baby supplies for this coming winter. A few extra items and useful strategies will help keep your infant safe in cold weather. Beyond what clothes and bedding to buy there are also things to consider like what temperature to keep the baby's room, weatherproofing your home and even practicing winter car safety. So keep on reading for some important knowledge so you can enjoy this winter with your precious little one!

The Story Of A Very Special Chanukah Menorah

While this story actually happened in 2016, I started to tell it here in 2019, but it has taken me until 2021 to actually do it! I guess I wrote this story in my head so many times that I was convinced I had posted it, but apparently not, as it is no where to be found! And since this is such a special story that we tell every Chanukah since 2016, now is a great time to share it with you my dear readers on Zot Chanukah, the 8th and finaly day of chanukah, with the most light!. Chanukah is about publicizing miracles, so while this does not qualify as a miracle it is pretty amazing, I think, so here goes!

Craft Schooling Sunday Is Take A Holiday Break Party Resumes Jan. 9th

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday, thanks for joining me here! We are now celebrating the 7th night of Chanukah! As is customary every year, I take a holiday break with the party for the month of December, so I am sharing features from last week's party, but there is no link up. Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season, and looking forward to reconnecting in 2021!

Chanukah Paper Craft: A Quilled Dreidel

I am reposting this Hanukkah quilling craft as now is a great time to delve into something new! Our Jewish holidays are coming to end while secular holiday season is just getting started, so keep the mood festive with some great looking crafts!  Quilling is truly wonderful, and there are so many ways to go with it. I even did a huge quilled version of a logo we use for my husband one year! i have dusted this off from the archives, and here is what I wrote back then, enjoy and happy chanukah!

As you can see, I really had a great time creating a series of quilled Hanukkah crafts this year......and our house is looking more festive than ever! I'm expecting a huge crowd at our table this Shabbos, so I'm really happy to say that my house looks ready to party! Of course, I have many more decorations than you see here, but these guys did set the stage for everything else, and I can't wait to make more. Ahh yes, I did actually make more, in fact I made a large piece of quilled art for my husband's birthday, the first night of Chanukah, and it is already hanging in his office and getting rave reviews.....no one believes it is just paper! One guy even took it off the wall and took it home to show his wife (next door)....so I guess this quilling venture is going to be around for a while!

Jewish Paper Quilling: A Chanukah Menorah

I dusted this off from the archives and am enjoying some of my quilled paper crafts from years ago this Chanukah, so yes, you can make some now and keep them for years. The only thing that didn't keep well in some cases is the paper piece around the edge with did get wavy, but that can always be replaced, the bulk of the work looks as good as when it was created.

Hanukkah is eight glorious days long, which means one can still find some time to get crafting, right? I just love the results of quilling, especially when one uses colored paper, so bright and fun. Quilling doesn't have to be super time consuming if you choose to do something simple without filling in the background, and in any case, the results are truly worth the effort.

Quilling, the art of rolling little strips of paper has been around for hundreds of years, and may even date back to Egypt! There is something about taking little strips of paper and rolling them that is pure enjoyment, so give it a try yourself!

Simple Crochet Projects For Hanukkah!

Crochet projects for Hanukkah? Of course, because as you all know, I love to crochet, and so crocheting has often been a big part of my hanukkah crafting! (Now, I do not have time to crochet with my art explorations, but I have so many things on hand, that we only see once a year, so it is still fresh. Hmmmm, but maybe I need to crochet just a bit tonight for tomorrow's guests?) While tonight is the third night of chanukah that does not mean we can't have fun making things on chanukah to enjoy for the remainder of the holiday, to give as gifts or even save until next year! Here are some of my favorite simple crochet projects from the archives that are perfect for chanukah, try something new, or go get all those old t-shirts and use them to make the basket above, wouldn't it be a miracle of chanukah to clean out that draw a bit? Okay, enjoy!

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday, thanks so much for joining me here! Chanuka is starting Sunday night and while it will be little lower key this year as with my children all teens plus, and young children coming maybe only one night, it seems like a bit too much. Okay, though seriously, my down played version is still way over the top compared to most people,so not to worry, and I could change my mind by tomorrow night, as I have more than enough already made decorations! Right now it is time to take a look at the features from last week's party, and start thinking about what crafts you'll delve into this winter? There are so many many options, though I of course always encourage crochet, because it is just so very versatile! Okay, enjoy the features!

Plastic Canvas Hanukkah Crafts To Make During Hanukkah!

With Chanukah quickly approaching now might not be the time to actually make plastic canvas hanukkah decorations, but now might be a great time to buy the supplies in order to enjoy making some during hanukkah! These decorations, well, last literaly forever, so they make great family keepsakes and are just as cute as can be. So no stressing with intricate crafts like this right now, save these projects for chanukah, what could be better? I fortunately do not know where my plastic canvas supplies are at the moment, or I might be tempted? Okay, here is my post from two years ago:

This week I shared with you a lovely eco-friendly way to make glitter snowflakes from recycled plastic berry baskets, and now while it isn't in keeping with my usual recycling crafts, I'm sharing some really festive plastic canvas crafts for Hanukkah. And just to clarify, plastic canvas is certainly not eco friendly, but it can be enjoyed for years and years to come, so while buying it does encourage the manufacturing of it, sigh, at least one doesn't have to be wasteful with it, right? The pleasure of embroidering on plastic canvas is an experience unto itself, and maybe that is in fact how my crafts ended up looking so very happy!

I truly believe that one should indulge in the joy of crafting, and now is a great time to do that, with winter holidays and family time quickly approaching! Spread some love this season with handmade crafts, and if you do that I think buying a bit of plastic canvas is also giving back to the world. Okay, enough said, take a look at these projects and come up with some of your own!

"Ugly" Holiday Sweater Craft Is Cute As Can Be!

After turning a color swatching exercise into striped dreidels, here, I just had to keep on going with some cozy striped sweaters! Are they "ugly" holiday sweaters, not in my book, because friends, when you mix your own paint colors using any red, yellow and blue, no matter what, the resulting colors will go together, like magic! Truly a wonderful realization, and a great way to minimize thinking too much about what colors to use, whether painting a painting or painting stripes on a mini holiday sweater! Yes, it is true these sweaters might look great with a star of David, or a dreidel, or a jelly doughnut on the front, but I think I'm going to leave them plain so I can enjoy them all winter and it won't look like I've yet to pack up my Chanukah decor! (Same goes for all the white pom poms I'm planning on hanging!) So friends, these "ugly" holiday sweaters are just beyond cute, and so simple to make, so let's get started!

Painted Cereal Box Dreidels For Chanukah Crafting

These striped dreidels painted on cereal boxes are looking so cute I just had to do a better job of photographing them to convince you that this is the thing to delve into this year! Make little ones, make big ones, just make a ton, and transform your home into a festive place for celebrating our wonderful 8 night holiday! I can see these hung vertically with some little pom poms in between to make a wall hanging, so simple, just tape a piece of thread or yarn to the backs and hang from a stick, a skewer, a long paint brush, a hanger, get creative! Or paint both sides and make some cake toppers, stick them in a vase or make a mobile. Get those creative gears turning and make memories for loved one, you won't regret it! And friends, no special supplies needed, right? Keep on reading for the link the original tutorial, and supplies!