creative jewish mom

Orange And Cloves Pomander Craft

Today is the Jewish holiday of Tu B'Shevat, and I'm posting this keeper of a craft once again just in case you might be looking to make something special to honor the holiday! Here is what I wrote when I took this out of the archives two years ago, enjoy!

It has been twelve years (gasp) since I actually made these great looking orange and cloves pomanders, but they are still looking good, so I figured I'd dust off this project and share it with you again. i have come to realize that bringing things out of the archives to see the light of day isn't such a bad idea, especially since most people don't go fishing around in there!

You do have time to actually make some of these pomanders before ushering in the Jewish holiday of Tu B'Shevat and I have come up with a great way to make these so that even those who aren't so crafty can succeed.....and of course the fragrance that goes with this activity is just lovely, so go for it!

Welcome Back To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome back to Craft Schooling Sunday, and so happy to reconnect with everyone! It is true I had only planned on putting the party on hiatus for a month, but a busy life led me down other roads, that finally did lead me back here! Thanks so much for sharing! This party is the Tu B'Shevat party, as Sunday night is the Jewish new year for the trees, and all things fruit are celebrated, so enjoy!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Pear Of Hearts Milk Carton Painting Craft

So friends, it turns out that painting tiny hearts on milk cartons can get a bit addictive as layer after layer is so very relaxing! That means more milk cartons filled with hearts to then turn into pear of hearts milk cartons, because the pear is created by blocking out the background with a solid color, leaving the pear shape filled with hearts, so very cute I must say! And yes I have outlined the pear with a paint pen, as it needs the definition, but that all depends on the colors you are using! The wonderful thing as always about painting on milk cartons is that is is low pressure, so you can just have fun, and you have 4 sides to get it right! And then, tada, the art stands up all by itself, which I just love, and you could fill them with tiny pebbles or sand to make book ends if you so desire. Okay, lets learn how to create something similar!

Plastic Bag Pom Pom Fruit Craft

I've been wanting to make fruit from plastic bag pom poms for a few good years now, and it finally happened, and I just love them. Now if only I had plastic bags in orange and yellow, well things would be even more festive. Plastic bag pom pom fruit can be great hung as a mobile in a child's room, used as party decor for a fruit themed party, or of course made to celebreate Tu B'Shevat, the Jewish new year for fruit bearing trees, which is why I made these! Right now I have plastic bag pom poms hanging over my dining room table, and while I had planned to add these to the mix it was looking a little bit too much like a child's room, so I've been displaying them elsewhere. That said they truly are adorable, and certainly something one can keep on hand to pull out in a pinch, I think they'd make great cake toppers as well. Okay, lets make some plastic bag pom pom fruit!

Graffiti Hearts Milk Carton Craft

With the Jewish New Year for the trees, Tu B'Shevat coming up this Sunday night I thought I'd revamp some of my painted milk cartons to go with the new ones covered in hearts. I had almost forgotten how many graffiti hearts projects I've done, so it is a good thing there is an archives here to remind me! I have not painted in a while, so I've been covering milk cartons with layers and layers of hearts as a warm up, and it also turns out to be oh so relaxing and quite addicting! And best of all they are sure to put a smile on everyone's face, promise! So cover a milk carton in hearts, and another with whimsical blooming heart trees and enjoy!

Craft Schooling Sunday Returns Next Week!

Dear Friends, my usual break from Craft Schooling Sunday for the month of December somehow became a two month hiatus, but the party will return next Sunday and I look forward to reconnecting with everyone, and hope to see you then!

Top 10 Gifts To Encourage a Passion For Writing in Kids and Teens

While of course this blog generally focuses on crafts when it comes to creativity, I am happy to write about encouraging a passion for writing in kids and teens, as any creative outlet is a wonderful thing! And of course writing can go hand in hand with art or music, and is all in all a very important skill at the least, and quite possibly a life enhancing passion! As with anything, writing takes practice and developing a love for writing might be something that takes a bit of time as well as some encouragement. If you have kids or teens in your life that are very language focused, namely first of all they love to read more than anything else, they are great candidates to become writers. From personal experience I can say that my children who spent hours with their nose in a book became teens with strong writing skills.

Okay great, now that you've identified a potential writer, or heard from them that they are interested in writing, how do you encourage them? A first step might be to find some good books on the topic and why not give washingtoncitypaper.com a go to find everything you might need. Of course there isn't one way, but some gentle coaching together with a meaningful gift or gifts might just have the impact you are looking for. As we all know, no great writer is born overnight, so don't forget to follow up down the road to see how things are going. But first, lets think about that perfect gift to help encourage a passion for writing in kids and teens, and I've got ten ideas to get you started, so keep on reading......

Origami Apples Craft

Origami is one of my favorite crafts, whether actual traditional size, or giant size which I generally go for, so with the Jewish holiday of Tu B'Shevat and all things fruit coming up in a few weeks, I thought I'd get started by trying out some origami apples that I've yet to tackle! The charming thing about these apples is that while one sided they are dimensional, and stand up on the page, unless you force them to be flat with glue, but why do that? Use them on a garland or wall hanging of some kind, and while you won't want to show off the back, it is nice that they have dimension!

Add some details with a paint pen, or not, and enjoy! No go make a bushel, here's how......

Rich Jewish History And Great Options For Work or Study In Hamburg

I'll admit Hamburg was not on my radar whatsoever, and thinking about traveling to Germany has a heavy emotional side to it given the history of the Holocaust. That said, after being asked to write an article about Hamburg I found out some jaw dropping Jewish historic information that truly surprised me. I thought I knew about Jewish history in Europe, but was actually missing a huge piece of the puzzle, which is Hamburg! Now I would love to visit Hamburg and experience the rich Jewish history, and I just read it is a recommended destination for modern architecture buffs, which is also a huge interest of mine. In the meantime, I'll keep on reading this post, which talks about the 30 Jewish heritage sites in Hamburg, who knew? Additionally, Hamburg is an international tourist destination spot, because of its beautiful location on the sea in Northern Germany, with many attractive harbor areas and a famous and historic port. Ah yes, and it is close to my beloved Sweden, so maybe I could visit on the way to that Swedish summer on the lake........ Okay, lets learn some more, shall we?

DIY Rustic Wooden Wedding Sign

When my dear nephew Rafi asked me to make a rustic welcome sign for his wedding in Israel (because the bride was dreaming of one) my first reaction was, hmmm, never done that maybe I'll just do it on the computer and make a mounted print? Except given the rustic wedding venue that might totally flop, yikes. Then I thought why not do a computer created decal and apply it to wood? A good option but ordering that decal, not so simple in my location, and potentially costly. Okay, then how about DIY decal sheets to print at home? An option but also needs to planned way ahead to account for shipping of those sheets. In the end, silly me I realized that designing the sign on the computer, and then transferring the design onto a piece of wood, and then painting it truly would be the best solution. And so, presenting to you my first ever DIY rustic welcome sign, with the artist's easel that I also happened to have, and which needed its own makeover as well.

Want to make one too, let's do it!