creative jewish mom

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Craft Schooling Sunday Is Taking A Passover Break, Will Return Next Week!

It is now officially the first day of Passover, and this message has been posted automatically, as I am blissfully unplugged and enjoying the holiday with my family, after slaving over the preparations just as we do every year, and with no regrets. We work hard, get a tiny taste of discomfort and then the holiday is that much better!

Next Sunday will still be Passover for most of the world, but in Israel we celebrate for 7 days and not 8, so the party will resume next Sunday. Wishing you all the very best!

Passover Crochet: Ten Plagues Characters For The Seder!

Meet the adorable Ten Plagues characters that were crocheted when I should have been cleaning my studio, and now aforementioned studio needs a very quick clean up/box up as Passover is literally on our doorstep and everything must be ready by shabbat, phew! Okay, but honestly, this was a labor of love, that I sent with my daughter who is celebrating the holiday with extended family (waah.) There is an over the top pouch and a few more items that I'll share with you in another six months or so to get a start for next year. So my friends, while there surely isn't time to crochet amigurumi ten plagues characters this year, if you have a long plane or car trip you could fit in a drop of blood or some lice if you can make up a pattern as I did. (Will write up the pattern for next year, not to worry, it was a quick one.) At the least get some white pom poms to make hail, or as my son said, the hail should be orange as it is fiery hail, not regular hail, ah yes!

The main thing is to think about how to make the seder very memorable for the little ones, as their passing down of the tradition is the whole point of the seder. No little ones at the seder this year, like us? Indulge the inner child who may not have had memorable seders like you'd make! I have honestly gone over the top with indulging my inner child with this crochet project, so i think we're good to go! (Not to mention another huge labor of love, the new Maileg style dollhouse I've put together – using a tall vintage metal cabinet – for little ones coming later in the week, stay tuned for that!)

Passover Crochet: Amigurumi Pharoah With Boils!

I almost can't believe it myself, as I don't generally crochet tiny-ish things nor create my own patterns, but here we are! Introducing my crochet for Passover Ten Plagues character, Pharoah with boils, and boy does he look unhappy, those boils are downright uncomfortable! With just a few days to go until Passover I'm rushing to share this and it is unlikely that anyone on the face of the planet will actually make this for this Passover, but if you can crochet and have some travel time or down time, give it a try! Though honestly, I'd make the amigurumi frog and amigurumi drop of blood, both of which are much simpler, well the drop of blood certainly. Then again, maybe you'd prefer an amigurumi locust, another member of the 10 Plagues crocheted characters born this year? I actually managed to crochet a new afikomen cover (a few weeks ago, phew) but that needs a lining and a golden tassel, and my poor studio, while soooooooo much better still needs a good few hours of organizing, so gotta run!

Passover Crochet: A Locust (Head) For The Passover Seder

With Passover coming at the end of this week, the pressure is on to finish up all the preparations, which in our case involve lots of cleaning, organizing and hard work! Of course I'm always dreaming of making new things for the holiday, and this year, while it was not at all practical, I ended up crocheting a really cute set of 10 Plagues amigurumi for a special little boy for the Passover seder. My daughter will be with extended family for the holiday, and is leaving tonight, so I HAD to finish everything last night, and phew, I did it! While I've already shared my tiny crocheted frog, and the crocheted drop of blood, I now present my crocheted locust, or rather a locust head, as crocheting an entire animal just was not in the cards, and this is much cuter! Okay, I doubt anyone is actually going to crochet this now, but I'm happy to add some basic directions, so keep on reading!

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday, thanks so much for joining me here! We are now officially in the home stretch with Passover coming at the end of this week, and while there is so much left to do, we are actually in great shape as far as the kitchen and most of the house goes (my studio needs help still, yikes) and while we will be working hard for the next four days or so, hopefully without stress! I have started crocheting items for a 10 Plagues Passover Seder bag, and hoping to squeeze in a few more things, though hopefully I won't go overboard and crochet rather than clean, yikes! Okay, time is of the essence, and rather than babbling here I could be crocheting, ha ha, so enjoy the features  from last week's party!

Passover Crochet: A Tiny Crocheted Frog For The Seder!

Introducing a tiny crocheted frog (amigurumi) that stands up! Yippee, another piece of the ten plagues Passover seder kit for a five year old has been completed, and while I don't generally love making tiny things that require attaching parts with sewing, the results are just too cute so I may be hooked, a play on words at that! While the pattern for this calls for legs, I decided that the frog looks just as cute without them, and can therefore also stand up on the Passover seder table, together with the tiny crocheted drop of blood. With Passover quickly approaching, and my need to finish the entire project by Monday I will crochet a tiny sleep mask, (maybe for the drop of blood?)  make lice from felt with wire legs (or something like that, stay tuned!) and include that with my Passover Ten Plagues cards, white pom poms in a crocheted bag that is in the shape of the head of a bear, phew! Six out of ten crafted items for the 10 Plagues is a good start, though I would love to make a locust, maybe next year! In the mean time, whether you have a bit of time for this now, or saving it to make during the year, let's do it!

Passover Crochet: A Drop Of Blood For The Ten Plagues!

With Passover coming is just a tiny bit more than a week, now may not be the time to get crocheting for the Passover seder, but here at CJM central crafting takes precedence! I'll admit, I never thought I'd find myself delving into Amigurumi, tiny crocheted things, but daughter is spending the holiday with extended family and there is a sweet 4 year old for whom I've decided to prepare a bag of 10 Plagues items for the seder, some of which will be crocheted, in addition to the bag. Time allowing I have plans to crochet a frog, a drop of blood, a louse, and a tiny sleep mask which will go inside a bag that is a bear of sorts. Bag already crocheted, frog partly crocheted, so just a few more items to go! In addition, I'll be adding my 10 Plagues Cards to the bag, and these white pom poms, and then, calling it finished. Ah yes, and of course doing all this while trying to organize my craft room, which never quite gets organized on account of all the crafting, and so it goes, but maybe there is hope?

Want to whip up a crocheted drop of blood? Lets do it!

Milk Carton Frogs Craft For Passover

 

I've pulled this one out of the archives because it is just too cute not to share once again! Enjoy!

With Passover less than a week away, it is certainly time to get crafting, if you can squeeze it in of course. Then again, maybe keeping the kids busy with some fun crafts for Passover may be the best idea right about now while you spend time getting the house and most importantly, the kitchen, in gear? My kids are now teens so they are helping big time, so no crafting for us, whaah. I am reposting this to share with you and reminisce myself! Enjoy!

These milk carton frogs couldn't be cuter and also make great party favor boxes or flower boxes any time! Of course, they are perfect to use in a variety of ways for the Passover seder, as the frogs represent the second plague discussed in the seder. And red frogs? Well that could represent the first two plagues, blood and frogs, right? And then how about using these milk carton frogs to hold other object representing the remaining 8 plagues, could be adorable! If you don't end up finding time for that, so just fill these frogs with little prizes to keep the kids occupied during the seder, and call it a night!

My ten year old made 19 of these fun red frogs, and I was so proud of him. And really happy to use up so many of those milk cartons I've been saving! So you or your kids certainly can make a bunch too, just do the project in a few stages as the paint does require drying time.

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday, thanks so much for joining me here! With just 2 weeks exactly until the Passover seder and then a week of festivities and lots of matzo, the pressure in now officially on to get ready for the holiday, which at the very least means a total deep cleanse of the kitchen and any eating surfaces, but for most, includes a good spring cleaning of the house as well. My studio floor has seen the light of day and now I still need to organize all the piles, but progress has been made! I am starting on the kitchen tomorrow, and will not be doing any more baking, as it is time to rid the house of leavened products. Of course my teenage son who is home and rolling up his sleeves to help, will want pasta and bread, which we will, by early next week, prepare outside or somewhere away from the kitchen as it becomes closer to readiness for Passover! Okay, enjoy the features from last week's party and do find some time to include creativity in your busy life!

A Chunky Crocheted Sunflower Granny Square Baby Blanket

I crocheted this sunflower granny square baby blanket about 5 months ago and just now had a moment to share it with you! Truthfully I did not love the results as I was winging it and made the mistake of using a crochet hook that was really too small for the chunky yarn weight. This resulted in the medallions being more tightly packed than the white areas so the blanket has stiff circles and not so stiff borders, which is quite strange, but the recipients didn't really notice and loved it just the same. Lesson learned on my part, namely don't crochet all the medallions and then the border, do an entire sample of a finished square first. And so it goes! A crocheted sunflower granny square is also called a large sunburst or starburst granny square, while a starburst granny square has only 3 rows, instead of 4 in the center medallion. So do check out my starburst granny square pattern as well! Okay, lets take a closer look at this blanket, shall we?