creative jewish mom

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday, thanks so much for joining me here! Well folks, Chanukah is in just two weeks, so time to get cracking on decorations and homemade gifts! Winter has arrived here in Northern Israel with much needed rain and colder temperatures, which of course as I always say is great weather for crafting, so hoping to do a bunch of that myself this week. With so much distress going on in my home state of California and around the world, now is a good time to remember that we have the abilty bring joy into the world through creativity, and that alone is a significant contribution to the world. Help others fill their lives with creativity and you've done something amazing, so this holiday season craft with an neighbor a relative or even a group somewhere, and you'll be so happy you did! And now for some inspiration from last week's party, enjoy!

Needlepoint Star Ornaments With Plastic Canvas

As you may have noticed, I have been having lots of fun making Hanukkah decorations using plastic canvas. And now I present to you an obvious addition to my plastic canvas dreidels and  plastic canvas menorahs, ta da, plastic canvas Jewish stars! Just for the record I thought you might be interested to know that truly the idea of using the Jewish star to represent Hanukkah is a commercial invention of some sort, and you won't see any such stars here in Israel being used for Hannukah. People would wonder if you were trying to possibly recycle your decorations from Independance Day! I just had to laugh as I was typing that, but it really is true, that together with the fact that the color blue has nothing to do with Hanukkah (really spelled Chanukah) either!

That said, the Jewish star does represent Chanukah for so many folks out there, so we've got to make some, right? Keep on reading for the number one most important tip for making these guys....

Needlepoint Dreidels For Hanukkah With Plastic Canvas

This Chanukah is turning out to be a plastic canvas craft extravaganza! Yes just a bit odd for someone who prefers to craft with recyclables, but hey, sometimes I just want to make some great looking crafts from store bought suppiles, can you blame me? I will say that all the supplies for these plastic canvas Chanukah crafts are things that I already have on hand, and I have been using up little bits and pieces of yarn, and even unraveling swatches to get enough of the colors I desire!

These plastic canvas dreidels were actually the first thing I made, just somehow decided to share them with you last, which is a good thing as they look great together with my plastic canvas snowflake medallions, right? These embroidered dreidels are simple enough to make even for kids say around seven or eight, so get the whole family stitching and you'll have enough for a garland or fun wall hanging in no time. Shall we get started?

Needlepoint Menorah For Hanukkah With Plastic Canvas

Dear Readers, I have been very busy doing all kinds of creative things, some of which just aren't baked enough to share, so I am pulling some projects out of the archives as they are still wonderful and perfect right about now, enjoy! And while there isn't a month until Chanukah, rather roughly 2 weeks, there is still time for some detailed work, just now is the time.

I just love embroidery and needlework of all kinds, but with my generally hectic crafting endeavors there usually isn't time for small detailed work. But this year my friends we have an entire month until Chanukah, and with a huge roll of plastic canvas sitting in the corner of my studio and as you can imagine, no shortage of yarn, well I just had to indulge myself in a little bit of chanukah needlepoint of sorts, yippee! Yes it is true, plastic canvas isn't what I'd call refined needlework, but it sure is great for making fun decorations, perfect for kids and well, there really are so many creative things one can do with it, right? And a great excuse to use up some of those bits and pieces of yarn you've got hanging around, at least in my case!

One of the great things about plastic canvas is that one doesn't have to stick with small stitches, so filling the canvas with colorful strokes of yarn can be done relatively quickly. Here I choose to fill the ground of the piece with the traditional needlepoint stitch, but tomorrow I'll be sharing with you another plastic canvas chanukah craft where I did just the opposite, so stay tuned for that. In the meantime, here's how I made this sweet little menorah......

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday, thanks for joining me here! It is now the Jewish month of Kislev, a month filled with light, on account of the holiday of Hanukkah which is in just about 3 weeks, yikes. So time to get crafting decorations and presents and whatever time permits! Enjoy the features from last week's party, and lets make use of those long winter nights!

Fun 3D Hanukkah Menorah Craft

With Hanukkah starting this coming Saturday night now is the time to set aside some time for some serious crafting! And to make the most of your time with the best results, I'd recommend purchasing one or two of my Hanukkah digital craft kits to make your life just a bit easier? Plus the results are just too adorable, with so many options to make these digital kits kid friendly as well.

I'll admit, I still have bunch of these cardboard menorahs that I made last year as centerpieces for a large Hanukkah party, and if packed away nicely, they certainly can be used for a few years! Now is crunch time for me, as I'm not just making party decorations for our community party, and I'm not just crafting with my kids, and I'm not just writing a last minute post for a large website, and I'm not just planning a double birthday party for two family members on the first night of Hanukkah, (in addition to all of my regular duties) I'm also hand crafting a number of gifts, crazy as that all sounds! But of course, i just can't help myself as this is what makes memories for my family!

That said, you don't have to go crazy like I do, but certainly filling the house with as many decorations as you can is always a great idea. At this point I'd recommend quantity over quality, which is where my hanukkah digital craft kits will certainly come in handy, just saying.

Nesting Dreidel Printable For Hanukkah Crafting

If you start to see photos of my classic nesting dreidel mobile here on CJM that must mean that Hanukkah is coming! So yes indeed, with Hanukkah just a month away, I suggest planning ahead and getting a head start on decorating your home, your classroom or workplace with an extra dose of color. My nesting dreidel digital craft kit is the perfect place to start, and you can use the pages in so many fun ways beyond mobiles! Make garlands, place mats, gift wrap, gift tags, or even use the dreidels to decoupage on the bottom of some glass plates or trays! Yes, you are right, I need to try that myself, will do!

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday, thanks so much for joining me here! Fall is here, and we enjoyed a really lovely shabbat with sun and cool breezes, here in Northern Israel, you really ought to come visit sometime! We always have lots of guests at our shabbat table, and today we had a group of 7 French Jewish boys who are learning in Yeshiva in Jerusalem, and came up north for a little break. One from Paris, two from Marseille, another from Strasbourg, so we had fun with a little armchair geography and French lessons! My husband kept telling the guests that I want to be a painter,( as I've been painting for the last week or so, on the kitchen table), so maybe it will happen? Who knows, the main thing is to do things that bring you joy and to try and stretch your limits, which is what I'm doing with the painting. Enjoy the features from last week's party, maybe you'll decide to learn something new?

DIY Wall Art From Painted Wrapping Paper

DIY wall art is all the rage, and now you can whip up some fun wrapping paper, and make something to grace your walls, all while honing your loose paining skills! There is something about fooling yourself into painting without the pressure that just plain works, so instead of setting out to paint wall art, just set out to paint some wrapping paper and very likely the results will be that much better! This week I've been having a go at painting some fun works of art that require really being as loose as possible with the painting strokes, and while I have yet to master the look on canvas (well, watercolor paper actually in my case) my attempt at flowers came out really well when I just decided to practice on a big sheet of butcher paper......so maybe I should just stick with that for now? Who knows, and in the meantime my kitchen wall, and my pile of Hanukkah presents are going to look really fun and festive!

Ready to paint something  quick with out the pressure of actually producing great artwork? Lets get started......

Lovely DIY Wrapping Paper From A Painting Exercise!

With gift giving season approaching quickly, now is a great time to make some DIY wrapping paper, and even better, to practice your painting skills in the process! I have at long last set aside some time to follow my dreams of painting, and while the jury is still out regarding whether this is something that I'll truly want to devote my time to, I now have some great looking wrapping paper that is so fun to look at! Painting loosely, which is the direction I'd like to take, since that is the style that speaks to me (fortunately) isn't nearly as easy as it looks, and so practicing on large sheets of butcher paper is the perfect way to loosen up with no pressure. And this year our Chanukkah gifts are going to look amazing, yippee!

And speaking of yippee, my old virtual friend Amanda Evanston (who used to run the blog Aunt Peaches) has graciously gifted me her online painting classes to review, and let me tell you, the first class that I'm working on now "The Secret Garden" is truly amazing. I can't promise you overnight success unless you are an artistic genius, but I can promise you at the very least that you'll see painting in a whole new light. If that means delving in deeper, like me, or deciding to support artists, like Amanda, already creating amazing work, either way the results are well worth the investment. And yes, you can do the class with kids, in fact the techniques are perfect for all ages. No, Amanda won't teach you exactly how to copy gorgeous paintings like hers, that you'll have to work for, so I'm running off to do just that!

I took this quote of of Amanda's site and I just love it:

"A painting teacher once told me, "To introduce someone to the artists that lives inside them is a great honor." - This is a privilege I take very seriously, and I spent years developing a teaching method that is inclusive of students of all ages and skill levels. I would love to have you as a student. 

So thanks Amanda, I'm really hoping to get to know my own inner artist, and time will tell! Now, lets paint some wrapping paper, ready?