creative jewish mom

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Here we are, another busy week has gone by and I've got lots of great project to share from last week's party. I must say, just the projects from this little weekly get together alone would be enough to keep me busy for years! So thanks again to everyone who has linked up in the past or will link up this week, and I hope you'll keep in touch! And now, for some inspiration from last week:

i just love this simple packaging idea from Birdcrafts (all the way from France!) and this headband by Kendra of mysideoftheroom is just artfully gorgeous! (I'm getting more than a little embarrassed that my daughter has yet to sport any of these hair creations that are multiplying like crazy on the web! I'm going to have to rectify that, soon!)

My friend Tali over at growingupcreative also lives in Israel and does great craft projects with her kids, like this butterfly specimen box! Lettie over at polkadotpineapple can't stop making flowers, which is good for us, since her creations are beautiful!

These cake pops from Birdcrafts look professional and delicious and yet they're do-able for those of us who'd rather craft than bake! And this sweet felt hair bow is so simple (also from Bird!) you can whip some up for all the little girls in the neighborhood in almost no time!

And look at these two recycled materials projects! A privacy window screen made from plastic milk jugs by homemademamas and a really humorous light bulb bird by CraftsbyAmanda. Infact she filled tree with a whole bunch of them, now that's resourceful!

Decorating projects that only take a few minutes are near and dear to my heart, so I wanted to share with you this fun pillow case valance (anchored with napkin rings!) from entertainexchange and this simple silhouette art from Amy at heynowwhoanow, you're gonna love it!

And for the sewers out there (which seems to be quite a few of you!) look at this adorable butterfly winged baby onsie, from Summer over at sumossweetstuff and these oh so sweet cocktail napkins from Kojodesigns.

And now it's time to see what you've been up to this week! Thanks so much for dropping by!

Kids & Veggies: Try Fresh Zucchini Salad! (You'll like it too!)

Not to brag, but my kids are big vegetable eaters. And truthfully all the hard work that has gone into achieving this wonderful state of being has been endless hours preparing all the fresh and cooked Moroccan salads that my husband introduced me to, and that we can't live without! (see recipes here) My kids will even fight over alfalfa sprouts! Can you believe that? And last week one of my teenage sons even snuck a handful of sprouts to the Shabbos table behind his back (!) prompting one of the guests to say "uh, we used to do that with cookies?" A proud mothering moment indeed!

Nonetheless, zucchini just hasn't scored high on the list of favorites, and I even started making grated soup (recipe here) to hide the zucchini. And then something magical happened, thanks to a recipe I saw for raw zucchini salad that is prepared by creating slivers with a vegetable peeler. As simple as that!

So the other night while preparing dinner I simply starting filling a plate with zucchini peels and my kids literally went wild! "What are you doing? Can I try some?" It was all I could do to add some seasoning (salt, pepper, olive oil) before the plate was attacked. My six year old said "a meal fit for royalty!" "can we have this every night?" And then as the zucchini started to disappear they begged me to take if off the table so there would be some left for dinner! My daughter said "remember when we didn't like zuchini?" Yes , I remember, that was just yesterday! I just took it all in, and smiled to myself. And the cherry on the top of the cake was when my husband came home for dinner and said "wow, what a suprise! Is there more?"

Note: Due to differences in genetic makeup and environmental influences, each family is different, so I really can't guarantee that your results will be similar to mine, but good luck!

Decorate Now With Interesting Frames and Fill Them Later (Or Don't!)

We have lived in our current home for over three years now, and I have to admit, I've been a little lax in the final touch department. Before moving in I spent lots of time choosing paint colors and light fixtures, so the house has looked pretty good from the start, but recently those very blank walls that I initially loved started to look just too bare! (And I should say, I'm very particular about what I'll drill a hole for.) And then it occurred to me — Moroccan frames, groupings of them to fill those large blank walls! Here's the results:

I actually love the sculptural quality of  these frames as is, and would never fill them up with something solid, as they would be just too massive. I may in the future stencil a design on the wall in light neutral colors, or hang a collection of small plates or objects within the frames. Who knows?

I bought these painted wooden frames not knowing where I'd hang them exactly, but I think they play beautifully off the peacock blue stairwell. I am planning to fill these with some Hebrew blessings printed on clear acetate, but have yet to do a test, so anything could change. It might also be a great place for some upbeat "family rules" type reminders, as these hang over the kitchen table.

I just love this frame! And I really lucked out that it works so well in this space between the sconces. I took this bench from my husband's office where it just wasn't being appreciated (by me that is!), and I leave this bag on the bench for a little shot of color. And as it turns out, the inner most rectangle was exactly the right size to work as a backdrop for the gold-framed portrait. As you can see I quite simply hung the gold-framed picture from the iron frame with a piece of string! I really couldn't believe my luck! Since frames like these may not be available in your area, you could try filling some of that blank space with an interesting piece of metal wall art, just look in the trees or flowers category for a few tasteful options.

And just because I though you might be curious, the pattern in the foreground of this photo is my new table cloth, a piece of Amy Butler fabric that I ordered from my favorite fabric supply company Fabric.comThey have an amazing selection of Clearance and Closeout Fabricsto choose from, just try not to swoon too much!

And since we're on the subject, patterned table cloths are a great way to introduce some visual interest and color into your home with minimal commitment! You can make a great tablecloth from a piece of fabric, and my sewing maching was broken so I even just hemmed the ends with iron-on hemming tape. I left the selvedge edges as is, and you really don't notice it at all! Measure your table and go for it!

Make A Fun DIY Stenciled Coat Rack (For Kids?)

   

Why not encourage your kids to hang up their stuff by providing them with a fun coat rack hung at their level! You may even have the supplies for this project hanging around collecting dust, like I did! And in case you're wondering, I really am not all that handy, it's just that I couldn't find anything to buy (at a reasonable price) that would look great in this cute little yellow toy/catch-all room just off the kitchen!

 

And no, it doesn't usually look like this, but the mess was obscuring the beauty of the project, so I had to dispose of it (throw it in a corner behind me, namely) as you can well imagine! And yes, the bags made from woven plastic strips are great, I got them in Seattle years ago!

You'll  Need:

• a piece of plywood, wood or even laminated partical board of some kind that's the right size for your needs, or even old drawer fronts would be great for this project!
• formica edging tape, for a very finished look if using plywood
• paint suitable for wood, I used enamel semi-gloss
• a paint brush or mini roller
• hooks, any assortment is fun, or all the same if you prefer
• a stencil
• craft paint for your stencil, and a stencil brush or piece of dense foam to apply paint to stencil
• varnish, either spray or brush-on for a top coat to protect your stenciled pattern
• an electric drill for attaching hooks to boards, (you could use a regular screwdriver if working with solid wood that's not too hard) and a handy neighbor to attach the racks to the wall!

How To:

1. Paint your base pieces, and set aside to dry overnight. If you are using something that is already covered in a laminate of some kind, you'll need to use special paint suited to formica, which is available as a base coat in white.
2. Apply your stenciled pattern (see my other posts about stenciling here) and set aside to dry
3. Apply a coat of varnish, acrylic or oil based, spray or paint-on, whichever suits you, or whichever you happen to have on hand
4. Apply formica strips to edges if applicable, using manufacturers instructions. The brand I used was pre-glued and I applied it with heat, namely an iron!
5. Carefully mark holes for placement of hooks (measure!) and attach hooks with a screwdriver or screwdriver attachment on your power drill
6. Attach coat racks to wall at the right level for your needs, and enjoy!
7. Take photos and share them with us here, it would make us so proud!

Make A Fig-Leaf Windchime To Enjoy Outdoors!

Now that the weather has warmed up for most of us, it's time to start thinking about crafting projects for our outdoor areas! And with the Jewish holiday of Shavuos coming up in a couple of weeks, I'm thinking about craft projects that celebrate flowers and greenery. I know, a fired ceramic wind chime isn't the most accessible project for most of you, but I wanted to share this idea because I'm quite sure that it can inspire you to create something wonderful if you give it a bit of thought!

This project was made by my kids simply using real fig leaves. The leaves were pressed into the rolled out clay and then the shapes were cut out with a knife, and fired in a kiln. One could certainly do this project with air-drying clay, though I'm pretty sure the shapes won't "chime" when they bump one another. So why not add something (glass, metal, bells etc.) to the mobile that would chime, and it could really be quite lovely.

Or how about making a hanging leaf mobile from paper? Or a garland of paper leaves? Or printing the leaf shapes on paper and then cutting them out? (See my post here for making prints with leaves.) Now it's your turn to come up with some creative ideas! You can do it!

ps: Thanks so much to our wonderful ceramics teacher Batya who has given two of my young children a love for working with clay! And I'm especially happy because my 6 year old son, who doesn't love crafts like the rest of us, has been looking forward to his ceramics class every week for months! And that makes a mom like me not just happy but thrilled!

Colorful Cupcake Liner Flowers: Festive and Fun!

Cupcake liner flowers are one of those crafts that just make you smile! What's not to love? A few days ago I showed you some romantic carnation-like versions here. So now I thought I'd share this little colorful bouquet, made the same way just with the addition of some blue-striped liners and some bright paint.

I'm originally from California, where Mexican heritage has quite a presence, so though I'm preparing for the upcoming Jewish holiday of Shavuos, I just couldn't help but think how great these would be for Cinco de Mayo! And I even pulled out my authentic Mexican blanket for the photo! And by the way, large vintage sugar and flour shakers (or even salt and pepper, but they're usually much smaller) make great little vases, just stick the stems into the holes and voila!

For a complete cupcake liner flower tutorial, visit my previous post here. Enjoy!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to another week of Craft Schooling Sunday, my international blog linking party! Okay realistically most of my fabulous readers, actually an overwhelming majority, are from the United States, but I do have visitors from around the world, and even some special guests from far away places now and then. This week we have a new guest from Malaysia with some amazing projects, and a returning guest from Spain, and I hope we will continue to meet more crafters from around the world as the weeks go by!

Here are some of the projects that inspired me from last week:

This purse by craftpassion all the way from Malaysia, is a knockout, crocheted from "yarn" that made from green Jersey fabric! WOW! And I just love this sweet little toddler shirt, from pickupsomecreativity, it goes great with the purse!

And just look at this gorgeous wall sconce gingerbreadsnowflakes made from recycled tin cans! A really top notch job don't you think? So save your cans and get yourself a pair of tin snips and get to to work! And I just love this burlap favor bag with it's layered felt flower! You can get the template for the flower and complete instructions at intimateweddings, a really nice site even if you're not planning a wedding!

Another great project from craftpassion, this turtle sewing kit together with a baby turtle pin cushion is adorable and brilliant! Not exactly a simple project, but  a really great one! And my friend Amy over at modgepodgerocks made this cute wall art from a store bought wooden silhouette and some fabric!

Here are two really nice projects for the kiddos: a "my first sewing project" purse from dalleincolinho (in Spanish, but you'll get the point!) and a duct tape wallet project from CraftsbyAmanda, for the older kids to explore! By the way, Heather over at dollarstorecrafts said she made a wallet like this for her father seven years ago and he's still using it! Amazing!

Jean over at the artfulparent has a wonderful blog about doing simple craft activities with kids (daily!) and I just love all the felt pieces she has made for her daughter's felt board! Isn't this little apron sweet? It turns a simple dress into something special, and you can make one too with the complete tutorial at sugarnspicecreations.

Tamdoll recycled some matchboxes to make tiny works of art, so sweet! And mysideoftheroom made these practical wall hanging pin cushions from canning jar tops! Got any of those hanging around? I'll be happy to take them off your hands!

And now, do you have something to share? Don't be shy and certainly don't be intimidated! Every creative act can inspire another, and we'd love to meet you!