creative jewish mom

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Hi Everyone, welcome once again to Craft Schooling Sunday! Last week we had visitors from The Netherlands, New Zealand, Serbia, Australia, Italy, Israel, and of course the good old USA! And I'm so excited to tell you that Rosi Jo from Italy had her post picked up by Craftzine.com from this very party, which made me so very happy and brought her tons of international exposure, which she well deserves! Last weeks projects were just really great as usual, with something for everyone! Here they are:

I just love this oh-so-simple idea with fabulous results from I Love To Create. Who wouldn't want a mirror like this one? A great gift for your crafty/sewing friends! And Nela from Belgrade, Serbia (!) makes the art of paper cutting look so great with this simple carriage silhouette!

Who would guess that this pin cushion is made from toilet paper rolls? I was so happy to discover this and other great projects by michelle made me— she has some amazing ideas! Nancy from La Maison Reid stopped by the party for the first time with this wonderful burlap bag, and I especially love that rose!

  
Handmade by Tati, a blogger from Israel, made these super cute bottle top magnets by simply spray painting the bottle tops and adding some stickers that happened to be just the right size! And Rosi Jo from Italy is back with yet another super project, windmills from plastic bottles, complete with a tutorial on her blog here.

Here are two great projects for kids! Sarah of Paper Crafts For Children, from New Zealand, tells us how to make prints using stamps made from modeling clay, and the ever-crafty Amanda gives the low down on how to make those beads and safety pin bracelets! If you're like me you've always wanted to make these, so now you can!

Crafting Jewish Style shows you how to make super cute Chanukah gift cards—it's never too early to start thinking about the holidays? And I just love this felt needle (crochet and sewing) case also by michelle made me! Love the detailing and artsy look, so unique!

Bird Crafts from France always knows how to make great home-made party favors, including these lollipops. You can find the recipe and complete instructions on her blog here. And I just love Sumo's Sweet Stuff's circle mobile. Fantastic and really do-able! This would look great in a nursery or in a mid-century modern style living room!

Inspired? Overwhelmed? (Please don't say yes, we all have many more projects on our to-do list than we could ever hope to do!) Let's get started with the party! Thanks so much for coming, I appreciate each and every one of you!

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Slice Of Life: Painted Mailboxes

A walk around the neighborhood recently got me noticing some cute crafty mailboxes! The painterly bird on the far right has been catching me eye for years, and I'm so glad I finally was able to photograph it! A friend of mine painted the sweet floral on her mailbox, and the red and aqua version is cute and simple!

What do the mailboxes look like in your neighborhood? Do your children know what a mailbox is for? Or even about the almost lost "art" of sending letters? Or the beauty of stamps? Who would have thought?

Craft For Kids With Polymer Clay And Fabric!

Looking for a new twist on crafting with polymer clay? My eight year old daughter enjoyed making this decorative plaque, and of course this is just inspiration for your own unique creation. You can use just about anything for a sculputural picture like this one, and you could make something really great too without the polymer clay.

You'll Need:

• polymer clay
• quilting weight (light cotton) fabric
• beads
• a base, we used an mdf plaque from the dollar store
• glue of some kind, we used Paverpol, a fabric stiffener, you can also use modgepodge for fabric or woodworker's white glue, which I've found works quite well with fabric.

How To:

• Make shapes from polymer clay and bake according to manufacturer's instructions
• In the mean time, cover your base with light weight fabric and set aside to dry. Use enough glue such that it saturates the fabric. If you use Paverpol you can dip the fabric into the paverpol and then apply to the base.
• Glue beads, polymer clay shapes and other pieces of fabric to the base using the same glue, again, we used Paverpol.
• Set aside to dry and enjoy!

Paverpol is available in Israel here. And no, this is not a paid advertisement, but rather a small effort on my part to help a nice family make a living in Israel!

A Summer Centerpiece: Paper Roses In A Festive Basket!

Need a casual summer centerpiece, or a bit of something new this season? Baskets, especially those with handles are perfect for holding flowers! I had some of my paper cabbage roses on hand, (tutorial here) as well as this Mexican basket, so this project came together in just a matter of minutes.

I'm sure you have some similar items hanging around your place that you could use too! And of course, real flowers would look gorgeous placed in a basket too. Just fill a large can or milk carton, or better yet, two,  with water and arrange your flowers so they fill the basket! And this is one arrangement that you can easily hang on the wall for a really great look!

Fun With Wax Paper: Pressed Leaf And Flower Art!

Here's another great craft activity using just wax paper and fresh leaves and flowers! This activity has two parts, making it that much more fun, and time consuming, usually a good thing right about now? First take a nature walk and collect leaves and flowers, and then use the things you've collected to make beautiful window art. Or wrap your creations around jars or vases and use as candle holders, gorgeous!

You'll Need:

• wax paper
• brightly colored flower petals (ours are bouganavillea) and interesting leaves—try to find things that are flat
• an old phone book (optional)

How To:

1. If you like, you can flatten leaves by placing between the pages of an old phone book and adding weight on top of the phone book. The flatter the leaves the better, though using fresh green ones results in more beautiful, though temporary, results. The green leaves we used were brown by the next day, while the bouganvillea stayed pink, and will retain its color when dried.
2. Arrange leaves and petals on a large piece of wax paper, working on the same surface where you'll be ironing.
3. When you are satisfied with the arrangement, add a second piece of wax paper on top of the leaves, and iron with a pillow case between your wax paper and iron.
4. Admire your beautiful creations, and enjoy them all year long as a reminder of summer!

Fun With Wax Paper: Abstract Melted Crayon Art!

Here's a fun craft activity that can also be an interesting way to introduce your children to the idea of abstract art! Grated crayons sandwiched between wax paper and then melted with an iron make beautiful abstract works of art, even worthy of hanging on the wall! The wooden Moroccan frames that we have hanging over our kitchen table have now become useful for a rotating art exhibition, including these works of crayon art. (Read my previous post about decorating with empty frames here.)

 

You'll Need:

• crayons
• a plastic cheese grater, that would be somewhat safe for kids to use
• wax paper
• an iron
• an old pillow case

How To:

1. Working on the ironing board, or a surface where you can use the iron, place a large piece of wax paper on the work surface, and give children a bunch of old crayons and a grater. 
2. Encourage them to spend some time grating, my five year old loved it! Try to cover most of the wax paper with scattered crayon gratings, loosely scattered but not too dense, or the results will end up looking like our example on the far right, above.
3. Place the second piece of wax paper on top of the grated crayons, and place a pillow case between your iron and the wax paper. Iron your creation with a hot iron, and lift the pillow case often to show the kids how the crayon is melting with the heat.
4. Make several "works of art" and display! See if your visitors can guess how you made them!

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Hi Everyone, welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday! Last week's party was during a solemn time on the Jewish calender, but now we've moved on, and are in the middle of summer vacation. So feel free to come to the party with a festive spirit and enjoy! Last week's party was full of fun summer activities, and some great crafting ideas, take a look:

 

I just love love love this pot holder by Alisa Burke, made from a bunch of fabric and some jean pockets! And aren't these vases from Lilla A Design so sweet?A nice summer project to do with the kids, or make some yourself to use as tea-light holders, or vases for outdoor entertaining!

Dottie Angel has a really fun blog, where she portrays herself as something she isn't actually, with poetic English prose- and her style is unbeatable. I just love this simple crocheted blanket with appliqued doilies that she made for her daughter who's heading off to college. Sweet. Motherlode tells us how to make scratch and sniff paintings with kool-aide! Sounds like fun to me! I always knew kool-aide wasn't really meant for consumption, right?

Living My sweet Life made this great pleated clutch,  perfect for little outings! Crafts By Amanda made these cute little signs to hang on the door to answer the questions of all her son's friends that knock throughout the afternoon. Great idea, Amanda!

Rosi Jo from Italy shows us how to use old markers as craft dye! I can't wait to try this one! And Mommy Topics shows us how to make these rainbow pudding pops, yumm!

Frugal family fun shows us how to make a contraption for creating giant bubbles, a really great summer activity! And also from Frugal Family Fun, watermelon prints from potatoes, simple and so cute. You could even do this with fabric paint and make some fun summer tablecloths on old sheets!

And now, it's time to gather up some more jewels of creativity from visitors around the world, let the party begin!

Container Gardening: A Stunning Wall Of Color!

 

The other morning I was walking a running-late little one to school and finally had the opportunity to check out this amazing wall of summer blooms. I'd seen it from the street, but up close and person it is just stunning!  And since my own container garden is on maintenance mode this summer (due to lack of time and a need for water conservation) I especially enjoy seeing the efforts of others. Wow! But, before any of you get too jealous, I happen to know that this row of planters is maintained by a professional gardener, so do keep that in mind if you happen to be lacking a green thumb. (Which I really don't believe in anyway.....)

It is amazing to see what one can do with planters no bigger (deeper) than that of standard window boxes!
These planters were built right on top of the old stone wall— a great use of space. I'm assuming there are drainage holes on the other side, something to keep in mind when planning a project like this one.

Gorgeous flowers.  A very nicely renovated old stone house. Sigh.

Create A Maze Of City Streets With Electrical Tape!

Doesn't this look fun? It's a great activity that could occupy kids for a whole afternoon. I couldn't convince my kids to build buildings and bridges and tunnels with blocks to complete the scene, but maybe yours will? We left it intact for a few days, and the kids had fun walking through their streets!

I used electrical tape from the hardware store on tile floors, and there was no adhesive left on the floor after the tape was removed, so do use tape that won't make clean-up a bother!

 

Cute details like traffic lights and signs add interest to this activity, and of course there are so many creative ways to explore this idea. Enjoy, and I'd love to see what you come up with! And for those of you without little ones who might enjoy this project, so keep some tape on hand as a great activity for visitors!

A Pizza Box Top Robot!

Last week as I was cleaning up after my daughter's birthday pizza party, I was about to throw away the pizza boxes since they seemed to be a bit too soiled to salvage, but then my better sense took a hold of me and I realized that the tops of two of the boxes were actually clean so......I ripped them off the rest of the box and suddenly I saw the distinct shape of a robot head! Who would of thunk?

So the next afternoon, my daughter and I sat down to paint some robots. It was so much fun, and I just love hers! While she of course loves mine......though she doesn't realize that the innocence of hers is so much cuter than my controlled illustration.

 

And by the way, for those of you who like the top version, a black sharpie marker is great for adding detail to your painting. And on the right, here's what I saw....pretty obviously a robot right? Either that or a martian! And yes,this particular robot was made with a hexagonal pizza box, but I'm sure you can think of something to do  with the square ones as well!

So my friends, just take a good look at your garbage before you toss it, (or hopefully recycle it, if possible) as you may just have a great art project in the making! And don't worry if people start to call you the "garbage queen" it's a great honor, really!