creative jewish mom

Spoon Puppets.....The Perfect Winter Craft For Kids

Aren't these spoon puppets just too much fun? This dear readers is an example of a craft that will enthrall most kids and really requires minimal supplies and mess, and can be used afterwards to put on a show! So gather the supplies and your kids will be making spoon puppets for days, promise!

You'll Need:

• plastic spoons, soup and dessert is nice to make adults and children
• permanent markers, red and black, medium to fine tip 
• yarn, felt, paper, mini pom poms
• double stick tape or all purpose craft glue to adhere yarn, felt and paper

How To:

Kids that are old enough to draw faces can do this project on their own, though you might want to get the ball rolling by doing some examples yourself. You can also look at my spoon puppet post from last year for inspiration. Have fun, and a tutorial to make a cute stage is coming early next week. All the best!

 

Spoon Puppet Kid's Craft

Here's a fun craft to do with the kids this winter: a spoon puppet theater! A few days ago I did this puppet craft with a group of about 60 girls ranging from ages 5-12, and it was fortunately received with great enthusiasm. Yes, quite a few of the girls needed help with the theater portion, but the project was a huge success especially given the minimal supplies needed.

I'll be back with instructions and more photos soon, in the mean time, you can certainly get some permanent markers and start making some puppets on plastic spoons, and do take a look at my previous plastic spoon puppet post for inspiration.

all the best!

 

Chanukah Prizes

On Chanukah I love to give my kids little prizes and useful presents......little things to make them happy and enjoy the holiday, and bigger things of the more practical nature. This year everyone got alarm clocks, reading lamps and storage baskets. Things that we needed and that were nonetheless received with great joy. The idea of giving presents each night is not an Israeli custom, so while my kids certainly enjoy the idea of presents there isn't any peer pressure. I figure that most of our neighbors have large extended families with whom to celebrate, while we pretty much don't. So instead I bring out the little gifts and treats to make the holiday special. A creative mom has got to do what she's got to do!

The photo above is an example of the treats and prizes that I used to fill the crocheted gift pouches, which I gave my kids on the first night of Chanukah. I have to say, they were even excited about the turtle eraser, but probably more excited about the quantity of chocolate coins.......

Chanukah Sameach!

Chanukah Sameach!

With most of the world celebrating one holiday or another, things have been a little bit quiet here on the blog, I'm very happy to report! I've been busy celebrating Chanukah with family and friends, welcoming guests from afar (Mexico), preparing a few Chanukah treats and doing my best to make this holiday joyful and memorable for my young children!

Yesterday I used my crafting skills to entertain a group of 60 girls with a fun craft project, and now we're winding down with just one more night of Chanukah, Still time to try making blintzes for the first time? 

Wishing you all a very happy Chanukah, and may the light of this special holiday illuminate all the unfortunate darkness (and it's ramifications) on our planet, bringing peace to the world!

Price Tag Sticker Snowflake Garland

Yes, you're reading correctly, these fun crafts were made with price tag stickers! I spotted what I thought was neon tape at my local crafts store, and when I realized it was really price stickers I bought it anyway for the kids. Little did I know that I'd suddenly come up with some ideas to use them in my own crafting adventures!

Price tag stickers and recycled cereal box cardboard are perfect for creating some modern neon snowflakes!

Follow the step by step photos here, and then cut our your final shape! Of course the possibilities are endless. That's it, too much fun!

Oh, and by the way, thanks so much to Design Sponge for featuring this DIY of mine here. Happy Holidays!

And don't forget to check out  my other price tag sticker posts: price tag sticker gift wrap and price tag sticker candle jars.

 

 

 

Price Tag Sticker Candle Jars

Aren't these neon price tag sticker candle jars fun? When I bought some rolls of these stickers I thought I was buying them for my kids. Of course my kids don't have any idea that neon is "back" or that their mom really bought the stickers to satisfy that personal desire of hers for just a touch of neon! 

Making patterns with these little stickers is just too much fun, so give it a try!

If you'd like to keep these jars for future use, I'd recommend a coat of mod podge or any decoupage medium over the stickers.....mind you, the mod podge will make your jars cloudy, on the other hand your work will last. There's no guarantee as to how well the stickers will stick to the glass over time, depending on how sticky they are! Have fun!

And thanks to Design Sponge for featuring my price tag sticker DIY here.

And don't forget to check out  my other price tag sticker posts: price tag sticker gift wrap and price tag sticker snowflakes.

 

Price Tag Sticker Gift Wrap

You can create some fun gift wrap with neon price tag stickers! Just apply them in the patterns of your dreams to brown paper wrapped packages and enjoy! Of course some little gift tags would look great too!

Note: these stickers can either be very sticky or not so sticky. If yours are of the not so sticky variety, you might want to go over your finished piece with a coat of mod podge or a mix of white glue and water to ensure that the stickers won't start peeling of in a moist environment.

 And thanks so much to Design Sponge for featuring my price tag sticker DIY here!

New Nesting Houses Mobile Kit In The Shop!

I've had his idea for a nesting house mobile ever since I designed my nesting dreidel mobile, and it has finally come to fruition! It's a 25 page digital crafting kit with lots of fun pages that you print from your own computer. Mix and match the elements and have fun making some festive mobiles and decorations that you can enjoy year round! Great for so many occasions, and customizable for a small extra fee with baby or wedding couple names, for example. One could do decorations for a DIY wedding with just the elements from this file, and it could be truly amazing. Happy to help with ideas too!

The theme is "home sweet home" and 2012, but if that doesn't hit a sweet spot, you certainly don't have to even use those elements, since there are so many things to choose from!

You'll get pages of nesting houses both in assorted colors and all in one color, as seen on the left and pattern pages like this triangles pattern, which you can use as is, or cut up to make all kinds of shapes, like the star and hexigon in the top photo.

I just love the little houses with messages that you could also use as is a gift tags, for little garlands or as single elements in any mobile.

Three pages of little tags, just couldn't resist! I could see a whole wall decoration made from these strung vertically....

And yet another pattern of little houses to use as it, or cut up for your crafting fun! This digital pdf file is now available in my etsy shop little tzaddik. 

Crocheted Gelt Bags For Chanukah!

Phew, I did it, Chanukah is tonight and I did get around to crocheting little gelt (coins) bags for my young ones. Truthfully giving gelt is really the Chanukah tradition of yore, the idea of giving presents only really snuck in on account of the Dec. 25th holiday, so I realized that the first night of Chanukah would not be complete without these little bags to hold the chocolate coins we traditionally give every Chanukah. (The rest of the year my kids are somewhat chocolate deprived, so they really look forward to this one!)

Hanukkah Kid's Craft: Watercolor Collage

Isn't this Hanukkah watercolor collage just gorgeous? A perfect example of a really creative Hanukkah kid's craft that the whole family can do together! Today, on one of the busiest days of the year when I hadn't yet photographed anything to share with you, it arrived in my inbox from a wonderful reader from the US, by the name of Chavi, who has a blog by the name of skin flint with scissors, and who created this project together with her three young daughters. I think this qualifies as a miracle of Chanukah, a few days early!

In the collage you can see dreidels, jolly dancing latkes (potato pancakes) in a pot, a copper menorah, an orange man with a jug of olive oil, and some pink latkes. Mommy made the giant candles and drew the oil jugs and together with her oldest, (eight years old) stuck the collage together with 3D foam stickers. Great job!