creative jewish mom

Chinese Jewelry Pouch Bunting Banner!

A Chinese jewelry pouch bunting banner, for decoration or even as a fun way to keep your jewelry safe but at hand. I came across these little pouches that I'd collected as a girl in a bag of goodies from my mother, and they just shouted out to me bunting banner! And dear readers, you can't get much simpler than that, since you just string them on a nice ribbon and hang!

These little pouches are available at any Chinese import store and are generally quite inexpensive, so have fun with this idea, I think it's perfect for a little girl's room, or even as a birthday party decoration. You could then hand out the little pouches as party favors at the end, maybe with a sweet little ring inside. Or, hey, you could add numbers to the pouches, or names, and use your banner as a place to leave little messages or treats for family members or count down to an important day.

Crocheted Rag Bag From Sheets

Crocheting with sheets is just so much fun, that while I'm actually in the middle of crocheting a rag rug I just couldn't resist going off on a little tangent and crocheting my first ever crocheted tote bag from sheets and pillowcases. I have to say, I'm thrilled with how it turned out, and for now it's going to stay right on that hook so that I can enjoy looking at it next to our kitchen table!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday! I think I'll just type out the list of countries that contributed, because I'm in need of just a little armchair traveling at the moment. Somewhere that will take me away from all the red sand from a recent sand storm that has left our enitre neighborhood, (and my container garden) looking well, seriously dirty. And since this is not rainy season here either we'll have to wash it away with hose water, which is very precious, or just live with it. Not to complain, but lots of dirt outside means lots of dirt inside....I think maybe we'll just have to live like Norweigens, or Japanese, or Hawaiins or anyone else that has the custom of removing their shoes when entering the house! Okay, sorry, now for that list! Canada, The United States, Australia, Macedonia, Hungary, Romania, Portugal, Guatemala, Singapore, The United Kingdom, The Netherlands, and maybe more. Okay, that's all for now, thanks so much for joining me here!

I just love these giant tissue paper flowers from Aunt Peaches, and design megillah did a fabulous job with this secretary re-make, love the blue inside!

This potting table from 2 crafty 4 my skirt was made with some upcycled palette wood and some obvious handiness, wow! I just love this festive paper bag popcorn holder from family chic, great anytime with any combo of colors!

Michele made me upcycled an old towel and made a super cute bath puppet, and can't stop making things made this humorous compact mirror, a great gift for mom.

Two great crochet projects: Love this spring lariat from little treasures and these adorable little clutches from repeat crafter me.

Red ted art made this fabulous pirates boat and deceptively educational shows us how to make a DIY shuffleboard game! That's all for now, looking forward to seeing what you've been up to! 

A Visit To Israel's Historic Old City of Akko (Acre)

During our recent Passover vacation we had the chance to spend an afternoon in the historic old city of Akko, located on the Mediterranean Sea in Northern Israel, and full of great architecture and interesting details from long ago. So feel like doing a little armchair traveling? Come along my friend.......

The city is characterized by its fortress like walls, which once helped protect it from invaders. The original wall itself was built by the crusaders who captured the city around 1100, though the city changed hands many times, as it was a very desirable location for rulers from any location due to its deep port and central location on the Mediterranean.

 A truly gorgeous example of an old home (palace?) meticulously maintained and a vision of the past....

 More typical stone buildings that fill the old city.

 A lovely yellow door and matching iron work.

 A fun boat ride out in the harbor is a must for getting a nice view of the walled city.

 Majestic palm trees, and a nicely restored building.

Imagine walking through the maze of old city alleys, with no idea where you're going or where you are, 

and wow, coming upon this amazing example of Ottoman period architecture, that you knew nothing about! The Khan al Umdan ("Caravansary of the Pillars") is the largest and best preserved khan in Israel, constructed during the Ottoman Era in 1784. A khan is a caravansary, a roadside inn for travelers, almost always constructed with an open courtyard in the middle. 

Khan al-Umdan has throughout its history been an important trading spot due to its proximity to the port. Merchants arriving in Akko used the khan as a warehouse, while the second floor functioned as a hostel. Caravans of camels once brought produce and grain from villages in the Galil to the city's markets and port, and the camels were given water from the fountain in the center.

In 1906 a clock tower was added adjacent to the main entrance to the khan to commemorate the silver jubilee of the rule of one of the Ottoman sultans. Now I have to say, I grew up in a country where our history is George Washington, so honestly this history involving sultans and crusaders is a bit hard for me to grasp!

Amazing to think of all the things that occurred in this very spot overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.....

Beautiful white walls and painted shutters, my favorite, ahhh....... 

And a dip in the sea, the perfect finish for a warm spring day. And to top off the lovely afternoon, the shore was lined with shells, so mom was super happy too. 

Crocheted Rag Rug From Sheets —A Chunky Oval Experiment

This oval crocheted rag rug is an experiment dear readers, not something particularly lovely that I'm proud to share with you, but rather a little test done with some sheets from the bottom of the stash that I couldn't see myself using for anything. So a little chunky bathmat was born and I've got some new information to share with you!

While for the crocheted rag rug that's in progress here, I'm using a 10mm hook, which produces a tight rug that's not too thick. But I got to thinking, what if I try using a larger hook? Of course I own a few giant sizes as the idea of giant crocheting is very appealing! So, with two sheets that I'm glad to have finally mostly used up, and a size Q/15 3/4 mm crochet hook, I set out to make a little oval bath mat.

The thing that I discovered is that with the larger hook you get a thicker fabric, which might be desirable for say a stool cover or a bath mat or a floor pillow, but do think twice before using very thick rugs on your floor, as they are a serious tripping hazard, especially for older people. Now of course, the thickness of the rug also depends on the width of the rags you either cut or tear, but if the strips are too thin for the hook size the resulting fabric with be floppy and full of holes. Also with the large crochet hook it can be a bit difficult to go through the two loops in each stitch, so for this rug I just went through the back loop, which is why it has a ridge on every row, which you may or may not find interesting.

Sooooo......in conclusion, while I'm usually the type to just dive into any project, I'd say that with crocheting with sheets I'd try a few widths of sheet yarn versus hook size to get the desired effect for your project before spending hours crocheting something that might not be quite right, or just is to darn difficult due to the fabric being too thick! The desirable width varies depending on what kind of sheets you're using— not to make things more complicated but gotta take all these things into consideration or you may end up trying to crochet something that you'll end up tearing out. And that dear readers is something we do want to avoid, because crocheting with rags is just so much fun I'd never want you to get discouraged on account of poor planning. Gotta run, more crocheted rag projects in the works!

Geranium Love, The Joy Of Window Sill Gardening

I just love simple pots of geraniums in bloom, especially when I encounter them in other people's windows! I thought I'd share these photos with you as we woke up this morning to find a nice coating of red sand everywhere, on account of a big sand storm, and now it is raining, which means I won't brave the dirty outdoors to photograph any of my recent crafty adventures! What a mess, is all I can say, and I do hope the drops of rain will at least wash the dirt off my precious white roses, and while they're at it if they could wash away the aphids I'd be so grateful (wishful thinking....)

These gorgeous stone windows look so wonderful with simple pots of blooming geraniums. And by the way, geraniums are forgiving and thus a great plant to put in your windows, especially with the idea of giving joy to others!

These two pots have been in this window for years, and I still love this little vignette every time I walk by... worn blue walls, red blooms, interesting iron work.....

In case you're wondering, and because you most likely won't find architecture like this in your neighborhood, these stone buildings were built sometime say pre-1900 and are built in the arabic architectural tradition with gorgeous domed ceilings inside and very thick walls. 

  

As you may or may not know, there are many many kinds of geraniums, so if you decide to buy some, buy the ones that suit your purpose. The large leaved geraniums generally grow tall, so make sure to pinch them back so they don't get leggy. The small curly leaved geraniums produce sweet little flowers like the photo above, and the medium sized leaf geraniums tend to be trailers, great for pots in windows! That's all for now, off to see if the rain helped minimize all the cleaning up I've got to do outside!

Fun With Hama (Perler) Beads

I just love Hama beads, and hope to do some beading with them some day, but in the mean time when my kids need a little activity and Mommy is too busy to sit with them or come up with something interesting, so I try to encourage working with these fun little plastic beads, as it builds fine motor coordination and is a true exercise in patience! My six year old, who made the happy face, was actually copying the exact design from a 11 year old neighbor's piece, and almost gave up, but sat a full 1 3/4 hours to finish this!

We do have quite a few of these little hama bead works of art, so I'm planning on mounting them all on a large white board and framing it, or at least that's the plan for the moment. And no, my kids have no idea about the origins of happy faces and peace signs, but since the 70's are back in full force they seem to be everywhere, even in our tiny little corner of the world!

For those of you not familiar with these little beads, they are actually available in a few sizes worldwide, and the designs are made on a plastic base, and then the beads are melted together using an iron. Fun for all ages, and really unlimited if you get a large base to work on.