creative jewish mom

Chocolate Almond Matzo Bark!

Chocolate almond matzo bark — a fabulous solution for using up all the little bits of nuts and things left over from after a week of Passover, while making a delicious treat! With the last day of the holiday just a few hours away, I'm rushing as usual to finish up my cooking, but had to share this one with you all, as it's so simple and delicious....of course you don't have to add the matzo, or the coconut, and maybe you have some raisins or craisins, or hazelnuts, which would be great too!

Just melt a few 100g bars of dark chocolate in a double boiler, and pour over the mix you've made with chopped nuts, matzo etc. Sprinkle coconut on top and put in the fridge or freezer to cool.

Chag Sameach!

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday! Passover is coming to an end, with the last day being Monday here in Israel, with an additional eighth day elsewhere in the world. Can't believe it's over so soon! I'd be happy eating matzo another few weeks! Last week's party welcomed guests from around the world.....places like Guatemala, Turkey, Greece, Macedonia, Germany, The Netherlands, Portugal, The United States, Australia, Canada, Jakarta and Israel! And here are some of my favorites from last week's party, with lots of crocheting:

 Love this simple yet gorgeous granny blanket with a fabulous edge, from Lanas de Ana, and I'm just totally in love with this crocheted hen egg cozy from little things blogged.

 Two sweet little spring crochet projects from The Netherlands that would be great for baby showers or birthday parties: a little birdie ornament from estrea chikitu, and a bunny ring from joy jonne hooks.

 Super simple crocheted flowers, with pattern, from aduoscriptum, and inspiration for making doily hot pads from Anna simple crochet — examine the photo and you'll see how she did it in two layers, with the doily layer attached only at the edges.

Fun up-cycled cardboard tube napkin rings from roots of simplicity and fabulous telephone connector jewelry from Mich in L.A.

A sweet little sewing spool birdy craft from hope in every season, (that actually introduced me to the idea of spool crafts!) and fun inspiration for sewing your own clutch from happy in red.

These wire bubble wands from jewelry making journal are just fabulous, and love this maracas craft from red ted art. That's it for this week's inspiration, what have you been up to?

A Visit To Devorat HaTavor Bee Farm In The Foothills of Mount Tabor

Today, the second and last day during the Passover holiday in which we'll have time for full day family outings we took an hour drive from home to a village in the foothills of Mount Tabor (Kefar Tavor), to visit a small operating bee and silk worm farm called Devorat HaTavor.

A Visit To Madatech, The Israeli National Museum Of Science in Haifa!

Passover is a time for family outings, and the whole country is on vacation, so it's no surprise that we weren't exactly the only ones who thought of visiting Madatech, the Israeli National Museum of Science, Technology and Space, in Haifa. I'm happy to report that the place was packed with families interested in nurturing their children's understanding of the world around them through science. 

The Content's Of A Seven Year Old's Pocket!

Do you have children that love to collect little bits of everything and store them in their pockets? This phenomenon seems to be more prevalent among boys than girls, and a quality that one might find in just one of several boys/children in a family! Given that I'm quite a collector myself, I'm secretly proud of my seven year old for finding interest in just about everything. On one day, as I was checking his pants before putting them in the laundry (a MUST, especially after one engine was ruined by a little piece of something that went in the laundry in someone's pocket) I found a particularly nice collection of little objects!

So I put everything in a bag to photograph when I had a moment, which only happened about a month later as I was cleaning the laundry counter for Passover. What was in his pocket on that day, sometime around Purim? Well, magic disappearing ink, vampire fangs, a stamp to use with an ink pad, an angry bird pencil topper, a striped eraser, a collection of bar codes, a stick from a lollipop, a plastic butterfly charm, some crumbs, and one metal cube, which is part of a game called in Hebrew "chamesh avanim" namely five rocks. (More on that another time!) 

In retrospect I'm so glad that I took the time to photograph this little collection, to have a good laugh in another ten years or so! So do take the time to not only celebrate your children's unique qualities, but record them in some way for posterity, even with just a simple photo as I've done here!

Passover Is Here!

I am rushing to finish the cooking for our seder tonight, with five hours left on the clock and laundry to fold and a pair of pants to hem, among other things, so I'm just dropping in for a moment to wish you all a Pesach Kasher V'Sameach and may we all merit to witness miracles in the coming year!

I will be celebrating the holiday for seven days with my family and friends, and may be dropping in with a recipe or two, but there won't be any actual crafting going on, as we will be busy with so many other things and in holiday mode!

Wishing you all the very best, and may we all merit deliverance from the things to which we are slaves! Amen!

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday! With Passover less than 48 hours away, I'm rushing to finish up so many things before the holiday, not to mention cooking! Nonetheless, no matter how much sleep I'm going to loose over the next two nights, it's a great feeling to arrive at this wonderful seven day (8 outside of Israel) holiday! Thanks so much to all the crafters from around the world who joined the party last week, and here are some of the projects that inspired me:

Love this felt seder plate from design megillah, and this seder clock is just the greatest, from Ann Kofsky, and there's still time to make it!

Jenny over at the pieces of my life didn't actually add this to the party, but sent it to me just in time for sharing — something to keep in mind for next year unless you're a super sewer and embroiderer! And love this bead necklace strung according to the number Pi, from craftiments. 

 The cardboard collective made this super fun cardboard jewelry organizer, and Mich in L.A. used clothespin springs to make some super simple jewelry.

 Love this african daisey crocheted pin cushion from Lanas de Ana, and these sweet little butterflies, woven on a fork, from Alessandra of homemade at my place.

 This fun kid's collage art inspired by the art of Dutch artist Karel Appel, is from red ted art.

And these super sweet strawberry hair clips from sew can do are perfect for spring, as are these rocking little chicks from crafty journal

Love this collaboration between mother and child from the gingerbread house, for a personal card, and this spring bunting banner from mod podge rocks is so simple to whip up! That's is for this week, what have you been up to?

The Light At The End Of The (Pesach) Tunnel

A few days ago as I was working in the kitchen as part of our extensive and exhausting preparations for Pesach, I looked out the window and saw this gorgeous site. Of course, I ran to grab my camera so that I could share this message with you: to appreciate the light, you must first experience darkness!  

And that my friends is the universal message of Passover, as well as the idea that one way to truly appreciate the holiday is to not only work like a slave in ridding ourselves physcially and spiritually of leavened products, (which represent an inflated ego) but to also work on ridding ourselves of all the things to which we are slaves!

So, in my own personal effort to do just that, I'll share with you all one of the things to which I'm a slave, and for which I suffer greatly now as we clean and organize the whole house from top to bottom in preparation for Passover. Here goes! Can you guess?

Because my life is very busy, and I'm always rushing to clean up, I have the practice of stuffing the supplies from a crafting project into a box or into a bag and putting it on the floor in my studio, and closing the door. Well after months of this kind of practice, we have to call the room a store room as opposed to an office or studio! And believe me, it gets really really out of hand, such that no one execept my family ever sees the room!

Phew, now that I've spilled the beans, maybe this will be the year to stop being a slave to all my craft stuff and the recycled containers and the stuff that the neighbors unload on me, and more and more......oh and the supplies to make centerpieces and packages for Purim and bridal chairs, together with past craft projects......and the mementos from my childhood and travels, and more and more.....!

Fortunately, Pesach is also about hope. So it is my true hope that this will be a year in which we will all be free from slavery, free from those things which prevent us from being our very best selves, and a year in which we can bask in the light of freedom. Amen!

Passover Kid's Craft: Seder Pillowcases!

Kid's can easily whip up these Passover seder pillowcases  while you're busy finishing up (hopefully!) your preparations for the holiday! I sure wish I had some extra time myself to draw some fun pictures on pillowcases, but it looks like I'll have to leave that up to my kids.....still so much to do!

At the Passover seder, while drinking each of the four cups of wine (grapejuice) we recline, so pillows are in order, and certainly make the seder special! The hebrew in the photo above says layil ha'seder, meaning "seder night."

You'll Need:

• fabric pens or crayons
• a pencil
• pillowcases
• a piece of cardboard to put inside the pillowcase

How To: First draw your idea on the pillowcase in pencil, and additionally, it's highly recommended to do a small rendering of your idea on a piece of paper, though I can't say I could convince my kids to do it! Go over the pencil lines with fabric pens, set with heat as directed by the manufacturer, and enjoy at the Passover seder(s). 

My kids have been making these fun pillowcases for a few years now,(you can see our previous pillowcases here), so we even have a small collection of them, which is so much fun to look at as the years go by! Here's to more family crafting traditions!

Passover Craft: Wine Goblet Decorations From Recycled Plastic!

These fun wine goblet ornaments for Passover were not made from just any plastic, but rather from extra plastic lids that I found floating around while cleaning out my cabinets for Passover! And I'll be honest, I actually blogged about using plastic lids for making crafting shapes two years ago, though never got around to sharing the results of my little crafting endeavor! As I was attempting to start cleaning out my studio, I came across these ornaments that I hung on our dining room table chandelier two years ago, and of course had to share them with you! 

Yes, dear readers, Passover isn't just about matzo, it also happens to be about wine (grape juice), as we drink four cups during the seder at specific points in the telling of the Jewish people's exodus from Egypt. So decorations depicting the four cups of wine is perfect!

You'll Need:

• plastic food container lids, like from ice cream for example, which are usually blank on the under side
• good sharp scissors
• puff paint or bead paint, in applicator bottles (tulip)

How To:

Draw your shape on a piece of cardboard, cut it out and trace around it to transfer your design to the plastic. Apply designs with puff paint, and add additional decorative elements such as sequins and beads if desired. Do be aware that plastic is not necessarily the greatest base for making long lasting items with kid safe glue, as things tend not to stick so well, but that's okay, just handle with care, and enjoy!