creative jewish mom

Drawing Exercise For Kids: Draw Your House On A Box

Here's a great drawing craft for kids that is so much fun, you might even want to frame the results. I few months ago, I had a long piece of cardboard on hand and decided to cut off the two top corners and give it to my seven year old to draw on. It occurred to me that he might enjoy drawing a likeness of our home, and the project was a great success. I drew an example for him of a topiary that resembles a plant next to our front door, and I also taught him how to draw drapes, and roman shades. Other than that, the project is 100% his, and so sweet. And no, we don't live in a clock tower, nor do we have a clock on the facade, but love that he added one!

A close up of the topiaries he chose to place in the windows, and the drapes he drew for the first time.

A close up of the Jerusalem stone facing and the wrought iron balcony. I think this is one of my favorite works of art to date. So do encourage your kids to draw your house, on something much larger than letter size paper, and I'm quite sure the results will be fabulous!

Drawing Exercise For Kids: Stained Glass

We have been doing lots of crafts involving drawing lately to get our drawing skills up to speed, and drawing stained glass likenesses is a fun way to get some variety into your kid's drawing exercises. You could make large involved stained glass drawings or little ones like ours, and display them on a window or on a white background. Either way, the results are fantastic, and this is a craft that kids will want to come back to time and again.

You'll Need:

• tracing paper or any translucent vellum or paper, even baking paper works too
• markers, permanent markers work the best but only for older children

How To:

First talk about the idea of stained glass and how it's made. Then encourage kids to make pencil sketches on a regular piece of paper to design their own stained glass art. With sketches used as reference, not as something to trace, within the shape of their choice (circle, square, rectangle) have kids draw a black outline drawing, with lines to break up areas. Then have fun coloring in the shapes! Enjoy.

Crocheted Giant Granny Square Baby Blanket Or Coverlet

Here's a simple granny square baby blanket (or any size blanket) that you can make any size, and in your favorite colors. I made this one as a scrap buster, and managed to find yarn in all the favorite colors of the baby's mom. And since there are only four squares in this one, the finishing is quite simple and enjoyable, and the results are a stunning retro/modern combo that I think suits a wide range of tastes.

And who knows maybe the parents will like it so much that they'll display it on their couch, it sure looks good on mine!

 As you can see in the above photo, I crocheted four giant granny squares, two of each pattern, and my design was really driven by the amount of yarn I had in my stash.

I had just enough to include a little turquoise in each corner, a nice little touch. 

Giant granny squares are simple to make and can be crocheted in so many ways to produce a simple color block pattern, or something more geometric. Play with some colored pencils on graph paper and design something that appeals to you, or hang on and I"ll be back with some more specifics on how to crochet my version.

Craft Schooling Sunday Has Gone Fishing!

Thanks so much for stopping by, Craft Schooling Sunday is taking a little summer break, and will be back as soon as I figure out how to fit all the organizing that the party requires into a suddenly very busy summer schedule packed with good things. So hang on to those projects and I'll keep you posted. Wishing you all a very creative summer!

Succah Decor Chandelier Project To Do In July!

Isn't this simple beaded chandelier a gorgeous decoration for the succah? Succah, decorations, now? Why yes, dear readers, it's never too early to get started, and before you know it the holiday crush will be on, and you do want to make the crafty succah of your dreams this year, right?

So you can thank a generous reader, Sara, from Israel who sent me these photos and is happy to share with us all her creativity. And I must say, it couldn't have come at a better time, as I'm swamped with life!

You'll Need:

• a broken pot lid, or something round like an embroidery hoop, or even a piece of round cardboard could work too
• white tulle
• strings of clear or pearl plastic beads, the kind that are somehow stuck together and not actually on a string
• fish line and a needle

How To:

Cover pot with white tulle by quite simply placing the pot top in the middle and bringing the sides up over the top. Stretch tightly so there's no creases in the tulle, and you can use a rubberband to hold the bunch of tulle, or string. Attach lengths of beads to the tulle with a needle and fishline, with longer pieces spanning from one side to the other, and much shorter pieces spaninng from the side of the pot to the center. That's it, so simple and elegant! 

Drawing Exercise For Kids: A Monster In A Recyled Box!

Here's a fun drawing craft that's fun and creative with very personal results — I'll call it monster in a box, though it could certainly be an animal or creature of any kind. We used a recycled box, drew the monster's head on the top portion and then used the bottom portion as the monster's stomach, onto which we glued drawings of food that the monster may have eaten. I never was able to convince my seven year old that his monster could use some arms and legs, so you might want to encourage your kids to do that step first!

From a box that held a very infrequent treat to a great drawing craft that requires only markers, white paper and a glue stick.....the very best kind of crafting to enourage creativity. Enjoy!

 

Stuffed Paper Hearts On A Stick, For Fun Summer Centerpieces

I was recently asked to make some simple centerpieces which included hearts, so I came up with these stuffed paper hearts on a stick, which are simple to make and lots of fun. Plus you can send guests home with them as party favors, or add messages if you wish.

My hearts looked a little bare all alone so I also made some crepe paper leaves which I affixed to their own flat skewers, though you can certainly make some tissue paper or crepe paper flowers to round out your bouquets!

You'll Need:

• red paper
• a stapler
• a heart template
• toilet paper for stuffing
• skewers, wide bamboo ones, or small round ones, found with the barbeque supplies

How To:

Make a template for the heart size that's right for you, fold your red paper several times so that you can cut at least four hearts at one time. Trace around your template onto your folded paper, and cut around the line. Staple two hearts together leaving a space for stuffing and the skewer at the bottom. We used toilet paper and a skewer to push the paper up into the heart. Once the heart is stuffed to your liking, attach the skewer with hot glue, and close the opening with staples. Make bouquets for any occasion, or omit the skewers and make sweet mobiles!

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday, where contributors from around  the world come here to share, places like The United Kingdom, Portugal, Macedonia, Muldavia, Turkey, Israel, Italy, Australia, The United States, Denmark, The Netherlands, and Guatemala. And of course we very often have contributors from Jakarta, Hungary, France, Germany, South Africa, Sweden and Greece, I guess they're off enjoying the summer! Here are my favorites from last week:

Love this little flower pattern from little treasures, and a fabulous multiple stitch blanket from Lanas De Ana, complete with tutorial for all the stitches.

A sweet book mark from time to craft, and a fab recycled bottle animal head from mitte he marmin borg natur

A four layer birthday cake from Winnie, and an fun idea for a baking birthday party from serving pink lemonade

Fun metal coil earings from mich in L.A. and a great charm bracelet tutorial from jewelry making journal

An MP4 crocheted pouch from Anna Simple Crochet, and a decoupaged beach bag from mod podge rocks

 

Sweet little crocheted flags from estrea chikitu, and fabric covered button earings from koo koo crafts. That's it for the features, what have you been up to this week?

Summer Blooms In My Container Garden

Climbing pink tea rose in bloom

One of the great joys of container gardening is enjoying plants in bloom. While my garden in mostly in maintenance mode this year on account of a busy schedule, I do fortunately have quite a few plants that with regular watering and some minimal attention do produce lovely blooms!

Vinca, an annual, in bloom.

Verbena, a self re-seeding annual in bloom at the base of my lemon tree.

African Daisy, a perrenial, a small new plant that's re-blooming.

Mandevilla vine, in bloom in my window sill kitchen garden. I will have to winter this plant indoors or it wil not survive our winter temperatures.

White roses in bloom.

Bouganvillea in bloom.

 Yellow Canna in bloom.

Red Canna in bloom.

One doesn't need actual earth to enjoy summer blooms! And a collection of pots thoughtfully arranged can give any outdoor space the feeling of a lush garden, something that's perfect for a little summer time outdoor living. 

Drawing Exercise For Kids: Drawing Faces

Summertime is a great time to work on drawing, and I have quite a few fun exercises to share with you coming up! For starters, work on drawing faces by tracing a round object on paper and then filling it in.

So much fun and with great results, don't you think? You could then cut them out and use them in a collage if you like! Enjoy!