creative jewish mom

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to craft schooling sunday, the finale for 2013, with features from last week, and then the party is taking a holiday break until 2014. Thanks so much to all of you who join me here each week, it has been such a pleasure connecting with so many talented crafters from around the world! Wishing you all a joyful, and creative holiday season, looking forward to reconnecting the first Sunday in January. And now for some wonderful inspiration:

Love this unique granny baby blanket from handmade by amalia, look at the way she plays with color!, and love these accordian fold paper balls from mini eco, perfect any time!

 Love these simple doilies from teszek veszek, and this crocheted fox from helena haakt is beyond adorable!

Handmade By Amalia made some wonderful felt creatures, and happy in red shares a tutorial for this fabulous blanket.

Wooden clothes pins make great snowflakes from lost and found things, and whaddya know, pvc pipes can make a great outdoor chanukiah, from sowdering about.

Love the fabric yo yo applique from time to craft, and the bullion stitch embroidery on these knit phone cozies from ginx crafts.

Check out this wonderful crocheted blanket from my world of colours, and these sweet little turtle appliques, with pattern from my crochet projects.

That's all for 2013, see you next year. Oh, and it's just the party that is taking a holiday break, I will continue to post on the blog, as I certainly couldn't check out during the height of crafting season! See you back soon with some more simple chanukah projects and winter crafting galore!

An Eleven Year Old's First Birthday Cake For Her Father!

I am one proud and happy mama, on account of my eleven year old daughter's desire to make a birthday cake for her father, and the confidence that allowed her to do it without any supervision from mom, infact I wasn't even home for most of the production!

My husband's birthday is on the first night of chanukah, which is great because it makes that first night of the holiday even more festive and special. That said, preparing for the holiday and  a birthday can be quite a handful, so I was especially happy to have my daughter take over in the cake baking department. Not to mention that she has time and patience to make something that's more of a culinary achievment as opposed to my cakes which are as simple as can be, but with more effort put into the decorating.

And while this cake looks simply beautiful on the outside, the inside consists of two layers of chocolate torte, with the middle layer consisting of pieces of a vanilla rolled cake with chocolate filling. I didn't quite get the point of this when she brought a sample of this cake home last summer from the baking class, but when we sliced this cake the midde layer came out to look sort of striped, which was amazing, and the little baker's father was indeed proud too.

Best of all, we were really too full to even cut the cake after dinner, but when a bunch of my husband's friends showed up hours later to make a little surprise party, at least we had something to serve them! Chanukah sameach!

 

Wishing You A Very Happy Chanukah!

Tonight is the first night of chanukah, a joyful holiday that lasts eight long and wonderful nights. Plenty of time to make more decorations, and handmade gifts, and get into the spirit of the holiday as well as contemplate and absorb its deep meaning, and its relevance to us today.

Back soon with more chanukah crafts and a slice of life photos as we continue chanukah in our home, and hopefully merit to bring light into all the dark corners in our lives. Wishing you all a very happy light filled holiday!

Green Gift Wrap: Recycled Cereal Boxes With Potato Prints For Chanukah!

When we were making our potato and sponge printed gift wrap a week or so ago, we also whipped up a few recycled cereal box gift boxes, and the results are just too cute, and oh so simple to do by yourself, or with the kids.

I'll very likely be making some more of these over the course of Chanukah, and especially since I've realized that our gift toppers from plastic grocery bags complete the project perfectly. 100% recycled gift wrap, and looking so much more from the heart than anything one could ever buy.

You'll Need:

• recycled cereal boxes, opened carefully at the seams
• paint
• dense sponges and potatos
• a pen to draw the candle wicks

How To:

I used a dense sponge for the candle, and a potato for the flame, though I have to say, stamping with the sponge is so great, and one can stamp about four times before reloading with paint.

For more stamping instructions and inspiration, do check out my previous post, potato and sponge stamped gift wrap.

Okay, gotta run, still have lots of crafting to do in order to fill this gift packaging!

 

Gift Topper Pom Poms From Plastic Grocery Bags!

Aren't these plastic grocery bag gift topper pom poms gorgeous? If you told me they were exotic sea urchins I'd probably find that more believable than plastic grocery bags, really? Yes dear readers, and while I will admit that photographing them on a white table cloth in the low afternoon sun did make them look a bit more tissue paper delicate than they are, they really are fantastic. So if you're looking for a good recycling craft, this is it, well for the moment!

I must run to take care of some family business, but I'll be back shortly to explain how we made these, and to share another fabulous chanukah gift wrapping idea. See you soon!

In the meantime, you can check out my plastic bag gift toppers post from years ago, that has instructions for making something similar, that is certainly one way to go, and much quicker, however as you can see the results aren't nearly as fabulous. Collect your bags, large and small, but all lightweight and stay tuned.

 

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday! Last week there were contributors from Israel, Italy, Muldavia, Hungary, Germany, Portugal, The Netherlands, Sweden, The United States, Guatemala, Australia, Jakarta, and South Africa. Still hoping for some new contributors from countries not represented, don't be shy!

Dear friends, this will be the last party until 2014, as I customarily take a party break in December, so feel free to share several projects for the 2013 finale!

Here are some of the projects that have me inspired to get in full gear this week, Chanukah is coming!

Love this crochet baktus, from lanas de ana, and this chunky mobius wrap from teszek veszek that can be worn in so many fun ways!

Chanukah in a jar from altered artworks and a fun felt wall hanging from busy in brooklyn are two projects that you can still whip up!

How about 2 minute chocolate cakes baked in a mug, from kids activities, or a wonderful scarft with fun fringe from helena haakt.

Can't get enough of these crocheted collars from the crochet caretaker, and love these crocheted tube necklaces from the little treasures.

 

Happy in red is selling this nice granny blanket as a charity, and love this little crocheted beret (with link to pattern) from howling at the moon, as well as these simple gift baskets from organized 31 .

Zip tie bookmarks from mich in LA are a fabulous little gift this holiday season, and this chain necklace is also quite simple to make, with complete instructions at the jewelry making journal.

 
Threading my way made these simple arm protectors to help her husband clear their property of some unwanted flora that cuts through sleeves, and crafty journal has a great tip for removing furniture marks from carpet.

 Se7en is at it again with two great art projects for an exploration of the art of Monet, first pastel mirror drawings......

and second, beautiful water colors painted in the garden (in South Africa it's spring!) Thanks so much to everyone for sharing their wonderful creativity, and now, what's new in your crafty world?

A Schumbergera "Chanukah Cactus" Houseplant In Bloom!

Many of you may be familiar with schumbergera which I'll just call chanukah cactus, as that's the holiday we'll be celebrating soon! My little cactus is in full bloom, giving us so much joy! I bought this plant several weeks ago, and while I could see that it was from last year's left overs, it was full of buds, and I couldn't resist. I'm so happy that I wasn't picky about the condition of the plant, as I'm loving the extra color it brings to our living room, and looking forward to coaxing it to bloom again next year.

And after I finished this starburst crocheted blanket last winter, I never thought I'd have something else that matches, but look, those bright pinks are pretty close!

The other really amazing thing is that this plant has blooms in multiple colors! The first set of blooms, from about two weeks ago were more coral color, as you can see here, and now they're just about as pink as any flower can get. We were so amazed when the flowers opened and revealed this bright pink pistil!

Multiple colors of flowers on a schumbergera is even something you can do at home if you have several plants, by cross polenating them! Simply take that lovely little pink pistil and rub it into the stamen, (the yellow pollen portions of a flower) of a different colored flower. Come next year the new flower will be the color of the pollen that you introduced it to! That simple, really!

Okay, this means that I really must find some more schumbergera to purchase and try it myself, right? Many people love this plant, that is really not a cactus at all, but a hybrid of a plant found in the rain forrests of Brazil, and propogates just like a succulent, meaning you can easily make more plants. Love it! Oh, and when you cut off a stem and root it, that stem can flower just the next year, heaven. And great little gifts, don't you think?

Oh, and before I leave you, here are a few important tips for caring for your schumbergera:

Nesting Dreidel Mobile In The Shop Once Again!

My Nesting Dreidel pdf file mobile kit is once again in my LIttle Tzaddik Etsy shop. I thought some of you might find it useful especially now with Chanukah just one week off! Print out the pages, some or all, there are tons of them in every color your see here, cut out the shapes with a craft knife and assemble. With just a little patience with the cutting, but not tons of time, you can make some really stunning decorations to hang as wall hangings or mobiles. And our course you can make gift toppers, and even use the pages as wrapping paper.

And, now for the first time, since Etsy has a new instant download function, you can receive two files, both the winter brights, and the pastels version for the price of one file, my little gift to you!

Happy Chanukah crafting to you all!

 

Chanukah Kid's Craft: Dancing Figures With Wine Cork Feet Are The Cutest!

Fun crafts for Chanukah are a perfect way to get kids excited about the upcoming holiday, just one week away! A great chanukah kid's craft is making these dancing chanukah figures using very simple supplies together with just a bit of creativity. The figure you see here (which looks like a flamenco dancer, funny enough) is called in Hebrew, a pach shemen, namely an olive oil flask, a symbol not generally seen in American Chanukah decorations, but actually one of the most important, as the miracle of this one remaining flask of olive oil is what the holiday celebrates. (A bit sad to see that one of the most important points gets lost in the commercialization of a holiday. Oh, but thats why I'm here, to light up the darkness, right, back to work got a huge job to do!)

I think you'll agree, the results are just adorable! We have ours displayed in the kitchen on those thin Riba shelves from Ikea, against a white wall, and the entire collection (which I'm not showing you here, on account of lack of time) is just so much fun.

And look at these two doughnuts eyeing one another, what better way to get into the Chanukah spirit?

You'll Need:

• colorful card stock
• black markers
• wire (not too thin) mine is florist's wire
• wine corks
• tape

How To:

Draw figures on paper and cut them out. Cut wine corks in half lengthwise (adults only, please!). Attach arms and legs by taping lengths of wire to back of drawing. Poke bottom of legs through top of wine cork foot and fold under so it can't slip out. That's it! Make a bunch and get ready to celebrate! We enjoyed this one so much I know we'll be making even more in the next week.

Note: To give credit where credit is due, the general inspiration for this project and the idea for the wine cork feet came from this post, which also shows using pipe cleaners. Honestly, I'm glad I couldn't put my finger on any pipe cleaners, as the thin wire lends a very artful, sculptural touch to this project which I just love.

 

Chanukah Popsicle Stick Dreidel Craft For Kids, With Glitter!

Okay readers, there's no denying it, Chanukah is a week and a half away and its time to get crafting, like seriously crafting! Oh, you have other things that need tending too? I know the feeling, but Chanukah is not going to wait for us, so make the most of your free moments and enlist the kids to do most of the work.

These mini popsicle stick chanukah ornaments are a great place to start, simple to assemble, and who doesn't like glitter, except for maybe mom, (what a mess!) but hey, a little extra clean up time on account of come creativity is always a good thing! And they kind of remind me of Chanukah cookies for some reason, so I've even presented them to you on a tray!

You'll Need:

• mini popsicle sticks
• glitter
• white glue
• ribbon or yarn for hanging, either as individual ornaments, or garland style

How To:

Glue sticks together to form chanukiahs, dreidels, stars, or anything else you may come up with. Cover tops of sticks with glue by smearing with finger. Sprinkle on the glitter and some fun decorations are born, after they dry that is!

For another fun craft using large popsicle sticks, check out our popsicle stick chanukah craft, from a good few years back!

Lots more Chanukah crafting ideas to come all week long, so stay tuned!