creative jewish mom

No Sew Fleece Paneled Scarf Kids Can Make!

Here's a super simple no sew fleece scarf craft that's great for the whole family. And with my simple step by step tutorial, it's great for kids too. So grab some fleece in your favorite colors, and make a bunch to keep you warm until spring!

You'll Need:

• fleece, at least two colors, 1/4 yard each
• sharp scissors
• masking tape
• a ruler or tape measure
• a marker

How To:
The scarf I will be showing you how to make here measures roughly 6” wide and 64” long, though you can choose to make a longer or even wider scarf by simply experimenting with the size of the panels while still using the same technique. The blanket is made by quite simply tieing together equally sized panels via fringe that you will cut on all sides of each panel. It really is as simple as it sounds, and tieing the fringe, even for a large blanket goes quite quickly.

No-Sew Fleece Puppet Craft For Kids!

Fleece no-sew puppets are a great way to learn about crafting with fleece, and the results are so cute you or the kids can make enough to put on a great puppet show. One of the most important things to consider when crafting with fleece is that you’ll need a pair of really sharp scissors that cut easily through the fleece. If you’re having trouble cutting the fleece, please don’t waste your time, get some scissors that will do the job effortlessly!

Supplies:

• fleece, at least two colors
• sharp scissors
• a marker
• all purpose craft glue

How To:
Before you begin, decide whether the puppets you’ll be making are for you, or a child or for someone with a bigger or smaller hand. A puppet that is a little on the small side can be used by someone bigger by placing it on just a few fingers, though a puppet that is way too big won’t be so fun for a little child to play with. So, choose your hand, or some else’s hand to take measurements. (How about making one sized for Mom or Dad so they can use it for bedtime stories, or make a set for a little brother or sister, shhhhh, it can be a surprise!)

Step 1:
Place your hand on top of your piece of fleece and trace around your hand. Do use a marker that is close in color to the color of your fleece. I used red so that you could see it, but it may show on your finished product, so if you are using grey fleece, use a grey marker.

Step 2:
Draw a second line about 2 1/2 inches outside the first line. 

Step 3:
Using that first piece as your guide cut around it to make a second piece of fleece that is the same size.

Step 4: Cut out the piece of fleece on the second line. Try to cut just inside the line so that there won’t be any marker lines on the edge. Place your piece of fleece on top of a second color, or if you prefer on top of a piece of fleece that is the same color.

Step 5: Now it’s time to cut some fringe. Cut fringe by cutting from the edge just up to the inside line. This doesn’t have to be perfect, so just do it by eye. We’ll learn how to make fringe that is uniform in size in a future project.

Step 6: Now for the fun part, tying the fringe together! Starting at one of the bottom corners, simply tie the two matching pieces of fringe together using a double knot.
•Tie all your knots using the same steps. Namely, If you start by putting the piece of fringe in your right hand over that in your left, so tie all the knots in this way.
•Make sure to only tie using the matching pieces, or you’ll end up with a slightly crooked puppet and some extra ends sticking out where they shouldn’t.

If you would like to make a puppet like the blue example who only has hair on the top of his head, tie the fringe together on both sides, according to the photo, and then turn the puppet inside out and tie the remaining fringe, which willl be his hair. If you would like to make a puppet like the green example, just continue tying around the entire perimeter.

Step 7:  Now its time to make faces for you puppets, and give them some life! Cut out pieces of fleece for eyes, nose and mouth and affix to puppet with craft glue. Eyes look the best when they’re made from two layers, right?

•I used pieces of fleece to do this, but you can also experiment with buttons, felt, tiny pom poms or any other craft supplies you might have on hand.

Step 8: Let’s use our creativity!
The steps I’ve outlined for you are just a beginning. You can make puppets in many shapes and sizes using these simple steps. Try making really long fringe for some wild hair that you could even braid, give your puppet a funny hair cut, or even a tail!  

Pom Pom Fleece Balls For Juggling And Indoor Play, A Craft For Kids Too!

Fleece pom poms are great for making garlands, and for making spring blooms, and when constructed according to my fleece pom pom technique, fantastic as soft balls for juggling, or for indoor play or even for some little toddler or baby friends.

How To Make A Fleece Pom Pom Ball:

You'll Need:

• fleece
• sharp scissors
• strong string

How To:

Follow the instructions for making a fleece pom pom bloom with measurements  as stated below:

To Make A Ball:
Cut a piece of fleece that measures roughly  35” long and 4” high. Balls can be made from multiple colors, just make sure that the lengths adds up to 35”. Cut fringe width at roughly 1". Experiment by varying the measurements I've given you to make balls of different sizes and density.

Enjoy!

Cardboard Box Leaves For Crafting, A Great Project For All Ages!

A bunch of artful cardboard leaves could come in handy right about now, don't you think? Use them for garlands, or glue them to some bare branches, give them to little ones to stick onto paper, or fill a jar with them for a future project. This is a perfect little project to do with toddlers, kids of all ages, or even to try yourself as part experiment/ part craft project!

It's as simple as this:

On corrugated cardboard pieces, or an entire box opened up, have fun sponging, dripping, stenciling or even finger painting with all that leftover paint you'd love to use up. Try some techniques that you might not normally, after all no one will actually see the entire creation. Pastel colors look especially gorgeous on the brown cardboard.

Set aside to dry, and then using nice sharp scissors, cut your decorated cardboard into little leaves. My leaves are all the same, as they are actually the result of a project I did for some Tu B'Shevat centerpieces, but you can of course cut your leaves into a bunch of sizes.

Enjoy!

 

Fleece Pom Pom Flower Craft For Kids And Adults!

Everyone knows what pom poms are right? But did you know that you can make them with fleece? You most certainly can, and I've come up with a way to do it! Small pom poms in pastel colors look like beautiful spring blossoms, perfect for Tu B’Shevat! Larger fleece pom poms can be great strung as a garland. I've been wanting to make a bunch to trim a fleece blanket or scarf.

The best news is, with just one simple technique you can make pom poms in any size you like, to use in so many fun ways.

A Note Regarding Fleece Quality And How To Cut Fabric:
If you are using high quality fleece, which is generally quite thick, you can cut your pieces from the fabric in any direction. If you are using thinner, poorer quality fleece, such as that found in many inexpensive blankets, how you choose to cut the fabric is quite important, as if fringe is cut along the weak directon of the fabric, the fringe will get easily pulled out of shape if tugged on. To avoid this, first test your fabric to see in which direction it stretches most by pulling it between your fingers. Then cut your strips such that the length of the strip is along the stretchy direction of the fabric.

How To Make Fleece Pom Poms and Fleece Pom Pom Flowers:

You'll Need:

• fleece, in any colors for balls, in pastel colors for blooms, green for leaves
• (fleece can be purchased by the yard, or one can use fleece blankets as yardage by simply cutting off the binding)
• sharp scissors
• a ruler
• all purpose craft glue
• skewers or sticks for making blooms

Basic Instructions For Making The Flower Pom Pom Blooms Seen Here:
Cut a piece of fleece that measures roughly 27” long and 2” high for the larger bloom shown here, or 12” long and 2” high for the smaller bloom. Blooms can also be made using several colors, though make sure  that the total length matches that specified above.

Tu B'Shevat Crafts Roundup From The Archives

This week, on Wednesday night, is the holiday of Tu B'Shevat so it's time to get crafting! I do have some recent projects to share, but in the meantime, I thought I'd post a roundup of some crafts from the Tu B'Shevat archives, to get you started.

Giant paper cherry blossoms, make fantastic centerpieces.......and they can be saved and used for numerous occassions if you use light weight cardboard, as I did here.

Winter trees made from recycled cardboard are so much fun to make, and can be decorated however you like.

A recycled plastic bottle flower bouquet is so crafty and unique!

Pastel circles become fabulous trees in this blooming tree kid's craft.

And golden leaf garlands  using leaves inspired by grape, fig, and olive leaves are beautiful any time.

Dehydrated orange slice necklaces or garlands, are a fun craft for kids.

Tiny toilet paper tube trees are the perfect little craft and look great lined up.

And of course, don't forget this classic cherry blossom kid's craft, that's just perfect for Tu B'Shevat!

That's it for now, for some more inspiration, take a look a my Tu B'Shevat roundup from a few years back, with lots more great ideas! Happy crafting!

 

Popcorn Hearts For The Birds?

I made these popcorn hearts with my kids yesterday, to hang outside to feed the birds, but I have to admit, popcorn hearts are just too cute, and I may keep them inside to enjoy for now. And of course this a fun craft to do anytime, as kids can munch away and craft at the same time, just be sure to have lots of popcorn on hand!

You'll Need:

• air popped popcorn
• floral wire

How To:

Gently poke a straight length of wire through a bunch of popcorn kernals, and then shape into a heart and twist the ends together. Once the ends are twisted together you can gently shape your heart even more, but do be careful as the kernals will break off easily.

Floral wire is just thick enough to thread through the popcorn, but not too thick such that the popcorn breaks easily. Yes, threading popcorn does require some patience, as many of the kernals do break a long the way, but the results are so cute, a little patience is well worth it!

I'm not exactly sure how to color popcorn with food coloring, but that could be fun too, and if you use natural food coloring, well, go ahead and feed the birds with those results too!

Come to think of it, popcorn hearts in a bunch of sizes could be great decorations for birthday parties, bat mitzvah parties, sheva brachot, and anniversary parties, or even as a cake topper or delicate bouquet of sorts. So do explore the possibilities and have a little snack while you do so!

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Simple Origami Birds For Kids

Yippee, I at long last was able to catch a few kids and get them to sit down and learn to fold some simple origami birds, just in time to hang some around our house for this shabbat, which is called "shabbat shira" and in which we give thanks to the birds for some help they gave us, the Jewish people, more than a few years back when we were living in the dessert after our deliverance from Egypt!

Recycled Milk Carton Bird Feeder Shaped Like An Owl!

Recycled milk cartons are great for crafting, and especially for making bird feeders shaped like owls! And simple enough to whip up just in time for this shabbat, "shabbat shira" for which there is Jewish tradtion to leave food out for the birds on Friday afternoon. As you can see, our feeders have yet to be filled, but we won't forget!

Depending on the kinds of birds that one would like to feed, you can of course add a little stick which runs from from to back to give the birds a perch. The small birds around here are quite hardy and will have no problem going right into the milk carton, though we'll have to see.

You'll Need:

• recycled milk or juice cartons
• white paint
• sand paper
• a permanent black marker
• string or ribbon for hanging

How To:

We found the instructions for this cute craft courtesy of whole kids, and we basically followed the instructions. We first lightly sanded the milk cartons to help the paint adhere, and then we applied two coats of white water based house paint, since that is what we had on hand. The results are a little lumpy and chalky, but fine for a project like this one!

After paint had dried we cut eyes from a piece of cereal box, applied with glue and then drew details with the black permanent marker. Make a hole in the top with a hole punch or something sharp, and hang!

Mom did cut out the wings and openings with a craft knife and scissors, an initial step that I would recommend doing for younger children, or for those who need some encouragement to get started.

Enjoy!

 

Bird Inspired Crafts For Shabbat Shira!

Shabbat Shira, the shabbat in which we remember the special role that the birds played when the Jewish people were living in the dessert after their deliverance Egypt, is this Friday night, so it's time to start doing some special bird inspired crafts! This is one of the years that I have actually realized that Shabbat Shira is coming far enough in advance to do some crafting with my kids, which we have already started, and will share soon, but in the mean time, here are some fun projects from the archives to get you started!

No time for crafting? Decorate a cake in minutes with some little store bought birds, so sweet! Got some time for crafting? Get a head start on your Purim costumes and whip up some bird capes, or even a crocheted hat, using this eagle costume as inspiration.

Lunch bag nests with modeling clay eggs are fun to make and there's no limit to the number of eggs that little hands might like to make!

Use a cookie cutter to make individual bird shaped cakes, or cut a potato into the shape of a bird and do some cute bird potato prints.

Origami cranes are lovely anytime and these origami cranes and pom pom mobiles are so colorful and festive.

Styrofoam ball and pipe cleaner birds are a fun craft, to use on the table or even on a cake, or how about making some little egg carton and twig nests to hold tiny egg shaped treats at each place setting?

And of course last, but not least, since one of the traditional things we do for shabbat shira is to feed the birds by setting out food for them on friday afternoon, how about some simple to make toilet paper tube wind catcher bird feeders?

Until we meet again, happy crafting!

(P.S. At this moment my eight year old has just turned on our new hot air popcorn popper to make some popcorn for the birds, so you can certainly get a head start by doing the same! Whoops, he forgot to put a bowl under the machine, and now there is apparently popcorn all over the floor, but ya know it's for the birds, so everything is still under control.)