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In my efforts to use up all my tiny bits of yarn, I at long last had a chance to use a 6.5 mm Tunisian crochet hook that I picked up a few years ago. And of course Tunisian crochet washcloths using cotton yarn are the perfect project, especially when you don't love the colors of the yarn you have on hand!
Continue reading "Tunisian Crochet Washclothes, A Great Way To Practice Something New!" »
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Painting created by a 1st grader, wth a rectangular dense sponge, wine corks, and Q-tips! And no direction from the teacher whatsoever.
Yesterday I started the first of what I hope will be many afternoons spent with an adorable and vivacious group of !st and 2nd graders for some art and craft lessons, for my charitable organization now called Crafting A Future.
First we sat down in a circle and talked about color and combinations of color, and why we paint and draw and craft to begin with. Then we started what I thought was a lesson in stamping and making patterns with paint and a number of different things like potatos, sponges, bottle caps, wine corks and dense sponges.
But then it turned out that these five and six year olds, when given huge sheets of paper and paint and the above mentioned tools couldn't quite stay within the strict guidelines of stamping and started stamping and painting away and some of them made the most gorgeous little paintings combining the techniques I'd shown them and their own creativity.
This amazing clown started with a stamped head made with a plastic cover, and then some details were added with stamped corks, and the painting was done with I'm not sure what, but not with a paint brush, as there were no paint brushes anywhere!
This sweet little clown, shown here in progress was painted entirely with Q tips!
So very adorable, and quite accomplished for a first grader, I do think!
After everyone had finished as much as they could on the giant sheets of paper, I then had them practice the techniques of making patterns with stamping, as I've done with my children recently here, and then we decorated some flat cereal boxes to use as containers for Purim, more on that as that project progresses.
And then, I did somewhat of a novel thing, I gave them all homework and they were pleased as punch! One of them smiled up at me and said that the homework was to remember the class that we'll have every Sunday!
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Welcome back to craft schooling sunday! Our first party after a two month break was great and such a good feeling to reconnect with so many of you. Hopefully more will be back on board this week as we craft our way through the end of winter! Last week there were contributors from The United States, The UK, Portugal, Spain, The Netherlands, Sweden, Italy, Jakarta, and Guatemala. Hopefully we'll see our friends from Australia, South Africa, Germany, Macedonia, Hungary, Denmark and Israel (for example) again soon as well as some new participants! Here are some of the projects that inspired me from last week's party:
Can't wait to make a fantastic cloud mobil like this one from pysselbolaget, and love this doughnut shaped printable from minieco, perfect for Purim treats!
An adorable crocheted skirt from estrea chikitu and a knit scarf using the baktus pattern looks amazing with space dyed yarn, from lanas de ana.
The cutest ever clasp clutch can be yours with a tutorial from happy in red, and love these simple flowers, perfect for toddlers, from grandparents plus.
Isn't this knit house from Ginx craft just too much fun? So proud of her for exploring so many interesting things with knitting!
Whip up a super simple granny poncho, from estrea chikitu, then how about the fabulous idea of a crocheted strap to keep the iron chord under control from anna simple crochet.
Been wanting to make a star shaped afghan myself, and this one from happy in red is great inspiration! And for those of use who can't stop crocheting, making a crocheted edging for masquerade masks from torre davorio is perfect right about now, and could be great party favors for a Purim party!
Fun math symbols bibs for your little genius from la perada de grillos, and fabulous comic book decoupaged crates from organized 31.
A fun "copper" look desk organizer from design megillah, and a changeable charm necklace tutorial from jewelry making journal.
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In my pursuit of very healthy bread alternatives, I have come upon a fantastic discovery: rolls made with oat flour are delicious, and it's like eating healthy cake! I came upon a simple recipe which I then played around with, and for a first run, the results were more than good enough to share with you here! And even my 11 year old daughter, who is not looking for low gluten bread substitutes, loved these piping hot out of the oven. The thing about oat flour is that while quite delicious on its own its difficult to use for making bread loaves, as it doesn't hold together on account of no gluten. So making batter and using a muffin tin is perfect!
This shabbat, while my guests and family are enjoying white challah, and a new edition, Moroccan frena, I'll be enjoying these oat flour rolls. The only problem is that they're a little bit too delicious, oh and that they're not vegan, since there is one egg in the recipe, but I'm going to try making them without the egg, next batch, coming up soon!
Oat Flour Apple Cinnamon Rolls With No Sugar Recipe:
Mix together ingredients and spoon batter into a muffin tin, this amount filled the cups in my silicone 12 muffin pan. Bake at 200C for roughly 30-45 minutes, until nicely browned.
Enjoy! Now I'm off to try this recipe with no egg and with the edition of psyllium husks, so excited to try something totally new!
ps: If you'd rather make these rolls such that they do not qualify as "bread" but rather "cake", one simply replaces the majority of the liquid with all natural fruit juice. Check with your local rabbi to determine what exactly "majority" means, as at the moment I'm not quite sure myself.
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This simple idea for upcycling small medicine and cosmetic boxes was brought about on account of my neighbor the principal who needed some ideas for using some donated "craft" supplies!
This idea, which is for using cosmetic boxes or even food boxes, with windows is all about rebuilding the world with love! (And for the month of Tammuz, about rebuilding the Beit HaMikdash!) Certainly in keeping with all the heart related crafts we're seeing everywhere right now, though a bit more targeted towards thinking about how we and our children can do acts of kindness to make the world a better place.
As a group activity, one could use the windows to write these acts of kindness, or kids can draw a portrait of themselves with a sentence about what small acts they will do to rebuild — their school, their neighborhood, their city, or even the world.
Oh, and of course, one turns the box inside out and draws what looks like stone walls or any kind of surface one would use to re-build. Then of course, you make a structure of some kind with the boxes, either free-standing, or attached to a wall, and it will be meaningful as well as artful!
Let me know how you use this idea!
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I just love the sweet results of this simple drawing craft that gets kids to think about what one might see in the windows of their home or apartment building. This idea came about because a neighbor of mine is the principal at a local nursery school/kindergarten and had a bunch of packaging that had been donated by a cosmetics business that she didn't know how to use. Of course I couldn't refuse her request to come up with some ideas for a variety of objects, and this is the first of several ideas. These die-cut panels were part of something that looked like a pop up test tube stand, though was I do believe for holding cosmetic pencils. So now you know, save those bits and pieces of die cut packaging to make fun houses and buildings!
Trace the windows onto a piece of blank white paper, and then have kids fill in the windows with cute little drawings of what one might see through the windows. Then simply affix the sheet of paper to the back, and have the kids finish up with details on the facade. I love the fact that my eight year old drew a house filled with flowers and plants and pianos!
And of course, you can certainly make your own die cut panels by cutting lots of windows out of any piece of cardboard with a craft knife and a ruler. Certainly worth the extra effort when the results are so adorable!
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At long last, I realized that I really must write down the pattern for the crocheted flower doily medallion stool cover, as we've been enjoying ours for a few months, and it's oh so simple to whip up, assuming you already know how to crochet. And for those of you who don't know how to crochet, it's a must!
Continue reading "Crocheted Flower Medallion Stool Cover Pattern" »
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Dear Readers, I'm so happy to share the news, Craft Schooling Sunday is back after a two month hiatus. Granted I had only planned to take a one month vacation as I do every year, but life kept me so busy that I figured I'd wait just a bit longer, which turned out to be an entire month. Then, things started to get just a little too quiet around here and I knew it was time to reconnect with you all! So welcome back and I'm so very excited to see what you've been up to!
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Wishing you all a wonderful new month! Yesterday and today were the first days of the month of Adar, a very joyful month on the calendar, which includes the holiday of Purim. Usually I'd be writing this amidst the pressure excitement of knowing that there were only two weeks left to plan costumes and mishloach manot (gifts of food that we give on Purim) but yippee, this year is leap year which means that we have a whole extra month of Adar, and actually a month and a half to get it all together for Purim!
So my friends, leap year is the time to indulge in all that Purim crafting that you never seem to have time for, right? There are lots of ideas in the archives here, so take a look and start planning.
I think I'll have a little costume discussion with my kids right now, and maybe start some brainstorming. And I'm always here to answer your questions or provide inspiration, so just drop me a line!
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