creative jewish mom

The Eighth Night Of Hanukkah, Zot Hanukkah!

 Zot Chanukah, the eighth night of hanukkah is tonight, and that means this is our last chance to enjoy the hoilday before it disappears until next year!

Zot chanukah is considered to be the most significant day by many, and for Kabbalists and Hassidim, it is also considered to be the last opportunity for repentence before the gates (namely the same ones we might have been thinking about on Yom Kippur) are closed tightly shut. Now how is that for giving everyone a good fair chance at doing their very best to have a wonderful year? (And not to worry if you are neither a Kabbalist nor a Hassid, you can certainly be one for this one day of Hanukkah!)

Geometric String Star Holiday Napkin Rings

Wishing for a fun craft for all ages that can also make your holiday table look amazing? Look no further, these string stars are so much fun to make and work really well as medallions for DIY napkin rings! So cut out some cardboard circles from cereal box cardboard, grab some metallic crochet thread and get started!Wishing for a fun craft for all ages that can also make your holiday table look amazing? Look no further, these string stars are so much fun to make and work really well as medallions for DIY napkin rings! So cut out some cardboard circles from cereal box cardboard, grab some metallic crochet thread and get started!

Wishing for a fun craft for all ages that can also make your holiday table look amazing? Look no further, these string stars are so much fun to make and work really well as medallions for DIY napkin rings! So cut out some cardboard circles from cereal box cardboard, grab some metallic crochet thread and get started!

The Sea Of Galillee (Lake Tiberius, Yom Kinneret) On A Beautiful December Afternoon

Above: The Kinneret, The Sea of The Galillee In Northern Israel, With The Golan Heights In the Background. Looking east across the lake.

My daughter is on school vacation (the boys have half-days) and so we took the opportunity to take a 40 minute drive to the Holy City Of Tiberius (Tiveria) for some much needed clothes shopping for her, and fortunately I brought my camera along. And more fortunately, my husband actually stopped the car so I could get out and capture the gorgeous views over The Sea Of The Galillee, as we returned home to continue our Hanukkah celebrations. I hadn't been to the shores of the Kinneret (as we call it here in Israel) in quite a while, and with bright blue skies and deep blue waters, the views were truly stunning! The drive from our home into the city of Tiberius is also breathtaking as well. The road winds down the mountain and the lake is glimpsed from afar and then after passing numerous banana groves suddenly a bounty of water is right beside you!

Wishing You A Joyful, LIght-Filled Chanukah!

To My Dear Readers, wishing you a wonderful Chanukah, a chanukah sameach, filled with joy, and light. This is our chance to help banish darkness from the darkest corners, and to fill them with hope for a better, brighter world! So light the Chanukah candles, spend time with friends and family and give thanks for all the goodness that we do have. Give lots of thanks, as you gaze at the lights of the menorah, this is the time, and you have six more nights to continue doing the same wonderful thing!

Geometric Woven String Star Gift Toppers And Place Cards

Geometric string stars are so fun to weave, and they also happen to look great at gift toppers and gift tags! I just love how they look on my hand stamped olive branch wrapping paper, and if you're making them for your own family, well, you can save them afterwards to make a geometric string star garland!

Geometric String Star Garland Is Perfect For Hanukkah And Beyond!

Geometric woven string stars are so simple to make and with such fabulous results, everyone with even the slightest crafty bone in their body should make some, NOW! And look how cute they are strung as a Hanukkah garland, or for just about any holiday or occassion! I made these with un-dyed crochet string, and recycled cardboard, for an article here on Houzz.com, but sky is the limit as far as the materials one could choose to use. Check out my giant string star craft, as well as my original post, geometric string craft stars, to see them multicolored and in all kinds of configurations not shown here!

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday! Thanks so much for joining me here. As is customary each December, Craft Schooling Sunday takes a holiday break, so this week I am sharing the features, but there will be no link up. Of course the blog will continue as usual, so please do visit me here! So wishing you all an amazing holiday season, and looking forward to reconnecting in 2016. The party will resume the first Sunday (Saturday night my time) in January, see you then!

 Love this granny rows scarf made from balls of scrap yarn tied together, from chris in de haak, and how about this sweet knit cowl made on a loom, from flamingo toes.

DIY Hanukkah Menorah Made From Shot Glasses That Looks Amazing!

Hanukkah is on Sunday night, so now would be a good time to make some quick Hanukkah projects that look great and are quick to make. For starters, I'd recommend this shot glass Menorah that I made for a Hanukkah DIY article for Houzz, as it is so simple and looks surprisingly elegant, I must say! Even if you already have a Hanukkah menorah that you'll light in a window, or in a doorway (there are several different customs regarding where one should light the menorah, we light ours in a window looking out over the street) why not fill your home with more Hanukkah light on a table or sideboard (if there are small children roaming) to really enjoy the amazing light that results from lighting floating wicks in olive oil.

A Hanukkah Poster Made By Mother And Son.....

When my son came home from school with a request for a large piece of artwork to hang in his classroom, i was a little sceptical that I would have time to actually help him with this task, but fortunately we pulled it off, and he was happy as can be as he left for school this morning, phew!

As you can surely guess, I am not the kind of mom who would want to just make something for him with no collaboration, and fortunately, he actually got the ball rolling one evening by drawing the title and those cute little music bars. Yesterday he drew the curtains and mom stepped in to draw the menorahs and the dreidels. Together we painted the whole thing with watercolors, and despite a few little accidents, like an orange splotch that i made into the candle for lighting the menorah and some doubt on his part as to the loose nature of the execution, in the end he was happy, and so of course I am too....I think we did a good job of it!

Cereal Box Menorahs Made By 2nd Graders!

Aren't these cereal box menorahs made by some second grade boys from the Western Galil in Israel just the cutest? They were made as part of a crafting hour for a group of five boys, and with the help of two mothers, and using my Hanukkah menorah template printable.

I really love how they took the idea of using cereal box cardboard and decided to make the cereal box graphics the decoration, true pop art! I do wonder whether that decision was based on the fact that the 45 minutes they spent making these was enough crafting time, or whether it was truly an aesthetic decision. We will never know, so we'll just have to smile at the results!

You can make a similar project by purchasing my downloadable Hanukkah menorah template, and getting to work, or rather play!  Make them in a bunch of sizes (there are three sizes in the file) and add some Hanukkah joy to your home!