creative jewish mom

Ten Reasons To Love Geraniums

I'll admit, before I became a busy mom with a huge container garden much of which lines a public staircase and courtyard next to our hillside home, I wasn't exactly a fan of geraniums. I'm not sure why exactly but it may go back to a childhood memory of smelling some geraniums on the walk to school and discovering their pungent smell, or it may stem from some idea I picked up somewhere that geraniums are just way too commonplace for the true garden lover. Today I'm happy to say that I have changed my stance altogether, and I highly recommend geraniums for the beginner or seasoned gardener. So using some photos I took of a lovely little container garden just up the street from my home, here are my top ten reasons to love geraniums:

1. They are easy to care for. First I should mention that depending on where you live, the geraniums that are available to you will vary. There are several families of flowers that are called geraniums, and among those may be annuals and perennials, so do ask before purchasing.  Geraniums are hardy and very adaptive, and some will even flower when not properly cared for! Meaning that if you forget to water them and the soil becomes totally parched, your geraniums will likely be fine.(Note: some geraniums prefer to be watered after soil has dried out, others like the trailing Ivy geranium prefer consistently wet soil.) And depending on what zone you live in, geraniums can weather frosts and even some freezing temps, just not all winter. There are geraniums that are hardy in zones 3 to 10, so do ask the nursery for those if this is relevant to you, though do keep in mind that geraniums prefer cool nights, but can likely adapt to just about anything.

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday! Thanks so much for joining me here for this creative little get together that is always full of wonderful surprises that I'm so happy to share with you! The features from last week's party are sure to inspire, and hopefully just enough to get you motivated to do something uniquely yours!

This week we celebrated the special holiday of  L'ag B'Omer, which honors the great sage and originator of the Zohar (the foundation of Kabbalah), Rebbe Shimon Bar Yochai, whose gravesite in the town of Meron is part of the view from my living room! A half a million or so visitors from around the world traveled to Northern Israel on Wednesday and Thursday for the festivities, and the party continues this shabbat as many visitors will stay in the area to take advantage of our cool air, stunning views and small town, no mall in site vibes! 

Speaking of visitors, my house is full of them, which means I"ll be hosting them at our shabbat table as well, so gotta run!

 Love this watercolor bird from from Kayla, and this crafty birthday party from serving pink lemonade.

A fabulous crocheted rug from howling at the moon, and a DIY valance that is so simple and adds so much from C.R.A.F.T.

Teaching Kids About Color Using Oil Paints

If you have noticed the lack of crafts lately here on creative jewish mom, do not jump to the conclusion that we are not crafting, on the contrary we have been delving into the world of drawing and painting (and of course ceramics), and don't have much to show for it just yet. What I would like to share with you is the idea of helping your little and not so little crafters understand color and the power of color!

One really great way to do that is to simply employ the idea of making your own color chart, with paint and a large piece of paper. So simple and yet a great educational tool for anyone interested in painting or even learning how to use color effectively. And for those interested in classic art training (highly recommended) even on a small scale, it is important to become familiar with the names of paints generally used, and of course more specifically the names of the paints that you have. The goal is that paint colors should become as familiar as say ingredients in a recipe, such that when one wants to achieve a particular color, one simply combines the necessary color to achieve the desired result! Sort of like baking, right?

The Historic Cave Of Rebbi Shimon Bar Yochai

Above: View of the gorgeous topography of the Galillea, from a lookout point on the road to Pekiin, looking southeast.

Tonight we ushered in the very special holiday of Lag B'Omer, which celebrates and honors our great sage Rebbe Shimon Bar Yochai, also referred to as Rashbi. So there is no better day than to share with you photos of our little trip to the town of Pekiin, to visit the cave where Rebbi Shimon and his son Elazar hid from the Roman persecuters after the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem.

This is a very special spot, located actually on the other side of Mt. Meron from the town of Meron, (where Rebbi Shimon is buried, and where as we speak tens of thousands of people are arriving from around the country and around the world for the festive Lag B"Omer celebration.) Certainly worth a visit, and for those of you who won't likely be making the trip anytime soon, keep reading for some more armchair traveling!

DIY Ceramic Wall Clock

A DIY ceramic wall clock is a wonderful thing to make if you happen to have some time in a ceramic's studio, or have access to a kiln! My twelve year old son made this one, and we can't wait to hang it in our kitchen. And in fact he has already made another one for his room that has yet to be painted, but will hopefully be even more fabulous! And of course I want to make one too, though i should probably finish my series of hanging planters first! My son and I are having such a wonderful time together at our weekly ceramics studio time (just about one and a half hours) and since he is growing up altogehter too quickly, this is really something that we will always cherish. Not to mention that our house will be filled with sweet reminders!

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

 

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday! So wonderful to get together with you all right here every week, and as always, the projects from last week's party are sure to inspire. I'll admit, lately I've even been too busy to look at Pinterest, so I'm really happy to have this inspiration so close to home. And truthfully, sometimes just a little inspiration is preferable to too much, that can be overwhelming, right? So, speaking of a little inspiration, here are the fabulous features from last week's party:

Love this little hand painted succulent pot from the perfect storm, and super sweet ribbon heart art from the scrap shoppe blog.

 Embroidered "animal party" skirt from flamingo toes, and a fun strawberry themed birthday party mason jar from bombshell bling.

Kid's Drawing Exercise: Light And Shadow

Doing crafts with kids is one of the best things a parent can do. Crafting builds motor skills, confidence and hopefully creativity, depending on whether kids are asked to come up with their own ideas (always the best) or not. Beyond crafting is the idea of helping kids (and maybe yourself as well?) gain drawing and painting skills, certainly highly recommended if your child loves to draw and/or obviously has some talent  whether full blown or a bit obscurred. One can craft for years and never learn how to draw, as the two are really quite separate.

My ten year old son has started taking drawing and painting lessons from a beloved teacher who moved back to our town, and she is doing a number of exercises with him before they start to paint. One such important idea is that of light and shadow, which allows one to draw things with dimension, and when it comes to painting to paint a picture that is illuminated from a certain direction.

Note To Self: Passover Needs For 2017

Above: Some migrating heron spotted on a little trip we took to the foothills of Mt. Meron during Passover

If there is one thing I've learned over the years regarding the great Passover kitchen change-over, is that having everything you need already on hand is certainly preferable to having to rush out and buy items that are missing. Plus, with this in mind one can pick up necessary items during the year when you spot them on sale, or see something particularly cute that you really don't need but that you could use for Passover! That said, I'm using this little space on my blog to make a list for myself of all the items I need to replenish for our Passover kitchen. This year I actually removed a number of items to use during the year, so remembering for example that we no longer have drinking glasses for Passover is certainly an important one, right?

True, Passover is already a few weeks behind us, but I actually scribbled my list on a piece of paper, and am now getting around to typing it up here. I can't say that I'm a huge list maker, but this Passover list together with packing lists for trips and a weekly list of all the food that needs to be cooked for shabbat are truly life savers!

Container Gardening: Bougainvilleas With A View!

If you have a container garden and live anywhere where you see Bougainvilleas growing (sorry New Yorkers, not you, but Californians yes!) then you absolutely must add this gorgeous plant to your garden! Bougainvillieas do well in containers, not nearly as well as in the ground of course, but well enough to give you gorgeous blooms that you see here, all summer long. And another tip that is good to know, if you live in a zone that gets frost and an occassional snow (like where I live) there are some strains of Bougainvillea that are hardier than others. Namely the color you see here is the one that is known to do well in my area, as opposed to white, light pink and orange which are all gorgeous but likely won't survive a winter with any below freezing temps.

A Lovely Wall Top Container Garden With Wow Factor!

Aren't these petunias spilling over this window box just gorgeous? There is nothing quite as lovely as beautiful flowers spilling out of window box type containers, and this little wall top container garden always looks amazing, so I just had to share it with you once again. Of course the location on the balcony of an old stone home is stunning in itself, but truthfully a great little container garden full of a variety of plants and flowers looks amazing anywhere. So don't be tempted to say "my house will never look like that!"

And just by the way, yesterday I spotted the secret to this little garden's success: a drip watering system and meticulous attention to replacing spent plants and trimming those that are flourishing. Even this petunia got trimmed so its a good thing I took a photo when i did.