creative jewish mom

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

 

 

 

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday, so wonderful to be back here with all my virtual guests! We are now in the Jewish month of Shevat, which contains the lovely (minor) holiday of Tu B'Shevat, the New Year for the trees. Tu B'Shevat is a regular day school and work-wise, but we celebrate the holiday in the evening (all Jewish holidays start at night) by eating fruits and nuts, and there is even a special seder, that like the Passover seder includes four glasses of wine! Nothing mandatory in this case, but a very interesting way to learn about this special holiday and its deep spiritual meaning. Speaking of meaning, make sure to get crafting with some fun tree related crafts! All things like flowering trees, leaves, branches, and of course fruit qualify, so have some fun and I'll be sharing my crafts for the holiday soon.

And now, for the features from last week's party:

 

A gorgeous shawl from happy in red, crocheted from a ball of wool that contains all these delicious colors, and have a total crush on this vintage dresser turned vanity from lolly jane.

Super sweet stuffed fabric hearts from dazzle while frazzled, and a great DIY hooded poncho pattern from life sew savory.

Crocheted Hearts Wall Hanging From The Archives

How about making a crocheted hearts wall hanging to remind someone that you love them? I made this crocheted hearts and leaves wall hanging using a real branch, to hang in my daughter's room four yeas ago, and while it did sag just a bit towards the end of its run, all in all it was a huge success. Now we are in the process of redecorating my daughter's room, so the wall hanging has come down, but it is still such a wonderful project that I thought I'd share it with you again!

I did spend some time working up some more of these cherry blossom popcorn stitch hearts in new colors, (check them out here, with an additional row too) and I may just remake the wall hanging using those, we'll just have to see how it goes! I've also developed a few crocheted leaves inspired by this one, so stay tuned for that as well, and let me know if you give this project a try!

Crocheted Cherry Blossom Heart Is Super Sweet!

It is now the Jewish month of Shevat, so dear friends it is certainly time to start thinking about crafts for Tu B'Shevat, the holiday which celebrates the new year for the trees. Yes, really, trees have a new year's too, isn't that amazing?  While much of the Western World celebrates the tree in December, we do it around February, just as winter is coming to an end and the very first stirrings of spring and re-birth are happening. The first blossoms in Israel (which happens around Tu B'Shevat give or take) are those of the almond tree, whose blossoms are very much like cherry blossoms, so I'd say this sweet crocheted cherry blossom center heart qualifies as a craft for Tu B'Shevat! And of course, you can never have too many hearts!

For those of you who have been hanging around Creative Jewish Mom long enough, you may recognize this heart, as I used it to make a crocheted hearts wall hanging four years ago. The wall hanging doesn't match my teenage daughter's new room decor, but the pattern is still great, so I'm creating with it once again, with a few changes of course!

Crocheted Sunburst Granny Square Wrist Warmers Free Pattern

Chunky crocheted wrist warmers are so fun to whip up and make a great winter accessory that will take you into early spring as well. And once you get the idea behind the construction of these crocheted sunburst granny square wrist warmers, you can go to town and make crocheted wrist warmers from all those fun granny square patterns you've been wanting to try out! And of course, since guage isn't really all that important since this is one size fits all teens/adults, you can go ahead and use the yarn of your choice and just crochet some extra rounds to make your project large enough. Of course, I'll indicate in the pattern where those extra rounds should be inserted, so enjoy this fun pattern, and please send me photos of your version!

So far I have crocheted the version you see here, with a beige background, as well as a previous version HERE, with a grey background. Now I think I need a neck warmer to match, right? Okay, but first the wrist warmers.......

Welcome Back To Craft Schooling Sunday!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Welcome back to Craft Schooling Sunday, thanks for joining me here! I hope everyone had a great holiday season, and are now ready to charge ahead in the new year with lots of plans for carrying out all those creative dreams. My personal problem is that the list of those dreams just keeps growing, so I'm trying to focus a this year, wish me luck on that one!

 

I'll admit that sometimes I am a bit jealous of those folks that do one thing and devote themselves to it, whether it be pottery, or painting, or quilting or embroidery. My problem is that I just love it all and can't imagine doing one type of art or craft all the time, which I guess is why I'm more of a designer than an artist. While the decision isn't final just yet, I think I'm going to coax myself into doing a bunch of 30 day challenges that involve working on one thing, like water color painting, drawing, lettering etc. and while that doesn't mean I won't do other things, at least I will finish the month with growth in one area hopefully. I'll let you know what I decide.

 

In the mean time, what have you been up to? Really looking forward to seeing that latest from all my contributors, so link on up, and please please please link back to the party, preferably at the bottom of the post you are contributing.

 

 

Brighten Up Winter With Kalanchoe In Bloom!

Ahhhhh, gorgeous kalanchoe in pink, red and coral are just the thing to brighten up winter right about now! Thanks to Ikea, where these little pots were just 9 shekels each (plants are expensive here in Israel, very annoying since they are grown here and Israel is a world expert is such things) so I couldn't resist. Outside on our blue tile Moroccan table (more about that another day) they look just as cheerful as can be, and at some point I will have to actually plant them in a larger pot, but for now I have them sitting in a bonsai pot, and the plants are full enough to hide the white plastic nursery pots.

The wonderful thing about kalanchoe is that for those of you with freezing tempertures, it can be grown indoors as a houseplant. For me, I just watch the temps and will bring them indoors if the temperatures dip to freezing.The other wonderful thing about Kalanchoe is that it is one of those plants, like geraniums, whose cuttings can be easily rooted. So once your plant gets leggy, which it will, trim it and use the cuttings to make more plants!

Crocheted Sunburst Granny Wrist Warmers Are Cozy And Quick

Lets hear it for some great looking, quick to whip up, cozy sunburst granny crocheted wrist warmers also called GRL PWR (girl power) Wrist Warmers, because hey, why not? I'm not sure if I ever saw a photo of wrist warmers like this, or if I just imagined it, but with no pattern to be found easily, I decided to write one myself, and voila, it worked! Now I can't wait to make these wrist warmers in a variety of colors and yarn weights, as they make a very perfect gift........spreading the love without having to go overboard with the time investment, now that is called thinking wisely!

Ah yes, and as for the GRL PWR, well that came about because of the above pose my daughter came up with during out little photo session as the sun was setting today. Of course a background of snow sure would have been lovely, but one just has to work with what one has, which in this case is one teenage daughter still wearing her school uniform!

Crocheted Sunburst Granny Square Pattern

At long last I was able to purchase some chunky acrylic yarn at my local fabric shop that seemed like something worth trying out, (There is one other brand of chunky that starts to pill while you are just looking at it.....well you know what i mean) and at only 10 shekels a skein of course I scooped up a bunch of pastels to make something for my daughter. My first project, crocheted hand warmers for my daughter. A few years ago I did crochet basic crocheted hand warmers, but those were for the boys, and my daughter never actually received any. So, with her in mind, I've been dreaming of crocheted hand warmers made with granny squares, so I decided to design one myself, starting with this sunburst granny square, which I just loooooove.

In chunky yarn, the results are so cozy and plush, and perfect for so many winter crochet projects. So lets get started with this granny square pattern, which you've just got to try!

Crocheted Dots And Dashes Granny Square Neck Warmer

Winter has finally arrived here in Northern Israel, so let's celebrate (since we need the rain) with a Crocheted Dots And Dashes neck warmer, composed of just four wagon wheel granny squares! The squares themselves only take about 15 minutes to crochet each (for the experienced crocheter) so I'm guessing one could crochet the entire neck warmer is around 2 hours. Make this stylish and cozy neck warmer in one sitting or crochet the squares as a take-along project, and either way you'll be enjoying your new creation in no time.

I love projects like this one that come together quickly, and in the time it would take to make a larger scarf or shawl you can make a few of these to give as gifts this winter! Okay friends, lets get crocheting.......

Crocheted Wagon Wheel Granny Square Pattern

For a moment there I thought I might not do any crocheting this winter, but ha ha, that certainly would be a very strange thing around here! And rather than take down boxes from the attic, I figured I'd whip up a few simple crocheted accessories for myself with some yarn I had on hand, which is how this wagon wheel granny square pattern came to be. I love this granny square as it is quick to work up, about 15 minutes for one square, looks great, and of course can be used in so many ways. I always favor circle within a square motifs, and this one that is wagon wheel and starburst at the same time is just simply wonderful. So far I have used this pattern to make a neck warmer and hand warmers, which I'll be sharing with you shortly, here's to a cozy winter!

Okay, lets give this granny square a try, shall we?