creative jewish mom

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft schooling Sunday, thanks for joining me here! This week we will be celebrating Purim, a very festive and crafty Jewish holiday, and since I have yet to get crafty I will just say thanks for joining me here, and enjoy the features..... I'm off to string up some pom poms, make some giant origami clowns and figure out what to give this year for mishloach manot, the gifts of food for friends and neighbors. Hmmm, the local queen of craft may just do something simple this year, which is really just fine right? Sometimes we just need to lower the bar a bit as there are only so many hours in the day. That said, my dear daughter is at this moment making cookies to ice with royal icing for some cute Purim gifts, so at least one of us will be wowing the neighbors, and this year it will likely be my fiveteen year old daughter, which is just fine by me!

Enjoy the features, and please don't be shy to share your latest, we'd love to meet you!

Big Clown Cake Topper For Your Circus Themed Party, Or For Purim!

What do you do when the Purim party is about to start, you've committed to some centerpieces and all you have are some stuffed paper hearts you made a few years back filling the vases that you need to fill with something new? Well, you decide to use those stuffed paper hearts to make the most adorable little clowns ever, and you can't really believe it yourself that you pulled it off, and came up with something that is perfect to share with your dear readers for Purim!

Yes indeed, this craft is another one from the archives as I've been under the weather this week and busy with other aspects of work and life, so new decorations for Purim will just have to wait until next week........as you can imagine in any case I really already have so many things to decorate my house with that spending time on crafting when there are piles of laundry and organizing to do really isn't time efficient, nonetheless Purim wouldn't be Purim without a few new creative efforts so stay tuned for some last minute projects! In the meant time, enjoy this one, it is a keeper!

DIY Castle Centerpiece Recycling Craft

A fun DIY castle centerpiece made from recyclables is truly up my alley, and so this project from the past is still one of my very favorites. Come to think of it, this castle centerpiece is really a quick project, so what am I waiting for.....with Purim in just a week now would be the time to whip up a new one! If you know me, well then I certainly have a shoebox and various cardboard tubes hanging out just waiting to be used, so no excuses really except that life is very busy at the moment. 

Now as far as you dear reader are concerned, a colorful castle crafted by mom or the kids or both, could be a fantastic centerpiece for the Purim sueda (meal). There's so many ways to go with this one as far as materials and size. And if you don't need a centerpiece so how about a castle mishloach manos? Just build your castle on the lid of  the shoe box and voila! I think I may just have to use that idea myself, for the kid's teachers that is, who deserve something really special, and are expecting something creative! I guess that's the price one pays when you don't hide your crafty ways! (Note: I have yet to actually try this, so if you do, please send photos!)

Okay, shall we make a fun castle to grace our party table, Purim, birthday party or castle themed event? Lets get started.......

Giant DIY Party Hats Centerpiece

Giant cardboard party hats are the perfect thing to make when you want to make a statement with festive decorations for a birthday party, or in our case the upcoming Jewish holiday of Purim, but you don't have a huge amount of time to invest. Make them in a few sizes, and place them in the middle of the table as a fun centerpiece. Next time I think I'll go with solid colors and huge white polka dots and a yarn or plastic bag pom pom on top.

I'll let you in on a little secret though, I have actually used these hats as Purim party decorations for our community party for the last five years gasp, can you believe that? We just had our party two nights ago, and out came the hats, and now they are hanging out in my dining room here and there as Purim approaches. Truthfully they were a bit squashed this year when I took them down from the attic, but still made a great statement. I ended up giving a few away at the end of the evening, as I really had thought that maybe their run is over, but who knows, after Purim they'll go right back up to the attic, and make the decision whether to use them again or not, when the time comes!

Of course I always do some new decorations too, but it is great to have something to fall back on, especially at a time when I'm already super busy with all things Purim and life in general! Want to make some too, let get started.......

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

  Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday, and thanks so much for joining me here! It is now the Jewish month of Adar, and since every Jewish month has a defined personality, this in the month of overflowing joy! From my standpoint there is no greater way to express joy than with all out crafting, so lets get to work shall we?

Tomorrow night is our community's women's Purim party, and yours truly is always in charge of the decorations........this year I did not have any time to plan ahead, so tomorrow morning I'm filling a friend's car with bags and bags full of fabric, and boxes and boxes of decorations from year's past, and I am somehow (with my daughter's help, fortunately she has the day off from school) we are going to transform an old hotel lobby that is part 70's construction and part historic domed ceilings into a colorful palace! I hope to have time to photograph it all, but if not, many of the decorations have never been photographed, so my backup plan is to take them to another location with white walls, photograph them there, and then......give them away for others to enjoy on Purim.  And that will just be a tiny dent in all my stuff saved, but at least a start.

And now, drum roll please, here are the features from last week's party, enjoy!

Crocheted Beard Is A Perfect Addition To Your DIY Costume

Awww, isn't he just the sweetest? Well four years have passed since I crocheted this beard for my youngest son, and I'm happy to report that the costume did rub off on him and he has become quite the tzaddik, working really hard to learn lots of extra Torah in preparation for his upcoming bar mitzvah, as well as entrance exams for his next school phase.

The crocheted beard for this Mordechai HaTzaddik costume was a huge success! Not only did it complete his costume, it was comfortable to wear, and even kept him warm as the Purim party/barbeque we attended went into the night and temperatures dropped!

Crocheted Flower Pillow With Applique

Here is the perfect home decor item to bring spring into your home, introducing the crocheted flower applique pillow. Hmm, or maybe it is called the pillow with crocheted flower applique, not quite sure, but in any case this one is a winner and I'm so happy that I've actually managed to complete a project that is going to great use in my home! Oh, and of course there isn't really a greater stash buster than this as you can mix and match as many colors as your little heart desires!

I don't know about you, but I'm a bit wary of crocheted pillows as far as wear and tear, not to mention the time involved, so this idea of crocheting flowers and then using them as applique on a woven pillow cover is just perfect. The pillow won't loose its shape and this can be quick or not so quick, depending on the size of your pillow and how many flowers you decide to crochet. Ah yes, and while you are at it, do take advantage of the fact that this is applique, and be sure to use some flowers with lots of depth, like these, as that really truly makes the pillow special.

I've been wanting to try this idea for years with a simple crocheted doily applique, but somehow this one snuck in at the head of the line, and I'm not arguing! Keep reading for some useful tips, and lets get crocheting!

Crocheted Heart Wall Hanging

Phew, I finally figured out what to do with my crocheted cherry blossom heart! Ta da, it makes a really adorable little crocheted wall hanging, or maybe it is really a vertical garland, hmmm, not quite sure what to call it, but nonetheless it is truly sweet and quite simple to make. This is the kind of pattern that will look entirely different depending on your choice of colors, so go pastel or bright or even neutral, and the results will be a great way to spread the love.

While you are at it whip up a bunch so you'll always have a little homemade gift on hand, ah yes, and while you can't tell from the photos I did actually stiffen this piece with glue to keep it nice and flat, more on that in another post. First we've got to get crocheting, so here we go......

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday, thanks so much for joining me here! Spring is here in Northern Israel and it is time to start seriosly thinking about Purim, which is coming up in about 2 1/2 weeks. Without the stress of having to prepare the best costumes ever for my kids (as they have outgrown costumes) things will be just a bit calmer. Okay, I did volunteer to help three new neighbors with costumes, but hoping to recycle some of my daughters costumes from years past....just wish me luck in finding them! I guess I'll be getting a bit of a head start on our yearly cleaning for Passover, now that is a great idea!

Okay, lets get this party started, enjoy all the great inspiration from last week's party, and please don't be shy and share some of your latest creative efforts, we'd love to see them!

Hardenbergia Vine In Bloom

One of the things I love to celebrate here on creative jewish mom is the change of seasons and all the wonderful that happen in nature and in my container garden, each and every year! This week I have already shared with you the yearly blooming of the almond trees, and I just ran outside wity my 50mm lens in order to share with you the yearly blooming of my hardenbergia vines, so very very lovely indeed!

i'll admit this plant has been looking very scraggly, and is in dire need of some food and attention as well, which is possibly why it has bloomed very nicely this year, meaning many more flowers than last year, interesingly enough!

When well tended to this is a gorgeous green vine all year that bloom with delicate purple flowers in the heart of winter when all the other bloomers are fast asleep. So if you live in a zone that can tolerate this vine, go for it!