creative jewish mom

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday, thanks so much for joining me here! Today, Shabbat was actually the 17th of Tammuz, a fast day on the Jewish calendar, but since minor fasts never occur on Shabbat, the fast and mourning are pushed off until Sunday. The 17th of Tammuz is the day that marks the beginning of "The Three Weeks" a period of mourning leading up to Tisha B'Av. Take a look at all the crafts in the archives to remember Jerusalem, which is what this period is all about.

As you can see from lack of crafting posts on the blog I have been totally and completely occupied with other aspects of life, but happy to say mostly creative ones, and ones that involve totally cleaning out and refurbishing an entire floor of our home.......which as you can imagine is a project that iinvolves more time than one actually has. Not to mention that w are doing the project on a very accelerated schedule and all purchases involve traveling for at least an hour by car, phew. No complaints, and some day I hope the results will be picture worthy, so stay tuned for that. In the meant time, hope you are having a creative summer, and enjoy the amazing features from last week's party:

Paint The Kotel In Rainbow Colors For The 17th Of Tammuz !

I have pulled this post from the archives, as it is truly a perfect one.

Today is the 17th of Tammuz, a solemn fast day on the Jewish calender which marks the beginning of a three week period of mourning for the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash, (The Holy Temple/King Soloman's Temple.) So with the boys home from school early, and my daughter just starting her summer vacation, there is no time like the present to try and get back into our crafting groove which I have missed greatly! So today I pulled out the watercolors, and grabbed a white corrugated cardboard box, and we all spent some time painting the stones of the kotel, and I just love the results!

Yes, my boys smirked when I told them to use bright and beautiful colors for the stones that they know as beige, but I explained to them that we were painting the stories that the stones had surely witnessed, and all the beautiful prayers whispered in front of these stones every day by countless individuals from both near and far.

Rebuilding The Beit HaMikdash Recycling Craft For Kids

I have pulled this post from the archives, as it is one of my favorites for The Three Weeks.

Today is the 17th of Tammuz, a solemn fast day on the Jewish calender, and certainly a perfect time to work on my "Rebuilding the Beit HaMikdash" recycling craft with kids of all ages! Of course one could certainly use this idea to also learn about the Kotel (The Wailing Wall) which stands today and was one of the outer walls of the courtyard of the Beit HaMikdash.

Starting today, we enter a period of mourning for the next three weeks— mourning for the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash, the Holy Temple in Jerusalem that was taken from us in 70 CE, (namely 1,943 years ago!) on the 9th of Av, the day which marks the end of this three week period of mourning. Of course our mourning has many facets, one of which is thinking about how each one of us can do his part to rebuild the temple.

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday, thanks so much for joining me here! With summer in full swing, now is the time to get crafting. Okay, maybe not for all of us, as here at CJM headquarters I am neck deep in design work and renovations in our home, which is why there has been a noticable lack of crafting going on, but such is life! Ever decided to clear out an entire floor of your home so that you can turn it into a vacation rental, for at least while you are on vacation? Wow, a huge job and our house looks really really scary at the moment, but of course it will all get cleaned up as it just has to! Truthfully after living in our home 11 1/2 years and raising kids from toddlers to teens we really do have an excess of items to clear out, and looking forward to knowing that at least one floor of my house is perfectly organized, can't wait! And of course I'm dreaming up all kinds of fun DIY artwork and wall treatments which will happen at some point (if not in the next month) and will make it to the blog, so stay tuned. In the mean time, lets get inspired by all the lovely contributions from last week's party:

Summer Doodling: Making Patterns On Glass

This past week I discovered while substitute teaching for a candle making workshop that doodling on candle jars can be a wonderful way to turn candlemaking into something truly wonderful and unique. While I was thinking about doodling a cityscape of Jerusalem on the jars, one of my students did this sweet doodle pattern, which was one of the better efforts. The only boy in the group drew the stones of the Western Wall on his glass which was also quite successful while others wrote blessings or their names. I'm quite sure you can think of a long list of ways to decorate your glasses or jars filled with colorful wax, so get inspired and start crafting! Even a solid color candle could be a great backdrop for some creative doodles, right?

Okay then, lets get started.......

DIY Striped Candles Are The Perfect Summer Craft!

Remember making candles at summer camp? I sure do, especially the ones we made at the beach in milk cartons! Candle making can be on the messy side, but is a perfect craft to do especially when you have a few hours on a lazy summer afternoon, and a bunch of kids (or kids at heart) in need of some creative fun! The candles you see here were actually made by some of my students in a candle making workshop for which I was the substitute teacher. Unfortunately I did not have the time to take photos of all the projects as my students stayed for two hours rather than one, and then needed to hurry off to their bus, so be it! Now I'm hoping to find some time to make some striped candles myself. I'm thinking that a remake of my remember Jerusalem sand jars would be perfect with striped candles, just in time for the Three Weeks.

Ah yes, and best of all, making candles has never been simpler, so lets get started!

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday, thanks so much for joining me here! It is now summer folks, which means time to start realizing those creative dreams......painting, journaling, crocheting, mosaic, gardening, the works! Summer is the time to inject that carefree attitude into your crafting, and who knows, you may just surprise yourself. And if you crochet, or knit, or embroider, or would like to, summer is the perfect time to do a take along project, something that can be done in the car, on a plane, or anytime you have a few moments to spare. I've been trying to get into embroidery for years now, as something to do on our travels, so I have just reminded myself to actually prepare something this year to take, as opposed to just thinking about it!

Whatever you choose to do, seize the season and craft until your heart's desire, schedule permitting that is. And if you are finding no free time whatsoever, well that could be a signal to slow down and craft! And now for the features from last week's party:

Summer Doodling: Travel Inspired Doodles For A Travel Journal?

I just love this summer travel themed doodle that my daughter added to her drawing journal a few weeks ago! And it is a very nice addition to my little summer doodllng series, says one proud Mama. My daughter has shown us all that one can doodle with a theme, which is such a great idea. In other words, if you have a travel journal, you don't have to actually sketch places you've visited, but  you could start with a few architectural elements (like the arch and domed roof houses seen here) or symbols of the place you've visited, and doodle around these. Add words, and voila, it could be great. So go for it, start a travel themed doodle journal and let your creativity soar.......Ah yes, but first you'll need some simple supplies, so lets get started.

Summer Doodling: Micro Doodles Are Amazing For Those With Patience

I'm not exactly sure when my daughter started making micro doodles, but as you can see she has become quite accomplished at the art of very tiny doodling! Originally she started making patterns like this using post-it notes, and now she has graduated to filling an entire 11" x 14" journal page, wow! I love the idea of little phrases amidst the doodles, and I'm thinking that she certainly has a future in pattern design, among other things! Want to make something like this yourself, or encourage a teenager in your life to doodle away? Lets get started......

Summer Doodling: White Gel Pen On Black Paper

Ah, yes at long last a post showing that we are actually involved in creativity around here at CJM! What can I tell you, life is busting at the seams and have been working hard on so many projects other than blogging, but I promise, all this will change soon. in the mean time I have a few doodling posts to share with you, and summer is the perfect time to just relax and doodle, so I hope this inspires you to take pen to paper just because. Now of course I do have plans for these sheets of patterns but that will have to wait until next week. In the mean time, lets get out those simple supplies and enjoy!