creative jewish mom

Rosh HaShana Symbols Mobile Or Wall Hanging Craft

Dusting this one off and sharing it again, just as I was thinking about painting a fish or two or three?

Rosh HaShana starts on Monday night, yet there is still time to whip up a few fun decorations to add extra meaning to your holiday. Or maybe you are celebrating at someone else's home and would love a fun way to add a special holiday touch to a bottle of wine or wrapped gift? Here is it my friends, simply paint some whimsical shapes that look like a fish, a carrot, a pomegranate, a beet, a gourd, and an apple for starters, and either use them together to make a mobile, or use them separately as gift tags, place markers, cupcake or cake toppers, or you name it!

As you may have figured out by now, I am all for crafts and creativity that use the simplest of materials and therefore the most creativity. And you know what, generally the results are also the most heartfelt. Got it? So get out those paints and enjoy, because quite honestly just applying color to paper is so very very satisfying and a great way to jump start your family's (or your) creativity!  Ready?.......

Giant Origami Apples Holiday or Shabbat Decor!

I am reposting this giant origami apples tutorial because it is just to wonderful not to share again. Make apples to enjoy for Rosh HaShana and use as succah decorations as well! So simple and while you are at it, make a whole giant bushel full!

Origami apples are so simple to make and are the perfect craft to whip up right now! Fill a basket with them to use as a centerpiece, use them as place cards, hang them mobile style or make a bunch and scatter them around the house. (Or save this idea and gift a whole basket full to your teacher!) The best part is they look great everywhere and any where, and would make cute little Rosh HaShana gifts as well. Attach a tag that is a card and you'll surely warm the hearts of all your recipients! I used these very apples as apple centerpieces for a Rosh Chodesh party, and then a neighbor borrowed them as centerpieces for a Brit, and depending on the colors you choose they can look elegant or playful, or both. So take my advice and get crafting dear friends, the Jewish New year is in less than 3 weeks, with Succos to follow so a barrel of origami apples will serve you well, promise! And yes, you can of course make these in a smaller size and in a variety of colors to represent a wide range of fruit, as I've done here with my origami fruit, cute as can be!

How To Cut Glitter Cardstock With Cricut

 

With the Fall Jewish holiday season quickly approaching, you might be thinking, yikes, what can I make for Rosh Hashana, or what new Succah decorations can I make this year? If you are one of the many crafters that happens to own and love using a Circut machine, then maybe your answer is simply trying out a new material! If you are into glitter crafts of all kinds, I think you will love cutting glitter cardstock with your Cricut. It is easy and perfect for beginners because the paper is inexpensive, useful for many projects and who doesn't love glitter?. You can use glitter cardstock for party or holiday decorations, cake or cupcake toppers, flowers, boxes, cards, home decor, gift tags and so much more. With a Cricut machine you can cut a large quantity of shapes, or that perfect word, in script, just for starters. If you don't yet own a Cricut, it might be useful to know that while there are three Cricut machines, even the most basic machine is useful for glitter cardstock or any other paper material. 

When cutting glitter cardstock, you might need some important tips to get it right. So, here is a How To Cut Glitter Cardstock With Cricut guide, get those creative gears turning, create amazing decorations, card, gift toppers and table decor, and enjoy!

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday, thanks so much for joining me here! Our Jewish lunar calendar is on the "early" side this year, compared with the gregorian one that is, and Rosh HaShana, the Jewish New Year is quickly approaching, starting on the night of Sunday September 5th. That my friends means there is still time to whip up decorations, cards and little gifts for loved ones and those whom you'd like to wish a sweet, healthy new year! And drum roll, this year is a special year, as it is the Shemittah year, the year in which farmers that follow Jewish law let their fields rest! And the year in which we do not eat from any vegetables grown on Jewish land and all fruit harvested during this year has a special spiritual quality. The laws of Shemittah also extend to what is allowed in one's garden, and there are also laws regarding what is even allowed in one's container garden. So, let just say I need to get busy in my container garden replanting and replacing some plants before the new year, yippee, always great to have an excuse to buy plants! Of course maybe you'd rather just grab a crochet hook or some knitting needles right about now to finish summer with some relaxing creativity? Let's take a look at the features from last weeks party!

Simple Tips to Avoid a Car Accident During a Breakdown

The last thing anyone needs is to be involved in an accident while their car is disabled on the road. Please give this thought as there are things you can do to avoid ever becoming the victim of an accident while you’re trying to get your car fixed. Sadly there are many many fatalities that occur simply because someone needed to pull over due to car malfunction. So this is serious business. You may have heard stories like the Kevin Hart accident, which of course you want to avoid, so pay attention and take a look at these tips that you can use right now to help you avoid being the victim of an accident after you've pulled over to the side, and are broken down on the road.

The Importance Of Creativity In Children And How To Encourage It

When it comes to our kids, we’re always eager to encourage creativity, so why not make it a priority and give them one of the most amazing gifts possible! As you can see from this blog, I have made it a huge priority with my kids, or at the least with myself! Once parents needed to visit the library or bookstore to stock up on books and work books full of ideas. Today, there is no excuse! The internet, and even just my blog alone, is a fantastic resource for projects that build creativity, featuring all kinds of avenues to sample. Trying out butterfly crafts for preschooler’s ideas is one such resource, just for starters. Of course crafts and art based projects are just one aspect of creativity, don't forget about theater, music and dance! Once a child is beyond toddler years, expose them to a variety of creative pursuits to see where their skills and interests lie. A creative pursuit is life enhancing and can be life long!

The wonderful thing about nurturing human creativity is that there are no hard and fast rules. It’s all about allowing kids to express themselves using materials or processes that they enjoy, and in the process brain function that helps with problem solving and thinking outside of the box in all areas of life is developed! Lets take a closer look at how to encourage this valuable thing called creativity!

Painted Paper Apple Collage

How about an artful apple collage to celebrate fall, or maybe you need some fun kitchen art? Apple collages could also make great cards for Rosh HaShana, the Jewish New Year, or even fun place cards or gift tags. Keep it simple, and the results will be great! When collage is made using painted paper, and the collage pieces are well adhered, it almost looks like a painting, which is so amazing!

Collage using painted paper, and specifically painted tissue paper was made famous by the children's book author Eric Carle, who unfortunately passed away recently. I made this painted paper apple collage based on a class taught by the amazing Este Macleod, called Colour Collage 1 (which is not currently available), though you can certainly visit the hashtag #colourcollage1 on instagram to see all the student work.

I can not explain the process based on how Este taught it, but I can explain the process based on Eric Carle's technique, which is similar. Eric Carle, used painted tissue paper collage exclusively to illustrate his world renowned children's books and in fact kept huge flat files full of painted tissue paper sorted according to color! Okay dear readers, as you can likely imagine given the wide variety of projects on this blog, I could never limit myself to one technique, so I always find it quite interesting that artists are able to do the same thing for years on end! Lesson learned? Keep doing the same thing over and over to be successful at it? Hmmm, I do plan to try this same technique with some pomegranites, so that is a start? Okay, let's get to work!

Soda Bottle Treat Box Shaped Like An Apple!

As  you may know one of my great creative joys is coming up with fun craft projects that use recyclables. I have been know to hoard plastic bottles, tp rolls, techina containers, and milk cartons, for starters, all in the name of making just for example, treat boxes, party decorations, centerpieces and even planters. With Rosh HaShana right around the corner in another week and a half, now is a great time to think about sweet treats (healthy or not so healthy, your choice) to usher in a sweet new year! Of course, if you have a birthday, or would like to give a teacher appreciation gift, this soda bottla apple treat box is perfect and truly easy to whip up, even in numbers. Of course, you'll have to have the necessary number of plastic bottles on hand, but if you are short, pop on over, I likely have some extra! If you would like some additional ideas for making party favors, gift containers or baskets from soda bottles, hop on over to my soda bottle recycling crafts category.

Hello San Francisco: Street Art

I love street art and public sculpture, so without a doubt I tend to whip out my camera where ever our travels take us, to capture graffiti, murals, and sculpture. In the past I have a shared a crocheted mural in Prague,  graffiti in Mile End, Montreal, wire tree frame street sculptures in Montreal,publlc sculpture in Toronto  and many many more things that caught my eye around the world! If you feel like doing some arm chair traveling, look no further! Click on my travel category, or one of the location specific categories in the category cloud, and enjoy! Now, I'll admit, I whipped out my camera less than usual, but I did capture a nice range of wall murals decorating the streets of San Francisco, enjoy!

Stained Glass Windows Add Color To A 1905 Victorian Home

As you may know, or may have read from my previous blog posts about Victorian houses in the Western Addition, The Painted Ladies, and The Westerfield House, San Francisco is a literal showcase for Victorian architecture. Victorian houses both grand and modest were built in San Francisco during a huge growth spurt which started around 1880. While Victorian homes elsewhere in the United States and in England were built from a variety of materials, stone and brick were not widely available in San Francisco, and certainly not in the quantities that were needed, so wood was the predominate building material. Wood elements and features were ordered from catalogs, and every builder in essence became a designer, adding details that are today whimsical and very detailed. Many of the houses were essentially cookie cutter homes, and many were built as row houses, such that every home, with the exception of its exterior color looked the same. The Victorian style whose origins in England dictated the general look of the homes built far from the design source in San Francisco, included stained glass windows, a favorite Victorian home feature and a way to individualize and personalize a residence, especially one built essentially from a kit! I had the wonderful opportunity to stay in a grand Victorian home in San Francisco whose stained glass windows were especially lovely and happened to reflect the present day owner's love for plants! Let's take a look!