creative jewish mom

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday, thanks for joining me here! With Rosh HaShana coming up quickly now is the time to get crafting while we finish off the year with good things and good intentions! I am very busy with my index card sized daily art, with the goal of finishing 365 of them by Sept. 25th, so do forgive me if there are no new Rosh HaShana crafts this year, and in any case I still have many things to share from our August adventures, yikes! But for now, lets take a look at the features from last week's party, enjoy!

Stunning Texas Sage, Or Cenizo, Blooms In Northern Israel

The world of horticulture is truly fascinating, and I am always interested in the names of plants and their origin, because sometimes it is quite surprising, as is the case here! I would never have thought that this stunning blooming bush was actually a native of Texas and Mexico, but yes indeed! Wonderful species make their way around the world, which has been the case since the earliest ships left Europe for distant lands and returned with specimens! This past August during our second week of vacation we stayed in an amazing mountaintop community called Hararit, and then visited a neighboring community called Yodfat, and in both locations I saw this stunning bush in bloom, and now I have to have some myself. Just now as I was trying to identify the bush I learned that it is called Texas sage, Leucophyllum frutescens, though I'll have to find out what it is called in hebrew (just as soon as Rosh HaShana is over and we can return to gardening.) Keep on reading for a bit of info I've collected and to see close up photos of the gorgeous silver-ish leaves.

Kibbutz Harduf In Bloom

This year we did not travel to the USA during our 3 week summer break, so I made an effort to find some vacation rentals in places we'd never been and I had never heard of (of course there are many...) Our first stop was a lovely mountain-top kibbutz in the Lower Galil, called Kibbutz Harduf. It is a special place and we enjoyed our three nights there, which included for me of course, lots of walks around the area to explore, and then to go out once again with camera in hand, to capture all the gorgeous blooms! I already posted my photos of the variegated bougainvillea, and here I'm sharing many of the other flowers who begged to be photographed. Enjoy!

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday, thanks so much for joining me here! We have been having record breaking heat in Northern Israel so it does not feel like Fall just yet, but the reality is that Rosh HaShana is in three weeks, yikes and with that a holiday season that is a great opportunity to get those creative gears turning! Hello Jewish new year cards and apple crafts? Hello Succah decorations? So enough said, lets take a look at the features from last week's party, enjoy!

Small Home Renovation Projects That Add Value To Your Home

If you are thinking about renovating your home, (because well, it really could use it,) but are too worried about budget to even think about going down that path, there is one thing to consider, and that is that there are a number of worthwhile home renovation projects that are quite small but have great impact!  Whether you are looking for value as far as resale value or value as far as your own enjoyment and comfort, you don't have to go big to benefit. Instead start with some small home renovation projects that may just be enough to make your home a wonderful place to be for the time being, so that the major renovation can happen sometime in the future after you've set aside more than enough to cover all the surprises. For now, lets take on some stress free options!