creative jewish mom

Red Crown Anemones Now In Bloom In Northern Israel!

The stunning red crown Anemone, which is a native Israeli flower, is now in bloom and just as lovely as ever! I took these photos at the end of the day, so the flowers were mostly closed, but will head out again this week, as the combination of these lovely flowers and the blooming almond trees is just so very special! I am so blessed that just a few minutes from my front door I can find a bounty of blooming wild flowers, with each species blooming in its time. These anemone are the first, and are later followed by red poppies, which are a different flower though confused with anemones by many. Enjoy this first peak at the red crown anemone, with more to come!

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday, thanks so much for stopping by! After a week filled with Purim party decorations, and then cleaning up the mess, I decided that the first few days of this week would be dedicated to cleaning my studio, or at least taking a major stab at it! Tonight I started to drag all the boxes and unorganized things out of the room and into the kitchen, where I will then be forced to go through it all! Feeling hopeful about this head start on the yearly Passover head to toe house cleaning, wish me luck! And now, for the wonderful features from last week's party, and yes I'd rather be crocheting right about now! Enjoy!

Wild Almond Trees In Bloom In The Galil, Israel

On Thursday, after photographing a lovely almond tree in bloom right next door, I continued my walk into the nearby forest, and photographed some more glorious blooms, ahhhh. And truly, there is nothing quite like this feeling of hope, and new beginnings and rebirth, with the pink blooms bringing life to an otherwise sleeping landscape. Can't wait to get out again this week before the blooms change to leaves, which happens all too quickly.  Won't you join me for little walk, lets go!.........

An Almond Tree Blooms Next Door, In Northern Israel

The almond trees are now in full bloom in Northern Israel, and while I missed it last year, this year, no way! I forced myself to grab the camera and get out of the house for a little photo shoot, this time to capture one of the trees growing just up the street, which I've funny enough, never thought to photograph, The tree is located just on top of an old stone house ruin, so it is especially photogenic, and to boot, I was able to capture it with the distant view of Mt. Meron as well. I think I'll go back in a few days in the morning for another go, but in the meantime, enjoy, and try to imagine the lovely delicate fragrance of an almond tree in bloom!

Fun Origami Butterflies With Pipe Cleaner Antennae For Every Party

So it turns out friends, that folding origami butterflies is something that one can do for days.......well that is what happened here at CJM headquarters this week, and I did it all by myself, so it can be done, though get a few folks to do it with you! I made hundreds of origami butterflies, some with pipe cleaner antennae, in a few sizes, for our annual women's Purim party, and phew, the butterfly theme flew! Not so happy about the disaster in my house post party, just from all the crafting that went on, not the actual party, but at least I now have a bunch of Purim decorations for my own home, and most of them can be used again next year, nothing like being ready a year plus ahead! I will share with you most of the decorations once I hang them again in my house, but for starters, just a bunch of origami butterflies with mettalic pipe cleaner antennae look fabulous hung as a garland, and just clip them up with wooden clothes pins and the clothes pin looks like the body, fabulous! Okay, lets get crafting!

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday. Thanks so much for joining me here! The almond trees are now in bloom in Northern Israel and I spotted some red anemones as well, so hope to take some photos to share with you soon, and honestly I think I need to do a bit of crocheting, at least a little owl or two, can't resist! Ah yes, but Purim is coming soon so time to get crafting for that friends! Enjoy the features and do take the time to add some creativity to your day and/or your family's day!

Simple Two-stroke Painted Butterfly Is Perfect Right Now!

After posting about the origami butterflies I've started making for this year's Purim decorations, I realized that indeed, some painted butterflies, maybe with 4 wings this year, must fly into the picture as well, so as my stack of origami butterflies in all sizes is growing, I've pulled this out of the archives to remind myself and to give you a little something to paint! Enjoy! Here is what I wrote last year:

I am officially obsessed with these adorable 2 stroke painted butterflies because they are so simple to paint and the results are just so wonderful! And so my friends butterflies and pyramids are going to the the theme of this year's Passover crafts, lets do it! This butterfly technique can be used in so many ways, though of course I'd recommend practicing a bit before going to town, to get your technique down so that it will be consistent and quick! And of course, you'll want to experiment a bit to see which paint brush works the best for this, and I just realized how fabulous these butterflies would be really large, like painted with a house painting brush! (Need a spring school play backdrop, or a party backdrop, think butterflies!) Okay, time is of the essence, lets get to it!

The 2 Minute Origami Butterfly To Make Right Now!

Purim is the next Jewish holiday on the calendar, and a festive one at that, so now is the time to get crafting! Our Women's community Purim party is scheduled for next week and since the decorations are always on me, I simply must make the time. Somehow taking the cardboard castles down from the attic just isn't so appealing, and suddenly the idea of butterflies galore came to me, and so it will be! I'm thinking like a ton of origami butterflies from tiny to giant, and maybe some colorful fluffy clouds, and that is it! Of course things could change, but for now, the folding marathon has begun, and this butterfly, can be folded in 2 minutes if all goes well, I timed it! Yes, I do plan on adding wire attenae with tiny pom poms on some of them, and I may add some paint pen details, but for now loving them as is! The origami butterflies make great cupcake or cake toppers, or even fun gift tags, so they are great to have on hand. And I've recently realized that small origami projects are great for car trips, so keep that in mind as well! Want to get folding? Let's do it.........

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday, so great to be back after a 2 month break, and so many amazing things to share from the features from last week's party! Thanks for joining me here and great to reconnect, lets get crafting! Keep on reading for a roundup of the features and to share your latest......

Orange And Cloves Pomander Craft

Today is the Jewish holiday of Tu B'Shevat, and I'm posting this keeper of a craft once again just in case you might be looking to make something special to honor the holiday! Here is what I wrote when I took this out of the archives two years ago, enjoy!

It has been twelve years (gasp) since I actually made these great looking orange and cloves pomanders, but they are still looking good, so I figured I'd dust off this project and share it with you again. i have come to realize that bringing things out of the archives to see the light of day isn't such a bad idea, especially since most people don't go fishing around in there!

You do have time to actually make some of these pomanders before ushering in the Jewish holiday of Tu B'Shevat and I have come up with a great way to make these so that even those who aren't so crafty can succeed.....and of course the fragrance that goes with this activity is just lovely, so go for it!