creative jewish mom

How to Prepare Your Teens for Success

While the teen years may seem long to many parents, they really do go by faster than you might expect, and before you realize it your child will be leaving home. That said, there is still likely plenty for your child to learn, and you may be wondering how you can prepare them for adulthood without pushing them away. Anyone with teens will often feel that their children are not listening, but put that aside and understand they still need you! Being a parent requires patience and work and most importantly of all, working on ourselves so that we can be great role models. Lets take a look at some ways you can gently help your teens during this crucial phase in life.

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday, thanks for joining me here! This past week we celebrated Lag B'Omer, a festive holiday on the 33rd day of the 49 day Omer period, and now we are looking forward to celebrating Shavuot, which happens on the 50th day, on the evening of Thursday May 25, coming up soon! Shavuot is all about receiving the Torah on Mount Sinai, so decorating our homes with greenery and flowers to recreate that feeling is a big part of the holiday, at least around here! Of course the flowers will be watercolor flowers, but that works in my book! Okay, lets take a look at the features from last week's party, enjoy.

Painted Watercolor Feather Cut-Outs For Crafting

Watercolor feathers are so fun to paint and make great decorations for any occasion or to use as part of craft project truly any time! It is true I painted these for the Jewish holiday of L'Ag B'Omer because one of the symbols of the holiday is the bow and arrow, and arrows include feathers often, soooooo, maybe a bit of a stretch but fun nonetheless! I was planning to make a wall hanging by hanging the feathers, staggered, from a branch, but ran out of time, so maybe I'll have to do is for Succot, as the feather is also a symbol to use in the Succah. So paint yourself some feathers in any size you please, they could also make great gift tags, place holders, and more! Experiment with different combinations of colors, and do get large paper and make some large ones, which are truly so great looking! Are you sold? Lets do it......

Make A Quilled Paper Bonfire For Lag B'Omer!

I have pulled this one out of the archives, once again because it is truly simple with great results, and right about NOW would be the time to make one, or a few!

Call it a quilled paper campfire, or call it a quilled paper bonfire, either way it is a fun craft for all ages and requires only very simple supplies. The wonderful Jewish holiday of Lag B'Omer is coming up on the night of May 2nd, so now is the time to start thinking about some simple crafts to celebrate. The bonfire is one of the major symbols of the holiday (and kids in my neighborhood are now hoarding wood of all kinds to contribute to bonfires around town) and as it turns out quilling with orange and yellow paper is a great way to depict fire! So whether you will be celebrating Lag B'Omer or are looking for an artful summer craft, this quilled paper campfire or bonfire is perfect.

Ready to get rolling? (Got it, a quilling joke....) Let's do it.......

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

  Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday! This week we will be celebrating the festive holiday of Lag B'Omer on Monday night, which means listening to music (we are in a mourning period on the Jewish calender during which only vocal music is permitted) and haircuts, in particular the traditional first hair cut for 3 year old boys which is just the sweetest thing ever. During this period no weddings were allowed either, but on Lag B'Omer, (and for sephardic Jews, after Lag B'Omer as well) yes to weddings and one of my nieces is actually getting married! So a festive holiday it will be indeed. I don't think I'll be doing any Lag B'Omer crafting this year, but head to my archives for inspiration, and enjoy the features from last week's party!

Simple Watercolor Feathers To Paint For L'Ag B'Omer, Just Because!

With L'Ag B'Omer coming up on Monday night, you can still squeeze in a few crafts to honor this amazing day. I've pulled this one from the archives, and am inspired myself to paint some more as well. And of course this time I'll paint them larger and on paper to cut them out and maybe even hang, how fun is that? Here is what I wrote 2 years ago when I first posted it:

Tonight we welcome the festive holiday of Lag B'Omer, so why not carve out a tiny window of time to paint some watercolor feathers? It is true Lag B'Omer generally brings to mind images of bonfires and bows and arrows, but I'd say feathers, which are used to write the Torah, and certainly the Zohar, originally, are a perfect symbol as well! Plus, feathers are just so fun to paint, and I ended up filling two pages in my watercolor journal with them, and can't wait to paint more, next time in a mix of rainbow colors or pastels, we'll just have to wait and see! If I had the time I'd paint some of these on watercolor paper and cut them out to hang anywhere, so lovely! Wishing everyone an amazing Lag B'Omer! Keep on reading for simple painting instructions!

Watercolor Flowers In Pattern Can Be Lovely Art!

I have been using watercolors as my painting material lately, and finally got around to checking out a floral watercolor class by Yao Chung that I've been wanting to try for years on the instructional website creative bug, which I quite recommend. So I dove in and created this all-over floral pattern which is basically hers, just not done as well. That said I actually quite like it, and the two paintings I did after this one were not nearly a successful as I got carried away filling in the white space which made the result less airy and lovely. So friends, start experimenting with watercolor florals, I know you've been wanting to, and do make sure to get some very large brushes in order to stay loose and create large flowers easily! I just bought a set that has a brush that is a #22, though on this painting I used a #20 and a #8. Okay, need a bit more info, keep on reading......

Simple Watercolor Trumpet Vine Flowers To Cut Out!

Using watercolor to make simple florals that you can then cut out to use for scrapbooking, art journaling or crafting is just so much fun, quick to set up and requires minimal supplies. I have to say, I'm hooked and have just purchased even larger watercolor round tip brushes to try making much larger versions for making paper bouquets. With the Jewish holiday of Shavuot coming up in three weeks, now is also a great time to start thinking about crafting some great looking floral decor, and I'd say start by painting a bunch of watercolor flowers and see where that takes you! Just make sure to have plenty of a paper on hand, and a palette or tiny dishes where you can make watery pools of color, as with loose watercolor florals letting the water work its magic is all part of the fun!

Okay, lets paint some watercolor trumpet vine florals and from there you can give any number of flower shapes a try.