creative jewish mom

Recycled Liquor Bottle Candlestick Craft

It is true, I made these recycled liquor bottle candesticks for a Chanukah party that was held last night, but truthfully they are so universal they can be used for any festive occasion and any time that you want the look of candles without the safety concerns! And of course you could go for paper candles that are metallic silver or gold and maybe make the flame a bit less crafty looking and then even use them for a fancyish party outdoors where real candles wouldn't work, or for a feast in the forest where flames would be dangerous? And friends, whether or not you partake in liquor of any kind, there are certainly many ways to get your hands on some amazing bottles to recycle! These happen to be bottles from my son's wedding two weeks ago, and the 12 year old brother of the bride collected all the bottles for me having seen a previous craft project.....so sweet of him and glad I didn't listen to the husband who said we didn't have room in the trunk!

Now these candlestick bottles will make great decorations as well as centerpieces for our long shabbat table next week, I'm actually really excited to put "candles" on the table that I can then move when we clean up, on shabbat we don't light fire or touch it, so while I could make a long centerpiece with real lit candles it would be quite impractical and dangerous as the guests pass all those Moroccan salads around!

Okay, sold? Lets make some great looking recycled glass bottle candlesticks.......

DIY Kid-Safe Paper Candles For Chanukah Crafting

This year I'm adding something new to my already very vast archive of chanukah crafts.......paper candles craft! I'm truly loving these paper candles and can't wait to use them in so many ways this chanukah. You can make paper candles to fit into a chanukah menorah that you won't be lighting or to put into candlesticks for a festive and safe touch anywhere, or why not make chanukah menorahs from just about anything and add these fun paper candles? Aluminum foil boxes make great bases (okay, yes, maybe time for a remake of that old idea!) as do any many boxes, or just about anything really! So get those creative gears turning and make a bunch of paper candles to create your best chanukah decorations yet! And the fun part about these paper candles is that you can make them in the exact size you need, so lets get started!

DIY Simple Watercolor Butterflies Anyone Can Make!

If you love the look of watercolor butterflies with mixed media details and line work, then check out my doodle butterfly cutouts , though if you are looking for something just a bit simpler to make in quantities or as a craft to do with little ones, this simple watercolor butterfly cut-out craft might just be the one for you! I do love the calming look of these, and of course they would also be wonderful combined with the more detailed doodle detailed butterflies, if you so desire. And truthfully one big butterfly cut out from a page you've painted with watercolor clouds is oh so lovely, and maybe just the project to bring some joy into the world right about now. So take a look around for art that needs recycling, unfinished paintings that will never get finished or even some bits of paper that you can put to use by painting with simple watercolor patterns and then using for butterfly cutouts!

Watercolor Butterfly Cut-Outs For Collage, Art Journaling And Crafting

Now is a great time to paint loose watercolor butterflies and then add details with a fine line pen and some paint pens, and voila, some really great looking butterflies to use in so many ways are born! They'd be great as cake toppers, gift tags, collage elements, or as a wall hanging or mobile, the options are endless! While I plan to add antenae depending on how these butterflies will be used (if I use them in collage I'll draw the antennae, and if used as is I'll glue wire antennae to the back) you can decided what works for you, though of course cutting out very fine antennae is not recommended. What is recommended is to get out a bunch of watercolor paper, make some butterfly stencils of your own in a bunch of sizes, and make this a family project! LIttle ones can certainly enjoy adding color to the shapes using the wet on wet watercolor technique, and then even add details with tiny pom poms or other collage elements. Lets do it!

DIY Nickname Cake Toppers Using Art Journal Lettering

My baby just turned 18, and for a quick cake in my usual style I came up with the idea of making cake toppers from all the nicknames he had as a child.......I have to say I love the results and the cake looked quite cute! The lettering idea came about as I've been working on lettering for a counting the omer art journal, so it is currently something that comes naturally to me. And truly, whether you are working on your lettering or not, these cake toppers are so simple to make and do look fun. After you take them off the cake, put them in a tall glass and use them as birthday decor for a few days......and maybe even save them for next year! Want to make some nickname cake toppers? Lets do it!

Origami Horse Cake Toppers Are Cute As Can Be!

Ever seen a cake topper that is a horse dressed up as a unicorn? Me neither but it just seemed perfect for a four year old!

Right now I'm in the process of using up all the flour in the house as we prepare for Passover, and the first step for me is to bake challahs and a few deserts, and freeze everything we'll need for the next 2 shabbats, or more or less anyway, we can always, gasp, buy any challah we need for the shabbat before Passover! Since cake is the topic in my kitchen right now, I thought I'd share wtih you these fun origami horse cake toppers that I used for a birthday cake this past shabbat, and together with sprinkles, and large white gumdrops, a fun cake was born! Ah yes, and around the bottom of the cake I took colorful cupcake liners, folded them in half and placed them like petals, which gave the bundt cake a lovely finished look, phew! So friends, as I always say, cute cake decorations can be easily made with paper and some glue, and this is one more example. You can of course use these horses as part of a dessert scene, or a merry-go-round or even place them around the bottom of the cake, get creative! Okay, shall we make some?

Origami Butterfly Party Decor

 

 

Purim is coming up next week which means it is time to invest in some joyful decorations, right? I'll admit, you don't need to spend hours and hours making hundreds of origami butterflies as I did, even just 30 or so, made in an hour (once you get the hang of it) would look fantastic taped to a wall somewhere, or to your dining room light fixture? I've got plastic bag pom poms hanging from mine right now, but would hang some butterflies too possibly, maybe for another holiday? Why butterflies for Purim you may ask? Well, not sure really, but in Hebrew butterfly is parpar, so you can say its a parpar Purim, or parpurim, just to explain it to those who can't understand why you'd want a huge number of fun butterflies! Ah yes, and this photo was taken in the school cafeteria where I decorated the space for butterflies, and still wondering why I didn't take a moment to straighten that chair, but so it goes!

DIY Plastic Bag Pom Pom Cake Toppers

Looking for a festive cake topper idea in a pinch? How about plastic bag pom pom cake toppers? I'll admit, this was truly a last minute idea as I had made the pom poms to hang from our dining room table chandelier but hadn't quite gotten around to it, so I quickly stuck skewers into the pom poms and voila a festive cake was born. I'll admit that these toppers would be more successful on a high cake rather than my chocolate chip cookie cake, but with the cake placed on a cake stand, and some red rose petals on the table to add more color, it worked. After the birthday party I removed the skewers and got one of my teen sons to hang the pom poms where they added a festive touch for the week of chanukah together with some golden wire dreidels. While I've been doing the more sophisticated look in our dining room lately, loving the return of some fun color via a great recycling craft, so the pom poms may just stay for Tu B'Shevat and then Purim!

DIY Fruity Birthday Number Centerpiece

Mazel tov to my wonderful daughter, whose birthday is today! A big phew, because tonight we enter the somber period of the 9 days, on the Jewish calender, and if she had been born just one day later I would not have been able to make her festive birthday parties until 10 days later! For the past four years or so I have been making birthday numbers, which I use in a vase either on the table, or on the sideboard, though they'd be great anywhere. Sometimes I've made numbers in black and white, and then I've reused them for her younger brothers, though this year, since she loves fruit, I'm going colorful and fruity. And I just realized that she'd really enjoy a bunch of fruit themed life advice quotes, so I'll be making a bunch of those somehow as birthday decor at well. Ah yes, and then there's the chandelier to decorate, and bake the cake, or at least prepare the cake toppers, she is the baker, hmmm. Okay, I'm in a huge rush, with sleepover guests arriving unexpectedly, along with everything else, so lets get to it!

DIY Painted Paper Gerbera Centerpiece

There is nothing quite as lovely as painted paper flowers used as holiday decor, or really anytime! I am so thrilled to have these flowers on my sideboard right now!  They are so cheerful and never fade, and can be easily saved in a box to pull out for any occassion! And I had to laugh, that the wires that I've saved from real gerbera flowers (that honestly as so annoying as they don't last very long...) are perfect for this craft. And that I actually knew where they were, a small miracle! If you have not saved the wires from the gerbera (who would do that?) so just use some green floral wire or tape skewers to the back for support. Or if you use very heavy watercolor paper you may not need any extra support. I also happened to have these 3 narrow and tall glass vases on hand, which were perfect for this, so do play around with a variety of vessels, to see what works. Okay, keep on reading for a few more tips.