creative jewish mom

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday thanks so much for joining me here! My dear old computer is still in the infirmary, a hour's drive from home so I have now had another week of full speed ahead crafting, which has led me back to the realization of how much I love crafts, and especially recycling crafts! The fact that I have yet to publish a book after all these years is downright embarrassing given how much existing material I could share and how much thought I've given it! Okay, I know this is not the first time I've mentioned this "book idea", but maybe this time I'll have to get serious. A year plus ago I was helping a friend with her book, and I compiled photos and ideas for my own book, only to realise that I really need to do a series, thus complicating things further, sigh. Okay, no more excuses, each of us was given talents in order to give back to the world, so I guess I'd better start on that book, well just as soon as my computer comes back home, and/or I get a new one, which is anyway a must. Okay, enough babble, enjoy the features from last weeks party and don't delay in giving back to the world using your gifts!

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome back to Craft Schooling Sunday, thanks so much for joining me here! My computer is still not up and running, but by using a bit of free online software and the capabilities of my blog platform, I have managed to pull together the features from the last party, and phew, the party is back on, so thanks so much for joining me here! Fall has arrived in Northern Israel and I feel like crocheting, and in fact I whipped up a few potholders after posting about my Swedish kitchen adventures, and now, well I just want to make some more. So, the fact is my list of creative desires is way too long but the longer evenings are conducive to creativity for me, so gotta run! And now for the features from the party two weeks ago, enjoy!

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling sunday, thanks so much for joining me here! We are now in the middle of the glorious Jewish holiday of Succot, which means 7 days in the succah (eight outside Israel) and lots of time spent with family and friends. A storm and huge gusts of wind toppled many succahs on the second day of the holiday, forcing us to go into our homes for part of the holiday, but now with just 3 days left the sun is out and all is dry! We do not craft or create during the holiday, so while there is yet another holiday, Simchat Torah, coming up immediately after Succot, (we literally just move the dining room table inside and start the holiday) I can't really do anything for it at the moment, which is actually a relief, as guests are coming and there is so much to do as always! So with that, wishing everyone a wonderful succot, and enjoy the inspiration from last week's party:

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday, thanks so much for joining me here! Fall is here, which means a whole new crafting direction, but the most exciting thing on the radar is that the 7/8 day Jewish holiday of Succot starts Sunday night, and that is something to truly celebrate! It is a special holiday indeed, filled with lots of family time, and gathering in the succah, and in general is just an amazingly lovely holiday. I'll admit, here in Northern Israel the succos celebration really couldn't get much better. In my little neighborhood we are all blessed with at least one large porch on which to build our succahs, and many folks, especially those with large families are able to build 2 succahs, one for sleeping and one for eating! As I write this, there are still many things to do for Shabbos, not to mention succos, but fortunately the succah is basically built, just waiting for my final touches. This year we couldn't find the boxes with the new decorations I'd made last year, but not to worry, no shortage of decorations from previous years, as you can well imagine! I am hoping to make a bunch of vertical "vines" consisting of accordian folded paper leaves and paper medallions, to hang on top of my brightly colored striped Moroccan tablecloth wall coverings, but that will have to happen Saturday night, right now the kitchen is calling! Wishing everyone an amazing and meaningful Sukkot! And now for the gorgeous features from last week's party:

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday, thanks so much for joining me here! I am back from Rosh HaShana travels which I will share with you as soon as I finish sharing my summer travels, with so many more photos to go over and edit in that area, no complaints! We are now in the period on the Jewish calendar called the "Ten Days of Repentence" which leads up to the holiday of Yom Kippur, so this is a serious period for lots of introspection and righting our wrongs, as well as preparing for Yom Kippur, but mostly the 7/8 day holiday of Succot. I'm assuming that most folks that include creativity in their lives are multi-taskers, so this would be a great time to get those multi-tasking gears working to have a meaningful and creative week! I am going to start serious preparations for my succah on Sunday, in an attempt to avoid the last minute stress of creating under pressure! So, wishing everyone a wonderful new Jewish month of Tishrei, and lets add some inspiration to the mix, from last week's party features!

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday, thanks so much for joining me here! On Sunday night we usher in the Jewish New Year, Rosh HaShana, a holiday full of prayers and wishes for the new year, for ourselves, our families, the Jewish People, and the entire world. One of the most important mitzvot of Rosh HaShana is to hear the shofar, and even those who can not make it to a synagogue arrange to hear the shofar blown for them in their home, or at the home of a neighbor or somewhere in the community. I will be unplugged for the two days of the holiday, while of course this party goes on, as does the blog. We will spend many hours in prayer and many hours also celebrating the opportunity we have to help direct the new year with good thoughts and good words. We of course celebrate with festive meals and symbolic food, and try our best to remember the importance of the holiday! So dear readers, wishing you all an amazing new year, filled with good health, success, appreciation for all that you have (and don't have) and the time to realize your creative dreams! With that, enjoy the features from last week's party, and see you again next week in the new year!

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday, thanks so much for joining me here! The Jewish holiday of Rosh HaShana is in just one week, so now is the time to get crafting and cooking for this festive yet serious two day holiday that ushers in the "high holidays." I am thinking about  Succah decor and the projects I had hoped to already have completed but so be it. Once again it will be a bit of a mad rush, sigh. Though I did purchase some cotton yarn today with the hopes of crocheting some trim for the lampshades I made last year......and since I'm going out of town, this will hopefully be the perfect travel project. Now if I can just find the box with the lampshades in them so I can measure the circumference that would be a great start. Whether or not you are planning on crafting for the upcoming Jewish holidays, Fall is a great time to get those creative gears moving, so lets get to it and soak up some inspiration from last week's party via the features, shall we?

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday, thanks so much for joining me here! The Jewish New Year, Rosh HaShana, is in just two weeks, so now is the time to get cracking on Jewish New Year's cards, special symbolic dishes for the holiday and maybe some decorations to get everyone in the mood? Hmmm, truthfully, Rosh HaShana is the "day of judgement" well 2 days actually, so we are not talking about festive party decorations, but rather things to remind us of the importance of the holiday, and to urge us to pray for good things for ourselves, for our families and for all mankind. So while fish and apples, and bees and carrots and pomegranates might seem cute, they truly have a much deeper symbolism for the Jewish New Year that we strive to teach to our children, and remember ourselves! So, lets use that creativity to create meaning in our lives, and the features from last week's party are a great place to start! I've also included some contributions from previous parties that occurred while I was on vacation, so enjoy those too!

Welcome Back To Craft Schooling Sunday!

After a nice summer break, Craft Schooling Sunday is back, and it is great to reconnect with you all! Thanks so much for joining me here. September, which this year coincides with the Jewsih month of Elul is a month full of possibilities, and after an amazing summer vacation, with so much inspiration and of course lots of photos to share, I am dreaming of crafty succah decorations and handmade Rosh HaShana presents and cards for the neighbors. Just hoping there will be time for it all, as any moment the pace is going to pick up and then, hold on folks! With that in mind I have decided against that momentary whim of hand printing some new fabric panels for the Succah, instead I will embelish the light fixtures I made last year and go with my original plan which is to make a bunch of sunburst mirror decorations from all the plastic techina containers I've been collecting all year! That together with everything else we already have will hopefully do the trick.......?

I did not end up painting as much as I'd hoped on my vacation, so I've got that creative itch that just needs to be satisfied, and the features from the last party in July, which I'm posting here now are so much fun. I nearly ordered a soap mold and supplies to make some hexigon bee soaps for Rosh HaShana but then I realized that most folks may not even use them, so better to save the $$ and paint some nice cards. Okay, enough of my babble, lets get this party started!

Craft Schooling Sunday Will Resume Next Week

Hi Friends, I am back from a five weeks of family time and adventures both in Europe and The United States, and am looking forward to sharing it all with you! I was hoping to have time to get Craft Schooling Sunday going this week, but since it is also Labor Day weekend in the USA, I figured I'd might as well continue the vacation one more week, so hoping to see everyone again on September 8th.