creative jewish mom

Kids Rethink The Traditional Tzedaka Box!

Today there was a student show at the ceramic studio where my son and I spend time together creating with clay each week, and I just had to share with you some of the fantastic work we saw. For starters I just love the ceramic tzedaka (charity) boxes that kids made (that would also make fabulous ceramic banks as well) after the teacher gave them the assignment to make a tzedaka box in any shape they desired. I don't know if I would have thought of a vase of flowers tzedaka box, or an apple tzedaka box, or even a tea cup tzedaka box. There was even a fantastic clay spray bottle tzedaka box, which I didn't get a chance to photograph. The tzedaka box is a fixture in every traditional Jewish home, and in every synagogue, but they are usually boxes, possibly lovely boxes, but boxes just the same, so I am totally in awe of the creativity! 

At the show we truly witnessed what a wonderful medium ceramics in general can be for expressing and developing creativity, and my two kids who do not (yet) go with Mommy to the ceramics studio were really quite jealous. So I guess I have a few more years of creating with clay to look forward to. Hmmmm, maybe I should make a set of dishes then, right?

DIY Ceramic Wall Clock

A DIY ceramic wall clock is a wonderful thing to make if you happen to have some time in a ceramic's studio, or have access to a kiln! My twelve year old son made this one, and we can't wait to hang it in our kitchen. And in fact he has already made another one for his room that has yet to be painted, but will hopefully be even more fabulous! And of course I want to make one too, though i should probably finish my series of hanging planters first! My son and I are having such a wonderful time together at our weekly ceramics studio time (just about one and a half hours) and since he is growing up altogehter too quickly, this is really something that we will always cherish. Not to mention that our house will be filled with sweet reminders!

Painting And Drawing On Hand Built Slab Pottery

Note: This piece is actually bright red, not terra cotta as it is showing up on my blog for some unknown reason!

My twelve year old son and I are spending one evening a week together at a local pottery studio, and having a wonderful time! There is no wheel, so we are forced to hone our slab building skills, which is actually a really great way to make a very wide variety of items, even for the novice potter (like me). If you are not familiar with slab building, it simply means constructing items from pieces one cuts from a slab, a piece of clay rolled out to the desired size and thickness. Of course there are some basic rules that one needs to know, and clay is clay and not say, leather or wood, so things don't always go as planned, but that is part of the learning process.

In addition to learning to work with slab building, the aspect of glazing the pieces after the initial firing is another art unto itself, and there are really many ways to go about glazing pottery. Of course I titled this post "painting and drawing on hand bulit slab pottery" so that is what I'm going to talk about, makes sense right?

Ceramic Wall Pocket Craft For Kids

My 12 year old son and I are getting in some very precious "mommy and me" time by spending an evening once a week at a local ceramics studio, and i have lots of fun things to share! Not to mention a big realization that my little stint with ceramics about four years ago that wasn't all that satisfying, wasn't because ceramics really isn't for me as I had concluded, but because the clay that we were given to work with wasn't for me! At this studio the clay fires white and I can therefore use clear bright colors, or black and white, and I'm loving it! (Plus maybe because I'm doing this really to spend time with my son, the pressure is off to make something fantastic, and so now I've made some stuff that i just love. And so it goes.)

Enough about me, isn't this ceramic wall pocket just the cutest? It all started with my suggestion that my son take a piece of rolled out clay and fold it like origami somehow. Truthfully I really didn't know what I was talking about exactly, but this is the result, and it is just as cute as can be, and most importantly he is planning on proudly hanging it in his room!

Passover Craft For Kids: A Clay Seder Plate

A clay Passover seder plate is a sweet little craft that you can make with air drying clay, polymer clay or classic clay that requires kiln firing. Given that Passover is just six days away, I'd go for the polymer clay idea which is the quickest and won't require any firing. Plus then kids can also make the various items that are placed on the plate as well......hmmm that sounds so cute maybe I'll try to squeeze that into my kid's schedules this week!

Then again, air drying clay could also work if you're not pressed for time, and the results can look very close to the example I've shown here. Air drying clay comes in both white and terra cotta color as far as I know, so if you prefer bright colors, do choose the white air drying clay, and follow the simple steps I've outlined for you, because I know, a week before Pesach keeping things as simple as possible is certainly a good idea!

Fun With Air Drying Clay

Air drying clay is a wonderful way to experiment with clay, without having to worry about firing or baking. We haven't taken our project to the next step yet, namely painting them, but I thought I'd share this with you anyway, since summer is a great time to sit outdoors and sculpt something!

My daughter made the little dishes and I made these houses, which have a hole in the top to add a flag after they're painted. Of course one can do so many many things with clay, like making mobiles and beads and plaques of all kinds. Happy Crafting!

Ceramic Plaques Crafted By Kids (For The Succah?)

I just realized that these sweet ceramic plaques created by my seven and eight year old sons will be perfect decorations for the Succah! We try to hang things in our Succah to honor great sages and important figures in Jewish history, so these creations which depict the burial site of Rachel Imeinu are really quite perfect!

While of course Succot is just around the corner, next Sunday night, you could make something similar from air drying clay that could be painted, or keep this idea in mind for next year! 

My efforts at succah decorating are going to be a little last minute this year on account of a very busy schedule, but I'll try to keep you posted with some last minute ideas! Enjoy!

Ceramic Birdhouses

Ever seen such sweet little bird houses? I can honestly say that I squeeled in delight when my seven and eight year old son's brought home these creations from their after school ceramics class a few months ago! I love those red roofs and the detailing is just so sweet. We'll be hanging on to these and I don't think I'll ever hang them outside as they were intended, as I would worry about them too much!

I've said this before, but I'll say it again, I highly recommend ceramics classes for boys, they love working with the clay and it builds confidence in so many ways. All the best!

A Clay Bunting Banner For Your Succah!

How about making a bunting banner from clay? I actually made these from clay fired in a kiln, but you can certainly do the same thing with polymer clay, air drying clay or the kind of clay that you can bake in your oven. Or how about baker's clay made from flour and water? 

And while my flags are not decorated, I'd love to see a clay bunting banner with some stamped or impressed texture or letters. There really are so many creative possibilities, so go for it!

These little banners have been hanging out in my house, but I think they'd make great succah decor, especially for those who live in rainy regions and need decorations that can withstand an occasional downpour - yikes! And yes, Rosh HaShana comes first, in another two weeks, but it's a good idea to start thinking about your Succah decorations now so that you won't have to stress trying to get everything done! Wish me luck on that one too!

Hand Built Ceramic Cups

Here's one of my latest handbuilt ceramic projects that I made at my ceramics class just down the street. Though I would at some point love to learn how to use the wheel, for the moment I'm quite content exploring the world of hand building.

These cups were made using the slab technique, and the designs were stamped with wooden printing stamps from India. I choose to glaze the pieces with clear shiny glaze, to take advantage of the gorgeous natural speckled quality of this particular clay. I'll have to admit, the rolled lip was a consequence of using a slap that was just a bit too thin at the edge.....still very new at this, but loving it!