creative jewish mom

Drawing With Kids: Colorful Woodgrain Drawings To Use For Crafting

Having now drawn many A4 sheets of colorful wood grain drawings together with a total of 8 schoolboys aged 9-12, I can say that this is truly a great exercise, and one that is enjoyable and simple for some, and quite challenging and difficult for others. I did note that the boys who excell the most in school and don't have any serious behavioral problems did a great job with this, whereas the several boys whom I know have either ADHD or some attention disorder problems created drawings that were much less detailed and generally messy. But that is okay, because we are not going for perfection, and an exercise that is difficult is also a good one! We'll be using these pages to make a bonfire craft for L'Ag B'Omer that everyone will enjoy, and the initial pain will be eased, I hope! So friends, sit down with a child or children, or yourself, and create some woodgrain drawings. Keep reading for how I instructed the boys as I drew together with them!

Fun Woodgrain Drawings For Crafting And Journaling

With the Jewish holiday of L'ag B'Omer coming up in 2 1/2 weeks, now is the time to get crafting, and continuing with last year's woodgrain themed crafts, I'm now going down the path of wood grain, but adding color to the neutral crafts I made last year. And to my surprise, there are so many ways to go with this idea, and it is truly fun and relaxing! The resulting sheets of colorful wood grain pattern can then be used in journaling, scrapbooking and in my case crafts! So lets do it as we get ready for L'ag B'Omer, ah yes and you could also use them as place mats!

Fun Cardboard and Paper Collage Cut-Outs For Rosh HaShana

We are in the heart of our short summer vacation here in Israel, and with war and so much heartache looming over our heads, crafting and preparing for upcoming holidays and happy occassions is a wonderful way to spend a few hours. Get the whole family together or even take time for yourself, creativity is my solution to managing stress and it truly works! Now, if I could just bury my head in the art supplies around the clock! In the past I created lovely doodle apples and doodle bees, which still look great a few years down the road, but yesterday I decided to make a more younger child friendly version using cereal box cardboard, some colored paper and a glue stick! Of course my version does look a bit too perfect maybe, so can't wait to see the charm that the little crafters I'm working with will bring to this project. But in the mean time, get to work and start preparing for Rosh HaShana, it is quickly approaching and apples and pomegranites and honey and bees and fish all make great subjects for crafting, right?

Oatmeal Can Airport Craft To Hold Paper Airplanes!

Introducing oatmeal can airports! I thought we'd wrap oatmeal cans with the airport art created last week, and make Q-tip airplanes to put inside, only the Q-tip airplanes I tried to make were a flop and didn't even fly, yikes, so much for that! But the boys didn't complain and made airplanes that don't fly, and we folded some origami ones as well, so it all worked out just fine in the end.

And so, this sweet oatmeal can craft with an airport theme, made by a group of 9 year old boys became much more sculptural than my original idea as the boys decided that the can needed embellishment with Q-tip airplanes, flags and airport signs! And truly, worrying about perfect results is not the point, and so any cans that were a bit roughly made, well that is just fine, the emphasis is on the making of the project and enjoying the creative process!

Op Art Craft For Kids: A Dimensional Hand Drawing

Looking for a interesting craft with simple supplies for all ages from 8 (or so) and up? How about creating Op art dimensional hand drawings? This is the second time I've tried this line drawing exercise with young kids, 12 years ago I did it with my 7,  8 and 9 year olds and last week I did it with a group of 8 and 9 year old boys for whom I'm doing an after school art/craft program! As you can see in the photo after the jump, it was more challenging for some than others, but worth giving it a try and doing over until the child gets it, because the reward is great! Of course you might like to try it yourself as well, the photo above is my personal attempt!

DIY Colorful Floral Border Doodle For Cards, Journals, Signs and More!

Years ago I got into floral doodles via some tutorials for bullet journal art and it was so much fun, and a great introduction to the world of journaling and sketchbook practices. Since then I've been working on refining my art skills and while doing lots of drawing, not like the floral borders you see here, and wow, was this ever enjoyable and fun, with great results, and, I might add so very simple compared to trying to paint the landscapes I'm dreaming of! If this doesn't seem "simple" to you, not to worry, practice, practice and more practice and soon you can draw flower doodles in your dreams! Want some basic instructions for this? Keep on reading.....

When Life Gives You Lemons Fun Birthday Cake

I've been painting lots of faceted watercolor fruit lately, like watercolor mosaic strawberries, for example, so when it came time to make some birthday decor and a birthday cake for my son, it seemed like a no-brainer to continue with the fruit theme, and lemons came to mind! A glass of lemonade and a pitcher might be an unusual theme for a birthday cake, but around here anything goes, and honestly I love the results, of the decor that is, the cake doesn't look great at all in these photos taken quickly before shabbat! Not to worry, my classic always loved chocolate cake recipe with a glaze and sprinkles on top does the job just fine, and the time spent on the cake decorations is time well spent, as you can save them or use them in another way. Okay, ready to make your own creative birthday cake using the lemonade theme, or any theme you dream of? Lets get started......

Fun Lemon And Lemonade Theme Cake And Cupcake Toppers

When you've spent years and years and years making simple birthday cakes topped with homemade decorations, anything is game really, and so no one batted an eye as to why I'd choose a lemonade theme for these cake toppers, and even the guests didn't ask any questions. (Ah yes, now I remember, I told them I had no idea what the connection is other than that we love lemons.) Truthfully I've been painting lots of watercolor fruit lately, and once I'd added a lemon to the mix, well lemonade just seemed like the natural fit, and I have to say, I think this is truly adorable and I think from now on I'll do drink themed decorations for this son's birthday cakes in the future! Want to make some too, whether for a cake, or cupcakes or both, keep on reading, it is so simple you'll just have to give it a try!

Logs Craft Using Recycled Aluminum Foil Boxes!

For the first time ever, I decided to try and make some logs from recycled aluminum foil boxes, and I just LOVE the results, especially after drawing wood grain patterns on a large number of tubes of all sizes. There is something about the square edges that just really lends the boxes to being covered in wood grain doodle patterns, and now I'm about to stack them and make a bonfire, all in time for Lag B'Omer, and this coming shabbat and some little ones! With my newly neutral and elegant dining room, I've decided to try crafting without bright color, and it has been interesting! Okay, gotta run, still so much to do to set the stage for the holiday! Keep on reading for basic instructions!

Recycled Cardboard Tube Logs Craft For Lag B'Omer!

The festive holiday of Lag B'Omer, which is the 33 Day of the Omer and a day when we pause the mourning of this period to celebrate the great Sage Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. Since one of the things we do on the holiday is celebrate the great light of Rebbi Shimon with community bonfires, all things logs and fire make great subject matter for the holiday! I've been saving paper towel tubes and aluminum foil tubes, and they are perfect for making "logs" which will be used to make bonfires and wall hangings, though what exactly is still to be determined! The last time I made "logs" with paper towel tubes I did close the ends with round colorful circles, but for now these logs look just fine as is!