creative jewish mom

Festive Rosh HaShana Symbols (Simanim) Placards Craft For Kids

With Rosh HaShana coming in just over a week, now is the time to get crafting, with the kids and for yourself, in order to truly honor this oh so important and lofty holiday! The subject of the Rosh HaShana symbols or simanim is perfect for a variety of crafts including placards, garlands, napkin rings and cards. So while I've chose to do this craft on skewers to place in a vase, you can choose to make the symbols in the same manner just presented in a different way, though of course I do recommend them as cut-outs as they are just too cute! I have noticed in my crafting class that kids drawing skills these days are seriously in decline, so encourage your kids to draw, even the simplest things, as in this craft. And please don't give in to them when they say "I can't draw it" just get them to do a practice page and they will get it! Okay, lets make some fun and festive Rosh HaShana simanim placards!

Introduction to Drawing Hand Skeletons: A Beginner’s Guide

One of the most difficult things to draw when drawing people is the hands, and truthfully I always used to hide the hands somehow! Of course a much better idea is to really understand the structure of the hand, which will make drawing hands so much simpler. What is the structure, well the skeleton of course, but not studied in a spooky way, but rather in an anatomical way. Drawing skeleton hands might seem daunting, especially considering that each hand has 27 bones, which you must draw to be symmetrical and proportional.  However, even with little to no training, you can easily learn how to master this technique by following this simple beginner-friendly guide! And it just so happens that some children might not be interested in drawing typical subjects, but just might be very interested in learning to draw a skeleton hand, which is a win win, as working on drawing skills is a huge plus for any age. Okay, shall we learn some hand anatomy?

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!

Let's Draw The Airport Craft For Kids

This week with my small crafting club of 8 year old boys we spent some time learning how to draw airplanes, airport control towers, and other things one might see in the sky like parachutes and blimps, together with some trees and clouds to set the scene. Sadly, these sweet boys do not draw very often so their skills are lacking and some of them found this exercise to be somewhat difficult.....I told them they'll thank me when they are older! We be using these long strips to wrap around recycled oatmeal cans with tops, and next week (though I didn't reveal the next step to them, shhhhh) we'll be making Q-tip airplanes that really fly to put in the can! I love the results of this drawing exercise, most of the items are courtesy of the greatest book ever, Ed Emberley's Make A World, something I loved as a child and is a must! The top version is mine, not to copy but use as inspiration!

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!

Quick Front Door Decor Craft For Lag B'Omer

If you've been paying attention, you may remember the ten plagues Passover cards I made a month plus ago? The art was mounted on gold cardboard that was actually some metallic gold cardbaord dessert platters left at my front door. And of course, after I cut out the flat middle I just had to save the outside frame for a future craft, and yippee, I actually used two of the frames for this fun bonfire craft for Lag B'Omer, miracles do happen! This is such a fun craft for kids, who can create according to their level, in this case a 4 1/2 year old drew the flames on top of the logs I drew first, and an 8 year old drew the men, who were actually part of a paper doll chain. There are so many ways to go with this fun craft, so don't toss those cardboard trays that aren't filthy, craft with them!