creative jewish mom

Embroidery With T-Shirt Yarn On Benches In Jerusalem

I came across these photos of benches embroidered with t-shirt yarn in Jerusalem, and I just had to share them with you because truly I just love everything about this project! Yes, of course I'm bound to like just about anything that uses t-shirt yarn plus creativity, and the peacock bench (continue reading) takes the prize! I don't know too much about this commissioned yarn bombing project, or whether the benches are still intact, but I may just have to go and see for myself sometime soon.

The photos here are courtesy of a great article on mymodernmet, and the copy below is quoted from that article as well, which you should check out, so inspiring!

"Jerusalem-based artist Talya Tomer-Schlesinger sees artistic potential hidden within every corner of the world. The director of the Baka neighborhood asked Tomer-Schlesinger to brighten a local road for an upcoming arts festival and, when she was deciding what to create, the artist looked to the street’s benches. These latticed structures reminded her of her grandmother’s embroidery grids, which inspired her to weave recycled materials directly onto the seats. Since the benches are outdoors, Tomer-Schlesinger used old bathing suits in place of thread or regular fabric to prevent weather damage.

While she embroidered flowers, leaves, and even a vibrant peacock on the bus benches, the artist invited locals to join her. This expressive production evolved into a community project, bringing joy to those who participated in and witnessed the benches’ evolution. Hopefully, this venture will inspire other cities to bring their residents together as they add a bit of creative color to their own streets."

Needlepoint Apple On Plastic Canvas

With Rosh HaShana in just a week, now might be a great time to take a few moments for yourself and make a little needlepoint apple on plastic canvas! The results are so very sweet, and of course you can use your little apple as a Jewish New Year's card, as a gift tag, a fridge magnet, or as part of a little wall hanging for the holiday, which is what I'm hoping to do. As a tween I used to design my own geometric needlepoint patterns, and so whipping up this little apple was a bit of a trip down memory lane, and I would love to do more........then again free form embroidery is really much more up my alley, as are a million other things, I'm sure you can relate!

That said it is always fun to try out new crafts on a small scale, so pull out some yarn scraps, a get yourself a very small piece of plastic canvas (as opposed to me who of course has a huge roll, sigh) and lets get started!

Simple Rustic "Love" Embroidery With Gingham

There is something about this little rustic country-style "love" embroidery that is so sweet, and yet made with minimal effort, so of course I just had to share it with you. I think this would make a perfect new baby gift, or look great as part of the decor at a country-style wedding. And of course it would be great anytime to spread the love!

While this exact little work of art looked perfect in the all wood Adirondack Victorian cabin where we had the pleasure of spending four days and nights, this might not work for everyone. Speaking of everyone, that would include me as well, since our home is more Morocco meets Scandinavia, and gingham might look a bit out of place. But not to worry, one can certainly use this idea, just do keep the rustic nature of it, namely the simple embroidery done on muslin or linen, the antique style frame hung with a scrap of fabric, the little buttons......

I didn't make this, but if I were to make something similar this is how I would do it........let's get started!

Rustic Wire And Fabric Flower Craft

I saw this idea for making a rustic wire and fabric flower sculpture with a wine cork base on our travels just a few weeks ago, and I just had to share it with you! The idea of stitching fabric scraps onto a wire shape can be used in so many ways, to make flat ornaments for a wall hanging or mobile or to get a bit adventurous and go for something with dimension. I love the looseness of the results, and a flower sculpture like this one is not only a perfect summer craft, but also would be great moving into fall.

As far as taking this idea as a project for kids, I think it would be a fabulous way to introduce the idea of abstract sculpture. Give kids some easily bendable wire, and at least four wine corks, and have them make a three dimensional wire doodle.......sounds great to me! To add color glue or sew little scraps of fabric or colored paper to some of the resulting shapes.

Sorry, lest I digress, back to the specifics of this sweet little flower.......

Plastic Canvas Hanukkah Garlands

Wishing you all a very wonderful Hanukkah filled with light and joy! This year I can honestly say, that the creative life I try to encourage here does not always allow time for things like blogging! So just popping in to share just a tiny glimpse of what is going on in our home during this festive week of Hanukkah. My duaghter is on vacation all week, while the boys have half a day of school, which is really wonderful this time of year. We have been having serious winter weather with pouring rain for days and we are all wearing layers of winter clothes to keep warm and cozy. My usual Chanukah gifts to the kids of warm pajamas, neck warmers, scarves and hand crocheted booties are especially appreciated this year!

Ah yes, and the Hanukkah decorations? Well I didn't get around to exactly everything I had envisioned, but am loving my plastic canvas hanukkah garlands that I have strung from Ikea picture ledges over our kitchen table. We will certainly enjoy these for years to come, which menas that if you have a bit of crafting time on your hands, you could certainly still enjoy this craft, or just make something similar from paper!

This garland was made using plastic canvas star ornaments with tassels, as well as plastic canvas embroidered dreidels, plastic canvas star medallions, and a plastic canvas menorah.

Plastic Canvas Star Ornaments With Tassels

As you may have noticed, I have been having lots of fun making Hanukkah decorations using plastic canvas. And now I present to you an obvious addition to my plastic canvas dreidels and  plastic canvas menorahs, ta da, plastic canvas Jewish stars! Just for the record I thought you might be interested to know that truly the idea of using the Jewish star to represent Hanukkah is a commercial invention of some sort, and you won't see any such stars here in Israel being used for Hannukah. People would wonder if you were trying to possibly recycle your decorations from Independance Day! I just had to laugh as I was typing that, but it really is true, that together with the fact that the color blue has nothing to do with Hanukkah (really spelled Chanukah) either!

That said, the Jewish star does represent Chanukah for so many folks out there, so we've got to make some, right? Keep on reading for the number one most important tip for making these guys....

Plastic Canvas Snowflake Mandala Ornaments

What can I tell you today? I'll admit I don't always love the things I make, but I am totally in love with these plastic canvas snowflake medallions, or maybe they are really more aptly called plastic canvas mandalas, I'm not qui9te sure! Something about them reminds me of the lovely small details in Fair Isle sweaters (that I do not plan to knit in this lifetime) or maybe the 70's style embroidered appliques I've had my eye on, either way I really enjoyed making these three versions and hoping to have time to make some more. They do look very sweet with my plastic canvas chanukah menorah, as well as part of a whole plastic canvas chanukah look that I'm in the middle of crafting. I'm not exactly sure how it will all come together, but very likely as some fun garlands to hang this year and for years to come.

If you are familiar with plastic canvas, then you already know the secret to make these beauties, but if not, so do keep on reading for some helpful hints so you can get started making some of your own.

Embroidered Hoop Art From A Child's Drawing

Stopping by for a guest post, (and with great timing on account of our just having celebrated 8 wonderful days of holiday, and now there is big clean up job waiting to be done) which is such a treat since that rarely happens here on creativejewishmom.com, is Maria from sewjewish.com with a really fun DIY that I would love to do myself, and can't quite believe I haven't done it yet! Fortunately I have saved some line drawings from when my kids were younger, so I am not lacking any inspiration, just time really! That said, I'll let Maria do the rest of the talking:

Cross Stitch Apple Embroidery Recycling Craft

Here's a fun apple cross stitch craft that is fun for all ages, and is a recycling craft to boot! And with Rosh HaShana in less than a week, well a few of these cross stitch apples, that can be whipped up quite quickly would be a great way to welcome the new year! Not to mention of course that apple themed crafts are always perfect for teacher appreciation gifts and Fall. So gather your supplies, and if you don't have a recycled styrofoam tray on hand you could even use a piece of cardstock, a piece of foam core, or even a paper plate! Time is of the essence, so lets get crafting!

Pineapple Embroidery On A Recycled Styrofoam Tray!

Okay dear readers, I have to admit that I just love my little pineapple embroidered on a recycled styrofoam tray, that actually held some precious passion fruit! Who can resist a tray that is this color and shape? Certainly not me, and with pineapples being all the rage at the moment, well this little project seems just perfect right about now! And best of all, you can whip it up quite quickly on account of the large stitches and easy to draw motif. Pair it with my geometric string stars embroidered on styrofoam trays, and you've got some great decorations to hang in the succah or anywhere that could use a little dose of creativity. Shall we get started?