creative jewish mom

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?

Styrofoam Tray Recycling Craft: Embroidered String Stars

I have been saving these little square styrofoam trays as I had a feeling that would be great for a fun recycled craft project! And the a few days ago the idea came to me, embroider them! For starters I gave my geometric string stars a try, and I just love the results, don't you? You can use these little works of art as is hung on the wall (or in the succah!) or make some shapes to hang form the bottom of the piece, dream catcher style! So gather soem styrofoam trays, or even a piece or cardboard or foam core, and lets get started.

The Best Of DIY Painted And Embroidered Lampshades

Lampshades are the perfect place to sharpen your DIY skills, and a DIY painted or embroidered lampshade is the perfect place to start. I've gathered some great inspiration for you as far as the shade goes. And if you're in the market for a new lamp that could really be a great base for your crafty lampshade ventures, I think that some wooden lighting namely wooden lamps using blonde wood could look really great, especially since one of the hot decorating trends for 2016 is the Scandinavian style white and black interior with wood accents. And of course, you don't need to stop with your wood based lamp, you could also get some really cool wooden pendant lights to complete the look. Okay, now on to the inspiration!

This painted peacock feather lamp shade by Alisa Burke over at i love to create is just fantastic, as is this painted cross stitch lampshade that just makes me so very happy! There is a problem with this link loading for some reason, so if necessary just copy it here and paste into your browser: http://www.crafts.tutsplus.com/tutorials/give-a-boring-lampshade-a-brand-new-look--craft-2458

How About Trying An Embroidery Kit This Winter? (And Get A Good Deal!)

I don't know about you, but I've been thinking a lot about embroidery lately, and so when I saw these cute embroidery kits at blitsy.com (a craft supply clearing house of sorts loaded with lots of great deals!) I thought I'd share them with you, and in the process I might just earn a bit for myself to satisfy my desire for some of the goodies I saw on their site, can you blame me? All the kits are under the category "needlepoint & cross stitch" I like this embroidery kit above from blitsy.com as it has a enough embroidery work involved, but not too much that it will take you forever, and would look great framed somewhere.

I love the one on the left, and making an adorable bib as a new baby gift would also be a great way to get your feet wet!

If the chunkier and more rustic look of crewel embroidery is more to your liking, I spotted these two kits as well! Can't decide, maybe just get them all, you can always give the kits as gifts, right?

And for those of you, who like me, probably wouldn't order a kit (and probably won't get around to designing your own either, sigh) there are some good deals on DMC floss, and the thing that got me the most inspired were these napkin blanks, which you can find under the category "blank textiles" onto which you could embroider your own design, or even crochet my new edging design, which would look fantastic.

So check out blitsy.com, sign up before you forget, and lets get crafting!

Embroidery On Patterned Fabric Can Add That Something Special!

As I was about to use some of this blue fabric that a neighbor once gave me for a little chanukah crafting I looked at the leaves and berries and realized that they certainly could be olive branches, which would be oh so perfect for chanukah. (On account of the miracle with the olive oil.) So, in order to turn some of those berries into olives, a little embroidery seemed like a great solution!

As it turned out, the gold thread was quite difficult to work with, and I'm really not sure if it will truly enhance my project, but as you know, the creative process always leads us somewhere, even if not where we expected to end up. I'll keep you posted!

Embroidery With Simple Stitches Is So Much Fun!

The little embroidery that I started on my vintage wool blanket has evolved into something different altogether and now I'm dreaming of all kinds of embroidery projects using simple stitches. French knots, lazy daisey, satin stitch, chain stitch and straight stitch are all simple embroidery stitches that anyone can learn and then use to create embroidered masterpieces! I just need to add stem stitch to my repetoire and maybe another trick or two, and all set. Well sort of, then one really needs to decide whether to do embroidery on the proper fabric, in this case with wool crewel thread that would be linen, or just do as I've done here and not worry about that so much?

I did this crewel embroidery by simply drawing with a felt pen on the blanket, but now maybe I should really plan my next design on the computer so that I could make a file for others to use as well? So that means I need an iron on transfer pencil? Or should I run some very lightweight fabric fused with freezer paper through that printer I don't have? Or use a laser printed sheet the way one would use like an iron on pattern, which apparently works on some fabrics? Sigh, life was so simple when I just decided to embroider this blanket on a whim! Enjoy!

A French Knot And Lazy Daisy Embroidered Sampler (Of Sorts.....)

Did you know that quite simply embroidering a whole bunch of lazy daisies together with quite a few french knots produces a very pleasing field of embroidery that could look great adorning just about anything? Last week I simply could not stand looking at all those amazing photos I've been collecting of embroidery and not giving it a try myself, and so this little corner of a sampler was born, and I am already moving on with the exploration of some more stitches, so stay tuned!

And in case embroidery is new to you, the french knot and the lazy daisy stitch are two very basic stitches that one can easily learn, and there are video on you tube so that you can get it the first time!

One of the really great things about this little embroidery is that I actually did it on the piece of vintage wool blanket that I use to cover the top of my pot of hamin (shabbat stew) as it cooks overnight on shabbat on our electric food warmer. Silly me, while I had seen a blanket used on pots on shabbat, it wasn't until recently that I realized tha this is actually the true secret to delicious hamin! So now, I get to enjoy this little embroidery from Friday night at sundown until we eat our pot of hamin, sometime around noon on Saturday!

Note: Hamin (for Sephardic Jews) and cholent (for Ashkenazic Jews) is the bean and meat stew that is traditionally eaten for lunch on Saturday, and since one who observes shabbat does not light fire on that day, these pots of stew while once kept warm in the embers of the oven at the local bakery, are today kept warm at home either by using a crock pot, an electric food warmer or blech, a plate of metal that is placed over a gas stove, with one burner left burning

Embroidery Details Inspired By Blogging Friendships!