creative jewish mom

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?

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!