creative jewish mom

DIY Cake Flowers From Plastic Straws

If you ever find yourself trying to decorate a cake in say ten minutes, you have come to the right place, as this is my quickest (and maybe even cutest) cake decoration idea yet! All you need are some plastic (or possibly paper) straws and some scissors and a few minutes, and voila, cute cake flowers can transform a simple cake into something gorgeous. I'm not sure how I came up wth this idea as I was literally sweating to get the cake decorated, but I think I must have been inspired by those little vintage style plastic flowers used to hold birthday candles! Now, as you may notice, I am photographing this cake after it was half was eaten, namely a full day after the party, so I put the flowers on the side of the cake for the sake of the photographs, when in actuality the flowers were on top of the cake, which looked a bit more sophisticated than this idea, so keep that in mind! Okay, lets make some plastic cake flowers that one could also use to decorate a fruit platter, or even cupcakes of course!

Giant Paper Flower Centerpiece

A really giant centerpiece on a budget can be simple to whip up if you have the right materials and a few tips from yours truly, who specialized in making budget centerpieces on a dime. Yes, and infact I have a batch in progress for next week's Women's Purim party in our community, and it involves cardboard fish, but you'll just have to wait to see that one! In the mean time, a huge vase of flowers can instantly transform any table or room into a party, so these are perfect for Purim, especially when there are so many other things to make, at least in our house.Now I have to add, for some reason these flowers were very hard to photograph, and they actually look much better in person than in these photos, so take my word for it, and don't spend precious time on more difficult versions until you try these! And best of all, these flowers really can be make from just about any light weight paper, including recycled maps, newspaper, you name it, so get those creative gears turning!

Giant Paper Flowers For Any Occasion

When you are in a pinch, and need a quick handmade centerpiece, a huge gift topper, a teacher appreciation gift, or a giant flower to put on your front door, I've got the flower for you! This giant paper flower made from heart shaped petals is simple to make and has a fun whimsical look that is perfect for spreading the joy. Ah yes, and with Purim right around the corner a bouquet of these on your table in bright colors would be perfect, or make some to adorn a giant hat or as part of a costume! Okay, as far as a costume goes, I'd make this same flower out of craft foam for durability, and then it could even become a giant flower hat, fun!

I made this gold version for a neighbor's daughter's engagement party a month or so ago. The party included a bridal Jewish henna party, so gold was the way to go, and fortunately I had some of this light weight gold textured paper waiting to be made into something, and so, voila a huge bunch of gold flowers was born. Want to make some yourself? Let get to it!

DIY Giant Paper Flowers Make The Perfect Fall Centerpiece

Looking for a great idea for a DIY centerpiece or a quick way to make a statement in your home this Fall? Look no further! No pumpkins (though admittedly the little white ones would look lovely here), no fall leaves, no burlap, no apples, instead how about some giant paper poppies in neutral Fall colors? These oversized flowers made from large sheets of ultra heavy paper come together quickly, and whether you choose to make just one or a whole bunch, I know you won't regret it.......in fact you may even find yourself dancing with joy. Really!

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.......

Square Wreath With Felt Flowers Is Sweet Anytime!

The Jewish holiday of Shavuout starts tonight, and our door is decorated with this sweet little square wreath adorned with felt flowers! (A little disclaimer: door wreaths are decidedly un-Jewish if you delve into their origin, and I generally try not to use the word wreath, but for the sake of folks finding this post, well I just couldn't think of another word that would suffice.) Round floral wreaths are a symbol of military funerals and memorial day, so I went with a fun variation of a square wreath which actually reminds me of a trellis, perfect!

This project came about as I had a bunch of felt chrysanthemum flowers left over from my felt flower napkin ring project, and I have to say, I just love it! Change out the little banner (which reads chag sa-may-ach, with a gutteral ch that is, translated happy holiday) and this project could be perfect for so many occasions, or just as sweet as can be in a baby's room. Ready to whip up one of these square wreaths, using supplies that you likely have on hand (assuming you have a big bag of felt that needs using up, like I did, did, being the operative word, yippee!) let's get started.

A Ten Minute Felt Chrysanthemum Made From A Strip

The Jewish holiday of Shavuous, (in which, among other traditions, we decorate our homes with flowers and greenery to celebrate the receiving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai) is tomorrow night, so with the idea of some really large felt flower napkin rings for our holiday table in mind, yet not a lot of time, I knew I needed a felt flower that would be quick to make and great looking! A quick felt flower is without a doubt one made by rolling a strip of felt, yet that are many variations on the technique with quite different looking results. (I've made felt rose buds, way back when, another flower type to combine with this one, if you like!)

The felt chrysanthemum made from one long strip of fringed loops came to mind, and after a bit of experimenting I was sold. In fact so much so that I used up almost all of a large bag of felt scraps and yardage that had been hanging out for way too many years, yippee! (Note: I do have a large blister on my middle finger from the scissors and all that cutting, such is the price......it nicely compliments the hot glue gun blister on my ring finger!)

I ended up settling on using grey felt for the napkin ring flowers, as that will look the best on my white table with lots of cobalt blue Moroccan dishes, the ones made with pink and yellow and blue ended up being used for a really cute felt flower decoration for the front door, which I will be sharing shortly.

Want to make some of these fun felt chrysanthemums too? If you've got ten minutes or so and felt and hot glue on hand, then lets get started!

DIY Simple Flower Napkin Rings Lovely For Any Occassion!

We made these very simple yet oh so lovely flower napkin rings in just minutes to use on our Passover table, but truthfully they'd be great for just about any occasion, especially weddings, sheva brachas, or any time really! They are so simple to make that you truthfully could make a hundred or so in no time. I packed these away with the Passover dishes so that we can use them again next year, but am already thinking about looking for some larger flowers to use on our table for the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, in which we decorate out homes with flowers and greenery, perfect!

Ready to make some, or pick up the supplies to have on hand, let's do it!

DIY Simple Paper Poppies

It is purely by accident that this post showing you how to make wonderful paper poppies in just a few simple steps follows my post sharing with you the real thing now in bloom on our grassy hillsides! I actually made these simple DIY paper poppies two weeks ago for a women's gathering in our community, and well, as you know life is busy and at present time I only get around to photographing maybe half of what I actually make! I'm hoping the other half will eventually end up in a book or series of some kind, but don't hold your breath as I haven't been able to magically add more time to the day.

Speaking of time, these paper poppies which can be made in many sizes are really quite quick once you get the hang of it, and you could make quite a few of these to use as centerpieces for an event with say ten or even twenty tables. Enlist the help of two friends, set aside two evenings, and voila, gorgeous and original centerpieces will grace every table. Send the flowers home with guests, or keep them for another occasion, nicely wrapped up to keep them dust free.

I have actually made giant versions of these, (link to follow) but this time I needed something medium sized for a reception table. Ready? No special supplies needed! Okay lets get started:

Egg Carton Flowers That Look Like Porcelain!

I have started crafting for my son'e upcoming Bar Mitzvah, and as usual have a bunch of ideas that I'm not sure how to bring together, so the best thing to do in that case is simply get started! The first of hopefully many great surprises is that one can quite simply make lovely modern egg carton flowers that look like porcelain, or glazed ceramic of some kind. The effect is lovely and artful, and I'm so very happy with this first step.

Egg carton flowers are a bit on the time consuming side as far as cutting them out. but it is the kind of thing one can do in a few moments here and there, or get the whole family involved! My husband was surprised when i asked him to start cutting the egg carton flats into strips, but he couldn't say no, as he was waiting for me in any case. Then in the hour drive to our destination I actually succeeded in cutting out quite a few flowers! I know, maybe weilding scissors in the car isn't the safest thing to do, so make sure to cut in you lap, no near your face. It is certainly safer than running with scissors right?

Ah yes, but how did I make them? (I'll give you a hint, I used supplies that I had right in my very own attic!) Keep reading for the light bulb moment that I'm sure will help you when you find yourself in a situation like mine: a million little things to paint and not enough time!