creative jewish mom

Chanukah Paper Craft: A Quilled Dreidel

I am reposting this Hanukkah quilling craft as now is a great time to delve into something new! Our Jewish holidays are coming to end while secular holiday season is just getting started, so keep the mood festive with some great looking crafts!  Quilling is truly wonderful, and there are so many ways to go with it. I even did a huge quilled version of a logo we use for my husband one year! i have dusted this off from the archives, and here is what I wrote back then, enjoy and happy chanukah!

As you can see, I really had a great time creating a series of quilled Hanukkah crafts this year......and our house is looking more festive than ever! I'm expecting a huge crowd at our table this Shabbos, so I'm really happy to say that my house looks ready to party! Of course, I have many more decorations than you see here, but these guys did set the stage for everything else, and I can't wait to make more. Ahh yes, I did actually make more, in fact I made a large piece of quilled art for my husband's birthday, the first night of Chanukah, and it is already hanging in his office and getting rave reviews.....no one believes it is just paper! One guy even took it off the wall and took it home to show his wife (next door)....so I guess this quilling venture is going to be around for a while!

DIY Boho Fringed Placemats For Summer Entertaining

I have pulled this post out of the archives because it is a keeper, and I'm still enjoying my DIY boho place mats, which are great indoors or outdoors, and perfect for that little extra something this summer! Enjoy! And I just had the thought that these could also be great for the Succah, so why not plan ahead!

I love t-shirt yarn, and have been thinking about using it for macrame and embroidery, not just crocheting! Industrial-waste t-shirt yarn also supports eco-consciousness, as it is made from odds and ends of fabric left after the pieces for making clothing is cut from the yardage. What I found after making these fringed and embroidered place mats/wall hangings is that t-shirt yarn is a great way to add color to a project that might have called for rope of some kind, and it works great for fringe, tassels (see my t-shirt yarn tassels) and more. So if you're looking for a simple and stylish summer project, this is it! These place mats work great placed on round side tables or outdoor tables or anywhere to add some flare our protect a wooden surface. Ah yes, and of course you can easily make some wall hangings, which I truly am going to do as I have a bunch more of these place mats to craft with!

DIY Cake Toppers From Flower Sketches

Last summer I spent quite a few days honing my flower sketching skills by looking at free tutorials from a wide variety of sources, check out my previous posts here, and then I added watercolor to them here, just for starters! You can check out all the posts that show what I've been up to in my sketchbooks here. So, when my daughter's birthday came around, it was only natural to make some sketched peonie paper cake toppers that I ended up using in some fun birthday centerpieces (more on that later.....) I drew these from a tutorial that I saw on Pinterest, and it is truly addictive, because the flowers end up looking so well, perfect? Not that perfect is ever the goal, but with cut out sketched flowers for a cake topper or even to add to a plant or bouquet, that somewhat perfect look just plain works! And best of all, this is also a recycling craft, so keep on reading for the simple supplies, and why not spend a lazy summer day sketching some flowers to use who knows when? I am keeping my collection of these kinds of crafts in a box, to pull out when needed for birthdays, anniversaries, you name it!

Pine Cone Pineapples Are The Perfect Summer Craft!

 

I have taken this craft out of the archives and dusted it off as it is a great partner to my pine cone animals post. Plus it truly is one of the cutest nature crafts ever, right? And pineapples can be any color, not just yellow as long as you have a few yellow ones in the bunch. Best of all, you'll hopefully have to take a nature walk to collect the pinecones, so enjoy!

I have been wanting to make pinecone pineapples for a few months now, and even painted the pinecones yellow before Passover, and finally found the time to give this fantastic summer craft, that would be a perfect summer camp craft a try. And wow, the results are so adorable you'll want to make a whole bunch, I know I do! You can use your pineapple pinecones as decorations for part of a tropical party, or as whiimsical decorations any time. Line up a few on a shelf and you'll smile every time you see them, or hang some mobile style. And of course if you want to be a little bit different, how about hanging some pineapple pinecones in your succah? Succot is among other things, a fall harvest festival, and in Israel that means pomegranites and dates, but it could certainly mean pineapples as well, right?

Regardless of whether you have a plan for your pinecone pineapples, gather some pinecones and get crafting, I'm sure a great idea will come to you. If not simply display them on a little shelf which is where mine are sitting right now, looking as cute as ever! Best of all, once you get the hang of how to make these, you really could whip up quite a few, even as fun Bar or Bat Mitzvah, birthday or wedding centerpieces, so lets get crafting! (Note: If you do plan on making a large quantity, I would paint them by dipping them into a large container of paint, so much easier!)

Create On An Index Card For 2 Months This Summer!

I have to admit, I did not know that there have been thousands of creative people creating on index cards every year for the months of June and July, each year. Of course when it started 11 years ago I can imagine it was not thousands, but today it is, and WOW! I am familiar with the idea of creating on index cards, or index card size, I just didn't know it was "thing" that I could participate in. Just as I was wondering what might keep my creative practice running once I finish my 100 oil pastels, (9 to go!) voila, this opportunity comes along. At first I thought, no way, you are too busy. But then I realized that by adapting a simple style, I could infact do an index card a day, and it could be great! With three days now under my belt I am so very very happy I committed to this 61 day challenge, and while I'll be sharing with you here from time to time, the daily peeks will be on my instagram @sara.rivka.dahan.

The challenge is called Index Card A Day, and the home base is right here. There is a Facebook group one can join for a fee, though I don't really have time for that, so I'm sharing on Instagram and making connections with fellow participants there. You do what works for you, maybe a family challenge with no social media? Maybe a challenge with a friend? There are no rules about what to put on the index card, so sky is the limit! I was even thinking about doing little sculptures, but then the illustration style I'm currently doing won out, plus it is much quicker!

I really think that an index card creativity challenge would be a great thing to do with the kids this summer, and at the end you can make a book, or do the second side next year! Daily creating is an amazing thing to fit in anyone's day, believe me, you'll end up doing it every year!

Simple Geometric Color Swatch Art

Looking for an interesting way to learn about color combinations with results that are just so satisfying? Looking for a fun art project for all ages? This just might be the one! These bars of color are so simple to create, either in a sketchbook, or on paper, or even canvas, you just have to give it a try! You can use oil pastel, acrylic paint, colored pencils, watercolor or a mixed media combination. Do thick bars with acrylic paint and then go back and fill the bars with doodles or marks, note to self! Or choose to do squares or any combo of geometric shapes. Choose a set palette of 5 or 6 colors, plus white, and then have fun placing one color next to another. How did I get those bars of color to be so crisp? Keep on reading, I even took a process photo, imagine that!

Watercolor Blue And White Vases With Flowers

Summer is the perfect time to delve into something new, and if you can take it with you, all the better! So friends, consider starting a sketchbook, keeping in mind that it is about creative growth not perfection, and I can promise you, it is a very very worthwhile journey, and so very satisfying, trust me! This watercolor paper sketchbook of mine was started two years ago on a vacation in Sweden, and I have been slowly adding art to the pages, most recently, art created with watercolors, ahhhhh. And guess what friends, if you don't like the results, so paint an acrylic paint painting over it, and voila, that watercolor painting gone wrong is old news. The main thing is to use your sketchbook to tell the tale of your creative journey, which can be so many things! If you'd like to start but not sure where, how about some sweet blue and white vessels filled with flowers, or not? This is a perfect subject for beginners, because wonky vases and flowers with interesting shapes might be that much more interesting! Okay, lets get started!

A Festive Painted Cut-Out Bouquet For The Front Door!

The Jewish holiday of Shavuot starts on Sunday night, and our front door is ready! I just love painting flowers and cutting them out, as with the water color poppies cut outs, and am also really pleasantly surprised by how wonderful a bouquet of painted flowers can be as well, especially when you free it from the confines of the paper! Of course a bouquet of flowers drawn and then painted, like this one, is all about planning, and execution, so after all that effort, you will want to use it again and again, or even hang it somewhere in a frame, and you should! The more flowers the better, and painted ones add so much joy where ever they are hung! There is still time to make something similar for Shavuot, so get started, loose a little bit of sleep over it if necessary (that is the type I am, don't do if it is isn't you!) and most of all, have a wonderful holiday! Okay, lets get some more info regardng how this paper bouquet was created, shall we?

Paper Leaves On Real Branches Looks Amazing!

I came up with this simple idea six years ago for my son's birthday just before Shavuot, and I still love it, so I'm dusting it off to share with you as a fabulous last minute craft that includes a nature walk to collect the sticks! Enjoy. Here is what I wrote back then, this year Shavuot is on Sunday night.

Paper leaves on real branches is a super quick craft that results in some fun decorations that can be used for the Jewish holiday of Shavuot or really anytime! I actually made these branches as part of the giraffe birthday party that I'm still in the middle of sharing with you all, though I did have in mind that they would be also be great for Shavuot, in which we decorate our homes with greenery to celebrate the giving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai, which was  very green and lush.

With shavuot staring Saturday night, right after shabbat ends, many of us are now preparing for two days of holidays, so I'm sure glad to already have made these fun branches which are currently hanging from the chandelier over the dining room table. (Those who observe shabbat outside of israel are now preparing for a three day holiday, as Shavuot is two days outside of Israel, and I'm sure those of you to whom this applies wish you had some of these branches already to go, right?

What I'm really trying to say is that a super quick craft like this one is the perfect thing to tackle right now, so lets get to it!

Simple Watercolor Feathers To Paint Today, For Lag B'Omer!

Tonight we welcome the festive holiday of Lag B'Omer, so why not carve out a tiny window of time to paint some watercolor feathers? It is true Lag B'Omer generally brings to mind images of bonfires and bows and arrows, but I'd say feathers, which are used to write the Torah, and certainly the Zohar, originally, are a perfect symbol as well! Plus, feathers are just so fun to paint, and I ended up filling two pages in my watercolor journal with them, and can't wait to paint more, next time in a mix of rainbow colors or pastels, we'll just have to wait and see! If I had the time I'd paint some of these on watercolor paper and cut them out to hang anywhere, so lovely! Wishing everyone an amazing Lag B'Omer! Keep on reading for simple painting instructions!