creative jewish mom

Simple Origami Birds For Kids

Yippee, I at long last was able to catch a few kids and get them to sit down and learn to fold some simple origami birds, just in time to hang some around our house for this shabbat, which is called "shabbat shira" and in which we give thanks to the birds for some help they gave us, the Jewish people, more than a few years back when we were living in the dessert after our deliverance from Egypt!

Fingernail Polish Craft Failure!

I've been wanting to try crafting with finger nail polish for months, and after picking up some bottles at the dollar store, we were all set to go at long last. Unfortunately however, things didn't go quite as we had expected them to go......which also happens to every crafter, and is certainly a possibility any time one tries something new!

I had shown my daughter a really great little fingernail polish marbelizing DIY on You Tube, and it looked so simple! So when we dropped drops of the polish into a cup filled with filtered water we were quite surprised that the polish didn't spread as it did in the video and seemed to dry too quickly to create the marbled effects with a toothpick. Oh dear. Now what?

I really don't use fingernail polish, so I didn't know whether we could add acetone to the bottles to make the polish a little runnier, in any case, I just used up my acetone to clean some contact paper residue off my tile walls outside, sigh. 

We dipped a few rocks into the cups to catch the polish designs, and also realized that it only works on very smooth rocks, not on anything with rough texture. So much for this little project, that also happens to be very toxic, and maybe not worth it for health reasons! Do people really breathe all those fumes every time they paint their nails? Worse than airplane glue!

There is however a happy end to the story, which is that I did come up with a little craft project using nail polish, with great results, and I'll be sharing that with you soon! 

Crocheted Hearts Wall Hanging On A Limb!

How about making a crocheted hearts wall hanging to remind someone that you love them? I made this crocheted hearts and leaves wall hanging using a real branch, to hang over my daughter's bed. Our drill is broken, so the wall hanging has been hanging out in the hall outside her bedroom, for the whole family to enjoy! Ahem.

Melted Crayon Art On Rocks

Here's a great little craft activity that my kids loved — drawing with crayons on hot rocks! Yes, not recommended for little ones, but so much fun! I had my kids hold a crayon in one hand and  a spoon in the other so that they'd use the spoon for turning the rock if necessary!

It's not so simple to draw anything complicated on small rocks that we had, so I'd recommend using the biggest rocks you can find and creating some really special works of art!

You'll Need:

• rocks, with at least one flat surface preferably
• crayons
• an oven or possibly some strong hot summer sun

How To:

Heat up your rocks in an oven set to say 350F or 200C. Carefully remove the hot rocks from the oven and place them in a tray of some kind that was not in the oven, at least the tray won't be hot and dangerous for the little ones! You do want the rocks to be good and hot so they'll stay hot, and an oven does the job well, but if you work quickly stones heated in the hot mid-day sun could work well too. (Let me know if you try it!) Draw simple designs on the rocks with the crayons, and enjoy, it's really so much !

Thanks so much to The Artful Parent for this great idea, which Jean posted about here.

Paper Mosaic With Rose Petal Tinted Paper

 

What is paper mosaic with rose petal tinted paper you ask? Well, of course, the paper mosaic part is clear, but what is rose petal tinted paper? I really couldn't think of any other name for paper that is tinted by coloring with rose petals! How do you color with rose petals? You quite simply drag a small stack of them across the paper while applying pressure in order to transfer their pigment to the paper. And the green squares? Why of course, those were made by "coloring" with rose leaves. I did try some other flowers, but none resulted in the deep color that the red rose leaves on the paper. And the other surprise was, that after I cut my paper into little squares I realized that it actually resembles glass mosaic tile, a fun coincidence.

And so now my friends, I don't know about you, but I will never throw a tired red rose in the garbage until I've transferred it's pigment to some paper! Make sure to "color" with the top side of the petal touching the paper and have fun. 

Vacation Crafts- Nature Crafts With Rosebuds

Here's another super simple vacation or any time craft, courtesy of my eight year old daughter! I'll have to admit, I was eyeing the plate of rose petals that my mother had put aside to add to her "organic" recycling bin, as they were just so lovely. And sure enough, when I got up the next morning, my daughter had already figured out that with just a stapler and some rose petals and leaves, one can make some beautiful artful roses! So my friends, add a stapler and some staples to your traveling craft kit and let the kids go to town stapling leaves and petals, either to paper or just to themselves, and sit back and watch what they come up with! And on the afternoon just before the holiday of Shavuos when many children love to decorate the house with leaves and flowers collected in nearby fields (if you are fortunate to have some....) well, a stapler might just come in handy this year!

Vacation Crafts: Paper Lunch Bag Bird's Nests

Lunch bag bird's nests with modeling clay eggs are really fantastic and a great project to do on the road, since there's minimal mess and the supplies are certainly simple. I was so inspired by this original idea by Camilla over at family chic that I sat down with my kids just as soon as I spied some brown lunch bags taking up cabinet space at my mother's house. To make the project just a bit more interesting for the kids, I came up with the idea of making modeling clay eggs for our paper bag bird's nests and I just love the results.

My five year old had a great time filling his paper bag nest to the brim with eggs, while my eight year old daughter added a sweet modeling clay chic to her lunch bag nest. Gotta love the little worm she added too!

 
While I recommend following the link above for the tutorial, do note that for modeling clay eggs, which are probably much smaller than the plastic ones used in the tutorial, you should cut the bag down at a point just above the bottom crease, or your nests will be too big. And, do save the part of the bag that you cut off, because tomorrow I'll be posting a project that will use those leftovers!

 

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Make A Migrating Birds Mobile!

This shabbat we had the great joy of witnessing flocks of migrating cranes flying over our house in Northern Israel. It is a sight that is so exciting and exhilarating, because the cranes fly fairly low and meander on their way, giving one time to observe them. We all ran to the window and the kids ran outside to get a closer look. These cranes are migrating from their winter in Africa, to their homes in Northern Europe where they'll build nests and lay eggs once they arrive. Wow!

I remembered the mobile I took a photo of at the Hula Lake Preserve, (which is a resting point for these birds on their trip home) and I thought it was such a wonderful idea to share with you— a migrating birds mobile! It could be a beautiful made from cut paper silhouettes, or done as a sweet children's craft project.

I'm sorry, but I won't be making one any time soon as I've got about 50 people coming for a Purim meal on Sunday, (with countless more dropping by for the festivities) kid's costumes to finish, mishloach manot to make for teachers and neighbors, challah rolls and whole wheat pitas to bake, a few baby sweaters to finish, non-blog crafting work, and a major role in planning an upcoming family engagement party and wedding. I'm grateful to have my plate (actually serving platter) overflowing with wonderful things. And now I must go tackle some of those things on my list, so enjoy your week and take it one step at a time!

Colorful Eggs From Paper Pulp For Spring Crafting!

Spring is just around the corner, so now is a perfect time to make eggs and bird's nests! You're right, I didn't make a nest, since these eggs look so lovely in the glass bowl, but maybe you'd like to? And honestly, we're in the middle of some Purim projects that we really need to finish so that I can clean off the dining room table! (I'll give you a hint, it involves paper mache.....) Then again, if the weather dries up a bit I may just take the kids on a nature walk and collect some little sticks to make nests. Sounds like a great activity to me, though I think we may just have to make some birds too! (And I've been wanting to make birds for months so maybe the Purim crafting can wait?)

You'll Need:

• styrofoam or plastic eggs
• paper pulp made from your crafting scraps
• instructions, from my previous paper pulp project, found here
• or, simply decoupage the eggs with small bits of torn paper for a simpler project that would be more suited to younger children

And by the way, if you can find the plastic eggs that open up to hold treats, wouldn't it be great to fill an egg carton with a bunch of those for Purim? And how about getting the kids to dress up as chickens? And you could be the farmer's wife? Your family will definitely be the life of the party, don't you think?

 

Rock Painting Craft That's Actually Doodling On Rocks. Fun!

Here's a rock "painting" craft that doesn't involve painting. It's really just doodling on rocks. And as you can see, I had a great time doing this craft with my five year old. Though as it turned out, I loved it more than he did as you can see by comparing the quantity of rocks that were produced by each of us! But hey, moms need some impromptu creative time too! And looking at these rocks just makes me happy.

Our stones were collected on the beach nearly a year ago, and I came across them in my daughter's stash while actually looking for something else! And thus this project was born. If the weather isn't exactly conducive to rock collecting in your area, so rocks like these can usually be purchased at home center type places or gardening stores. All you need are some paint pens, (I used Sharpie brand) rocks, and some acrylic varnish, spray or brush on if you'd like to preserve your art or use these outdoors. Wouldn't they make super cute place cards which the guests could take home, or a nice birthday party activity?

And just by the way, if you know my crafting style at all, you know I would never send you to the store to buy something unless of course it's absolutely great. And let me tell you, these paint pens are great. Can't wait to doodle on something else! Oh and yes, the pens are permanent ink, but it's worth taking the chance for kids who are old enough to draw, just protect clothing and work surfaces and do the craft together.