creative jewish mom

Apple Cake Cards For Rosh HaShana, Or Someone's Birthday, Or Both?

One of my sweet sons has a 17th birthday tomorrow, just two days shy of Rosh HaShana, and this year, unlike previous years when the men and boys travel out of town for the holiday leaving us women to bask in the freedom of just being women, ahhhh, but never mind, that is not happening this year, or so it seems, which means that for the first time in about ten years I have the chance to make a proper birthday party for my son on his actual birthday! Not all the family will have arrived back home from their various schools, but at least I can decorate!

Just in time for my birthday decor needs, my friend Amanda Evanston posted a video on her Facebook page showing how to make some artful cakes, in preparation for the opening of her private Facebook group, (to let in another batch of members, which only happens twice a year) so check out the video here, and consider treating yourself to a membership in her Insider's Group, totally amazing, and the biggest comitment you'll need to make is for a month, so given all the videos now available there, nothing lost. This is not a paid post, just spreading good news about something that could really change your art game, if you are up for it!

Okay, back to Rosh HaShana apple cake and birthday cake, which could in fact be one and the same as Rosh HaShana is the world's birthday, at least on the Jewish calendar, but available for all to celebrate, so feel free to join in! There will be honey cake and apples dipped in honey and dates and pomegranites and carrots and beets and pumpkin and leek and maybe even a fish head if you are lucky. (I just mentioned the symbolic foods we eat on the holiday.....we also eat several course festive meals and everyone listens to the blowing of the shofar, this year on Sunday only.)

Once again, I am going off on a tangent and you might like to paint some festive apples or a birthday cake, right? Okay, let's do it........

Festive Painted Apples For Rosh HaShana

Let the Rosh HaShana crafting take over your dining room table, because what a great way to end the Jewish year! And with just a bit of forethought, whatever you make now can be used as decorations in the Succah (coming up 2 weeks after Rosh HaShana), or as little gifts or cards to wish neighbors, family and friends a sweet New Year! We are about to enter a three week lock down here in Israel, which means more time for family crafting, and hopefully a succah that is more creative than ever! But lest I digress, first let's celebrate Rosh HaShana and a family birthday Wednesday night, with lots of color and fun painted everything!

I have been going to town with painting a whole box full of styrofoam apples, and then doodling on them with a white paint pen, and at the moment those that are still in my house (I sent a basket full to loved ones for Rosh HaShana) are actually living in a glass fish bowl, which is a fun way to use a fish bowl if you have yet to make it a terrarium! Okay, lets talk about how to decorate your little painted apples, as there are so many options!

Now Is The Time To Get Crafting For Rosh HaShana!

Sometimes I feel like I might just be the only Jewish crafting coach in the world, and that dear readers is why I am posting some photos of what is going on right now on my kitchen table, namely to get you inspired to use this very last week of the Jewish year to engage in creativity, while at the same time making decorations for Rosh HaShana and Succot to boot! This last week of the year is a very introspective and important one, as we have the ability to make amends for things that didn't go quite as planned during the year, whether it be with relationships, mindset, reaching goals, setting proirities, making wise food choices, among the many aspects of life that we can control. So while you may wonder if creativity has a place, I say that it most certainly does, and especially if your home is lacking in creative activites......turn up the heat and get those creative gears turning, and while you are crafting, you can certainly fill your crafts with great intentions and talk to those you may be creating with about some of the things I've mentioned here. Or maybe it is just about spending time with some loved ones who many need just a little bit of extra attention this week? Or maybe it quite simply about your own well being and your need for creativity, which should never be shoved into the closet. Okay, enough said, less thinking and more doing, at least when it comes to crafts and creativity! Let's take a closer look at what is going on here at CJM headquarters! Wishing everyone a meaningful and productive last week of the year!

Abstract Watercolor Landscape Sketches With Pen

Last week I shared with you some very simple abstract watercolor sketches, check it out here, which are really lovely, and now I'm want to show you what to do when those sketches are not so successful! It is true you could just leave them alone, or paint over them entirely, but first, try defining some of the spaces with pen or colored pencil. I used a black waterproof pen and and white gel pen, but do experiment, as that is what a sketchbook is all about. After all my fears of messing up in my sketchbook, this week I entered a mind space where at long last I feel freer to experiment in my sketchbook, as first of all it is small and therefore makes more sense timewise, and ahhhhh, no one needs to know about it! Well of course no one except for you all, my dear readers. So, I really really do recommend trying to start a sketchbook practice, I am finding it to be so very rewarding and interesting, especially since this week I've moved into my landscape orientation watercolor paper sketchbook! Okay, have a look at the rest of the group, that were painted across two pages......

Watercolor Landscape Sketches Tiny And Abstract

I am dreaming of painting landscapes in my sketchbook, or not, on a regular basis, and yet something always seems to get in the way. It took me all summer long, but at long last I grabbed some watercolors and got to work on what should be some very quick and quite abstract landscape watercolor sketches. I have to say, I was quite pleased with the results......not professional use of the medium by any means, (and the watercolor palette I used is low quality and not dense pigment) but happy and still can't believe I actually painted these little studies. The funny thing is, after painting these I got overly confident and went for a full page, and......disaster, well not entirely, but I have to laugh and try to reclaim that innocence of the first attempt! At the very least a few more pages of this landscape orientation sketchbook have been filled, and am looking forward to filling some more, and then getting something whose first pages won't fall out, and thus need masking tape as you can see here. I am learning that the purpose of a sketchbook, whether for drawing or painting or both is to experiment and capture whatever is going on in your brain at that moment, without being overly concerned about the results. I am working on that one! I have a few tips for making little abstract landscape watercolors, so keep on reading......

Simple Cloud Cake Toppers Are Cute For Any Occasion!

I am rushing to post this cloud cake topper DIY as tonight is the beginning of the 9 day mournign period on the Jewish calendar, and we certainly won't be throwing any parties.That said I wanted to post this now as a message to all those who might be trying their hand at illustration or painting: save anything you do on heavy paper, you can cut it up and use it in a pinch! As I was trying to pull together a whole display of fun party decor for my daughter's 18th birthday, I spied a small pile of illustrations I'd made two plus years ago, and realized that the little gouche cloud illustration would be perfect to cut up and use on her cake, and phew, it came together really quickly with sweet as can be results. I also used some watercolor strawberry paintings we'd done together years ago, so really, save those art projects, they don't take up much space, and who knows, maybe you, like me, will be pressed for time and needing something to cut up and transformi into a cake topper! Actually come to think of it, if I hadn't already cut up the watercolor strawberry and used it in a centerpiece, that would have been a really adorable cake topper too! I think I may just repost that tutorial next. Okay, lets take a closer look at these cute cloud cake toppers that would be perfect for just about any occasion that warrants a cake and a message!

And I just realized that this could also be a post about how to make a quick cake stand, like the one you see here, so keep on reading for that!

5 Minute Paper Cake Toppers Using Your Old Art

Today is my daughter's 18th birthday, and so after 18 years of raising her and throwing birthday parties with lots of homemade decorations and cute DIY cakes I got it together rather at the last minute and pulled off a really cute birthday surprise complete with lots of recycling crafts that I can't wait to share. The thing is, tonight is the beginning of a very sad 9 day mourning period on the Jewish calendar, so while I'm posting the DIY birthday cake decorations today, I think the rest will have to wait until after T'isha B'av so that my blog reflects what is actually going on in our minds and hearts during this time. My daughter was fortunate to have been born on the last day of the month of Tammuz, when throwing a birthday party (without music) is still allowed, so phew for her!

Now, lets get down to business! I have always made paper cake toppers using illustrations and cut paper with skewers or toothpicks, so why stop now? My daughter is now the baker in the house, and while she thought of baking her own cake, she didn't have time, so I sent my son up to the bakery to buy one, so that I could spend my time on the decorations! Things were a bit pressed for time, and when I had completed everything, whoops, what about the cake? I almost thought of not decorating the cake, but banished that thought and instead whipped up some five minute cloud cake decorations using a gouche cloud illustration I had on hand from two years ago!

The lesson here is, don't throw away all those art experiments or practice sheets, you can always cut them up to make cake decorations! And boy was I happy at the moment I realized I could just cut out some of the painted clouds, write a few words on them and voila, a cute cake topper was born! Okay, lets take a look at the gouche art I used (or something similar, actually) and get to work!

Summer Camp Crafts: How To Make An Acrylic Pour Painting

Summer is here, which means whether or not summer camp is a part of your summer, you can still do messy, activity oriented crafts (outdoors?) that one might do in summer camp. Acrylic pour painting fits right into that category perfectly, so lets take a look at this trendy painting process.

If you are like me, you are slightly familiar with acrylic pour painting, but have not yet actually thought about trying it, as you've got so many other projects on your to-do list or a whole closet of craft supplies yet to be used? When I was asked to write an article about pour painting I was really excited to do the research and find out exactly how those dazzling multi-color paintings are made, and whether it would be something I'd consider trying. This article is a brief guide to help you determine whether indeed you'll spend the time and money to make some acrylic pour paintings or whether you'll pass. For a really great and in-depth article on acrylic pour paintings with how-to photos, and everything you need to know check out the post: Learn Everything About Acrylic Pouring. Just a guess, since I've discovered that one can actually make pour paintings with some inexpensive supplies, I think you'll be tempted to try, I know I am! Plus, one can do pour paintings on paper that has been coated with gesso, meaning you could even use those pour paintings as art journal backgrounds, or for something less precious than dictated by doing art on a canvas or wooden cradle board, not to mention that practicing on paper is a good idea. Ah yes, and since acrylic pour painting does not require any drawing or painting skills is it a fun craft/art activity that can be enjoyed by just about anyone over the age of around eight, so get a group together and enjoy! Okay, lets get into the specifics of acrylic pour painting.

Simple Watercolor Poppy Wall Art

After sharing a few posts last week showing the watercolor poppies I used to make holiday decorations I decided to hold off and publish this watercolor poppy wall art separately so that it wouldn't get lost in all the gorgeousness of the watercolor poppy cut outs and the watercolor poppies centerpiece! After making those watercolor poppy cut-outs with straight stems, I realized that I could paint a panorama (two sheets of large watercolor paper used horizontally) of curved stem poppies to fill the width of my kitchen picture ledge for some more lovely decor! And yes indeed, simply painting a long row of poppies with no added background looks quite good, and can be done fairly quickly. Best of all, flat art like this is certainly simple to store until you need to add a festive touch once again. Of course these poppies are so great looking you'll likely leave them up for a while! I have 3 picture ledges in my kitchen that are used to display art generally, and I love to change them up, so these poppies have been a nice addition, and quite a bit more calming than my flower paintings hung clothesline style! The great thing about watercolor paper is that I was able to simply stand the sheets on the shelf, and with just a bit of masking tape to secure them, voila, lovely art was born. Okay, I did have to paint the poppies first, but that was pure joy! Want to make some painted poppies to decorate a spot in your home? Let's do it!

Ink Blob Figures Creative Exercise For Any Age

With the never-ending school vacation possibly coming to an end within a few weeks here in Northern Israel, I am reminded that now is the time to seize the precious moments with my teens and try to fit in a few more creative activities! We actually created these fun and creative ink blob exercises, (which is a similar exercise to the paint blob pictures here) courtesy of a free video from Carla Sonheim, before Passover, but only now had the time to photograph them. They are truly a perfect example of a creative activity that can be done relatively quickly, or not, and the results can be used in many ways. We did our activity on brown paper bags, because that is the brown paper I had on hand, and now I'm thinking it would be great to use them for a collage project, or a collage project in a journal. Or, how about, as I'd originally planned, making a poster using all the results from various family members? Certainly a memorable piece of art to treasure in years to come! Though truthfully this ink blob exercise is best done with no plans whatsoever, just enjoy the creative process and let that lead you down the wonderful road of creativity! Okay, lets do it!