creative jewish mom

Origami Horse Cake Toppers Are Cute As Can Be!

Ever seen a cake topper that is a horse dressed up as a unicorn? Me neither but it just seemed perfect for a four year old!

Right now I'm in the process of using up all the flour in the house as we prepare for Passover, and the first step for me is to bake challahs and a few deserts, and freeze everything we'll need for the next 2 shabbats, or more or less anyway, we can always, gasp, buy any challah we need for the shabbat before Passover! Since cake is the topic in my kitchen right now, I thought I'd share wtih you these fun origami horse cake toppers that I used for a birthday cake this past shabbat, and together with sprinkles, and large white gumdrops, a fun cake was born! Ah yes, and around the bottom of the cake I took colorful cupcake liners, folded them in half and placed them like petals, which gave the bundt cake a lovely finished look, phew! So friends, as I always say, cute cake decorations can be easily made with paper and some glue, and this is one more example. You can of course use these horses as part of a dessert scene, or a merry-go-round or even place them around the bottom of the cake, get creative! Okay, shall we make some?

Watercolor Cut-Out Poppies Centerpiece For Passover!

I have pulled this one out of the archives, because there is no time like the present to get crafting for Passover, and this one is a keeper! And since the red native anemones are now in bloom in our meadows, this is timely! I know I've referred to them as poppies, as that is what most people know, and we do have red poppies as well, just in another month or so after the anemones finish their show!  One of the things I love about this craft is that you can simply disassemble the centerpiece when the holiday is over, and store the flowers, flat, for future use, they are always great to have on hand in a pinch! Enjoy!

I originally shared this for shavuos, but covered the shelves in my kitchen with paintings of these guys, so it feels like Passover to me, nonetheless, here is what I wrote then:
I am totally in love with the watercolor poppies in a pot centerpiece, well one-sided centerpiece really, and I have already made two more! This idea, is something that you can play around with depending on your own needs, and there are so many ways to go! I actually made a small one using a small round plastic peanut butter tub, which would make an adorable teacher appreciation gift or a token of appreciaion for a neighbor, for example. Then again, making larger pots of poppies really doesn't take that much more time, so go for it, as this burst of festive and artful color is a joyful addition anywhere or anytime! The Jewish holiday of Shavuos is on Thursday night, so we'll be enjoying all the watercolor poppies as we celebrate the giving of the Torah, and then they will likely be used as centerpieces for any number of occassions. I'll admit, I can't wait to try this idea out with other flowers, but with the holiday approaching, together with houseguests, that will just have to wait. Okay, lets make some of these pots of blooming flowers, shall we?

A Fun Origami Horse To Make In A Bunch Of Sizes!

While origami butterflies were truly the theme this Purim, I did sneak in a bunch of origami horses which I ended up using in the festive food baskets for friends and neighbors, called mishloach manot. And yes, I did dress my horses up a bit, but keeping that to myself for the moment as who knows maybe I will get around to those Jewish craft books afterall and I need some unpublished material! That said, this horse, while involving many folds is just adorable, and looks especially great when done using origami paper or wrapping paper or large sheets of craft paper that are color on one side and white on the other. Also, because of the many folds, using wrapping paper, namely a square made out of the whole width of the wrapping paper, results in quite a sturdy horse, so use what you have on hand! While I was thinking that the horse is a great symbol for Passover, as it does represent freedom, the horses mentioned in the Passover story did not survive the crossing of Red Sea together with the Egyptians, so never mind that, horses can just be a fun party decor theme anytime and would be great cake toppers as well. So enjoy! Okay, lets get folding.....

Butterfly Tree Wall Decor For Every Occasion!

Purim starts tonight everywhere in the world except Jerusalem, so wishing everyone a Purim Sameach! There is still time for a bit of crafting, and when you make hundreds of origami butterflies for a community Purim party, you have to use at least some of them to add festive touches to your own home right? So what better place than on the olive branch succah decoration that hangs in my kitchen, except during Succos, when it is is the succah! I love the combo of the metallic leaves with the pastel blue and lavender origami butterflies and this would be a great DIY project for just about any occassion, and then you can use it as wall decor, in your kitchen, or maybe in a child's room? So next time you see a dead tree branch that is a nice shape, or even looks like a tree in itself, don't pass it up, as it can be a wonderful and relatively quick DIY project that might just be the star of the party!

Origami Butterfly Table Decor Craft

Purim is coming Monday night, and while I can still opt to hang decorations that I made for the community party, things are looking quite festive as is, and the butterfly theme is turning out to be so much fun! This origami table decor craft is something that could be used as a table number for an occasion, or as an element in a mix of things on a tree trunk slice, (if you know what I'm talking about) though in my house it is looking great on the side board as part of a larger assemblage of decorations. Of course this is just inspiration for all the ways that you can use origami butterflies to make fun party decor, or even kids or baby room decor! Think vases full of origami butterflies simply glued to long sticks, or even just clipped as I did here to the stick with a clothespin. Get creative and have fun with this one!

Origami Butterfly Party Decor

 

 

Purim is coming up next week which means it is time to invest in some joyful decorations, right? I'll admit, you don't need to spend hours and hours making hundreds of origami butterflies as I did, even just 30 or so, made in an hour (once you get the hang of it) would look fantastic taped to a wall somewhere, or to your dining room light fixture? I've got plastic bag pom poms hanging from mine right now, but would hang some butterflies too possibly, maybe for another holiday? Why butterflies for Purim you may ask? Well, not sure really, but in Hebrew butterfly is parpar, so you can say its a parpar Purim, or parpurim, just to explain it to those who can't understand why you'd want a huge number of fun butterflies! Ah yes, and this photo was taken in the school cafeteria where I decorated the space for butterflies, and still wondering why I didn't take a moment to straighten that chair, but so it goes!

Fun Origami Butterflies With Pipe Cleaner Antennae For Every Party

So it turns out friends, that folding origami butterflies is something that one can do for days.......well that is what happened here at CJM headquarters this week, and I did it all by myself, so it can be done, though get a few folks to do it with you! I made hundreds of origami butterflies, some with pipe cleaner antennae, in a few sizes, for our annual women's Purim party, and phew, the butterfly theme flew! Not so happy about the disaster in my house post party, just from all the crafting that went on, not the actual party, but at least I now have a bunch of Purim decorations for my own home, and most of them can be used again next year, nothing like being ready a year plus ahead! I will share with you most of the decorations once I hang them again in my house, but for starters, just a bunch of origami butterflies with mettalic pipe cleaner antennae look fabulous hung as a garland, and just clip them up with wooden clothes pins and the clothes pin looks like the body, fabulous! Okay, lets get crafting!

The 2 Minute Origami Butterfly To Make Right Now!

Purim is the next Jewish holiday on the calendar, and a festive one at that, so now is the time to get crafting! Our Women's community Purim party is scheduled for next week and since the decorations are always on me, I simply must make the time. Somehow taking the cardboard castles down from the attic just isn't so appealing, and suddenly the idea of butterflies galore came to me, and so it will be! I'm thinking like a ton of origami butterflies from tiny to giant, and maybe some colorful fluffy clouds, and that is it! Of course things could change, but for now, the folding marathon has begun, and this butterfly, can be folded in 2 minutes if all goes well, I timed it! Yes, I do plan on adding wire attenae with tiny pom poms on some of them, and I may add some paint pen details, but for now loving them as is! The origami butterflies make great cupcake or cake toppers, or even fun gift tags, so they are great to have on hand. And I've recently realized that small origami projects are great for car trips, so keep that in mind as well! Want to get folding? Let's do it.........

Origami Apples Craft

Origami is one of my favorite crafts, whether actual traditional size, or giant size which I generally go for, so with the Jewish holiday of Tu B'Shevat and all things fruit coming up in a few weeks, I thought I'd get started by trying out some origami apples that I've yet to tackle! The charming thing about these apples is that while one sided they are dimensional, and stand up on the page, unless you force them to be flat with glue, but why do that? Use them on a garland or wall hanging of some kind, and while you won't want to show off the back, it is nice that they have dimension!

Add some details with a paint pen, or not, and enjoy! No go make a bushel, here's how......

Chanukah Menorah Craft Using 3D Paper Stars

And at the very last minute just before lighting the 8th candle, I came up with this paper chanukah menorah craft using my favorite little 3D paper stars that I have been obsessively folding this chanukah.....because one you start, seeing them fill a jar or wine glass is so very satisfying! And then you can use them anytime you need a bit of color, which I've done at the base of a centerpiece this Chanukah, and at the base of a decorative chanukiah......and then of course you can get out the glue and also make a fun piece of wall decor, or get out the needle and thread and string them all together (I may try this next year.) What ever your fancy, folding tiny paper stars is a great winter activity for the whole family, 10 years and up (or so) and great to take on trips as well. And I just realized that with Tu B'Shevat coming up, well we can use these tiny stars to craft for that as well! Okay, lets get started!