creative jewish mom

Recycled Cereal Box Gift Bag

It has been quite a while since I made gift bags from cereal boxes, but somehow after all the crafting I did this year for Tu B'Shevat and then Purim, it just seemed natural to go with the flow! So this year, rather than giving neighbors a nice selection of Morocan salads for our Mishloach Manot on Purim, I actually gave much less in the food department and more in the creativity department, including a large origami horse, which was the star of the show. I will share smaller versions of this horse shortly, but keeping him out of the public eye for the time being, because who knows, maybe just maybe that book of mine will happen and I'll need some projects that were never seen.......or maybe next year I'll be less into the crafts and will need something to share for Purim? Who knows the main thing is to fill life with creativity and bring joy to others! Okay, back to the idea of using a cereal box to make, in this case, two gift bags which are just great looking and all around wonderful in my book. Lets make some!

Plastic Bag Pom Pom Fruit Craft

I've been wanting to make fruit from plastic bag pom poms for a few good years now, and it finally happened, and I just love them. Now if only I had plastic bags in orange and yellow, well things would be even more festive. Plastic bag pom pom fruit can be great hung as a mobile in a child's room, used as party decor for a fruit themed party, or of course made to celebreate Tu B'Shevat, the Jewish new year for fruit bearing trees, which is why I made these! Right now I have plastic bag pom poms hanging over my dining room table, and while I had planned to add these to the mix it was looking a little bit too much like a child's room, so I've been displaying them elsewhere. That said they truly are adorable, and certainly something one can keep on hand to pull out in a pinch, I think they'd make great cake toppers as well. And come to think of it, how about making an adorable DIY baby mobile and gift it together with any number of popular baby items. Okay, lets make some plastic bag pom pom fruit, because truly the posibilties are endless!

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......

Embroidered Apple On Cardboard Rosh HaShana Card Craft

I followed my own advice about making some cross stitch apple crafts (check out my first cross stitch apple craft here) for Rosh Hashana, and last night in the wee hours of the morning I made my son a birthday card featuring a slightly different cross stitch apple, and this time on cereal box cardboard. I'm happy with the results and wish I had time to do some more icons for Rosh HaShana, hmmm, maybe I do have the time? You'll be the first to see the results if I do, but in the mean time, think about how you can take this idea and use it for your upcoming celebration, whether it be a Fall birthday, a teacher appreciation gift, or, Rosh HaShana of course, coming up this Sunday night! Ah yes, and traditionally, the Jewish new year is the time to give cards, so if you need a special one, this could be perfect! Okay, time is of the essence, lets learn how I made this!

DIY Painted Paper Gerbera Centerpiece

There is nothing quite as lovely as painted paper flowers used as holiday decor, or really anytime! I am so thrilled to have these flowers on my sideboard right now!  They are so cheerful and never fade, and can be easily saved in a box to pull out for any occassion! And I had to laugh, that the wires that I've saved from real gerbera flowers (that honestly as so annoying as they don't last very long...) are perfect for this craft. And that I actually knew where they were, a small miracle! If you have not saved the wires from the gerbera (who would do that?) so just use some green floral wire or tape skewers to the back for support. Or if you use very heavy watercolor paper you may not need any extra support. I also happened to have these 3 narrow and tall glass vases on hand, which were perfect for this, so do play around with a variety of vessels, to see what works. Okay, keep on reading for a few more tips.

DIY Cardboard Cactus With Blooms!

With the Jewish holiday of Shavuot coming this Saturday night, now is the time to decorate the house with flowers and greenery, so why not make some cardboard or paper versions that you can then use again, or that keep looking great? My cardboard cactus with blooms is quite quick to make, and of course while I made just a few branches of zygocactus, you can opt to make a much larger plant. If you have a small plant of any kind, namely a real one, sticking your cardboard plant into that pot can look quite good, as the real plant fills out the background. Okay, time is of the essence, lets get started!

DIY Paper Vase Makes A Great Centerpiece!

I originally posted this just before Passover two years ago, and am sharing it again, because it will be moved from my kitchen to the dining room for use as decor for the upcoming Jewish holiday of Shavuot! A vase like this can of course be stored flat and is wonderful to have on hand, so give it a try, even if you use colored card stock, with our without a bit of collage! Here is what I wrote back then.....

When it comes to making a DIY paper vase, there are literally so many ways to go, though for me, the idea of using not successful artwork is a lightbulb moment that happened one evening. I was going to use an abstract pattern to create a vase, and in the same pile as that absract pattern was this sweet landscape that I liked, but didn't love. As a vase however, it is fabulous! And friends, when you are in the groove of making lots of art, a way to use up anything you wouldn't want to see on someone else's wall is like gold! Even when painting on paper the pile starts to get out of control, so pick the ones you aren't loving and then make a wonderful artful vase! While I wouldn't want to give someone my mediocre painting, i would give them my mediocre painting turned into a vase, because it is just so charming! Okay, want to see the painting before I cut it up? Keep on reading......

A Painted Floral Bouquet For The Front Door!

Dusting this one off, and literally taking this out of the door to use for this year's holiday decor, and sharing with you once again, because there is still time to make one of these, and yes, have it on hand for years to come!

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?

Painted Paper Apple Collage

How about an artful apple collage to celebrate fall, or maybe you need some fun kitchen art? Apple collages could also make great cards for Rosh HaShana, the Jewish New Year, or even fun place cards or gift tags. Keep it simple, and the results will be great! When collage is made using painted paper, and the collage pieces are well adhered, it almost looks like a painting, which is so amazing!

Collage using painted paper, and specifically painted tissue paper was made famous by the children's book author Eric Carle, who unfortunately passed away recently. I made this painted paper apple collage based on a class taught by the amazing Este Macleod, called Colour Collage 1 (which is not currently available), though you can certainly visit the hashtag #colourcollage1 on instagram to see all the student work.

I can not explain the process based on how Este taught it, but I can explain the process based on Eric Carle's technique, which is similar. Eric Carle, used painted tissue paper collage exclusively to illustrate his world renowned children's books and in fact kept huge flat files full of painted tissue paper sorted according to color! Okay dear readers, as you can likely imagine given the wide variety of projects on this blog, I could never limit myself to one technique, so I always find it quite interesting that artists are able to do the same thing for years on end! Lesson learned? Keep doing the same thing over and over to be successful at it? Hmmm, I do plan to try this same technique with some pomegranites, so that is a start? Okay, let's get to work!

Soda Bottle Treat Box Shaped Like An Apple!

As  you may know one of my great creative joys is coming up with fun craft projects that use recyclables. I have been know to hoard plastic bottles, tp rolls, techina containers, and milk cartons, for starters, all in the name of making just for example, treat boxes, party decorations, centerpieces and even planters. With Rosh HaShana right around the corner in another week and a half, now is a great time to think about sweet treats (healthy or not so healthy, your choice) to usher in a sweet new year! Of course, if you have a birthday, or would like to give a teacher appreciation gift, this soda bottla apple treat box is perfect and truly easy to whip up, even in numbers. Of course, you'll have to have the necessary number of plastic bottles on hand, but if you are short, pop on over, I likely have some extra! If you would like some additional ideas for making party favors, gift containers or baskets from soda bottles, hop on over to my soda bottle recycling crafts category.