creative jewish mom

DIY Stand-Up Cardboard Polar Bear Centerpiece

Looking for a fun winter-themed centerpiece to whip up for an upcoming birthday party or winter themed celebration? Give this DIY cardboard stand-up polar bear a try, and you'll put smiles on every face! Of course, you can make this polar bear any size that suits your table, but if you go big, well that certainly fills more space and makes more of a statement— more bang for the buck if you will! While you can certainly make a whole family of polar bears in different sizes, which could be just adorable, you can also choose to make some cardboard huskies, which is also super adorable and a great contrast is size: namely little dog meets huge polar bear! Both of these animals are courtesy of Mr. Printables, and I've been wanting to make them for years. Fortunately I at last found an excuse: our winter/snow themed Chanukah birthday party, yippee! Keep on reading for some tips and more photos.

DIY Stand-Up Cardboard Huskies For Your Winter Table

At long last I have finally found the time to share with you one of the favorite crafts I made for our family Chanukah birthday party: stand-up cardboard huskies, courtesy of Mr. Printables! And at the birthday party when the huskies made their debut, they were actually pulling the birthday cake! Yes, that birthday cake with the sparkly red flags that I shared a while back. (Note to self and everyone else: try to have everything ready the day before, even the cake, so you'll have time to photograph it all nicely!) Now it is too late to photograph the huskies pulling the cake and I do have a photo that is nice enough for the family photo album, but not quite nice enough for this blog. So maybe I'll just have to do it again next year? The good news is that these adorable recycled cardboard box huskies come apart and can be stored flat, so saving them is certainly a must, and they truly are adorable, so we may just have to use them through out the year as well! Okay, lets take a closer look and learn how to make them!

DIY Glitter Snowflakes From Upcycled Plastic Baskets

There is something just irresistable about glitter and I have to say it has been way too long since I've ventured into the glitter department, and now I can't wait to use up the rest of the bags waiting in that plastic bin labeled glitter! For my first glitter project of the season I choose to make glitter snowflakes using the plastic berry basket snowflakes that were patiently awaiting their fate for a good few weeks, and the results are truly wonderful. Yes, it is true, glitter does make a bit of mess, but I think it is a good thing as long as the glitter stays out of your food, so do avoid placing glitter covered crafts on near your table of food preparation area. Other than that, go to town, and maybe you'll decide to make some of these gorgeous snowflakes for starters?

Recycled Berry Basket Snowflakes!

Okay dear readers, let the Chanukah crafting begin! Due to my computer still not back home from the repair shop, I've been crafting like I used to, and wow, it is so rewarding to come up with all kinds of ideas, some of which actually make it to the finish line, and others, well......Making snowflakes from the bottom of plastic berry baskets is not my idea, I found an unattributed photo somewhere, but I realised yesterday that this is basically an eco-conscious way of making snowflakes from plastic canvas, which is totally a "thing." Plastic canvas snowflakes are often embroidered, which one could also do with these berry basket snowflakes, and I believe they are also covered in glitter at times, which I will share with you soon!

Now that I've realised that the bottom of the berry basket is like plastic canvas (though with cross bars that do limit the design) the gears are turning! Or maybe I need to get out the plastic canvas once again and use it all up? Check out my plastic canvas Chanukah star ornaments, my plastic canvas Hanukah menorah, and my plastic canvas dreidels, if you are in the mood for some embroidery. Then again rather than buy supplies, use recyclable to create fun decorations for your home, it feels great! Okay, lets make some plastic basket snowflakes, shall we?

Accordian Folded Paper Leaves

With Rosh HaShana now under our belts, it is time to think about Succah decorations, and this year I think I'm going to make  a large number of accordion folded paper leaves for some artful vines to cover the Succah walls. Well that is one of my plans at the moment, but don't hold your breath as that could change between now and the time that I actually start the heavy duty crafting! Nonetheless, these golden leaves are simple to make, and can be made any size you desire (meaning large, folks!) and have a very sculptural modern look to them. I'm dreaming of lots of vines running up the walls of my Succah using these paper folded leaves and wire or possibly rope as the stem. Hmmmm, hot glueing the leaves to rope is a possibility, and if the rope happens to be more like wire, that would be perfect. But first things first, lets learn how to make these leaves!

No-Sew Fleece Doll Blanket Craft For Kids And Adults

Ta-da, I took the box with all my fleece scraps down from the attic, and quickly whipped up this adorable no-sew fleece doll blanket as a gift for a beloved three year old, to keep her baby dolls warm. The great thing about fleece is that it doesn't unravel, so like felt it is the perfect fabric for no-sew crafts. It is true, there are many qualities of fleece out there, but for projects like this one, why not just use that $2 fleece blanket from the dollar store, and use the rest to make some wraps, scarves, or even a full size baby blanket? In this case the polka dot fleece is very thin, and the red fleece is much thicker, so the two layers makes a nice blanket, and just as cute as can be, right? This project is great for kids, with assistance, or without for those say ten and up, as perfection is not required for great results. Let's get crafting, shall we?

DIY Striped Candles Are The Perfect Summer Craft!

Remember making candles at summer camp? I sure do, especially the ones we made at the beach in milk cartons! Candle making can be on the messy side, but is a perfect craft to do especially when you have a few hours on a lazy summer afternoon, and a bunch of kids (or kids at heart) in need of some creative fun! The candles you see here were actually made by some of my students in a candle making workshop for which I was the substitute teacher. Unfortunately I did not have the time to take photos of all the projects as my students stayed for two hours rather than one, and then needed to hurry off to their bus, so be it! Now I'm hoping to find some time to make some striped candles myself. I'm thinking that a remake of my remember Jerusalem sand jars would be perfect with striped candles, just in time for the Three Weeks.

Ah yes, and best of all, making candles has never been simpler, so lets get started!

Orange Pomanders: The Perfect Family Craft Activity For Tu B'Shevat

It has been eight years (gasp) since I actually made these great looking orange and cloves pomanders, but they are still looking good, so I figured I'd dust off this project and share it with you again. i have come to realize that bringing things out of the archives to see the light of day isn't such a bad idea, especially since most people don't go fishing around in there!

You may not have time to actually make some of these pomanders before ushering the Jewish holiday of Tu B'Shevat tomorrow night, but they would be a great craft activity to do on the holiday itself. I have come up with a great way to make these so that even those who aren't so crafty can succeed.....and of course the fragrance that goes with this activity is just lovely, so go for it!

Bird Feeder Recycling Crafts For Feeding The Birds On Shabbat Shira!

Whoops, it is a good thing that my daugher reminded me that this Shabbat is "Shabbat Shira" in which we celebrate the birds! While for many, this special shabbat is only acknowledged when reading the weekly Torah portion on Shabbat morning, most young school kids certainly do something in school tp bring home for shabbat, which reminds the parents! With no young school kids n the house, well, you'll forgive me for almost omitting to post about this special day, right? Crafts, or no crafts, we of course always remember to put out food for the birds before shabbat, though this year may have to be an intention rather than an action as it is pouring rain right now, with more to come, fortunately!

Of course, my archives are busting at the seams with crafts for all jewish holidays, and i've just added a new category called Holiday: Shabbat Shira, so you can certainly check that out. Since you are here, keep on reading for my little roundup of great bird feeder recycling crafts, mine and a few from around the web.

Crocheted Hearts Wall Hanging From The Archives

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 in my daughter's room four yeas ago, and while it did sag just a bit towards the end of its run, all in all it was a huge success. Now we are in the process of redecorating my daughter's room, so the wall hanging has come down, but it is still such a wonderful project that I thought I'd share it with you again!

I did spend some time working up some more of these cherry blossom popcorn stitch hearts in new colors, (check them out here, with an additional row too) and I may just remake the wall hanging using those, we'll just have to see how it goes! I've also developed a few crocheted leaves inspired by this one, so stay tuned for that as well, and let me know if you give this project a try!