creative jewish mom

DIY Macrame Plant Hanger Inspiration

While I do like macrame, macrame plant hangers never really inspired me until I saw this photo showing a grouping of macrame hangers hung from a large branch, and wow, I just LOVE it! And friends, macrame plant hangers are really quite simple and you can easily find a nice selection of DIY plant hanger instructions online, just make sure to have the right string/rope on hand! Macrame plant hangers would also be a great project to do with a group of kids or adults, and the simplest of patterns can be done in just an hour or even less. So give it some thought, and take a look at a few of the other photos I've gathered to inspire you, and myself as well!

Plastic Bottle Gift Basket With Plastic Bag Yarn!

I have to say, this is truly a fabulous craft, whether you use plastic bag yarn, or regular yarn, with results that are perfect for Purim gift giving or anytime. I think I need to make some! I am reposting this from a few good years back, enjoy!

I am so excited to share with you this recycled craft that is made entirely of recycled materials, with the exception of hot glue! Let me introduce a fun craft project for all ages: woven plastic bottle baskets using plastic bags. These little baskets are perfect for Purim or any of your spring celebrations, and so much fun to make! I used 1.5 liter soda bottles as that is what we have on hand, but certainly one can make much larger baskets using much larger bottles. So gather up those plastic bags, and those recycled bottles and lets get started! Oh, and just by the way, I also made some 'grass" by cutting up plastic bags into tiny pieces!

Quick Crocheted Kid's Gift: An Adorable Tiny Cat Bed

As it turns out, when my son got married I gained a new adorable 4 year old in my life, who is the brother of the bride, and just as cute as can be. He loves all things white, and even requested a white cat, which I happened to have, but of course I just had to crochet another little pet bed for this cat, and the gift made him so very very happy. Apparently he keeps the little cat in its bed, next to his bed, and as of last night when I saw him (the child, not the cat) we finalized a name for the cat, which is Tuli, because she is a chatula, cat, in Hebrew. So dear friends, a combo gift like this one can bring so much joy and is truly so very simple to make, whether you go very small like this one, or bigger to accomodate a larger stuffed animal. Now i just have to figure out what else I can make for this tiny cat.......hmmmm, maybe an amigurumi tiny cat to keep him company? Keep on reading for a link to the basic instructions!

Simple DIY Polka Dot Candles For Chanukah Or Anytime!

Looking for a simple way to brighten up your Chanukah menorah? How about using DIY polka dot candles which are simple to make and so much fun! I'll admit, I'm using these candles for holiday decor to show off this lovely vintage chanukah menorah but you can certainly make candles like these to burn for chanukah, place in candlesticks for decor, or make as centerpieces for a festive party of any kind. Candles with tiny painted flowers and other designs are now popular, so why not make your own? It is truly simple and you'll only need one particular art supply item, can you guess what it is? Keep on reading.......and wishing you a light filled Chanukah and year to come! Happy crafting and don't forget that creativity is a great answer to everything!

Giant Origami Apples Rosh HaShana Craft

I am reposting this giant origami apples tutorial because it is just to wonderful not to share again. Make apples to enjoy for Rosh HaShana and use as succah decorations as well! So simple and while you are at it, make a whole giant bushel full!

Origami apples are so simple to make and are the perfect craft to whip up right now! Fill a basket with them to use as a centerpiece, use them as place cards, hang them mobile style or make a bunch and scatter them around the house. (Or save this idea and gift a whole basket full to your teacher!) The best part is they look great everywhere and any where, and would make cute little Rosh HaShana gifts as well. Attach a tag that is a card and you'll surely warm the hearts of all your recipients! I used these very apples as apple centerpieces for a Rosh Chodesh party, and then a neighbor borrowed them as centerpieces for a Brit, and depending on the colors you choose they can look elegant or playful, or both. So take my advice and get crafting dear friends, the Jewish New year is in less than 3 weeks, with Succos to follow so a barrel of origami apples will serve you well, promise! And yes, you can of course make these in a smaller size and in a variety of colors to represent a wide range of fruit, as I've done here with my origami fruit, cute as can be!

Giant DIY Cardboard Cactus Craft

Who doesn't love a giant cardboard cactus, especially as a craft for kids? Though honestly, I think I need to make one or a few, for myself......in pink and blue too! First of all, I can't take credit for this, the photos, (taken in what it looks like a really nice kid's creativity center possibly in the Netherlands?) were taken by Ron Lach, though the project looks like it was commercially cut cardboard. Hmmm, we can certainly do that ourselves though! So no tips on this one, but hopefully I'll get around to it myself. Keep on reading for a few more photos.....

Watercolor Flowers With Wire Stems For Shavuos Crafting

I have been enjoying painting watercolor flowers lately, which means that there are successes as well as pieces that might have some successes and some failures on the same page. But actually that is a good thing because then you can cut out those lovely flowers from the rest of the not so great page, hot glue some lovely gold wire to the back and voila, fun flowers to stick into a vase, or use in any number of ways, especially for the Jewish holiday of Shavuos, coming up on Thursday night, for which we try to fill our homes with flowers and greenery! So friends, right about now is a perfect time to spend an hour or two painting a bunch of watercolor flowers to cut out and use for holiday crafting! Plus it is just so enjoyable you won't want to stop, take it from me!

DIY Snake Fold Journal For Counting The Omer!

I'm re-posting this from last year because it really is a great one, and now that Passover is over it is time to get serious about counting the Omer with art! Okay, yikes, I thought I spotted this journal as I was cleaning for Passover, but now it is not where I thought I saw it, hmmm. Wish me luck, because I'm supposed be setting the example and I've yet to make even one piece of art for the omer! Here is what I wrote last year:

With all the preparations for Passover, it is generally quite difficult to think about counting the Omer art projects ahead of time, but this year I actually succeeded in making a DIY art journal for daily creating according to the Omer! I'll admit, it was really quite a fluke, and happened 2 weeks ago, when there was still room for creative activities. And let me tell you, I couldn't be more pleased with the results, and the fact that, just as soon as Passover ends, (we don't create during the week long holiday) I'll be ready to go.

I had heard of making a journal from one piece of paper, (I today I learned that it is referred to as  snake book, rightly so) but the how of it never quite sunk in until now, and friends, it is so simple and so much fun, and one can choose to make a journal in any size, even a tiny one. It is true, that the pages end up being double the thickness, and there is no binding, but one can choose to glue together the insides of the folded pages, and bind as well, whatever suits you! Interested in making an art journal from one large sheet of paper that you've prepared with an artful background of some kind? Love the fact that it looks like a snake of sorts before you fold it? Lets do it!

Cross-Stitch Mountain Scene Hoop Art

This past summer we stayed in a vacation rental on Kibbutz Harduf that was packed with crafts and creativity. One of the things that caught my eye was this sweet cross stitch mountain scene that looked really great hanging in one of the children's room. I would usually think about creating a scene like this in needlepoint, so I love the idea that it is cross stitch! Embroidery is such a wonderful craft to have on hand as a take-along project any time or to work on every day for just 10 minutes or so, love that idea! So while I don't have any resources for this project, you can certainly find them yourself, and of course any grid design that is meant to be used for needlepoint can certainly be used for cross stitch! Another wonderful thing that I discovered about this piece is how the back was treated (namely how to hide all the mess) so keep on reading to see that!

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!