creative jewish mom

Tips For Finding Creative and Eco-Friendly Gifts For The Holidays

The holiday season is here, and regardless of what holiday you celebrate, that might mean some last-minute shopping for those who didn't already celebrate Chanukah! (Your boss, coworkers, neighbors, teachers, the mail person, household help, the sweet child that lives upstairs?) Buying gifts in a hurry that end up in the trash or clutter our houses for years only to be tossed out later, takes its toll on the planet. In fact, in every holiday season, Australians produce 30 percent more waste that includes food, unwanted presents, decorations, and single-use plastics for gift wrapping. Owing to this alarming rate of waste generation, lets consider switching to sustainable gifting that is useful and poses minimal threat to the environment!

If you are looking for gift ideas that help you make planet-friendly choices while reducing stress and saving money, you've come to the right place. Okay, time is of the essence, so lets get started!

DIY Boho Fringed Placemats For Summer Entertaining

I have pulled this post out of the archives because it is a keeper, and I'm still enjoying my DIY boho place mats, which are great indoors or outdoors, and perfect for that little extra something this summer! Enjoy! And I just had the thought that these could also be great for the Succah, so why not plan ahead!

I love t-shirt yarn, and have been thinking about using it for macrame and embroidery, not just crocheting! Industrial-waste t-shirt yarn also supports eco-consciousness, as it is made from odds and ends of fabric left after the pieces for making clothing is cut from the yardage. What I found after making these fringed and embroidered place mats/wall hangings is that t-shirt yarn is a great way to add color to a project that might have called for rope of some kind, and it works great for fringe, tassels (see my t-shirt yarn tassels) and more. So if you're looking for a simple and stylish summer project, this is it! These place mats work great placed on round side tables or outdoor tables or anywhere to add some flare our protect a wooden surface. Ah yes, and of course you can easily make some wall hangings, which I truly am going to do as I have a bunch more of these place mats to craft with!

DIY Cardboard Graffiti Vase For Spring!

Now that I have a few fun DIY cereal box vases which I think will be fun for Passover, maybe I can get started with the cleaning. Well, not just yet, I need to make some more! The idea of whipping up an artful vase using cereal box cardboard (or heavy weight paper) is just so delighful that you'll want to give this a try. This is a great idea for budget centerpieces, or for making a huge decorative vase for a desert table or buffet, and the possibilities are endless. Choose to do a cardboard vase with drips and splatters or go for a something simple and colorful, or even a few bold black brush strokes looks amazing. There is a product on the market which is really great printed paper vases, and I was reminded of this from a wonderful version that I featured on Craft Schooling Sunday in January, keep reading to see that version!

Personalized Gift Ideas To Give Your Sustainable Friend

Giving gifts is a wonderful way to show you care, and it is well worth the time and effort to get it right, as a gift that is truly personal is the very best way to go. It is true, sometimes it is the thought that has to count as we don't know the person well enough to be totally on target, but if that is the case I'd say go with sustainable and eco conscious gifts, as you really can't go too wrong with lovely wooden brushes and handmade soap, or an interesting market bag! Have some friends and family or even coworkers that would appreciate sustainable gifts? Keep on reading so that you'll have a bunch of good ideas up your sleeve when you need them!

Mini Graffiti Hearts Painting, Third Time Is A Charm!

If this looks a bit familiar to you, it is! I shared this painting a few weeks ago here, where I also described how it was painted. Honestly the colors just were not working in our home, so I decided to keep on painting tiny hearts, this time in colors that would work and phew, after another couple hundred or so hearts that covered up the previous hearts, a new pastel version of my original mini graffit hearts painting was born! So this technically is also a recycling craft, I just can't get away from them!

We don't have any holidays on the Jewish calendar that involve giving heart shaped cards and the like, but since a large part of the English speaking world does, all the heart items made for that holiday in China make it into our stores as well, and folks use the heart for birthdays, weddings, or just because. So, this heart painting is a "just because" and because I just couldn't resist painting a whole crowd of tiny hearts, one more time! I painted tiny hearts on a box, on milk cartons and in my journal, so actually painting on a canvas seemed like the next logical step. And who knows, maybe I'll have to give this as a gift to hang in a baby's room or maybe it will live in my kitchen shelves art gallery. Okay, lets take a look at the previous versions of this painting, just for fun, shall we?

Holiday Gift Giving Made Simple With Custom Stickers

This year holiday season is looking quite a bit different for many families and individuals, but that doesn't mean it can't be special. With fewer family get togethers, holiday parties and travel plans, there may just be a chunk of time to invest in creativity in a big way? The wonderful thing about choosing to give handmade gifts and decorating with crafted items is that you enjoy doing the making and those on the receiving end get an extra dose of love from you! Plus you may just discover a new hobby that gives you joy, or even a side gig that will generate some extra income. And the good news is, that to put together some amazing DIY gifts, you really don't need to be a talented artist or crafter, you just have to be thoughtful! Okay, it is true that some graphic design skills can go a long way with the projects I've lined up for you, but you can always get advice from that designer friend, or even hire someone to do an hour's worth of work or so to bring your DIY holiday gift giving up more than just a few rungs.

Of course there are many ways to go when it comes to DIY gifts, in this post we are going to narrow it down to gifts that can be made with help of custom stickers! Of course if you are an artist or designer, maybe the gift is stickers, but for now lets think about how we can make our gifts personal and special with stickers! If the word "sticker" brings to mind sheets of glitter rainbows and unicorns, think again, stickers can be anything from transparent decals to iron on t-shirt designs, so there are many exciting options to consider. Okay, let's get started!

A Whimsical Cow Wearing A Crocheted Bobble Sweater Painting

Meet my colorful mixed media cow in a crocheted bobble stitch sweater, she has surely put a smile on your face? Cow portraits have been popular for quite a few years I believe, and I can understand it, there is just something about cows that well, makes you feel connected to the farm and nature, and maybe even childhood? While this is the first mixed media cow portrait I've even painted I have to say, I think there are more in my future, as surprise surprise I'm actually happy with how she turned out, and happy that my rooster painting now has a barnyard friend! I will admit however that this small 19.5 x 19.5 CM painting (8"x8") did not come to be without quite a bit of indecision, and changing the background color a few times as well as the size of the boy, but phew it all worked out. The flowers, which are usually a struggle happened easily, I guess since this is not a flower painting, and after drawing all those flowers in my sketchbook this summer I do have a much better idea in my mind's eye what flowers should look like, yippee! While I can not share with you the actual process I used to paint this cow, as I learned it in Amanda Evanston's Insider's Group, which is by subscription, it was done in a similar manner to the ugly holiday sweater, namely negative shape painting, my favorite! Okay, lets take a closer look!

Summer Camp Crafts: Havdalah Candle Craft From Old Candles

Remember the story about the huge bag of unsightly old candles that accidentally ended up at our house, and how I decided to make upcycled candles? Well dear readers here is confirmation that indeed there are no accidents, as that bag of candles that was destined for the garbage (in any one else's house, and almost ours as well!) became festive striped havdalah candles. (We use the havdalah candle on Saturday night when Shabbat is over to usher in the new week, and it needs to have two or more wicks.) I almost can't believe it myself, and the gorgeous array of candles that we created have been decorating the top of our piano for the last week or so, just waiting for their moment in the spotlight. I'll admit, I did do several versions of this craft, some more complicated than others, and for the time being I'm sharing the most simple version as it is a perfect summer camp craft to do right now, preferably outdoors! So gather the supplies (if you don't have any old candles hanging around, maybe do a candle drive in the neighborhood or among friends and family, I'm sure there are folks out there who have some hiding in the cabinet waiting for their turn in the spotlght!) Okay, lets get crafting!

Summer Camp Crafts: A Graffiti Logo Sweatshirt With Splashes Of Color

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   I am so grateful that my teen daughter loves crafting, as with no school for months now due to Covid-19, she has had lots of time to delve into creative activities that she loves, the latest being grafitti sweatshirts! Her friends are begging her to make some for them, and while I was just thinking she could do a class, maybe just buying an airbrush and semi-mass producing them would be a better idea? Just to be clear, my daughter isn't wearing this sweatshirt out and about, but she certainly has fun wearing it as pajamas! The graffit sweatshirt idea all started with a Purim costume which led to a black and white graffiti sweatshirt, which then led to this colorful creation, all done by aforementioned teen daughter on the floor of her tiny Israeli sized bedroom......of course the bedroom is a cute as can be, complete with tiny lights and dreamy decor, so it is actually a nice sanctuary for creativity. This project is perfect for summer as a whole family or group of kids could make them together and even make each shirt or sweatshirt together to reflect the group as a whole, which could be a really great memento of time spent creating together. The instructions for this project are quite loose, so you'll really have to rev up the creative gears, but if you start with a word or a logo in the middle and then go from there, you really can't go wrong. And if you do, just pour some paint over the areas that weren't so successful and keep on going! Okay, lets take a look at the supplies we used for this graffiti sweatshirt......

Summer Camp Crafts: A Simple Graffiti Sweatshirt In Black And White

Summer is here, and yet this summer is not like other summers, sigh. Here at CJM central we seem be in the middle of eternal vacation, well sort of, with the future of schooling this year very uncertain. Rather than dwell on that, and whether some of my kids will actually get "summer vacation" when and if school starts, lets get busy making summer camp crafts, as there is something about messy or process oriented or outdoor type crafts that just makes many of us happy, not to mention busy and creative! Speaking of busy, this graffiti sweatshirt project could keep someone busy for hours and hours, and when my daughter disappeared into her room for long periods it dawned on me that she must be working on a graffiti sweatshirt! This graffiti sweatshirt idea was born when my teen daughter wrote all over one of her brother's old white shirts as  Purim costume (keep on reading for photo) and realized that she'd like to create a sweatshirt in the same style to wear as pajamas......and voila, a graffiti sweatshirt was born. And then another for a friend, and then another, but with color added! So, if you love to doodle, and love lettering, and/or drawing little items, this is the project for you, or your kids, so get a cheap sweatshirt, some permanent and/or fabric markers and enjoy. If some areas don't turn out wonderfully, just get some dark fabric paint and pour splatters over the areas you'd like to cover, ah yes, this is where the outdoor crafting part comes into the picture! Enjoy this one, and actually if you want to keep yourself and/or the family really busy, you could do a comforter cover, or a set of sheets using this graffiti sweatshirt as inspiration...........