creative jewish mom

The Story Of A Very Special Chanukah Menorah

While this story actually happened in 2016, I started to tell it here in 2019, but it has taken me until 2021 to actually do it! I guess I wrote this story in my head so many times that I was convinced I had posted it, but apparently not, as it is no where to be found! And since this is such a special story that we tell every Chanukah since 2016, now is a great time to share it with you my dear readers on Zot Chanukah, the 8th and finaly day of chanukah, with the most light!. Chanukah is about publicizing miracles, so while this does not qualify as a miracle it is pretty amazing, I think, so here goes!

Jewish Paper Quilling: A Chanukah Menorah

I dusted this off from the archives and am enjoying some of my quilled paper crafts from years ago this Chanukah, so yes, you can make some now and keep them for years. The only thing that didn't keep well in some cases is the paper piece around the edge with did get wavy, but that can always be replaced, the bulk of the work looks as good as when it was created.

Hanukkah is eight glorious days long, which means one can still find some time to get crafting, right? I just love the results of quilling, especially when one uses colored paper, so bright and fun. Quilling doesn't have to be super time consuming if you choose to do something simple without filling in the background, and in any case, the results are truly worth the effort.

Quilling, the art of rolling little strips of paper has been around for hundreds of years, and may even date back to Egypt! There is something about taking little strips of paper and rolling them that is pure enjoyment, so give it a try yourself!

Simple Crochet Projects For Hanukkah!

Crochet projects for Hanukkah? Of course, because as you all know, I love to crochet, and so crocheting has often been a big part of my hanukkah crafting! (Now, I do not have time to crochet with my art explorations, but I have so many things on hand, that we only see once a year, so it is still fresh. Hmmmm, but maybe I need to crochet just a bit tonight for tomorrow's guests?) While tonight is the third night of chanukah that does not mean we can't have fun making things on chanukah to enjoy for the remainder of the holiday, to give as gifts or even save until next year! Here are some of my favorite simple crochet projects from the archives that are perfect for chanukah, try something new, or go get all those old t-shirts and use them to make the basket above, wouldn't it be a miracle of chanukah to clean out that draw a bit? Okay, enjoy!

Plastic Canvas Hanukkah Crafts To Make During Hanukkah!

With Chanukah quickly approaching now might not be the time to actually make plastic canvas hanukkah decorations, but now might be a great time to buy the supplies in order to enjoy making some during hanukkah! These decorations, well, last literaly forever, so they make great family keepsakes and are just as cute as can be. So no stressing with intricate crafts like this right now, save these projects for chanukah, what could be better? I fortunately do not know where my plastic canvas supplies are at the moment, or I might be tempted? Okay, here is my post from two years ago:

This week I shared with you a lovely eco-friendly way to make glitter snowflakes from recycled plastic berry baskets, and now while it isn't in keeping with my usual recycling crafts, I'm sharing some really festive plastic canvas crafts for Hanukkah. And just to clarify, plastic canvas is certainly not eco friendly, but it can be enjoyed for years and years to come, so while buying it does encourage the manufacturing of it, sigh, at least one doesn't have to be wasteful with it, right? The pleasure of embroidering on plastic canvas is an experience unto itself, and maybe that is in fact how my crafts ended up looking so very happy!

I truly believe that one should indulge in the joy of crafting, and now is a great time to do that, with winter holidays and family time quickly approaching! Spread some love this season with handmade crafts, and if you do that I think buying a bit of plastic canvas is also giving back to the world. Okay, enough said, take a look at these projects and come up with some of your own!

"Ugly" Holiday Sweater Craft Is Cute As Can Be!

After turning a color swatching exercise into striped dreidels, here, I just had to keep on going with some cozy striped sweaters! Are they "ugly" holiday sweaters, not in my book, because friends, when you mix your own paint colors using any red, yellow and blue, no matter what, the resulting colors will go together, like magic! Truly a wonderful realization, and a great way to minimize thinking too much about what colors to use, whether painting a painting or painting stripes on a mini holiday sweater! Yes, it is true these sweaters might look great with a star of David, or a dreidel, or a jelly doughnut on the front, but I think I'm going to leave them plain so I can enjoy them all winter and it won't look like I've yet to pack up my Chanukah decor! (Same goes for all the white pom poms I'm planning on hanging!) So friends, these "ugly" holiday sweaters are just beyond cute, and so simple to make, so let's get started!

Painted Cereal Box Dreidels For Chanukah Crafting

These striped dreidels painted on cereal boxes are looking so cute I just had to do a better job of photographing them to convince you that this is the thing to delve into this year! Make little ones, make big ones, just make a ton, and transform your home into a festive place for celebrating our wonderful 8 night holiday! I can see these hung vertically with some little pom poms in between to make a wall hanging, so simple, just tape a piece of thread or yarn to the backs and hang from a stick, a skewer, a long paint brush, a hanger, get creative! Or paint both sides and make some cake toppers, stick them in a vase or make a mobile. Get those creative gears turning and make memories for loved one, you won't regret it! And friends, no special supplies needed, right? Keep on reading for the link the original tutorial, and supplies!

Cute Striped Dreidel Craft With Color Theory!

Just when I thought I would not be crafting this year for Chanukah, I realized that just wouldn't do, and that I could combine my art endeavors with my crafting and do something festive, decorative and educational (for those doing the creating.) Introducing color theory dreidels, this years contribution to my ever expanding collection of artful recycling crafts for chanukah! Why color theory you might ask? Well friends, color theory in this case is about how colors look when placed side by side, but even more exciting, how to mix your own colors! All the colors you see here were mixed from just 3 colors, so that makes this budget friendly as well, not to mention that the base is cereal box cardboard! Okay, lets do this Chanukah is coming!

A Last Minute Chanukah Crafting Lifesaver, Right About Now!

If you start to see photos of my classic nesting dreidel mobile here on CJM that must mean that Hanukkah is coming! So yes indeed, with Hanukkah coming in 1 weeks, yikes, I suggest getting busy with decorating your home, your classroom or workplace with an extra dose of color. My nesting dreidel digital craft kit is the perfect place to start, and you can use the pages in so many fun ways beyond mobiles! Make garlands, place mats, gift wrap, gift tags, or even use the dreidels to decoupage on the bottom of some glass plates or trays! Yes, you are right, I need to try that myself, will do!

The Origami Dove Is A NEW SYMBOL For Chanukah!

I am sharing this post from last year once again because I'm on a mission to let everyone know that the dove with an olive branch is truly a symbol of Chanukah.  Listen to what happened last year: I made origami doves with olive branches because I figured, why not? Doves while often used by other religions as symbols around holiday time are certainly just as relevant to Judaism, not to mention that it is a kosher animal, and it had that amazing role of bringing back the olive branch to Noah, in his ark. So last year there were many origami doves in our home. And then because Chanukah is all about miracles, I was told the following and looked it up and sure enough, WOW:

According to a Jewish oral tradition, as explained by the Imrei Noam, the olives from the branch that Noach [Noah] received from the dove were made into pure olive oil. The oil was given to Noach’s firstborn, Shem. Shem sealed this little jar of oil and gave it to Abraham as a gift. Abraham, in turn, handed it over to Isaac who passed it down to Jacob. According to our sages, Jacob forgot some small jars on the other side of the Jabbok River and returned to retrieve them. One of these jars was the oil from Noah’s ark. Jacob prophetically hid this oil at the site of the Holy Temple and laid the foundations for the miracle of Hanukkah. This is the oil that originated with the dove, the symbol of peace!

Wow? Yes! So lets get to work making some origami doves and telling everyone this story, as it is truly remarkable! And now for what I wrote last year, not knowing of the great significance.....

Chanukah starts tomorrow night, and I am running behind with my plans for origami decorations, but I did manage to make a few origami doves with olive branches to share with you, and hopefully my plans for an origami wall hanging, origami cake toppers (for a birthday tomorrow night on the 1st night of Chanukah) and an origami garland or two will materialize tonight. I am actually thinking that this origami dove would be great done in my giant origami style, so stay tuned for that, which seems much more likely than a wall hanging, hmmmm. Origami is a great craft for all ages, and it is something one can introduce to children from a fairly young age, and as they mature they can tackle more difficult folds. There isn't anything quite like the pleasure of succesfully completing an origami animal, or an origami dreidel, or even an origami star of david, so grab some paper and lets get folding!

Felted Wool Mug Cozies For Chanukah!

Another project I'm pulling from the archives because this one is so much fun, and makes a great holiday gift!

Wool felt is a truly wonderful material available in a nice range of luscious rich colors, can be purchased in 12"x12" squares, and since it doesn't unravel, you can craft away to your heart's content without the need for glue or sewing, if you so desire. This DIY felt mug cozy is quick and would make a wonderful gift this holiday season, together of course with some lovely mugs! I have added the Hanukkah themed details to my mug cozies using felting, with a multiple needle felting tool and a felting pad, though one can also of course add embroidery, or attach shapes with embroidery, or even add a few lovely beads or buttons.

A coffee cup cozy for paper coffee cups would be made in exactly the same way, and even if you don't know the exact size of the cup you could make your cozy on the small side and use an elastic chord loop instead of a button hole. Got it? Now go make a bunch, maybe even with the felted initials of the recipient, as these work up really quickly!