creative jewish mom

How To Make A Quilled Paper Bonfire

Call it a quilled paper campfire, or call it a quilled paper bonfire, either way it is a fun craft for all ages and requires only very simple supplies. The wonderful Jewish holiday of Lag B'Omer is coming up on the night of May 2nd, so now is the time to start thinking about some simple crafts to celebrate. The bonfire is one of the major symbols of the holiday (and kids in my neighborhood are now hoarding wood of all kinds to contribute to bonfires around town) and as it turns out quilling with orange and yellow paper is a great way to depict fire! So whether you will be celebrating Lag B'Omer or are looking for an artful summer craft, this quilled paper campfire or bonfire is perfect.

Ready to get rolling? Let's do it.......

Recycled Cardboard Tube Logs, A Fun Craft For Lag B'Omer!

Here's a fun recycled cardboard tube craft, in this case I used paper towel tubes, that is perfect just about any time really......though of course with the Jewish holiday of Lag B'Omer coming up, that is what I have made them for. Lag B'Omer involves bonfires, generally really huge ones in our neck of the woods, so all things log and campfire related are perfect. It is true, many Lag B'Omer bonfires are fueled by olive oil, or made from towers of crates and palettes and old furniture, but logs are just so much cuter, I'm sure you'll agree!

So lets make a bunch of cute logs, faux bois style, shall we? Oh, haven't heard of faux bois? That may just be a crafting faux pas, so lets get you up to steam. Faux bois means fake wood, namely anything with a wood grain pattern or made to look like branches, even sculpted. Are you with me? Now lets get crafting and doodling!

Kids Crafts For Lag B'Omer —A Round Up From The Archives

Above: Make a little bonfire lag bomer craft with wine cork people, using sticks and other craft supplies you happen to have on hand.

The joyful Jewish holiday of Lag B'Omer, in which we take a break from the period of mourning that falls between Passover and Shavuos, is coming up next week, so it is truly time to get crafting with the kids! I'll admit that we haven't found the time just yet, so here is a little round up from the archives to get you inspired.

Above: A bow and arrow collage craft for Lag B'Omer

They DIY arrows look fantastic and are so simple to make, and also check out my little arrows centerpiece for some inspiration for using those arrows!

Bows and arrows are the perfect craft for Lag Bomer, so give this popsicle stick bow and arrow craft a try!

And a little idea to keep in mind for next year's omer, an abstract omer counting calendar made from punched paper scalloped circles, so simple! Enjoy!

 

Popsicle Stick Bow With Skewer Arrows!

Last week at crafting a future, my group of boys charged ahead with the popsicle stick bow and skewer arrows craft, and even showed me a trick or two, which greatly enhanced this project! Truthfully, I thought they'd make arrows without bows, as I hadn't come up with any great was to make a bow with the supplies I had on hand. But just in case, I got out some popsicle sticks, and suggested that one could make a bow with them, and whatya know, you can actually make quite a nice bow with popsicle sticks!

 Now of course, this bow is for decoration only, but would look great on any wall!

Bow And Arrow Collage For L'Ag B'Omer

L'ag B"Omer is just around the corner in just over a week, so it's time to get the kids busy with some crafts for the fun holiday! This week I introduced the DIY arrows craft to my wonderful group of boys at Crafting A Future, and the results were fabulous. Some of the boys choose to make wall hangings as you can see here, while others made more traditional bow and arrow crafts, which I'll share with you next week.

These projects were made using my DIY arrows, in which I glued everything together for each child with a glue gun, not just the feathers to the skewer, but also the arrows to the paper, gotta love hot glue!

Happy crafting!

Crocheted Vase With Arrows Centerpiece

Looking for a super cute little centerpiece idea for L'ag B'Omer, or for a summer gathering? How about crocheting a cover for a glass jar, and filling that jar with some colorful DIY arrows? I promise you're gonna love it! Plus you can always fill your crocheted vase with some freshly picked wild flowers, or even a candle, come fall!

And for those of you who have yet to crochet any jar covers, I can tell you from personal experience, it's one of the funnest projects ever. I have actually crocheted a whole bunch of them in spring pastels, and I just love looking at them as is. And yes, I know, I need to get it together and photograph them to share with you! (At least this one is a good start, right?)

DIY Arrows Craft: Perfect For Summer Parties & L'ag B'Omer!

Yesterday at Crafting A Future, I introduced my class of boys to this DIY arrows craft to honor the upcoming holiday of L'Ag B'Omer, ( I'll share their's with you soon) and when they'd all gone home I sorted through the mess and made some for us to enjoy as well!

I just love how cheerful they are and yet so simple to make! Not to mention that finding topics that boys might be interested in crafting isn't always so simple, depending of course on the boys.

I did make some arrows like these a few years back, but this time I used wooden skewers rather than dowels, for a more approachable version. And I think they'd look great sticking out of a cake for L'Ag B'Omer! (Namely a bundt of layer cake such that one could even stick an arrow through the cake or at least make it look like it landed on the cake.)

Continue reading for the instructions:

Water Color Paintings For Lag B'Omer

The Jewish holiday of Lag B'Omer starts on Saturday night, so it's time to do a little crafting for the holiday! For starters my daughter and a friend made these sweet water color paintings depicting the traditional bonfire. Now I've got to come up with a few more activities to occupy the kids, as a holiday without crafting is just not a holiday, at least in my book!

Traditional subject matter for Lag B'Omer also includes bows and arrows, and anything having to do with the great sage Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, who is remembered on this day for his great contribution to the Jewish people. Gotta run, I think I need some sticks for the next project!

Super Cute Forest Cake In Five Minutes (For Lag B'Omer?)

I love cake decor that is simple and cute, and as quick as humanly possible while still looking great. This little mushroom forest cake satisfies all of the above, and so I just had to share it with you!  Last Shabbat we had some special guests— my neighbor, a mother of 6, who just donated one of her kidneys to her youngest son, came with three of her children. Her son was completing his two week stay in the hospital, so she came home for a little respite while her husband stayed in the hospital with their son. The transplant was a success, ( and we were all so relieved ) so I wanted to make a festive meal, which of course requires a decorated cake of some kind, right? Now I should add, that this particular neighbor, who grew up in France is actually quite a cake baker herself, so I went with my most basic tried and true chocolate cake recipe, and she even asked me for the recipe! Truthfully she said it reminded her of brownies, I think that may have been on account of the fact that I burned it a bit, but it was still delicious. Now that's a good cake recipe!

Lag B'Omer Arrows Craft For Kids (Or Mom......)

This fun arrow craft for kids is an example of a spur of the moment craft that happened at our house today with my six and eight year olds, just in time— just in time for Lag B'Omer that is, phew! Tomorrow night starts the Jewish holiday that celebrates one of our great sages, Rebbi Shimon Bar Yochai, and since the bow and arrow happen to be one of the symbols of the holiday, this little idea is just perfect in so many ways, and a great craft for boys who may not always be so keen on crafts! 

I think I'm actually going to make a few more tonight to add to the bunch, as these arrows also happen to look great in a vase, which could be a great centerpiece for your Lag B'Omer picnic, or to simply enjoy in your home on and around the holiday. 

And who needs a bow anyway, these arrows are just fantastic as is.....

You'll Need:

• wooden dowels
• colored paper
• colored tape, washi tape if you're lucky to have some, or even colored electrical tape
• hot glue gun or high tack craft glue

How To:

Make stripes on the dowels with tape or by affixing narrow strips of paper with glue. Cut feathers, from a folded sheet of paper so they'll be symmetrical, three per arrow. Affix feathers with hot glue or high tack glue. Make a tip using black electrical tape, or come up with a better way to do it....and please let me in on the secret. Honestly I ran out of time as the sun was going down and I wanted to share this with you now!

Make a bunch, they're just so much fun! For more Lag B'Omer crafts and information about the joyful holiday which involves bonfires and lots of outdoor festivities, see my previous posts in the Lag B'Omer archives.