creative jewish mom

Recycled Paper Towel Tube Logs!

Pulled this one out of the archives because it is a keeper!

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 next week, 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!

Quilled Paper Bonfire For Lag B'Omer

I have pulled this one out of the archives, because it is truly simple with great results, and right about NOW would be the time to make one, or a few!

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? (Got it, a quilling joke....) Let's do it.......

Simple Watercolor Feathers To Paint Today, For Lag B'Omer!

Tonight we welcome the festive holiday of Lag B'Omer, so why not carve out a tiny window of time to paint some watercolor feathers? It is true Lag B'Omer generally brings to mind images of bonfires and bows and arrows, but I'd say feathers, which are used to write the Torah, and certainly the Zohar, originally, are a perfect symbol as well! Plus, feathers are just so fun to paint, and I ended up filling two pages in my watercolor journal with them, and can't wait to paint more, next time in a mix of rainbow colors or pastels, we'll just have to wait and see! If I had the time I'd paint some of these on watercolor paper and cut them out to hang anywhere, so lovely! Wishing everyone an amazing Lag B'Omer! Keep on reading for simple painting instructions!

A Fun Quilled Paper Bonfire For Lag B'Omer

I have pulled this one out of the archives, because it is truly simple with great results, and right about NOW would be the time to make one, or a few!

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? (Got it, a quilling joke....) Let's do it.......

Paint A Simple Pink Owl For Lag B'Omer!

After a really relaxing and beautiful few pages in my sketchbook filled with hebrew letters, I decided to start exploring creating on top of those pages! I had seen an owl painting tutorial by Tamara Laporte, as a part of sketchbook revival 2021 (now expired, sorry) and while I didn't follow the tutorial, as it was with water color, I did draw an owl that looks just like hers....thanks Tamara! There is such a fine line between copying someone else's work and creating something that is truly yours, and is this case it is some of both, though for the sake of an exercise in my sketchbook, it is certainly just fine. Would I sell a poster with this owl on it, no, can I enjoy it and share it, yes! And when to enjoy it, exactly, well I'd say an owl is actually a really fun thing to paint or draw for Lag B'Omer, as who is watching from the tree tops as we light bonfires, and certainly when 1/2 million people (on a normal year) visit the gravesite of Rebbi Shimon Bar Yochai, in the very woody spot of his gravesite in Meron, Israel? So my friends owls for Lag B'Omer I say, and while you are at it, a whole group of woodland creatures is great too!

Check out all my previous owl themed projects here, to get inspired. A stand up owl or two at the bonfire would be just the cutest!

Paint An Old Shoe With Graffiti Hearts!

This has to be one of my crazier ideas, but I just couldn't resist and it was relatively quick, so here's to whimsical upcycled art! And while this might seem like it is coming out of left field, just a bit, this could also be a craft for Lag B'Omer, you know just in case you've already made more bonfires, caves, and arrows than you can bear. Because my friends, Rebbi Shimon, whom we celebrate on Lag B'Omer was all about ahavas yisrael, Jewish unity! And what more fitting than a bunch of hearts that together comprise a wonderful lively piece of well, funky decor?

And honestly, who couldn't use a graffiti hearts shoe in their life? I apparently needed one, and will sometime soon fill it with succulents or a flowering something. Or maybe not, or maybe yes, to get it out of the house! Then again, this is one special shoe, as unknown to us it was living under our kitchen cabinets for ten years or so, and we only discovered it when we removed the baseboard in order to long last clean under there......and lo and behold my son produced a single shoe that apparently went missing a good ten or so years ago.....I do vaguely remember something like that. In any case, I was feeling so very nostalgic about this shoe from when my boys were little that I just had to save it, and then the idea of painting it with hearts came to mind. Even better, I actually did it! That in itself was a huge victory! (Check out my Diary Of A Hoarder In Recovery posts on my instagram @sara.rivka.dahan for more discussion on that!) Okay, love the idea of painting lots of hearts on anything, keep on reading, I've done this a few times on flat surfaces.....

A Simple Counting The Omer Journal Page

Today is day 22 of the Omer, and I might be behind on this journal page! It is true, I embarked on a counting the omer art journal project last year, which is wonderful and so interesting, but sometimes you might just want a really really simple way to count the omer, even if you are doing something else more complicate to boot. Or not? A very simple painted pattern that you then fill in with numbers as the 49 days progress is a first for me, but I plan to do this every year, as it is just simple and gets the job done, in a creative way! And when you do it in your sketchbook, maybe you'll be inclined to fill up some of the other pages as well? I can't recommend a sketchbook practice enough, whether it be watercolor, collage, doodling, lettering, pick one, or all of them and do it, you'll thank me!

Counting The Omer Craft To Make Now!

Now that we are on day 12 of 49 of counting the Omer, time is of the essence, so get to work on a fun Omer calendar, especially one that you can use again next year! I did plan on making a new Omer counting calendar, and I am in the middle of that, but it has become something rather complex involving some new techniques that I'm experimenting with so it won't be ready anytime soon, sorry about that. In the mean time, this calendar that I made with my kids quite a few years ago (ten actually!) is simple and can certainly be customized for your family. So give it a try, and enjoy!

You can find the link to the original tutorial here.  And use this time to get those creative gears whirring, I know mine are, just with the whole family home I actually have less time than usual to create, so it goes.

Wishing You A Wonderful Lag B'Omer!

The festive holiday of Lag B'Omer is coming to an end here in Israel, but there are many more hours left of the holiday around the world, so wishing you a very happy Lag B'Omer! For the first time in a very long time I actually went with my teenage daughter to Meron, the burial site of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, last night at around midnight. Her friends chose to go with other friends, so I decided to be a good mother and offer to go with her, and off we went, yawn. Generally we go during the day, when it is very hot, and this year with very hot weather I was honestly relieved to go at night, plus it quite an experience! By midnight 400,000 visitors had already arrived with the holiday just getting started! Is there anywhere else on earth where more than a half a million people gather in one place to celebrate the life of someone who lived 2,000 years ago? That is a testiment to holiness of this great man, and the logistics of it all are mind boggling, and yet everything seemed to go quite smoothly.

Vistors from around the world, and Israelis aalike throng to the Meron, Galilee burial site of the famed 2nd Century CE sage and mystic, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, for a festival of bonfires and prayers. Arrival to the area is by bus only, so counting the number of arrivals is quite simple. Not counting of course those who set up camp grounds up to a week before the holiday in the woods around the burial site. Throughout the 24-hour holiday, many great rabbis — most of them prominent Hasidic or Sephardic leaders — are honored with public bonfire-lightings, as the crowds watch from bleachers or in areas set up for dancing.

A Counting The Omer Collage For Lag B'Omer and Shavuos!

The Jewish holiday of Lag B'Omer starts on the evening of May 22, which means we have two whole weeks to turn on the creativity and increase the excitement for this wonderful and festive holiday, and then another two weeks to get crafting for the Jewish holiday of Shavuot. The idea for this counting the omer collage craft came about when a reader Ilana Singer from Strasbourg, France sent me a photo of a sweet counting the omer chart she made for her kids. Since we count the omer fpr 49 days leading up to the Jewish holiday of Shavuos, I was thinking that as Lag B'Omer approaches, and then Shavuos, why not use that chart to make a nice poster to enjoy for the weeks leading up to Shavuos? Meaning bring on the flowers! I also love the idea of a craft project that evolves over time, and this is a perfect example, not to mention a great example of how to use art that kids bring home from school (generally on letter sized paper) to make something impressive and eye catching for any holiday. So dear readers, save that large piece of cardboard that was used to package a new frame or the piece of paper inside that new frame to make some fabulous art with the family! Let's get started, shall we?