creative jewish mom

Origami Pyramid Passover Centerpiece

Origami and geometric shapes are all the rage as the moment, so origami pyramids for your Passover table seem oh so perfect! Since the Passover seder recounts the story of Jewish slavery and redemption in Egypt these colorful origami pyramid reminders are so fitting— an interesting combination of solemn and cheerful! 

Simple Passover Craft: Napkin Rings For The Seder

With just one week left until Passover, time is of the essence, and so I'm here to share with you this oh so simple and yet totally adorable Passover craft to use at your Passover Seder, or during the week of Passover, you decide. In any case, make a ton of these ahead of time and you'll create smiles all around regardless of when you decide to use them.

I just love the clean modern look of black and white with light pink IKEA napkins and matching straws, and since this craft is something for adults or teens and tweens (little ones may or may not be able to use the necessary supplies with success, but give it a try!) the whole family can take a break from holiday preparations to do a little doodling!

Passover Craft: Make Your Own Patterned Paper

If you are looking for some simple Passover crafts right about now, good for you, there is still a whole week until the Passover holiday starts, which means more than enough time to make some quick crafts to enhance the holiday. For starters, how about getting some black paper and making some of this fun "eyes in the dark" patterned paper that refers to one of the Ten Plagues recounted in the Haggadah? Make a bunch of sheets in no time while you're taking a few minutes to relax, or give this task to some medium sized kids and you'll be off to a great start.

I've already used the  paper seen here for a fun craft, and I have more suggestions for you as well. Ready to get started? Full steam ahead......

Getting Ready To Celebrate Passover With Family

Passover starts on the night of Friday March 30, so now is the time to start getting ready for this wonderful week long Jewish holiday.  We look forward to celebrating Passover because in our home it is a meaningful holiday full of family together time which includes of course the traditional seder, and a whole week of eating matzo, and more matzo. While the holiday itself is a joy, getting ready for Passover can be very time consuming and hectic depending on how strict you want to get with the cleaning. Making the holiday as relaxing and stress-free as possible, means planning ahead, and having a bunch of activities planned for the little ones.

It is true, that an eight day holiday, (seven days in Israel) represents quite a chunk of time. Depending on the ages of the children, or even if the holiday is celebrated by just adults, keeping Passover interesting all week long requires some forethought, and I'm here to help you with that! I was just introduced to a really nice Passover Activities Box from a company called Days United, and if you are already feeling a little stressed having read only this first paragraph, or are just completely swamped this time of year, this might be a great solution for you. The Days Passover box is a great gift idea as well, especially for those not so familiar with the holiday or who would like to teach their children the basics in a fun and friendly way.

Would you liked to learn more about this wonderful product delivered to your door just when you need it most? Keep on reading.......

Ten Plagues Passover Seder Craft For Kids

This ten plagues craft is from the archives, but still just too cute not to feature again, so enjoy! And of course, adults can join in on the fun too!

A good four plus years ago I had a group of fearless crafters, namely boys ages 7-10 who enthusiastically spent a few hours making a fun ten plagues passover craft! This is actually a mini version of the Ten Plagues Placards that I made a few years back, and certainly a little easier for kids to make themselves. Set the kids up with just a few simple supplies, and this project could literally occupy them for hours! I'm sure that sounds great right about now?

Painted Pyramids For Passover Crafting

As you may have noticed I'm currently exploring painting with gouache, and having a great time. In fact I'd like to drop everything else and just paint......okay maybe just a bit everyday at this point, because I just love the vivid matte color one can easily achieve with gouache. And yes indeed, that is why pattern designers have always used gouache for creating patterns......it is quite wonderful really. As you can see I had the idea to paint some bright geometric pyramids to make some whimsical Passover decorations, and here are the results thus far.

As a family friendly craft, those who are able could paint the pyramids and cut them out, and then give them to the younger set to decorate with black markers or any variety of art materials. So fill your walls with colorful pyramids and there will be no mistake about it, Passover is in three short weeks!

How To Doodle A Sun Using A Pen And Some Paint

Passover is right around the corner, so how about starting by doodling a few elements that can be used to set the stage for the Passover story? Lets start with that oh so hot desert sun that the Jewish people certainly experienced in Egypt! There are so many ways to draw the sun, and one can and should spend a little time working on a few ideas to make your own version of this sun doodle. These were actually my second attempt, and I used the best ideas from my first try, which produced some which were more like stars!

Doodling on a ground of color, in this case circles that I painted with yellow gouache is so much fun, and the results immediately look like little works of art! I cut these suns out after I painted them, and will use them as part of a little assemblage project that I'm doing for Passover. i think they'd also make great gift tags, or elements for a garland or collage of any kind. So go to town with little doodle suns in a variety of sizes and you can't go wrong!

Hand Lettering With Gouache For Journaling And So Much More!

Isn't that just the way it goes, that when I have a long list of things to do that creative voice in my head insists on venting some energy? So there you have it folks, at one of the busiest times of year I suddenly find myself experimenting with gouache and for the first time ever, some fun hand lettering with really bright and decorative letter forms! Okay, at least I picked a phrase that goes with the theme of Passover (quickly approaching, yikes) and this little sign now looks just as cute as can be hanging in my kitchen. And now I think I need to do one that is a bit more positive, like "be free" or "choose freedom", don't you think?

I will say, this little project didn't go so quickly as controlling a tiny brush for the details isn't one of my greatest skills just yet, and I did make quite a few mistakes that had to be painted over, but all in all, I love the not so perfect results and would love to get much better at this. Suddenly all those amazing creative journal pages I've saved on Pinterest seem like something that is right up my alley at the moment, now where did I put all those journals?

How To Paint Red Poppies With Watercolors

After the holiday rush I decided that it was truly time to start dedicating some time to learning some new artsy skills, which really doesn't have to take a whole lot of time or money courtesy of skillshare, which I am happy to say is truly an amazing site with sooooo many great things to learn. I totally recommend it, and when you click HERE, you can get 3 months for 99cents, really folks, don't miss out on this one. (Or click on the ad below for a free month, but I'd go with the 99 cents.)

Given my wide range of interests I had a hard time figuring out where to start, (after the crayola calligraphy and brush lettering which we need to get back to) but something using supplies that we had on hand surely seemed like the best way to go, and i loved the idea of a challenge of sorts, so I started the Expressive Florals 7 Day challenge, which starts with painting poppies, a favorite of mine as they are native to my area here in Northern Israel.

The poppies I painted here, can certainly improve, but I'm happ with this as a start especially since this was done with brush only, no drawing with a pencil folks, as that makes things too tight, and the point here is to get loose, which I succeeded in only partly, but it is a start!

 

DIY Simple Flower Napkin Rings Lovely For Any Occassion!

We made these very simple yet oh so lovely flower napkin rings in just minutes to use on our Passover table, but truthfully they'd be great for just about any occasion, especially weddings, sheva brachas, or any time really! They are so simple to make that you truthfully could make a hundred or so in no time. I packed these away with the Passover dishes so that we can use them again next year, but am already thinking about looking for some larger flowers to use on our table for the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, in which we decorate out homes with flowers and greenery, perfect!

Ready to make some, or pick up the supplies to have on hand, let's do it!