creative jewish mom

Tissue Paper Collage Candle Jars To Remember Jerusalem

Pulling this one from the archives, because it is a favorite. There is still time today to make some of these to use on Tisha B'Av, the solemn holiday that starts tonight, and wishing everyone an easy fast, may this be our last one! Here is what I wrote previously:

We love having guests with sweet babies, and are more than happy when there are baby food jars to craft with!  Even before the guests left I found the small jars that I had put aside from their last visit, and together with some new tall ones, a craft idea was born: baby food jar votives with scenes of Jerusalem. This is our first craft this year with this topic, and the timing is perfect, as we can enjoy these jars for the next three weeks, and when the lights are turned down on the evening of T'Isha B'Av they will be lovely and a good reminder of what the holiday is all about!

Decoupage is a perfect craft for all ages, and results that are both abstract as well as pictorial look great together. So gather some jars, any size of course, and some simple supplies, and make a bunch of votives to use indoors and out!

A Beit HaMikdash Mosaic With Recycled Broken Tiles

I have pulled this one out of the archives as i have not yet and likely will not be doing any crafts for the "three weeks" this year, as I'm too busy trying to up my painting game.....not a simple thing to do at all. Of course if I were still crafting like I used to when my kids were young, or that I might do in the future if I had a art center for kids (dream or reality? time will tell!) or with hopefully grandchildren I would love to delve into mosaics once again, as they are so very satisfying, and especially wonderful when created by recycling broken tile and dishes! Here is what I wrote back in 2018:

Today is Rosh Chodesh Tammuz, so wishing every one a chodesh tov, a wonderful new month filled with blessings. Unfortunately for the Jewish people we are once again entering a month that is filled with great tragedy, though we have 17 days until the mourning period starts. I really don't know if there is any other People (Judiasm is both a religion and a People)  that continues to mourn events that happened thousands of years ago, and that in itself is one of the reasons that we have survived despite all attempts to wipe us out. We mourn and give great importance to past tragedies, while at the same time having great hope for a brighter future for ourselves and the entire world.

The main thing that the Jewish people mourn is the destruction of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, twice. The major events leading up to the destruction are minor fast days, and the last 9 days before the total destruction is the strictest mourning period on the Jewish calendar. So, mosaics which depict Jerusalem, and especially the Beit HaMikdash, are perfect projects to think about and start creating now!

I saw this Beit Hamikdash mosaic many years ago in a wedding hall somewhere near Beit Shemesh, I believe, and apologize to the creators for not being able to give them credit. To boot it was very dark and therefore my photos are not great quality, but the quality and creativity of the mosaic is so wonderful I just had to share it with you.

Kid's Craft For The "Three Weeks" of Mourning Leading Up to The 9th of Av

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I have pulled this post from the archives, as it is still a keeper so many years later! This year I did not acknowledge the beginning of the solemn 3 week period, which started on July 6th, so making up for that now.......

Ten days ago, on July 6th, was the Jewish date of the 17th of Tammuz, a solemn fast day on the Jewish calendar which marks the beginning of a three week period of mourning for the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash, (The Holy Temple/King Soloman's Temple.) Here is where the old post starts:

So with the boys home from school early, and my daughter just starting her summer vacation, there is no time like the present to try and get back into our crafting groove which I have missed greatly! So today I pulled out the watercolors, and grabbed a white corrugated cardboard box, and we all spent some time painting the stones of the kotel, and I just love the results!

Yes, my boys smirked when I told them to use bright and beautiful colors for the stones that they know as beige, but I explained to them that we were painting the stories that the stones had surely witnessed, and all the beautiful prayers whispered in front of these stones every day by countless individuals from both near and far.

Remembering Jerusalem Crafts For Tisha B'Av

The period of mourning for Jerusalem that is referred to as "The Nine Days" on the Jewish calendar is well underway and this year The Ninth of Av, the culmination of this period, actually falls on shabbat but will be observed on Sunday. Lets add some meaning to this important time with some creative crafts! For those of us who live in Israel, and for whom the idea of Jerusalem is real, the crafts are a great reminder that while it is summer vacation (my boys are actually still in school until the end of this week ) and a time to unwind from the pressures of the school year, we mustn't forget that it still a time for reflection. For those living outside of Israel, I'd say filling the house with crafts for the nine days is crucial to stress its importance.......so let's get crafting. Below you'll find more than enough links to keep you busy for the few days, no problem!

DIY Decoupage Votives To Remember Jerusalem Using Recycled Jars

Pulling this one from the archives, because it is a favorite. Make a bunch for every Jewish holiday and then mix and match for a very amazing display!

We love having guests with sweet babies, and are more than happy when there are baby food jars to craft with!  Even before the guests left I found the small jars that I had put aside from their last visit, and together with some new tall ones, a craft idea was born: baby food jar votives with scenes of Jerusalem. This is our first craft this year with this topic, and the timing is perfect, as we can enjoy these jars for the next three weeks, and when the lights are turned down on the evening of T'Isha B'Av they will be lovely and a good reminder of what the holiday is all about!

Decoupage is a perfect craft for all ages, and results that are both abstract as well as pictorial look great together. So gather some jars, any size of course, and some simple supplies, and make a bunch of votives to use indoors and out!

Rembering Jerusalem Doodles

With Tisha B'Av, the Ninth of Av, quickly approaching, doing some crafting that is relevant to the time period is a must! it is true, there are all kinds of laws whose observance helps us not to forget, but the greatest reminder is to quite simply to get busy thinking about Jerusalem, and I'm here to help you with that! There is something about doodling that is just perfect for summer, and anyone can do it, so I thought that coming up with doodle patterns that depict Jerusalem would be perfect right about now. I've chosen to use Jerusalem domed houses and buildings, cypress trees and the stones of the Kotel as my doodling elements, though I'm sure you can some up with some more. So doodle a bunch of pages, and then color them, and/or set them aside to use for crafting. What crafting you may ask? Stay tuned for that one my dear readers!

Remembering Jerusalem Crafts For The Nine Days

The period of mourning for Jerusalem that is referred to as "The Nine Days" on the Jewish calendar is well underway and this year The Ninth of Av, the culmination of this period, actually falls on shabbat but will be observed on Sunday. Lets add some meaning to this important time with some creative crafts! For those of us who live in Israel, and for whom the idea of Jerusalem is real, the crafts are a great reminder that while it is summer vacation (my boys are actually still in school until the end of this week ) and a time to unwind from the pressures of the school year, we mustn't forget that it still a time for reflection. For those living outside of Israel, I'd say filling the house with crafts for the nine days is crucial to stress its importance.......so let's get crafting. Below you'll find more than enough links to keep you busy for the few days, no problem!

Spelt And Oatmeal Rolls For The Meals Before T'isha B'Av

A whole eight years ago I posted these photos of my healthful spelt and oatmeal rolls, and now I myself had to visit the blog to look up the recipe, so I realized that I should just re-post it as the photos are good enough, (though I did have to add a title and a watermark) unlike some of my very early blog posts. Tonight we are ushering in the very solemn day of T'Isha B'Av, which is also a mandatory 25 hour fast, (there are of course exceptions for children under bar/bat mitzvah age, those with illness or women after birth,) and we will be eating two vegetarian meals before the fast: one for sustenance and one right before the fast, that is eaten sitting on the floor and with symbolic foods of mourning.

So of course the family and the teens have to eat, and when the kids used up the bread I had planned to serve them later in the day I realized that once upon a time I did bake bread (pre-teen daughter taking over the baking) and that I could certainly revisit those days in order to serve my family something really healthy and great tasting before the fast. To top it off we just happened to have a bag of spelt flour in the freezer, so voila, I baked, or rather I am baking as the rolls have yet to go into the oven.

DIY Mosaic Planter Is The Perfect Summer Craft

Since it looks like there will be no summer adventures outside of Israel for us this year, I realized that I should take a closer look at all the amazing things happening practically outside my door, and photograph them to share with you! For starters I just noticed this lovely mosaic dove and chamsa planter that is just as sweet as can be and the perfect theme for the three weeks, because the dove is a Jewish symbol of peace, healing and hope for a better world. Given the size of the vines in the planter it has been there for several months, gasp! So I can't believe I just noticed it!

The good news is that mosaic projects like this one are really quite simple, I know because once upon a time I also covered ceramic pots and urns with tile, and two of those pots are still in my container garden, going strong 17 years later! You can see one of the pots here and check out all of the many varied and exciting mosaic projects and inspiration that I've posted over the years on m blog here.

Enjoy, and consider giving a mosaic of some kind a try! It is the perfect summer craft as it really should be done outdoors, and it is also the kind of project that could be done together as a family, so all the better! Keep on reading to see more photos of this mosaic planter, as well as nice photos of the stone and cobblestone alley where it resides!

Gates Of Jerusalem Collage Art

The "Three Weeks" on the Jewish calendar is always such a challenging time, as on the one hand it is a mourning period, which intensifies for the last 9 days, and on the other hand it is summer vacation! There is no listening to music or playing musical instruments, and joyful occasions that can be planned, like weddings are not permitted. This year we are in a serious time warp and difficult time in any case, so processing it all seems less difficult, but usually the idea of no swimming during the 9 days just when kids would be going to camp might be hard to process. That said, one can certainly do crafts for hours on end, and this gates of Jerusalem collage art project is a great one for the whole family. And shhhhh, it is actually a bit addictive so you may just have found something to keep everyone busy for hours on end, wouldn't that be amazing? And best of all, when you are finished you'll have some meaningful art to hang on the wall, and enjoy for years to come. And of course, you can take my idea and then do your own spin on this, which would be the most wonderful way to go about this project. So gets those creative gears turning, collect a bunch of paper scraps and little receipts and tickets and even gum wrappers, and go to town. And another shhhhh, this is actually really therapeutic as well, so try to encourage collaging plus deep conversation or soul searching of some kind, to make the end result even more special. Okay, lets make some gates of Jerusalem collage art!