creative jewish mom

Origami Pull Out Drawers Make Sweet Gift Boxes!

As I mentioned in my last post, origami hearts wall hanging, we have been enjoying exploring some simple and fairly simple origami techniques on the cold winter evenings of late, and last week we learned how to make these sweet origami stacking drawers. These origami drawers can be used as little gift boxes, or storage boxes for small precious items. It is true that this project does require precision, and you can see that even those made by me here are not perfect (mainly because I used card stock and not origami paper) so I'd recommend this for kids ages 10 and above. And truthfully regardless of the outcome, just developing the spacial skills needed to understand how to fold the origami step by step is a very worthy exercise. As an added benefit I actually discovered which of my children have greater 3D thinking skills by doing origami with them, which I found to be quite interesting, and helpful as far as which activities to encourage for their development. So you see, crafting with your kids has so many many benefits!

Origami Heart That Is Simple For Kids Too!

It is true, we do not celebrate Valentines Day, but that doesn't mean we can't enjoy making some heart themed crafts to spread the love, and origami hearts seem truly perfect right about now! And the good news is that kids around 8 years old and up can make these origami hearts after some explanation from an adult. Most of the hearts you see here were actually made by my ten year old son, who once he got the hang of folding squares made from A4 paper, said "lets make a bunch." And that is coming from someone who knows nothing about the upcoming heart holiday, and is not seeing all the images for said holday on the interenet like his blogging mom!

Origami Fruit

 

i'm so excited to share with you a super cute and super simple way to make a quick centerpiece, a fun place marker or a sweet mobile: origami fruit! Yes indeed, the same origami balloon shape that can be used to make origami string light covers can also be used to make adorable origami fruit in any color you like. These were made with a square made from letter sized paper, but much larger ones would work too, and if you make just four really large ones you can have a fantastic centerpiece in very little time. I'm planning on hanging these over our dining room table to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Tu B'Shevat which is all about fruit, and I think these will be perfect!

Origami String Light Covers

Origami balloons or origami cubes folded from your favorite colored and patterned paper are a perfect way to dress up string lights for a special occasion or just because. I remember making these origami balloons in grade school to play with in the classroom on a winter day, so I was so happy to revisit this simple craft after so many years. Not to mention that I've been wanting to do this for ages and only now had a moment (well a lot more than that actually) to give it a try. I love the idea of combining solid paper in happy colors with patterned black and white paper, and in this case I've used some fruit slice coloring pages that are available in my Etsy shop.

Simple Origami Birds For Kids

Yippee, I at long last was able to catch a few kids and get them to sit down and learn to fold some simple origami birds, just in time to hang some around our house for this shabbat, which is called "shabbat shira" and in which we give thanks to the birds for some help they gave us, the Jewish people, more than a few years back when we were living in the dessert after our deliverance from Egypt!

Origami Crane Mobile With Pom Poms...Perfect Anytime!

Origami paper cranes folded from brightly colored origami paper are perfect for making festive mobile decorations that you can leave up for months. Believe me! Because honestly, I made these origami crane decorations for my daughters birthday party back in July, and they looked amazing as Hanukkah decor as well! I think I'll take them down as we prepare for Tu B'Shevat, the next Jewish holiday, but I'll pack them away carefully to use again in the future.

Origami Cranes...Perfect For Birthday Parties or Your Succah?

I'm in love with origami cranes made from brightly colored origami paper. And I can still say that after having folded about forty of them for my daughter's birthday party last week! I used my origami cranes to create an origami crane mobile of sorts, which I hope to photograph soon,  and share with you. But in the meantime, why not learn how to fold an origami crane and make some in your spare moments.

And a handy tip for those whose crafting moments are sparse : you can do all the folding just before the last step in which you form the head and tail, and then store your nearly created cranes flat in a big envelope for a later date. I think they'd look great in a Succah, are fabulous over a baby's bed or hanging just about anywhere! Their beauty though is somewhat tied to the fact that they look great in numbers, so the more the better really!

Simple Origami Jumping Frogs For Passover

Origami frogs, namely simple origami jumping frogs, that you and the kids can make in just a few minutes each, are the perfect craft for the Passover seder. And of course they'd work very nicely with the origami pyramids I posted about last week! Teach the kids how to make them, and then let them make a small army of little frogs to throw everywhere during the plagues portion of the seder. Sounds fun to me! And these frogs may even jump (or do somersaults as mine did!) just a bit when you press down on the fold just above their rear legs, which makes this craft just a bit more exciting.

Classic Folded Paper Boats and Hats: A Great Craft + Activity To Do Today!

There was still some water left in our wading pool and given the severe drought we are suffering from here in Israel, I wanted to make sure we got every last ounce of usage out of that water before it is finally used to water plants and clean the porch. Then it came to me, why not show my children the simple joys of making folded paper boats! I sat down to see if I could remember how to actually make one, but my memory got me only as far as a paper hat, which didn't float very well! So I looked up how to actually make a boat, which resulted in the orange model above.