creative jewish mom

Fun Mini Ugly Sweater Craft For Chanukah

Dusting this one off from the archives as it is a keeper, and I'll be pulling mine out from the chanukah decorations box shortly!

After turning a color swatching exercise into striped dreidels, here, I just had to keep on going with some cozy striped sweaters! Are they "ugly" holiday sweaters, not in my book, because friends, when you mix your own paint colors using any red, yellow and blue, no matter what, the resulting colors will go together, like magic! Truly a wonderful realization, and a great way to minimize thinking too much about what colors to use, whether painting a painting or painting stripes on a mini holiday sweater! Yes, it is true these sweaters might look great with a star of David, or a dreidel, or a jelly doughnut on the front, but I think I'm going to leave them plain so I can enjoy them all winter and it won't look like I've yet to pack up my Chanukah decor! (Same goes for all the white pom poms I'm planning on hanging!) So friends, these "ugly" holiday sweaters are just beyond cute, and so simple to make, so let's get started!

Mini Magazine Page Flowers Craft

Mini recycled magazine page chrysanthemums are just the sweetest and great anytime or for a special occasion! I could have sworn that i made larger versions of these a good ten years ago, but the only thing I found on my blog is a felt version of these, also wonderful! I had totally forgotten about my felt flower stint, hmmmm, maybe time to revisit that, but in the mean time, lets make some magazine page flowers, in this case mini versions that I think I'm going to use as napkin decor for my daughter's birthday party this Shabbat (shhhh, its a surprise!) Magazine pages can be a great source of colorful and patterned paper, so before you recycled any lightweight paper items, check them out to see if indeed there are pages that are mostly one color, or a combination of pleasing colors that could be used for crafting! I save these pages in a shoe box or in a nice pile, as there are many many craft projects that call for recycled magazine pages, and the look that is achieved is unmatched with solid colored paper of any kind. Of course, there is nothing quite like real flowers, so why not buy some flowers online Sydney to enjoy as well. Okay, lets get started.....

Origami Butterfly Medallions With Pom Poms Party Decor

Last year I created hundreds of origami butterflies for Purim, and our community Purim party, and then ended up making many pom pom bordered medallions with some of the butterflies. After using the medallions to decorate my own home for Purim, I packed them away nicely in a box, and tadah they were ready for use once again this year! The major change that I made, was that I realized that the butterfly medallions would look so much better on a dark blue background as opposed to the light blue from last year, and phew I was right!

The fabric used is disposable tablecloth material, which yes, is shame and somewhat wasteful, and maybe I ought to sew some sleeves for these room dividers that we use on either side of a makeshift stage, hmmmmm, great idea, maybe next year? This year, and last year as well, I used a hot glue gun to attach the medallions to the disposable fabric, which actually works quite well. Hot glueing the fabric to itself though does not work, and this year I actually used a yarn needle and yarn to secure the panels so they won't fall down, which happened last year when only tape was used, yikes!

Recycling Winter Craft: Cereal Box Cardboard Umbrellas!

Introducing cereal box umbrellas to use in garlands, as gift tags, place cards, or art journaling fodder, just for starters! There is something so very cute about these umbrellas that the more the better, plus they are so much fun to make, not to mention great to have on hand for any party or decor needs come the rainy season, whenever that is for you! For us, here in Northern Israel, the rainy season is right now, and we've just had a three day period of non-stop rain, so these little cereal box umbrellas looked great as part of a winter themed garland this shabbat. While I created these in a size that would work with some adorable cereal box striped winter sweaters that I already had on hand, you can of course make them in any size. We have a family birthday coming up, and I'm thinking the theme will be rain, so some giant cardboard umbrellas will likely come to fruition, can't wait! Ah yes and maybe some clouds with colorful raindrops, which our 8 year old unicorn loving cutie will just swoon over? Okay, but first, let me explain how to make these simply adorable cardboard umbrellas......

Recycled Liquor Bottle Candlestick Craft

It is true, I made these recycled liquor bottle candesticks for a Chanukah party that was held last night, but truthfully they are so universal they can be used for any festive occasion and any time that you want the look of candles without the safety concerns! And of course you could go for paper candles that are metallic silver or gold and maybe make the flame a bit less crafty looking and then even use them for a fancyish party outdoors where real candles wouldn't work, or for a feast in the forest where flames would be dangerous? And friends, whether or not you partake in liquor of any kind, there are certainly many ways to get your hands on some amazing bottles to recycle! These happen to be bottles from my son's wedding two weeks ago, and the 12 year old brother of the bride collected all the bottles for me having seen a previous craft project.....so sweet of him and glad I didn't listen to the husband who said we didn't have room in the trunk!

Now these candlestick bottles will make great decorations as well as centerpieces for our long shabbat table next week, I'm actually really excited to put "candles" on the table that I can then move when we clean up, on shabbat we don't light fire or touch it, so while I could make a long centerpiece with real lit candles it would be quite impractical and dangerous as the guests pass all those Moroccan salads around!

Okay, sold? Lets make some great looking recycled glass bottle candlesticks.......

Giant DIY Cardboard Cactus Craft

Who doesn't love a giant cardboard cactus, especially as a craft for kids? Though honestly, I think I need to make one or a few, for myself......in pink and blue too! First of all, I can't take credit for this, the photos, (taken in what it looks like a really nice kid's creativity center possibly in the Netherlands?) were taken by Ron Lach, though the project looks like it was commercially cut cardboard. Hmmm, we can certainly do that ourselves though! So no tips on this one, but hopefully I'll get around to it myself. Keep on reading for a few more photos.....

DIY Rustic Wooden Wedding Sign

When my dear nephew Rafi asked me to make a rustic welcome sign for his wedding in Israel (because the bride was dreaming of one) my first reaction was, hmmm, never done that maybe I'll just do it on the computer and make a mounted print? Except given the rustic wedding venue that might totally flop, yikes. Then I thought why not do a computer created decal and apply it to wood? A good option but ordering that decal, not so simple in my location, and potentially costly. Okay, then how about DIY decal sheets to print at home? An option but also needs to planned way ahead to account for shipping of those sheets. In the end, silly me I realized that designing the sign on the computer, and then transferring the design onto a piece of wood, and then painting it truly would be the best solution. And so, presenting to you my first ever DIY rustic welcome sign, with the artist's easel that I also happened to have, and which needed its own makeover as well.

Want to make one too, let's do it!

3D Origami Paper Stars - A Perfect Winter Craft

Once again these tiny paper stars have stolen my heart, and with just a bit of practice I am making them in less than a minute per star! Which is great because truly the more the better! I keep mine in jars and sprinkle them where ever some color and cuteness is needed for any celebration......and then of course I scoop them up and save them for the next time! Of course you can also get out the needle and thread and make delicate mobiles or garlands or even bunting cake toppers.....there are so many ways to use these stars. The last day of Chanukah and the coming days might just be a great time to stay indoors and get the family making stars, together, or take some paper strips along on your next trip, as these would be a great activity for in the car or on the plane. Not for small children, but great for reluctant teens, speaking from experience! Okay, lets find out how to make some stars!

Ocean Themed Party Centerpiece

Can you imagine a crossing the Red Sea centerpiece running down the length of your table? My stand up waves, that you can place in one line, or two, with little figures in between the 2 rows, are super simple to whip up, and even better, you can certainly save them for at least a few years! The first time I made these stand up waves they were quite simply silver, and I only realized that I could add some sea creatures to them last year, which I just love, especially since it makes it more festive and fun for the kids! Of course if you'd rather not have waves running down your table for Passover, this is certainly a great idea for an ocean themed birthday party, or any party for that matter. You could add just about anything to the waves, like numbers or letters or surfers, or water skiers, or ? So have fun with this one, and if you don't quite have time for it this Passover, keep it in mind for next year! Then again, send someone to the art supply store to get you some corragated silver craft cardboard, or even just heavy weight silver cardstock in large sheets, and truly you can cut out the waves in 15 minutes, and then next year you can add the sea creatures! Okay, lets do this!

Paper Doll Chain Party Decorations In A Pinch!

Sometimes you just need a great idea for party decorations in a pinch, and maybe even a ton of them, and this my friends is a keeper! Paper doll chains can be made in any length or size, the only limit is the size of your paper! I just love the idea of hanging them on a line, with clothespins, whether suspended, as mine were, or on a wall, and this preserves the paper dolls for use in the future, or maybe you'd like to take them down and let the guests clothe them? Now how is that for party decor meets party craft? Okay, our big party of the year, Purim is coming tomorrow night, so lets get this show on the road!