creative jewish mom

DIY Cardboard Leaves Wall Hanging For The Succah

It is true, I made this DIY falling leaves wall hanging specially for our Succah, but truly it could be wonderful anywhere, or at the least as a party or wedding backdrop as well! The leaves I chose represent five of the seven holy species: olive, date, fig, pomegranite and grape, which actually is a nice selection of sizes, something to keep in mind! I'll admit, cutting out all the leaves, and then painting them with white oil based paint (for the water-resistant qualities in case of rain in the succah) took about two days, (check out my cardboard leaf cutouts here) with the assembly an additional few hours, but it was well worth the effort and set the stage for the rest of the Succah, which this year was neutral with touches of pink. Everything really looked so very wonderful and we enjoyed the succah maybe more than ever, and while I kept thinking about what I'll add next year, I was very very happy with the results. Last night a youngish boy came in to see the succah and he said it looked like a room set-up at IKEA, "where they show you what goes with what." So cute and truly a compliment! Okay, want some tips for making something similar? Lets do it!

Holy Species Cardboard Leaf Cut-Outs For A Succah Wall Hanging!

This year we decided to create a succah with a very elegant/relaxed feeling by using a combination of cremes and whites, so my first succah craft entailed cutting out a huge number of cardboard leaves which I then painted white. Of course the leaves (and fronds) are not just any leaves, but rather fig leaves, olive leaves, pomegranate leaves, grape leaves and date palm fronds, which have great meaning as these are 5 of the 7 holy species, missing only wheat and barley. And while I did not get around to trying to figure out how to make giant wheat and barley stocks, I have just the place to do it next year, yippee! Cutting out all these leaves took me several days, but in the end it was well worth it as the end result is really wonderful, and I will share that with you soon!

Of course we aren't making any decorations once the holiday starts, but keep this in mind for next year! And keep on reading for some tips......

Recycled Icecream Cone Box Birthday Garland!

I hope you will never throw out another food box with photos on it again, as cut-outs make the most adorable garlands, especially when the kids cut out the items and decorate them! This ice cream cone birthday garland for a beloved five year old was made together with him, though admittedly I did most of the work, but he did a great job making some abstract cherries and cutting out the cones! The black and white striped t-shirt yarn adds to the whole look, though of course black and white polka dot ribbon would also be great. So friends, recycle those food boxes with photos on them and make fun crafts. Boxes of cereal with collage of pom poms  and sequins could be great, hmmm, gotta do that! Get creative with this one and enjoy!

Cross Stitch on Cardboard Apple Craft

Pulling this one out of the archives from a mere two years ago, and now it is making me want to embroider, help!

I followed my own advice about making some cross stitch apple crafts (check out my first cross stitch apple craft here) for Rosh Hashana, and last night in the wee hours of the morning I made my son a birthday card featuring a slightly different cross stitch apple, and this time on cereal box cardboard. I'm happy with the results and wish I had time to do some more icons for Rosh HaShana, hmmm, maybe I do have the time? You'll be the first to see the results if I do, but in the mean time, think about how you can take this idea and use it for your upcoming celebration, whether it be a Fall birthday, a teacher appreciation gift, or, Rosh HaShana of course, coming up this Sunday night! Ah yes, and traditionally, the Jewish new year is the time to give cards, so if you need a special one, this could be perfect! Okay, time is of the essence, lets learn how I made this!

Fun Cardboard and Paper Collage Cut-Outs For Rosh HaShana

We are in the heart of our short summer vacation here in Israel, and with war and so much heartache looming over our heads, crafting and preparing for upcoming holidays and happy occassions is a wonderful way to spend a few hours. Get the whole family together or even take time for yourself, creativity is my solution to managing stress and it truly works! Now, if I could just bury my head in the art supplies around the clock! In the past I created lovely doodle apples and doodle bees, which still look great a few years down the road, but yesterday I decided to make a more younger child friendly version using cereal box cardboard, some colored paper and a glue stick! Of course my version does look a bit too perfect maybe, so can't wait to see the charm that the little crafters I'm working with will bring to this project. But in the mean time, get to work and start preparing for Rosh HaShana, it is quickly approaching and apples and pomegranites and honey and bees and fish all make great subjects for crafting, right?

Rebuilding The Beit HaMikdash Recycling Craft For Kids

I have pulled this post from the archives, as it is one of my all-time favorites for crafts for The Nine Days and for The 9th of Av, coming up on Monday night. Previously, I published this at the beginning of the three week mourning period, and this is what I wrote:

Today is the 17th of Tammuz, a solemn fast day on the Jewish calender, and certainly a perfect time to work on my "Rebuilding the Beit HaMikdash" recycling craft with kids of all ages! Of course one could certainly use this idea to also learn about the Kotel (The Wailing Wall) which stands today and was one of the outer walls of the courtyard of the Beit HaMikdash.

Starting today, we enter a period of mourning for the next three weeks— mourning for the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash, the Holy Temple in Jerusalem that was taken from us in 70 CE, (namely 1,943 years ago!) on the 9th of Av, the day which marks the end of this three week period of mourning. Of course our mourning has many facets, one of which is thinking about how each one of us can do his part to rebuild the temple.

Quick Front Door Decor Craft For Lag B'Omer

If you've been paying attention, you may remember the ten plagues Passover cards I made a month plus ago? The art was mounted on gold cardboard that was actually some metallic gold cardbaord dessert platters left at my front door. And of course, after I cut out the flat middle I just had to save the outside frame for a future craft, and yippee, I actually used two of the frames for this fun bonfire craft for Lag B'Omer, miracles do happen! This is such a fun craft for kids, who can create according to their level, in this case a 4 1/2 year old drew the flames on top of the logs I drew first, and an 8 year old drew the men, who were actually part of a paper doll chain. There are so many ways to go with this fun craft, so don't toss those cardboard trays that aren't filthy, craft with them!

DIY Passover Seder Ten Plagues Cards Craft

Our huge investment in the wonderful holiday of Passover is about to pay off when we sit down together at the Passover Seder table tomorrow night, phew! Almost there with of course lots of cooking left to do, but things are mostly under control with just last minute errands and household organizing to do. And of course, Passover wouldn't be Passover without a little something fun for the kids at the Passover Seder table, so this year I've created three sets of ten plagues cards that are just as cute as can be, and of course can be saved for years to come! And friends, this was also a recycling craft for me, as I used the metallic gold cardboard trays that were left at my door by an anonymous neighbor cleaning out their cabinets! Okay, ready to make some of your own cards, and yes maybe in the future there will be a printable, but for now you can simply download some clip art, right?

Egg Carton Animal Portrait Craft

With Purim in less than a week, now is time to get crafting friends, and I've started with making egg carton animal portraits that are mini works of art that will also be gift tags for my mishloach manot! The four here were the first 4 of a group that is now 21 strong, so honestly they aren't quite as good as those that follow, but time is of the essence, so sharing them with you anyway. Truthfully before making more I thought these were great, and so it goes. My only problem now is that I love some of them so much that I can't possibly give them away to folks who won't appreciate them, so I'll give away these and the others that I can part with, and move on to making some toilet paper tube birds for the other folks since that will be less time consuming! Okay, lets do this!

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!