creative jewish mom

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!

Painted Mittens Gift Box Or Artful Winter Decor!

I've dusted this one off from the archives as it goes wonderfully well with my latest cereal box doodle umbrella craft! Enjoy.

Ready to practice your painting and drawing skills and make the funnest winter themed gift box ever? What can I tell you, this one is a winner, not just the color combo, but the fun artful style, and the fact that it looks much more complicated than it really is! This winter clothes theme came about because I painted an ugly sweater for Chanukah, and then a graffiti ski cap, so mittens were a natural fit for my theme, and mittens with pom poms, is there anything cuter? So whether you follow my technique or not, do think about packaging your gifts this year in recycled containers that you've repurposed, or painted or made yourself, it makes gift giving that much more meaningful! Okay, lets get started!

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......

Stand-Up Cardboard Dreidel Craft For Chanukah!

The wonderful thing about Chanukah is that it is eight days long, so we can make crafts during the holiday as well as leading up to the holiday! And of course simple recycling crafts that pack up well to save for next year and years to come are truly the best! One such craft is these stand up dreidels which can be used as place cards, or simply as a touch of something festive anywhere! Two years ago I shared my painted cereal box dreidels to use for Chanukah crafting, but I didn't actually share with you how I used some of them, so now I am doing just that, and truly friends, this one is a keeper! If you want to make some tiny puffy origami stars made from strips of quilling paper, check out my paper stars tutorial, another keeper! Okay, tonight is the 4th night of Chanukah, so lets get crafting!

A Recycled Wine Bottle Carrying Box Becomes A No-Pressure Canvas

A few weeks ago a shabbat guest brought us a bottle of wine, as many do, though rather than in a gift box, the bottle was in a carrying box made for two bottles. We have lots of guests, so I save lots of wine bags and even nice boxes, but this was the first box of its kind to find its way to me, and I just knew i had to paint it! After a few weeks painting on only paper I was just itching to do something lower pressure and just for fun, using left over paint from other paintings of course. And for a moment I thought I'd be tossing the box, in the end it all worked out and I actually love this litte painting on a wine box! Of course it did have many steps and sections got repainted entirely, but the lesson here is patience! And truthfully, just like watercolor paper, a box like this could sure take quite a few coats of paint, so if the first try fails, paint over it and start again! I'm not sure if I'll be using this as a gift box or not, (still need to finish the other side) but if I do I think I'll seal it with a coat of varnish. Then again, I think I need to hang onto it, as when the painted milk cartons come out again in the winter, I do believe this vase of flowers would be a nice addition!

Recycled Cereal Box Gift Bag

It has been quite a while since I made gift bags from cereal boxes, but somehow after all the crafting I did this year for Tu B'Shevat and then Purim, it just seemed natural to go with the flow! So this year, rather than giving neighbors a nice selection of Morocan salads for our Mishloach Manot on Purim, I actually gave much less in the food department and more in the creativity department, including a large origami horse, which was the star of the show. I will share smaller versions of this horse shortly, but keeping him out of the public eye for the time being, because who knows, maybe just maybe that book of mine will happen and I'll need some projects that were never seen.......or maybe next year I'll be less into the crafts and will need something to share for Purim? Who knows the main thing is to fill life with creativity and bring joy to others! Okay, back to the idea of using a cereal box to make, in this case, two gift bags which are just great looking and all around wonderful in my book. Lets make some!

DIY Butterfly Boxes Spring Craft

As you may know, I just adore creating art on recycled, mostly little, boxes of any kind, as well as milk cartons, so after I painted some simple 2 stroke butterflies in my journal, well that just had to start covering some boxes! And of course it will not surprise you that I had a few blank green boxes sitting around from last year, so this one came together quite quickly, and I just love these. What do I love even more? The white box I also covered in butterflies which you can see if you keep on reading. So friends, time is pressed right now with just 2 weeks until Passover, so I recommend on deciding on a butterfly theme for this year's holiday, and having some fun painting a bunch of them, they are after all a nice symbol of freedom! Okay, lets do it!

Adorable Doodle Pears Boxes To Stack As Art!

Sometimes it is the DIY projects with just the simplest materials, and of course recyclables to boot, that are truly the most special! And these fun stackable doodle pear boxes are truly the proof in the pudding, right? It all started out because I'm doing an instagram challenge called #colormegrow at my @sara.rivka.dahan account, and this week we were working on a project using just red, black and white. The challenge will last for at least 3 months, and I'm planning to do boxes every week, so that at the end I'll have a nice tower! Each week, depending on which color or colors the challenge dictates, I'll be painting stripes on little recycled food boxes (like tea boxes and one sleeve cookie boxes, toothpaste boxes, etc.) and then turning that into something. Last week I made landscapes from my blue boxes, and this week, well, the challenge subject was pears and today is Tu B'Shevat, so a fun pattern with doodle pears was an obvious choice! Of course, if you like my pears, you can use this idea on canvas or paper, it would be fun art in any form.  Okay, lets do it, shall we?

Passover Pyramid Craft From A Cereal Box!

 
With Passover arriving this coming Saturday night, now is the time to fit in some last minute crafting in anticipation of this wonderful holiday, and possibly keep the kids busy with a crafting station so you can finish, or continue all the holiday preparations! The essence of the holiday is to tell the story of the Jews deliverance from Egypt to the children, so getting kids involved with decorations and hand made items to celebrate and absorb this game changing history of the Jewish people is really really important!

I have been wanting to make cardboard pyramids for a few years, and while I didn't quite realize my dreams this year, I did at least make one artful cereal box pyramid, which by the way depicts the plague of hail, which was both fire and ice, so hail can certainly be pink! I love the results (though it was questionable at first) and I wish I had time to make more. Next year I'll have to make them in January! Nothing says Egypt and slavery like the pyramids, so be sure to include them in your holiday decor. A line of pyramids running down the table would be stunning! Okay, time is of the essence, lets learn how to make some of these, pronto!

Simple Painted Treat Boxes From The Recycling Bin!

We are about to apparently welcome some snow so I'll make this quick as I need to go cover my succulents and bring others indoors! I have quite a collection of little food and medicine boxes that I hope to use someday for a big installation of some kind, not to mention match boxes, but in the mean time, there is nothing quite as sweet as little painted treat boxes. (Or just make some artufl painted matchboxes for shabbat, a fun gift!) Purim is a great time to get creative with fun and artful packaging, so why not gather as many boxes as you can find, get out the paint and have fun creating something unique! Even if you don't use them for gift giving, they also make great decor, any time! You can hot glue a bunch together, or tie them together with a beautiful ribbon, or use your creative packaging as part of a larger gift basket. The main thing is, get those creative gears turning, don't worry about what someone might think of your painted toothpaste box! The box I've shared with you here is soooo simple, you won't believe it, keep on reading!