creative jewish mom

Graffiti Mittens Recycled Gift Box Craft

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!

Abstract Floral Gift Boxes From Recycled Packaging Are A Gift In Themselves

This year's crafts for chanukah are all about bright colors and abstract shapes that look oh so artful and festive! Practicing some painting techniques on gift bags, cereal boxes or even smaller recycled cardboard food boxes is a great way to make some art that isn't precious and has a use, and if it doesn't turn out so well......recycle it, which is where is was going in the first place (hopefully.) I actually made this painted gift box from an etrog box left over from Succot, which is a great way to take the energy from one Jewish holiday into the next. Not of course that Chanukah is about gifts, as tradtionally it is certainly not, but in our house I use it as an opportunity to give some fun, practical, and warm presents as an added touch. After all, Chanukah is 8 nights, as to keep it festive one has to do something a bit out of the ordinary. For many that may be whipping up lots of treats, including doughnuts, for me I'd rather spend the time getting creative with little gifts and wrapping them just so. And I will let you in on a little secret, I definately re-use the hand painted gift boxes this year throughout the holiday, as well as the home made wrapping paper, so make sure to let the recipients know not to destroy the art! Want to spend a little bit of time making some of your own gift boxes that in themselves are works of art, let's do it!

Ice Cream Cone Gift Tags From A Recycled Ice Cream Cone Box!

Ice cream cone gift tags from an ice cream cone box are just the cutest and one of the quickest recycling crafts ever! As I was trying to clear out all the recycling items that I hoard, including a lovely pink ice cream cone box from a certain Israeli brand, the idea struck and within minutes, voila, two ice cream cone gift tags were born! And oh so relevant as my daughter whipped up an amazing cake that I'll be sharing next, (meaning there were some very photogenic cookies and candies to style the photo) making this week birthday week! In general I love saving graphics from boxes, especially vintage ones, and in the past I've cut up cardboard vegetable crates to make a set of play vegetables for kids, though once you start looking at boxes, don't just toss them, get creative. And of course most boxes can be turned inside out, decorated and used as gift boxes! I will admit I have a growing collection of tiny pharmacy and cosmetic boxes that I'm storing flat and will become a project, but am happy to have found a use for this larger ice cream cone box! Okay, I'm thinking that this is pretty self explanatory, but I'll be happy to give a list of supplies in case you are wondering about that cute striped string or anything else. Keep on reading!

Mini Cardboard T-Shirts For Birthday Party Decor!

DIY mini cardboard t-shirts are just the cutest for birthdays, anniversaries, reunions, graduation, baby showers, casual weddings, and to welcome guests or just because! Simply make some mini cardboard t-shirts, decorate them with the message or graphics that works for your party, and voila, you can hang them on a string with mini clothespins, attach them to skewers for cake decorations, add a ribbon to make gift tags, or even use them to make fun napkin rings! And that is just for starters, I'm sure you can think of some more great ideas! I just love drawing black line drawings of clothes on cardboard, and you may remember my recycled cardboard clothes on a clothesline stage set, or even my mini Purim costumes on a clothes line kids craft. Once you realize how quick these ilttle t-shirts are to make, and how adorable they are, you'll be hooked, I know I am! Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'll go make a whole pile of them to have on hand for every occasion! Of course this is a bit self explanatory, but let me give you a few tips to make it even more simple, shall we?

Robot Craft From Recycled Packaging....For A Birthday Party!

Introducing some super fun recycled packaging robots that you can make for birthday party decor or anytime, just because. These robots can be made by kids with some adult assistance for the assembly, or by parents who just might want to surprise a little one on their birthday, which is what I did. Mind you ten isn't so little, but my son still loved seeing these guys on the dining room table set for a birthday party on the morning of his birthday.

Best of all, this is a craft that you can do fairly quickly, and requires just a few basic supplies together with some creativity, enjoy!

Drawing Exercise For Kids: Use Small Boxes To Create A City

Here's a fantastic drawing craft that's also a recycling craft — drawing on the un-printed side (the inside) of small medicine and food packaging to create a cityscape of buildings. The results of my seven year old's efforts were so amazing that I haven't decided if I want to frame them as is, or assemble them as buildings as originally planned.

As you can see, he remembered the topiary and roman shades that he learned to draw for the depiction of our house, which I shared with you last week, and then his efforts after that were much more abstract and geometric, which I just love. He didn't quite understand that the tabs and flaps wouldn't be seen, which is why I'm not sure whether to assemble them, as some of his art would be lost. We'll see! 

All the work was done here with a fine black permanent marker for the initial drawing, and the filling in was done with regular kid-safe colored markers. A great combination and the colors look so great on white, of course. 

Oh and that little orange Dutch style building on the lower left is my effort, as I did sit with my son for a bit to encourage his efforts, which are so much more exciting and creative than mine!

 

Recycle Cardboard Boxes & Kids Can Make Adorable Gift Packages!

Been saving those cereal and cracker boxes? Now is the time to use them to make super sweet gift packages for Purim mishloach manot, or for any occasion— who wouldn't love to receive a gift packaged in one of these great works of art? And the kids will feel so proud of themselves, you they may even be able to make a ton of these. Then all that's left for you to do is glue the boxes closed, add a ribbon handle, and something wonderful inside, and voila!

You'll Need

• recycled boxes from cereal, crackers etc
• acrylic craft paint, or any good quality paint that can be used for printing (namely not runny)
• paint markers or permanent markers
• circle sponge stamp (mine have handles) for kid's crafts, or carve a potato
• a hot glue gun
• wide ribbon

How To:

1. Open boxes at seam carefully. Lie flat and get the kids to work decorating them by either printing with a circular sponge, or by painting simple pictures
2. Once paint has dried, give kids markers to add details to their paintings and faces to their circles
3. For rectangular food box, add handle before you glue it together!
4. Glue side seam of box together with hot glue, followed by the bottom.
5. For cereal box "bag" shape, fold flaps down into box and glue in place. (just thought of this, it hides the cereal box graphics a bit!)
6. Punch holes in top of cereal box for ribbon handles. Use a little hot glue to secure ribbon to box just above the hole, and under the knot on the outside so it will lie flat.
7. Fill with healthy treats or wonderful handmade presents (Don't anyone get nervous, this is the goal, not reality most of the time, well except for the healthy part, which one really can do—I'll be giving whole wheat pitas and salads for Purim this year...)
8. Have fun and send me photos of your kid's creations! Oh and by the way, if you have a chance do pick up any of the drawing books by Ed Emberly, most kids really love them. (I know I did, though for some mysterious reason, my kids have yet to realize how wonderful they are! ) Some of the faces on the circle packages were inspired by one of his books.

Oh and one more thing. Painting pictures is actually quite difficult for many kids (and me too), so for those who are perfectionist types and don't enjoy painting because their pictures look like blobs, the idea of adding details with paint markers (or permanent markers) afterwards may help them loosen up a bit and enjoy painting! Here's to helping our kids enjoy the creative process!

 

 

Make Your Own Stamps From Craft Foam, And Get Stamping!

Above: A tea box is recycled, stamped on the blank side, and then re-glued inside out! You can also purchase blank boxes and make as many as you desire for party favors or small gifts.

Rosh HaShana is in another two weeks, so you still have time to make some handcrafted cards for friends and family, and treat bags for the kids! This project is really simple and with great results considering the minimal time investment. You can make some stamps one day, and the next, spend maybe an hour or so stamping your images on cardstock which you'll use to make beautiful and unique New Year's Greetings cards. Sounds good to me!

 

A Rosh HaShana card (left) is made from stamped colored paper and embellished with metallic gold contact paper. Gift tags are made by stamping a single image on thin cardboard, punching a hole, and adding a hanging ribbon!

 

 

Brown paper bags look adorable when stamped with images, especially those done by the kids! My almost 6 year old decided to do his own thing (instead of Rosh HaShana imagery like apples etc.) and drew a man which I then cut out for him, and stamped by brushing paint onto the whole shape. After the paint had dried, my son then went back and added details with a ball point pen. Too cute!

Make Your Own Stamps From Craft Foam Tutorial:

You'll Need:

• Craft Foam
• Glue
• Plastic tops (from spice containers) or other jar or container tops
• Ink Pads and/or paint

How To:

Step 1:  Trace around the perimeter of your spice jar top.

Step 2: Draw the shape you'd like to work with.

Step 3: Cut out foam shape and glue to spice container tops. Set aside to dry. Use double stick tape if you need to use them right away.

Step 4: Press stamp onto stamp pad, or apply paint with a brush

Step 5: Applying light pressure, press stamp onto paper

Above right: the man stamp was used as is, since it's too big to glue to a spice top. One can however glue an oversized shape to a dense sponge to make a large stamp.

And that's it! Can you believe it's so simple?  Enjoy!