creative jewish mom

Welcome To Our Passover Seder Table!

Wishing everyone a peaceful, restful and joyful Passover holiday! We are now on the 5th night of the 7 (8 outside of Israel) night holiday, so there isn't much time left to really enjoy this special holiday despite everything going on in the world around us! While I do love Passover, as of today my teens are officially going a bit stir crazy, and once the holiday is over we'll be able to do things that we don't do during this time, like crafting and painting and gardening, which will help keep everyone busy and hopefully occupied. If not, I have a whole basement and an attic that needs organizing? The government law right now is that one is not allowed to go out of their homes or further than 100 meters except for shopping or great need, so that rules out hiking sadly, which would be great right now, as early Spring is here and the green fields are filled with wild mustard and other early bloomers.

Lest I digress, this year's Passover seder was just the smallest version of our immediate family, 3 teens and husband and I, and it turned out to be really nice, just us, no guests to worry about and for me MUCH LESS clean up and food prep. Truthfully this has been the most restful and relaxing Passover ever, and that coupled with the absence of visitors and car traffic in our neighborhood means ahhhhhh, just quietness, and a beautiful view, for which we are very grateful. The weather has been rainy and uncharacteristically cold, which makes staying indoors much easier, though we are all itching to go on more than just a short walk in the neighborhood!

This year's seder table was all about using things we had on hand as there was no shopping for the prettiest little this or that, and it turned out to be just as lovely as ever, let's take a look!

DIY Cactus Balloons For Shavuos Or Anytime!

Summer is almost here which means warm weather, longer days and extra family time. Summer also brings many celebrations, such as the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, and or course weddings and birthdays. If you’re looking for a unique theme for your summer celebration, try using cacti as a motif! The holiday of Shavuot is celebrated by decorating our homes and synagogues with greenery and flowers, so I say flowering cacti are perfect!  Cacti are cute, and very easy to incorporate into a party—they can be used as decor, party favors and even included in food or drinks (like a prickly pear lemonade). The most commonly found cactus in Israel is the prickly pear, called the sabras, and in fact Israelis are called Sabras because they are prickly on the outside but sweet on the inside just like the fruit! You can find pretty prickly pear cacti with their bright yellow blooms and red fruit all over Israel, often growing in large groves alongside the highway!

So to connect to Israel, maybe even for the Jewish holiday of Shavuos, or to add an extra touch to your party decor, try making these adorable DIY cactus balloons using this tutorial by ProFlowers. You can create unique cacti formations and create your own cacti balloon photo backdrop or use them to decorate a food or present display table. They’re also really simple to create so the kids can help out with some of the steps.  Speaking of kids, this would also be a cute birthday party activity with a cactus balloon party favor to take home! Okay, lets get started!

Cardboard Fish Centerpiece For Purim, Or Just For Fun!

The cardboard fish centerpieces I made for our community Purim party were a hit, and now I get to use them to decorate our house for Purim, coming up quickly next week. I don't think I'll use all ten of them, then again, a school of fish swimming down my Purim table could be lots of fun, right? I'll get out the blue tablecloths and take it from there.....maybe I'll make some milk carton boats or use some plastic ones and do a whole ocean themed table.......I guess it all depends on how quickly the costumes go this year, and how many guests we'll be having. At this moment I'm so happy to have some new decorations and a theme to work with, and Purim  isn't for another nine days or so (next Wednesday night, with the festive meal happening on Thursday.) And so for once the holiday may just come in without having to loose any sleep, yippee! Want to make some quick cardboard fish centerpieces? Lets get started......

Golden Doves Henna Party Centerpiece

First of all, it is now the month of Adar, a month increased joy and happiness, and some sillyness to boot, so you don't need the excuse of a neighbor's henna party to make some fun Moroccan doves like these! Did you know that doves mate for life, and they also share the duties taking care of the young ones? I know this since I've had many doves nesting on my window sills over the years! So it is no accident that a pair of doves is often used as wedding symbolism. I happened to have large number of white doves that I used as centerpieces for a different kind of occassion, but thought I'd upcycle some of them to use as centerpieces at the henna party we threw for my neighbors daughter as a part of their engagement party. Maybe painting the doves gold would have been enough, but I just had to add some Moroccan touches, little Moroccan hats for the male doves, and a crown of sorts and jewelry for the female doves. Maybe a little too cute for a super elegant occassion, but this was Israeli budget style with disposable tablecloths and dishes, so cute works just fine!

Simple Moroccan Theme Centerpieces For A Jewish Henna Party

A Jewish Henna party? Yes indeed dear readers, Jews from places like North Africa/Morocco, Yemen, and even Iran do have the tradition of a henna ceremony sometime before the wedding. The main difference between the Jewish henna ceremony and the henna ceremonies I've seen from India is that the Jewish ceremony does not involve drawing designs, rather a large round mark is made on the hand with the henna, and there are even little round badges with ribbons that are used to tie the henna to the palm as it must be held in place for a while in order to leave a mark. The three hebrew letters that spell henna are chet, nun and hay, and those are the first letters in the words that spell the three mitzvot that are exclusive to women. These three mitzvot are Challah, Niddah and Haladkat Neros, meaning taking the challah portion (with a blessing), observing family purity, and lighting shabbat candles.

My neighbor's daughter got engaged last week, so I was recruited to help with decorations for the Henna portion of the evening.......needless to say I had everything on hand and everyone was thrilled with my efforts, which I'll be sharing with you here, well a few photos in any case. Before I realized that I needed a largish centerpiece as the tables at the hall are huge, I came up with the idea for this sweet centerpiece, and truthfully you can take this idea and use it for any theme you like. Let's get started shall we?

Giant Origami Apples Are Perfect For Any Party

A few weeks ago, just after the holiday of Tu B'Shevat I needed to make some simple centerpieces for a community women's party, and I decided to try my hand at making a giant version of my origami apples and fruit. Fortunately the results were fantastic, especially with the addition of some gold leaves, and the same centerpieces were re-used a few days later at a shabbos Brit, which is perfect. Now, if your gears are turning, great, just know that there is a size limit to these origami fruit, namely the width of your paper, and once they get large folding the paper isn't difficult, but expanding the shape can be. So make some origami fruit in a bunch of sizes and colors (I did, actually, as you can guess) and enjoy. They won't last forever, and I believe a few of mine succumbed to having drinks spilled on them, but that is fine, after all sometimes it is great when you don't have to save everything! Ah yes, and it is true, these lavender versions may look more like plums, but that is great too, the more fruit the better. Okay, lets start making some giant origami fruit, perfect for Purim, shabbat, a baby shower, a wedding, a teacher appreciation gift, or just because.

DIY Fairy Lights Holiday Centerpiece

This post is sponsored by DHgate.com

Looking for a simple yet festive centerpiece this holiday season? Look no further, this DIY for copper wire fairy lights is so simple, you've got this! I actually made this plant in a house (it's a green house!) centerpiece for my son's bar mitzvah, and made about 20 of them in no time......the biggest time investment was trying to get all those metal frame houses back home. For the bar mitzvah I bought a bunch of flowering plants and placed them in white ceramic pots that I had on hand from the last bar mitzvah, and the results were gorgeous. Whether or not you can actually get your hands on a house frame like this one (mine was from the local discount store) the most important element here for your holiday centerpiece is the mini-LED fairy lights with copper wire. Some versions of this mini-LED string light are also water proof, meaning you can fill a mason jar or vase with water, attach the battery to the inside lid of the jar, and oh the possibilities! With or without water, wrap these tiny lights around just about anything, or simply place them in a bowl of fruit, and voila, your holiday centerpiece is ready to go. And just by the way, these lights are now available as solar powered mason jar lids which is perfect for an outdoor holiday DIY for mason jar lights project!

Ready to get started with this simple DIY holiday centerpiece using copper wire fairy lights? Let's do it!

DIY: Rope Wrapped Apples Look Great Year Round

If you are looking for a quick craft to add some cozy rustic charm to your home, this dear readers might just do the trick. These DIY rope covered apples are so simple to make that you can surely whip up a whole bowl full in an hour or so. Of course if you start calling all your friends to tell them about this great craft you found, well that may just increase your crafting time, so I'd say craft and then tell! Or in this case, Pin, if you would be so kind?

Rope, in this case the thinnest one I could find at my local hardware store, is great for making things that have that rustic feeling I'm craving this fall, and really can be used for so many things. I have made a crocheted rope heart, as well as a knit rope pot holder with this same cotton two ply chord/rope, and it really is exactly the right thickness for wrapping small to medium sized items.

Ready to get wrapping? Here we go.......................

Staghorn Fern Centerpiece Is Perfect In The Succah!

Today is the last day of Succot, sorry to say, and I've been working hard to photograph my succah, as well as keeping the family fed and happy, and preparing for the next holiday, Simchat Torah, in which we actually leave our succahs, come into our disorganized homes and celebrate the Torah, like in a big way, with lots of dancing and singing. Lest I digress, I just wanted to share wtih you my all time favorite centerpiece, a staghorn fern! I've been using this very staghorn fern, planted in soil, on my dining room table since Shavuot, namely in May, and I still love it.

I'll admit, when I finally spotted a staghorn fern at a nursery that I had never been to, of course I had to have it, and dreamed of mounting it on a board. But, I think I'm just gonna have to treat myself to another one, as this ones looks so great on my dining room table. It is currently growing in the long and narrow direction, which makes the proportions perfect and not annoying to those seated near it!

DIY Pineapple Top Plant In Just MInutes Makes A Great Summer Centerpiece!

Pineapples are a motif that is all the rage right now, so why not go all the way and make some real plants from pineapple tops. It only takes a few minutes and you also get to enjoy the pineapple, a healthy way to add sweets to your next party. Truthfully pineapple top plants would make great party centerpieces, especially since you can then make platters of fresh pineapple to serve, and you can let guests take them home as party favors.

What can I say, I'm just crazy about this idea, and was so thrilled when my husband brought home a pineapple whose top was in good condition.......not to mention a pineapple that was grown in Israel! Pineapples here are on the expensive side as well, so getting a little plant out of the deal is certainly wonderful for those of us who fall into the green thumbed plant loving category.

Ready to grow some of your own pineapple top plants, lets get started.......