creative jewish mom

Watercolor Hyacinth Cut-Outs Look Amazing Anytime Of Year

It is true, here in the Northern Hemisphere we don't usually think about hyacinths right about now, but in Australia now is the time! And truthfully, hyacinths are such amazing flowers, whether planted (which one should start thinking about now) or forced (which could start happening around November) so why not give it a try with some watercolors? I painted these hyacinths to use in a watercolor art journal that I'm making, and I just love the results. And friends, when you cut out your watercolor florals you can of course make the stems thinner and shape the flowers!

Watercolor Flowers And Leaves Painted Within A Circle, To Use In An Art Journal Or Just Because!

Take my word for it, once you paint one watercolor floral or leaf pattern within a circle, you won't want to stop! In my case, as I'm thinking that these will be glued into an art journal that I'm making as a gift, I used mixed media paper which is much lighter weight than watercolor paper and does not quite soak up the color like watercolor paper, but it works. In the mean time I think I'm going to hang these circles on a little clothesline gallery in my kitchen, or tape them to the wall with a loop of tape on the back. My gallery shelves currently filled only with wooden items (cutting boards, a horse, plates, a wooden shoe) could use a little something to make them look more cheerful and I think this just might be the answer, at least this week. Ready to have some fun with watercolor, keep on reading for a few tips!

Watercolor Iris Cutouts With Stems

 

After creating some pink watercolor flowers on gold wire stems, I just loved the results too much not to give it a try with another kind of flower, and irises came to mind. I'd like to give it another try while actually looking at some reference, but this initial attempt was just fine and resulted in a lovely mason jar full of paper blooms for the Jewish holiday of shavuos! What can I say, there is just something about cut out watercolor flowers that are truly irresistable, and even if the flowers are a little wonky, it still looks great. Okay, shall we make some?

Watercolor Flowers With Wire Stems For Shavuos Crafting

I have been enjoying painting watercolor flowers lately, which means that there are successes as well as pieces that might have some successes and some failures on the same page. But actually that is a good thing because then you can cut out those lovely flowers from the rest of the not so great page, hot glue some lovely gold wire to the back and voila, fun flowers to stick into a vase, or use in any number of ways, especially for the Jewish holiday of Shavuos, coming up on Thursday night, for which we try to fill our homes with flowers and greenery! So friends, right about now is a perfect time to spend an hour or two painting a bunch of watercolor flowers to cut out and use for holiday crafting! Plus it is just so enjoyable you won't want to stop, take it from me!

Watercolor Flowers In Pattern Can Be Lovely Art!

I have been using watercolors as my painting material lately, and finally got around to checking out a floral watercolor class by Yao Chung that I've been wanting to try for years on the instructional website creative bug, which I quite recommend. So I dove in and created this all-over floral pattern which is basically hers, just not done as well. That said I actually quite like it, and the two paintings I did after this one were not nearly a successful as I got carried away filling in the white space which made the result less airy and lovely. So friends, start experimenting with watercolor florals, I know you've been wanting to, and do make sure to get some very large brushes in order to stay loose and create large flowers easily! I just bought a set that has a brush that is a #22, though on this painting I used a #20 and a #8. Okay, need a bit more info, keep on reading......

One Stroke Watercolor Flower Petals and Leaves

Watercolor is a wonderful medium to explore as it requires minimal materials, can be done with little set up and the results can be quite beautiful. One can use large puddles of color and big brushes, or go for something more delicate......you can layer colors or create blotchy backgrounds in one go. There really are so many things that one can do, ah yes, not to forget masking fluid, which i need to try soon as well. Of course, knowing how to simply paint lovely flowers and vines in very little time is a huge plus, as one can use this for so many things way beyond beautiful cards. Paint on fabric and make a tablecloth, make cutouts for decoration a cake, make large flowers to hang on the wall or as part of a garland......working with paper sometimes has its advantages, and of course one can take the techniques learned using watercolor and use them with gouche paint or acrylic paint as well as acrylic in and regular ink! Okay, lets learn how to make lovely flowers and leaves like the ones I've painted here, shall we?

A Fun Origami Horse To Make In A Bunch Of Sizes!

While origami butterflies were truly the theme this Purim, I did sneak in a bunch of origami horses which I ended up using in the festive food baskets for friends and neighbors, called mishloach manot. And yes, I did dress my horses up a bit, but keeping that to myself for the moment as who knows maybe I will get around to those Jewish craft books afterall and I need some unpublished material! That said, this horse, while involving many folds is just adorable, and looks especially great when done using origami paper or wrapping paper or large sheets of craft paper that are color on one side and white on the other. Also, because of the many folds, using wrapping paper, namely a square made out of the whole width of the wrapping paper, results in quite a sturdy horse, so use what you have on hand! While I was thinking that the horse is a great symbol for Passover, as it does represent freedom, the horses mentioned in the Passover story did not survive the crossing of Red Sea together with the Egyptians, so never mind that, horses can just be a fun party decor theme anytime and would be great cake toppers as well. So enjoy! Okay, lets get folding.....

Butterfly Tree Wall Decor For Every Occasion!

Purim starts tonight everywhere in the world except Jerusalem, so wishing everyone a Purim Sameach! There is still time for a bit of crafting, and when you make hundreds of origami butterflies for a community Purim party, you have to use at least some of them to add festive touches to your own home right? So what better place than on the olive branch succah decoration that hangs in my kitchen, except during Succos, when it is is the succah! I love the combo of the metallic leaves with the pastel blue and lavender origami butterflies and this would be a great DIY project for just about any occassion, and then you can use it as wall decor, in your kitchen, or maybe in a child's room? So next time you see a dead tree branch that is a nice shape, or even looks like a tree in itself, don't pass it up, as it can be a wonderful and relatively quick DIY project that might just be the star of the party!

Origami Butterfly Party Decor

 

 

Purim is coming up next week which means it is time to invest in some joyful decorations, right? I'll admit, you don't need to spend hours and hours making hundreds of origami butterflies as I did, even just 30 or so, made in an hour (once you get the hang of it) would look fantastic taped to a wall somewhere, or to your dining room light fixture? I've got plastic bag pom poms hanging from mine right now, but would hang some butterflies too possibly, maybe for another holiday? Why butterflies for Purim you may ask? Well, not sure really, but in Hebrew butterfly is parpar, so you can say its a parpar Purim, or parpurim, just to explain it to those who can't understand why you'd want a huge number of fun butterflies! Ah yes, and this photo was taken in the school cafeteria where I decorated the space for butterflies, and still wondering why I didn't take a moment to straighten that chair, but so it goes!

The 2 Minute Origami Butterfly To Make Right Now!

Purim is the next Jewish holiday on the calendar, and a festive one at that, so now is the time to get crafting! Our Women's community Purim party is scheduled for next week and since the decorations are always on me, I simply must make the time. Somehow taking the cardboard castles down from the attic just isn't so appealing, and suddenly the idea of butterflies galore came to me, and so it will be! I'm thinking like a ton of origami butterflies from tiny to giant, and maybe some colorful fluffy clouds, and that is it! Of course things could change, but for now, the folding marathon has begun, and this butterfly, can be folded in 2 minutes if all goes well, I timed it! Yes, I do plan on adding wire attenae with tiny pom poms on some of them, and I may add some paint pen details, but for now loving them as is! The origami butterflies make great cupcake or cake toppers, or even fun gift tags, so they are great to have on hand. And I've recently realized that small origami projects are great for car trips, so keep that in mind as well! Want to get folding? Let's do it.........