creative jewish mom

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday, thanks so much for joining me here! With Passover coming on Wednesday night the pressure is on the get the top to bottom housecleaning and especially the cleaning of the kitchen done, together with grocery shopping and then cooking for the week long holiday (8 days everywhere but Israel)! Fortunately my little ones grew up to be helpful teens and we even had a self imposed challenge which was to work hard all last week and then take a long weekend off in Ramat HaGolan in Moshav Keshet, where we've never been. (I'm writing this before the trip, so hoping to have a wonderful time and time to relax before the final push.) Last week's party was full of inspiring crafts, lets take a look, and wishing everyone a wonderful Passover!

Recycling Pyramid Crafts For Passover

With Passover starting in just one week, the pressure is on, at least for those of us responsible for cleaning our homes (and at the very least our kitchens) from top to bottom, albeit with help from the husband and teens, phew! I don't think I'll have much time for crafting other than some origami fish to celebrate the crossing of the Red Sea, so I've put these fun pyramids in the living room, and they look great! The plastic pyramid filled with white pom poms was filled with candy and we received it as a Purim gift one year, best gift ever! The painted pyramid is a fun craft to make in any size with cereal boxes, so maybe give that some thought? Make a bunch of blanks and keep the kids busy decorating them? I might do that if I had little ones around, or if I was going away for Passover, but no, instead my house gets the deep cleaning that it so greatly needs! Okay, for those who would like to get crafting, keep on reading!

Affordable Luxury: Creating a High-End Look with Budget-Friendly Benchtops

Creating an elegant and luxurious kitchen in your home doesn’t have to cost a fortune. With the right materials and design, you can create the look of luxury without breaking the bank. In this blog post, we’ll show you how to pick out budget-friendly benchtops that will add sophistication and high-end style to your kitchen space at a fraction of normal costs. Whether you choose marble or granite countertops or opt for engineered stone options instead, follow our tips and tricks on maximizing beauty with minimal expense!

Toilet Paper Tube Cactus Craft

When I started to attempt at cleaning out my studio a month or so ago, I came across a little box full of toilet paper tubes that I'd painted green, in order to make toilet paper tube cacti of course, just had not gotten around to it, for at least a year plus, sigh. The good news is that I did get around to it at last, and the results are just as cute as can be, and I wish I had time to make a whole dessert full! It is true that there are no Saguaro cacti in the Egyptian dessert, at least not native ones, but any symbol for dessert still makes it a great craft for Passover! So set aside a bunch of toilet paper tubes, and paper towel tubes, and let the family have fun painting them green, inside and out. And if you need a little project to do in the car or on a trip or for a little break with all that cleaning, learn to fold tiny paper stars, here. Okay, lets make some cacti.......

Cost of Solar Panels: Everything You Need to Know

Passover is coming in another week and a few days, so as we tackle the top to bottom cleaning of our homes, certainly we are thinking about what we can do to make our homes more efficient and more eco friendly. I'm happy to report that solar panels have been a choice for Israelis for many many years! With the 1970s oil crisis, Harry Zvi Tabor developed the prototype of the solar water heater now used in over 90% of Israeli homes. And yes we have 2 panels on our roof to heat our hot water, though I wish we could have more for other purposes.

Are you interested in solar power for your home? The world is shifting towards renewable energy, so do give it some serious thought! While solar panels have become a popular choice for homeowners and businesses looking to cut down on their energy bills, the cost of solar panels remains a major concern for many people.

In this article, we will cover everything you need to know about the cost of solar panels and determine the best option for you. Keep reading this guide to learn more!

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday, thanks so much for joining me here! Yesterday I saw the first round of cranes migrating overhead, and it was so very exciting as always! And that means spring is here, and we are doing our top to bottom house cleaning in preparation for Passover, coming shortly, yikes! So while I always dream of making all kinds of cardboard pyramids I don't think that will be happening as there is so much to do and we are motivating the teens with a family trip at the end of the week, which means I need to get busy with the cleaning as well, so lets take a look at those features from last week's party!

Wall Decor Ideas for Boosting Blank Spaces

Wall art and wall decor has a place in every room. Your creativity is the only limit to decorating your walls, and you certainly shouldn’t leave them blank, because truly there are so many simple decorating ideas that anyone can do. So, to get you started, here are some amazing ideas for filling those blank spaces and walls. Why? Because wall art brings out character, creates a fresh look and sets any mood you desire, with pops of your favorite colors. In essence it makes your house a home. Okay, lets fill those walls!

Ten Plagues Craft For The Passover Seder

A reader just asked me about this craft, and I revisited it, and i see that it has actually been five years since I've shared it and almost 12 or 13 years since I actually made it. Wow, it must be time to make it again! Okay, maybe next year, in the mean time, there are plenty of days before Passover to get crafting, or keep the family busy with crafts, and this one is a keeper. Here is what I wrote in 2018:

I made these ten plagues placards for my kids for our seder eight whole years ago, and since they are still looking good (in the photos that is) I thought I'd pull them out of the archives to share them with you, as truly this a craft that will make memories for the kids (and fun loving adults) at your Passover seder table! Truthfully, while I love these ten plagues placards, they are on the large size and so I did a smaller version of this craft with some of the neighborhood boys, using skewers instead of dowels, and you can take a look at that craft here. Regardless of what size works for your family, do take the time to make some of these ten plagues placards, you won't regret it, promise!

In the photo above, from left to right I have depicted the first four plagues: Blood, Frogs, Lice, and Wild Animals. Keep on reading to see most of the other plagues.......

Cross-Stitch Mountain Scene Hoop Art

This past summer we stayed in a vacation rental on Kibbutz Harduf that was packed with crafts and creativity. One of the things that caught my eye was this sweet cross stitch mountain scene that looked really great hanging in one of the children's room. I would usually think about creating a scene like this in needlepoint, so I love the idea that it is cross stitch! Embroidery is such a wonderful craft to have on hand as a take-along project any time or to work on every day for just 10 minutes or so, love that idea! So while I don't have any resources for this project, you can certainly find them yourself, and of course any grid design that is meant to be used for needlepoint can certainly be used for cross stitch! Another wonderful thing that I discovered about this piece is how the back was treated (namely how to hide all the mess) so keep on reading to see that!

Origami Horse Cake Toppers Are Cute As Can Be!

Ever seen a cake topper that is a horse dressed up as a unicorn? Me neither but it just seemed perfect for a four year old!

Right now I'm in the process of using up all the flour in the house as we prepare for Passover, and the first step for me is to bake challahs and a few deserts, and freeze everything we'll need for the next 2 shabbats, or more or less anyway, we can always, gasp, buy any challah we need for the shabbat before Passover! Since cake is the topic in my kitchen right now, I thought I'd share wtih you these fun origami horse cake toppers that I used for a birthday cake this past shabbat, and together with sprinkles, and large white gumdrops, a fun cake was born! Ah yes, and around the bottom of the cake I took colorful cupcake liners, folded them in half and placed them like petals, which gave the bundt cake a lovely finished look, phew! So friends, as I always say, cute cake decorations can be easily made with paper and some glue, and this is one more example. You can of course use these horses as part of a dessert scene, or a merry-go-round or even place them around the bottom of the cake, get creative! Okay, shall we make some?