creative jewish mom

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday, thanks so much for joining me here! We are now officially in the home stretch with Passover coming at the end of this week, and while there is so much left to do, we are actually in great shape as far as the kitchen and most of the house goes (my studio needs help still, yikes) and while we will be working hard for the next four days or so, hopefully without stress! I have started crocheting items for a 10 Plagues Passover Seder bag, and hoping to squeeze in a few more things, though hopefully I won't go overboard and crochet rather than clean, yikes! Okay, time is of the essence, and rather than babbling here I could be crocheting, ha ha, so enjoy the features  from last week's party!

Passover Crochet: A Tiny Crocheted Frog For The Seder!

Introducing a tiny crocheted frog (amigurumi) that stands up! Yippee, another piece of the ten plagues Passover seder kit for a five year old has been completed, and while I don't generally love making tiny things that require attaching parts with sewing, the results are just too cute so I may be hooked, a play on words at that! While the pattern for this calls for legs, I decided that the frog looks just as cute without them, and can therefore also stand up on the Passover seder table, together with the tiny crocheted drop of blood. With Passover quickly approaching, and my need to finish the entire project by Monday I will crochet a tiny sleep mask, (maybe for the drop of blood?)  make lice from felt with wire legs (or something like that, stay tuned!) and include that with my Passover Ten Plagues cards, white pom poms in a crocheted bag that is in the shape of the head of a bear, phew! Six out of ten crafted items for the 10 Plagues is a good start, though I would love to make a locust, maybe next year! In the mean time, whether you have a bit of time for this now, or saving it to make during the year, let's do it!

Passover Crochet: A Drop Of Blood For The Ten Plagues!

With Passover coming is just a tiny bit more than a week, now may not be the time to get crocheting for the Passover seder, but here at CJM central crafting takes precedence! I'll admit, I never thought I'd find myself delving into Amigurumi, tiny crocheted things, but daughter is spending the holiday with extended family and there is a sweet 4 year old for whom I've decided to prepare a bag of 10 Plagues items for the seder, some of which will be crocheted, in addition to the bag. Time allowing I have plans to crochet a frog, a drop of blood, a louse, and a tiny sleep mask which will go inside a bag that is a bear of sorts. Bag already crocheted, frog partly crocheted, so just a few more items to go! In addition, I'll be adding my 10 Plagues Cards to the bag, and these white pom poms, and then, calling it finished. Ah yes, and of course doing all this while trying to organize my craft room, which never quite gets organized on account of all the crafting, and so it goes, but maybe there is hope?

Want to whip up a crocheted drop of blood? Lets do it!

Milk Carton Frogs Craft For Passover

 

I've pulled this one out of the archives because it is just too cute not to share once again! Enjoy!

With Passover less than a week away, it is certainly time to get crafting, if you can squeeze it in of course. Then again, maybe keeping the kids busy with some fun crafts for Passover may be the best idea right about now while you spend time getting the house and most importantly, the kitchen, in gear? My kids are now teens so they are helping big time, so no crafting for us, whaah. I am reposting this to share with you and reminisce myself! Enjoy!

These milk carton frogs couldn't be cuter and also make great party favor boxes or flower boxes any time! Of course, they are perfect to use in a variety of ways for the Passover seder, as the frogs represent the second plague discussed in the seder. And red frogs? Well that could represent the first two plagues, blood and frogs, right? And then how about using these milk carton frogs to hold other object representing the remaining 8 plagues, could be adorable! If you don't end up finding time for that, so just fill these frogs with little prizes to keep the kids occupied during the seder, and call it a night!

My ten year old made 19 of these fun red frogs, and I was so proud of him. And really happy to use up so many of those milk cartons I've been saving! So you or your kids certainly can make a bunch too, just do the project in a few stages as the paint does require drying time.

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday, thanks so much for joining me here! With just 2 weeks exactly until the Passover seder and then a week of festivities and lots of matzo, the pressure in now officially on to get ready for the holiday, which at the very least means a total deep cleanse of the kitchen and any eating surfaces, but for most, includes a good spring cleaning of the house as well. My studio floor has seen the light of day and now I still need to organize all the piles, but progress has been made! I am starting on the kitchen tomorrow, and will not be doing any more baking, as it is time to rid the house of leavened products. Of course my teenage son who is home and rolling up his sleeves to help, will want pasta and bread, which we will, by early next week, prepare outside or somewhere away from the kitchen as it becomes closer to readiness for Passover! Okay, enjoy the features from last week's party and do find some time to include creativity in your busy life!

A Chunky Crocheted Sunflower Granny Square Baby Blanket

I crocheted this sunflower granny square baby blanket about 5 months ago and just now had a moment to share it with you! Truthfully I did not love the results as I was winging it and made the mistake of using a crochet hook that was really too small for the chunky yarn weight. This resulted in the medallions being more tightly packed than the white areas so the blanket has stiff circles and not so stiff borders, which is quite strange, but the recipients didn't really notice and loved it just the same. Lesson learned on my part, namely don't crochet all the medallions and then the border, do an entire sample of a finished square first. And so it goes! A crocheted sunflower granny square is also called a large sunburst or starburst granny square, while a starburst granny square has only 3 rows, instead of 4 in the center medallion. So do check out my starburst granny square pattern as well! Okay, lets take a closer look at this blanket, shall we?

How To Crochet An Afikomen Bag For Your Passover Table?

With Passover coming is just a little over 2 weeks, I have remembered that the felt afikomen bag I made years ago is no longer usable, and for the past few years we've simply used a nice towel of some kind, yikes! So this year I realized that I could crochet a bag to use as an afikomen bag and the place to look for inspiration (since no one else seems to have crocheted an afikomen bag and written about it online) would be patterns for crocheted clutches! I've created a folder on Pinterest called Crocheted Clutches, filled with lots of inspiration, including all the photos here, and yes indeed, there are so many patterns out there that I'm having a hard time deciding on which direction to choose! For some reason the zig-zagging lines appeal to me as they remind me of the pyramids, as does the idea of a triangular flap with a tassel, then again the round flap is nice as well. Hmmm, I'll have to choose one and make it very soon, so stay tuned for the results! In the mean time, think about crocheting yourself a new afikomen bag, or make one to give as a gift? Ah yes, and I've taken a look at standard sizes for afikomen bags, which range on the small side from 7"x9.5" to 8"x11". And of course the opening for the bag could be on the long side or the short side, though on the long side seems more practical, especially if you are using hand matza.

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday, and my little corner of the internet where I doing my best to encourage others to add joy to like with creativity. And I think we may have a first with the intro photo, which only shows two features, because truly they are just so wonderful and needed to be shown in all their glory, and so it goes! Cold winter has returned to Northern Israel, so not packing up anything winter just yet, but we are getting a serious start on Passover cleaning as the holiday is coming in exactly three weeks, with the Passover seder happening back to back following Shabbat, which is a challenge, but so it goes! Tomorrow my daughter is spending the day with me to tackle my studio, yikes and wish up luck on that, though truly it is mostly about tossing things or packing up and storing them......so hard especially now that I have around 25 grade school aged boy students with whom I only use recyclables, so gotta have quite the collection on hand. You know like oatmeal cans, cardboard tubes, plastic bottles, corks, cardboard boxes and more. Can't wait for that dedicated art center that I'm dreaming of so I can have all these items in bins, and not in my personal space......maybe just maybe this year? In the mean time a little mess is no reason to forego creativity, so lets take a look at the features from last week's party!

Migrating Cranes Overhead In Northern Israel!

Yes indeed dear readers, it is that time of year once again, when we delight in seeing migrating cranes overhead! (Truthfully it is almost impossible to distinguish between cranes and storks, but the overwhelming majority are cranes, even though in Hebrew everyone calls them Storks, and so it goes!) Our location in Northern Israel is about a 40 minute drive to the Hula Valley, and the Hula lake, where cranes can stop for a rest and they are generally fed as well. I wonder if the cranes changed their course last year, or were even aware of the war, which certainly meant no visitors or very few to the Hula Valley?  I'll admit I did hear a few booms this morning, as things are happening within Syria, but of course it is nothing like the state of war that we experienced in the Fall, when the birds would have been migrating to Africa. Now they are on their way back to the Netherlands and that region, so very interesting!

Cyclamen Re-Blooms Yet Again In Northern Israel

The sweet cyclamen plant I've had for a good five years is blooming once again! While last year's bloom was truly spectacular, I'll take this one as well, as it wasn't looking great a few months ago, when there were only a few straggly leaves! So my faithful plant pulled it off once again, which means I will nurse him throughout the year to show my appreciation. I have another cyclamen that is scale ridden and not looking great, and I think it is time to toss that one, as I already have enough plants in the rehabilitation ward, mostly orchids, but enough is enough? So friends, be patient with any pots of cyclamens you may have as they will reward you, truly! Check out my post last year about how to get a cyclamen to rebloom and while I didn't really follow my own advice, you might want to!