featured!

I've been featured on creativejewishmom.com! How cool is that! Thanks so much Sara.

And if you've clicked over from there, I hope you'll find it worth the click. Comments are welcome and for that matter are highly valued!

Chanukah sign 3D

Today's watercolor/ paper sculpture Chanukah sign! (It sure is nice to be crafting again.)

I gave each kid a sheet of card stock (off white; must buy a pack of bright white!) and a pencil. I also passed around a selection of circular containers and bottle caps, explaining that you choose one of those circles and then aim to make your picture that size (instead of spending forever on a masterpiece menorah and then realizing it came out tiny).

(Almost) Everyone did the drawing on one side of the page and the painting on the other side, then cut out their creations once everything had mostly dried.

Re the paint, I once bought a 4-pack of mini watercolor sets in the 99c store. (Each set is 2" by 2" and has 5 colors.) It's very convenient to have multiple paint sets; the less passing of supplies, the less chance of major spills. I also put water (small amounts) into three heavy glass mugs, rather than spilly plastic bowls. The painting was done with cotton cosmetic pads simply because I didn't feel like digging out the paintbrushes, but let me tell you the pads sure saved time! Also there was no changing colors so the water didn't get dirty. All in all it was the neatest painting project I've ever seen. (Plus, card stock scraps don't fly all over the place the way plain paper would.)

E (8) made the jolly dancing latkes and R (6) made their pot!

F (8) made the coppery-orange menorah!

R made that adorable orange man with his huge jug of oil!

B (4) made the frying pan at the bottom, and the pink latkes in it!

Mommy made the giant candles and drew the oil jugs!

F, E and I stuck everything together (with thick 3D foam stickers)!

Everyone had a great day! Hope you do too!

giant quilling for kids

1. Cut color paper into 1/2 inch strips. (You may use outdated school notices for this, or even plain white paper for that matter. Color is fun but not required. Or you could get really gorgeous and use watercolors and even glitter on white card stock... OK I'll stop right there!)

2a. EITHER squeeze some white glue onto a plastic plate and teach your kids how to use glue. ("You just TOUCH your fingertip to the puddle of glue." Admire the smallness of everyone's fingertip glue dots.)

2b. OR hand out glue sticks for everyone. If you have enough. Even neater!

3. Apply glue to one end of a strip.

4. Close the strip into a circle. (A circle, not a leaf shape. That means you have to tuck the end under, not just fold the strip in half.) Repeat steps 3-4 on several more strips.

5. When you have seven circles and the glue on most of them is dry, start gluing the circles together into a flower. Wow! How beautiful!

6. Kids who still have some zitzfleish left may make green leaves (yes, a leaf shape this time, not a circle) and glue them on, tucked in between petals of the flower.

7. When everything is totally dry, attach a 6" piece of thread (or clear fishing line if you are really fancy) and find somewhere to hang the masterpiece.

 

My three year old made this pink flower for our succah, with intensive guidance. You cannot imagine how proud she was and still is:

 

 

Here's another view... The yellow flower was made by my four-year-old, with a little less guidance.

 

 

And this butterfly was designed and made by my eight-year-old daughter, with no help.

 

 

giant-quilled shivas haminim

Check out my succah project! (Took me a while to get the blog post ready but here it is!)

 

I think of this as large-scale quilling because as with quilling, you use strips of paper to create beautiful airy light-and-shadow pictures. The difference is that these strips are half an inch wide rather than 1/8" (or thereabouts). Everything is just bigger and looser -- thus easier to handle, particularly with junior assistants -- and you get bigger results. 

 

Thanks to Sara at www.creativejewishmom.com for the inspiration/technique. I love this so much.

 

 

I made these shivas haminim* from ordinary card stock, and used scotch tape rather than glue to stick everything together. That was a good move as the tape (at least when I used plenty) stuck to itself whereas glue (at least regular white glue) would have dissolved completely in the rain. As it is, after a couple of good hard storms all of the fruits looked a little stretched out of shape. If anybody knows of some way to waterproof cardstock, please tell me!

 

*Shivas haminim = the seven species -- that's the seven kinds of fruit (well, wheat and barley plus five fruits!) that the Torah lists as specialties of the Land of Israel. They're a common succah motif.

Fw: washer necklaces.JPG

And this one looks even simpler and (if possible) cuter. Metal washers, painted as desired, then hung on cord with a cute bead to hold it in place. Can't imagine why we haven't done this yet.

 

acreativeprincess.blogspot.com

 

butterfly bookmark idea

Here's a project I found online somewhere (in different places) that we haven't done yet but hope to try: String beads on wire, then tie on several ribbons and knot their other ends. Beautiful bookmarks! Or necklaces if desired!

 

   

 

3D Jerusalem project, complete!

This is what I made with my kids, actually started as a home-daycamp project several years ago, but finally finished this year for Succos! The girls (then age 4-6) cut out and watercolored the shapes, I cut windows and doors, then we laid out and glued it together with little cardboard springs for 3D effect! I totally need to post it to chinuch.org.

 

 

Purim pics

Here are my mishloach manos pics. I wish I had more. The cookie puppets varied widely in cuteness; this photo does not show the cutest ones, but I guess it's a fair average. I've been mentally working on this puppet show idea for at least a year, possibly two. 

The limerick verses read:

    Good guys, evil men, clueless kings:
    This play has each one of those things.
        As the story unfolds,
        Here's a secret it holds: 
    Someone hidden is pulling the strings.

    As we celebrate Purim each year, 
    This great lesson becomes crystal clear.
        The quick tempo quickens -- 
        The puppet-plot thickens -- 
    He's hiding; remember He's near!

Also included for your viewing pleasure: a certain chubby little guy of whom I am a huge fan!

lingy dingy

Duckling holding a toy telephone:

"Lingy dingy, hello dolly!"

 

Come to think of it, when's the last time you heard a telephone actually go "ding-a-ling"?

Picture Pie flower border

This Picture Pie border is based rather closely on one or two of Ed Emberley's, but I don't think it's quite plagiarized. I used color coding stickers from two packs, one of multi pastels and one of brights.

notepad tutorial

Here's a lovely little notepad you can make for yourself or another favorite person!

(I found the basic idea online. I think Amy Powers or Kellie Dykast is the person to thank. Will post the link if I find it.)

Step 1. Gather your materials. You will need a sheet of white paper, a medium-sized gift bag, and scissors.

You may of course have different sources of clean paper, fancy card stock, and something to cut with.

To bind your notepad, choose one of these options: a., a smallish rubber band (simplest), b., hole puncher and cord, or c., needle and thread (most elegant).

Step 2. Fold your paper into eighths. Fold it in half, in half, and in half, and then hold it against the gift bag before cutting, to make sure the size will work. Use the folded edge of the gift bag as the spine of your notepad.

(Yes, my pages are still double-size. The folded paper is now too thick to fold properly, so I'm saving that last fold for later.)

By the way, my pad came out about 1.5 inches wide by 2.5 inches tall. If you want a larger pad than that, either use a jumbo gift bag, or use a part of the bag that isn't pre-folded and just give it a good sharp fold yourself. If the pad you're making is twice the size of mine, you might want to use a second sheet of paper so you get more pages.

Step 3. Cut on the folds. You may have fold marks; try to cut them away. If you have a proper paper cutter and got to skip step 2, lucky you! -- no fold marks.

You should now have eight little sheets of paper.

Step 4. Fold your papers in half. Fold only four sheets at a time so that can get a good sharp fold. A notepad skeleton!

You will find that the inner pages stick out past the edge of the outer pages. Don't trim them yet. You'll probably want to trim all the pages once you have the cover, so that will take care of these pokey pages as well.

Step 5. Lay the folded notepad skeleton (why, don't you think that's a cute turn of phrase?) on the edge of the gift bag, and cut a piece for the cover, slightly larger than the pages.

(Not a great pic, sorry! Hope you can see where I cut.) You may bump into the inside fold of the bag's side panel. Just keep cutting, or you can start from another direction and finish the job that way.

And voila! (Or something like that.)

 

Before we get back to work, here's a nice surprise I found. Since I cut my folder from the top of the bag, which had a neat folded edge, I got a folder for my notepad. Just about big enough to stash a postage stamp. Cuteness!

Step 6. Trim the pages, a few at a time. You want them to fit inside the cover, and to look even to each other when the notepad is closed.

Step 7. Book-binding time.

The simplest way to hold the pages together is with a humble office rubber band.

 

If you are willing to spend another few minutes for a more elegant result, I recommend you go for one of the other options.

Here's option 2: punch two holes and put a cord or ribbon through. Tie a good knot on the outside of your notepad. Voila!

 

I used the cord that came as the handle of the gift bag. Fancy!

But the nicest way to bind your notepad is with a needle and thread. I don't have a sewing machine but if you have one, go ahead and try it. Here are some pics of a notepad I bound with thread.

Secure the extra bits of thread with a tiny dab of glue.

Show me yours! I'd love to see the embellishments you come up with. I'm thinking some cute beads or buttons in the knot.

quote on tiredness

"Tiredness is a kind of sickness…It is not a matter of how long we sleep that determines whether we feel tired. It is waste and negative thoughts and actions that create tiredness. Create positive thoughts and elevated actions and you will take strength from that, and your tiredness will leave you."

--Dadi Janki (who's that?)

from "Ulysses"

I came across the quote "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield," long ago. So happy I turned up the rest of this piece. Moving, stirring, wonderful. Enjoy it.

 

 

Though much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

 

(Tennyson)

quote on writing

Over time, one of the happy things that has become apparent to me is that
anyone who's consistently bothered by a desire to write is also equipped
with a gift for doing so. My goal as a teacher is to create an environment
in the person's mind in which the writing self can dare to emerge.
--Sarah Shapiro

semi-candid family pic

Here we see five cute girls coloring a Chanukah tablecloth. That's Duckling (age 2) at the foot of the table, conscientiously crossing her arms.

 

stamps tutorial

One of my craft-idea-binge-all-nighters once led me to a very interesting idea: glue craft foam to Jenga blocks to make your own stamps. (By the way, it's true what the 'studies show' studies say -- you really are more likely to click on a Google link that comes with an image. And why not?) I saved the idea along with a million I'll never use.

But you know how ideas percolate in the crafty brain. Several weeks later, I found myself volunteered to make a sign for my second graders' class party. (OK, I actually did volunteer.) I liked the idea of a border made of text, like Carolyn's Chanukah doughnut tray. How do you produce a reasonably reliable repeating text, especially with a handwriting as unpredictable as mine? Why stamps! Ooh, stamps!


I have a pack of sticky-back craft foam sheets I picked up at Walmart back in July. I also have borrowing rights to my daughter's "Rainbow Art" set -- a set of six bright wide-stroke markers that clip together to produce some glorious rainbow effects. Singly, they are great calligraphy markers, and the colors make your heart sing.

So I practiced some calligraphy until I could produce a decent imitation of the standard Hebrew font known as David. (Irrelevant trivia: the font is not named for David King of Israel; it's named for its designer, calligrapher Itamar David.) Then I wrote my text on the white peel-away paper on a foam sheet's sticky back. Like this.

You don't need to know Hebrew to realize that my calligraphy skills leave something to be desired. The nice thing here is that what you write doesn't count until you actual get out the scissors and cut.


So here are the stamps once I got the letters calligraphed, cut, peeled, and stuck (and used, hence the colorful ink staining). The blocks I dug up are wider than Jenga ones, which is a good thing.

If you make a word stamp with this method, it's important to position the word right at the top of the block, so that when you stamp there is no guesswork (or much less, at least) involved in positioning. I placed the word at the top left of the stamp you see - i.e., the top right of the stamp as it's being stamped - because Hebrew goes from right to left. An English word stamp should be aligned to the left... that is, to the right... That is, whatever your favorite alphabet, the first letter needs to have its back right up against the wall. OK?!


I also cut a little diamond shape for a spacer, and stuck it to the edge of one of the blocks.

Here's the big beautiful sign with the stamped frame!

(Yep, that's the Rainbow Art blue and green calligraphy in the middle, spelling out Mazel Tov, Grade 2. I wish I'd used blue and purple instead, but I'm thankful the calligraphy came out nice!)


The words in the border (Chazak, chazak, ve-nis'chazek) mean "Be strong, be strong, and let's be strengthened," the traditional cheer upon reaching a milestone in Torah study. The cool thing for me was that since 'chazak' and 'chazek' are spelled the same, I only had to make two little word stamps, one for 'chazak' and one for 've-nis,' to produce the whole sentence.


The party marks the class's concluding a chapter in the Torah, in this case, Bereishis/Genesis 13. The sheep and tents are Avraham Avinu's. The corn flake crumbs are the dust of the earth; G-d promised Abraham his descendants would be beyong counting, like the dust of the earth. I might still write in some plain black labels, or I might not.

The sheep are made from round cottony cosmetic pads plus bits of color coding stickers -- I knew I had to use Picture Pie somewhere in this project!


The tents are felt, and so in order to hold their door-flaps open, I used needle and thread -- made one little stitch and knotted it securely behind. Bit of a pain, but not too bad. Now the little book -- there I was a daffy mom and went for the needle and thread absolutely without needing to. At least, I could have made three big stitches, like Miles Hendon. (Extra credit if you know who that is without looking it up.) But no, I sat and did seven tight stitches through a stack of little pages. Have I mentioned I'm addicted to notebooks of any kind?

review: Scream-Free Parenting

I'm really excited about a new book I got today, Scream-Free Parenting by Hal Edward Runkel. It's been a while since I last reserved a book at the library; between OEDILF and real-life responsibilities, I've hardly had the time. This is a great book to break old patterns on.

Part 1: Becoming the "cool" parent your kids really need.

The chapter titles are great. The chapters in Part 1 are called "Parenting is not about kids, it's about parents"; "If you're not under control, then you cannot be in charge"; and "Growing up is hard to do, especially for grown-ups."

"Scream" (as in 'scream-free parenting') is the author's word for whatever you do when you've lost it: literal screaming, making threats you won't keep, guilt tripping yourself or your kid, or keeping your calm by tuning out of the situation. Stay calm, stay connected, grow yourself up. (I liked that phrase because for years I've been repeating a coined expression of my own: No one can grow you up against your will.)

It's your anxiety that causes you to 'scream.' You get anxious because (among many other reasons) you feel that to validate you as a good parent, your kids need to perform.

You need to stop thinking that you are responsible to program your kids. Are you trying to program a robot, or to enable the development of an independent, self-directed adult?

The funny thing is that by feeling you're responsible for your kids' behavior, you're also making your kids responsible for your behavior. "Don't make me stop this car!" "Stop it! I can't handle this!"

You aren't responsible for your kids; instead, you are responsible to your kids. You need to be the "cool" parent every kid wants and needs -- and that's a parent who keeps her cool, who stays calm and connected when the kid and/or the situation flips out. You are responsible for your own behavior.

Part 2: Keeping your cool means creating a space.

This part is about respecting kids' independence, in a bunch of ways. One chapter title is "Begin with the end in mind, but let go of the final results" - in other words, your child's actions and decisions are her own responsibility. You need to let her make her own mistakes. Acknowledge that she's her own person, with her own will, and in fact has the ability to keep on disobeying you.

Respect for your child's physical space includes not touching him if he doesn't want it, and not walking into his room without knocking, or walking into the bathroom. If you read your kid's diary, or keep searching his room, do you think you're teaching him that you're the one to turn to when he's in trouble?

Part 3: Keeping your cool means creating a place.

This part is about setting limits. I like his metaphor of setting a place for everyone at the table. It includes establishing rules and consequences, and making sure that the consequence reliably follows the infraction. One chapter is titled "Empty threats are really broken promises." Don't tell your kid that old lie, "this hurts me more than it hurts you." Pick a consequence you feel comfortable about imposing, and please don't pick one that messes up your life more than it messes up the kid's!

The book is written very well; there are compelling stories and some funny punchlines, besides for the excellent content. I did get tired of the repeated "I know this sounds crazy, but bear with me" throughout the first chapter or two. But I appreciated the permission to disagree with or ignore as much as you want of his theories and suggestions, because I do disagree with several of his suggestions. But, as the author assures us, all that really counts is that you stop making decisions in a reactive way, according to the buttons your kids push, and start instead to make decisions from calm thought, based on your principles and what you really want.

Hello!

Hello, world.


This blog is a redirect-slash-continuation of my LiveJournal, chavibeck.livejournal.com. 

Topics you can expect to encounter here: inexpensive craft ideas, cutie pie chronicles, opinion pieces (not rants -- who me?), family fun, book reviews, occasional kitchen cheats, occasional poetry, and did I mention craft ideas? Especially creatively frugal ones. I'm a disciple of Amy Daczyczyn at least when it comes to crafting.

I've contributed to www.coolest-homemade-costumes.com, a great resource. Google "Chavi site:coolest-homemade-costumes.com" to see my stuff.

Looking forward!

Chavi

PS. Scoot over and check out The OEDILF, the Omnificent English Dictionary in Limerick Form! I'm a proud contributor.