Crafting Jewish Style

Time to create

2012-01-31T15:10:00.000-08:00

When I was asked to post a 'home decor' project in here, I knew exactly what I am going to make.

In Qoheleth, the book of Ecclesiastes, there is a beautiful paragraph which talks about time.

לכל זמן ועת לכל חפץ תחת השמים. עת ללדת, ועת למות; עת לטעת, ועת לעקור נטוע.

עת להרוג ועת לרפוא, עת לפרוץ ועת לבנות. עת לבכות ועת לשחוק, עת ספוד ועת רקוד.

עת להשליך אבנים, ועת כנוס אבנים; עת לחבוק, ועת לרחוק מחבק. ועת לבקש ועת לאבד,

לשמור ועת להשליך. עת לקרוע ועת לתפור, עת לחשות ועת לדבר.

עת לאהוב ועת לשנוא, עת מלחמה ועת שלום.

Basically it says that everything in this world has its time and place. time to give birth and time to die, time to build and time to distroy, time to heal and time to kill, time to love and time to hate, time of war and time for peace.

I always wanted to create a nice canvas with this text to hang in my studio, but I just didn't find the time to create such until...few weeks ago, when I was inspired by my talented friend, Revlie, and her cool video about mixed media canvas (http://revlie.typepad.com/revolution/2012/01/its-here-my-video-for-my-mixed-media-canvas-bam.html)

I rolled up my sleeves, got my paint out and got creative. It was so much fun!

(for the backround, I used lots of left overs from my CJS papers and old newspaper)

Have fun, make time to create :)

My Shabbat Girls

2012-01-26T01:01:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone!

It's Julie and it's my turn to post my latest layout. With all the projects, layouts and cards we do using our terrific Crafting Jewish Style papers, there's also lots of scraps. Well, I've got lots of scraps since I save all the bits and pieces because I never know what it can be used for. I've also been thinking about doing something with all the strips and this is what I came up with. On some level, it might seem a little busy with lots of colors but I thought my pictures had some bright colors and my girls were wearing stripes and polka dots. Luckily, a lot of our CJS papers have stripes and polka dots. What I also like about this is that I used pieces from all three paper lines so while each line has it's own unique style (Hanukkah, Rosh Hashanah and Pesach), they all still can be mixed and work together.

These are photos when my daughters were Shabbat girls at their pre-school. The journaling reads "Celebrating Shabbat in your Teddy Bears class. We light candles, drink grape juice from our kiddush fountain and ate yummy, fresh baked challah". All the papers are CJS including the maroon matte paper which is the back of the Rosh Hashanah packaging. I used Sassafras Lass alpha stickers and I embossed the Star of David with embossing powder from Stampin' Up (my favorite).

Thanks for looking!

Easy wal art

2012-01-18T04:06:00.000-08:00

Hello, my dear crafting friends! Irit is here and this time with a fast and fun " Make your wall" tip.
About 2-3 month ago I made a sketch lo here and everyone asked me about this wall I made for Kotel.
So I made those small samples to show you some ways to make your painted walls without any fancy template or stamps.
I used those small office stickers for my ATC size samples on some of them and a big, printable, non permanent office stickers for one sample, same as my lo wall.
So here we go:
1. Build a wall using your stickers as shown here

2.Paint all over your paper with some paint. I used Creative Inspirations Water based paint, but any paint or ink will do. As those are permanent stickers, we can't peel them off, but they absorb paint better then this semi glossy cardstock, so you can see the wall made.

3. Now another example- with non permanent stickers and they are just hand torn, painted all over and then peeled off the cardstock. This is the wall I made for my lo shown here before.

4. Another one made with same small stickers and some mist, I also added a few ink drops over it.

Just an example of ATC made with wall base.

And my lo again: made for my American DN Omri Bar- Mitzva photo near Kotel

That's it for this time and hope you are going to make your own Wall art with my samples.

January Sketch

2012-01-15T09:00:00.000-08:00

Once again we have a great sketch created especially for Crafting Jewish Style by Anam Stubbington. This month's sketch has lots of opportunities for layering papers and adding embellishments. It shows one photo but can be easily extended to include multiple photos.
Maya created this wonderful layout of the candles burning on the last night of Hanukkah. I love her photo of the candles reflected in the window.

Lisa also used photos of her candles burning, but she extended the sketch to include 3 photos.

Here's my interpretation of the sketch. I used one large photo showing our extended family. Can you believe I hosted this many relatives at my house and nothing burned down? I love how our Havdalah set snuck into front of the picture.

Happy Hanukkah!

2012-01-04T06:00:00.000-08:00

Hi,

It's Shir and I want to show you the last layout I created.

I took picture from last year's 8th candle - I tried to make an artistic picture there... :-)

Anyway - the layout was deeply inspired (sort of scraplifting) by this layout. Isn't it gorgeous?

I usually don't use glimmer mist, but this time - after choosing the white cardstock as background, I felt I MUST spray it and change its clean look.

Mor, my young daughter, loves orange (and red & yellow, because if you mix them you'll get her favorite color) - so I guess she chose the colors of the candles that day.

Anyway - I think these gorgeous papers makes a great contrast to the candles (and buttons) colors.

I hope you had a happy Hanukka and I hope I won't wait till next year for this year's pictures :-)

What do you think?

I would love to read your comments!

Shalom Chanukah

2011-12-27T19:26:00.000-08:00

Hi, it's Aliza here on the last day of Chanukah (and the day after my birthday), so it seemed only right to make a layout with some highlights (8 to be exact), of the Deutsch Family Chanukah 2011. Of course, I went straight to the Chanukah line from CJS. I think I say this every time I make a project with these products, but it's true each time: It came together so fast, because all the elements always looks so good together! I threw in some buttons, and bling from my stash, and tied it all together with some baker's twine that actually came from a box of jelly doughnuts from the bakery.

I hope you all had a great Chanukah, and happy new year to you all! May it be a year filled with crafty and scrappy goodness.

Crafting Jewish Style Hanukkah Giveaway Winner!

2011-12-27T13:00:00.000-08:00

Happy Hanukkah to everyone! It's been a hectic, fun-filled week over here. I can't believe were up to the eighth night of Hanukkah. Lots of latkes, donuts, chocolate gelt, were consumed in this house and (I think) we had our fill of parties and presents. (I'm sure the little ones think otherwise!) Speaking of presents... We have our Giveaway winner generated by Random.org.
Sarah email us to claim your prize.

Have you been taking lots of pictures? Did you cook or bake anything wonderful?
What did you craft for your "Handmade Hanukkah"? We'd love to hear from you! Don't forget to scrap your pics with Crafting Jewish style products and send us pictures of your layouts we'd love to share them.

Enjoy the last night of Hanukkah-I'm off to fry one last batch of latkes!

Hanukkah Cookie Exchange!

2011-12-20T22:28:00.000-08:00

A fun way to celebrate the holiday with other families without exchanging gifts is to host a Cookie Exchange. We invited 5 other families to join us for Hot Chocolate and the exchange this year. Each family will bake 6 dozen cookies and package them in muffin cups of two. I sent recipe cards for each family to fill out and bring.

(Download available HERE) and created a little Recipe Card holder for them to take the recipes home with them...it was really easy and used just half a sheet of paper, two button stickers, a border sticker and twine for each folder.

The inside...

Each family has a little place card for their cookies made from part of the second half of the sheet of paper...

and I made little awards for us to vote, from the rest of the sheet of paper:

And the place cards become little treat bag toppers...

So, with 6 pieces of paper and a few embellishments I created a fun set of personalized Hanukkah Cookie Party goodies...hope I've inspired you to do the same!!! Chag Sameach!!

Fast Hanukkah Gift Wrapping with Tag and Card

2011-12-19T09:30:00.000-08:00

Hello and Happy Hanukkah to you all !

Irit is here with a fast and fancy gift wrapping , tag and card, all made with Crafting Jewish Style Hanukkah kit.

This kind of wrapping works great for any shape, just use the inside piece of a cardstock to make it kind of a rolled shape as I did here. Use some yellow wrapping paper to wrap it like a candy and then use CJS Hanukkah papers and you favorite border punches to make the middle fancy part of this wrapping. I made it with 2 border punches , the silver wide ribbon, long sticker and then added this circle sticker ending with 2 Epiphany Crafts Round bubbles glued over small round stickers from Hanukkah stickers set.

The tag was made with the same paper, hand cut shape,stickers and again, round Epiphany Crafts bubbles.

The card needs more skills as I used Tando Creative chipboard Stars of David as my misting templates and then added those stars over my card. You don't need to paint them as misting leaves them well inked, just add some 3d glue with sparkles over it.

And here are the gift and tag together

You still have time to make your gifts or at least to wrap them this fancy way.
How will you be wrapping your gifts? What are giving as gifts?
Leave a comment here to be entered in our great giveaway!

Happy Hanukkah to all of you!

Hanukkah House Centerpiece

2011-12-14T18:00:00.000-08:00

I have always loved little houses- doll houses, gingerbread houses, bird houses, and of course the best Hanukkah present that I got when I was little- the Barbie townhouse!
Since Hanukkah is a time when families usually gather together in homes, I thought that a cute little Hannukah House would be a great centerpiece for my Hanukkah party dessert table.

As a side note, because Hanukkah is the holiday that celebrates the rededicating of the Beit Hamikdash (Holy Temple) people who move into a new home, often host a Chanukat Habayit (house dedication/house warming) party on Chanukah. This house would be a perfect centerpiece for just that occasion.

Here's a peek at the Hanukkah party styled primarily with Crafting Jewish Style Hanukkah papers and stickers, Frog Prince Paperie labels,glass jars (Michael's and TJ Maxx), buckets (Target Dollar Spot), and white serving platters and cake stands that I love and buy at discount stores whenever I come across a nice piece.

I found 2 cute paper mache houses in Michael's clearance section a while back. I decided to decorate one for Hanukkah and use it as a centerpiece. The top lifts off and it can be filled with chocolate gelt. This is a quick and fun project that can be finished in about and hour and requires a minimum of supplies.

Here's how to do it:

1. Trace the sides of the house on to the back of scrapbooking paper and cut out.
2. Adhere the paper pieces to the house with glue stick.
3. Spread Martha Stewart glitter glue on the roof's surface and coat it with MS glitter (my favorite).
4. Use a hot glue gun to attach sequin trim to the roof perimeter.
5. Add embellishments and stickers.

Isn't it cute? I love how it anchors the dessert table and provides it with an eye catching centerpiece.
Lucky you, we will be including a paper mache house, Crafting Jewish Style scrapbook paper, Martha Stewart glitter (-my favorite!) and other embellishments in our Great Giveaway!
See below some more shots off the dessert table and the hot cocoa and toppings table.

Don't you love the cute cupcake wrappers (get the template here), popcorn cones, tags and decorations all made with the Hanukkah line of papers?

The hot cocoa/coffee drink station was so much fun!

The kids (and adults) had a great time playing "barista" and made some yummy and warm concoctions that looked and tasted delicious! It was definitely the hit of the party!

No Hanukkah party is complete without sufganiot (donuts)!

Little paper sacks were provided for the kids to take home some extra goodies.

Will you be hosting a Hanukkah get-together this year? How do you celebrate the holiday? Leave comment and/or become a follower and you will be entered into our Great Hanukkah Giveaway!

CraftingJewish Style special offer. Enter Hanukkah15 to receive 15% off your order and receive a free gift with every order!

Have a Happy Hanukkah!

Paper dreidels for Hanukkah

2011-12-11T15:44:00.000-08:00

Today I want to share a quick and easy project - paper dreidels. There are plenty of templates available online, I used this template that I found on Design Megillah website.

I printed the template on white and c\blue cardstock, cut out and assembled following the instructions on the template.

Small scraps from Crafting Jewish Style Hanukkah kit were perfect for decoration the dreidels. I omitted the paper handle and used stacked buttons instead.

I finished the dreidels with a light coat of silver mist. It is difficult to see in the pictures but it gives them a nice festive sparkle.

Paper dreidels can be hung from a string, used as a place setting for Hanukkah party or serve as a favor box. Or they can be just piled in a nice bowl. This is a great project to do with the kids. They will love decorating their own paper dreidels.

Are you doing any home decor projects for Hanukkah? Link them here, we would love to see!

Hanukkah (or any occasion) Project

2011-12-06T23:30:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone!

Is everyone getting ready for Hanukkah? Are all your gifts bought? Yeah, me neither.

I found this tile project on Pinterest a few months ago and the first thing I thought of was how great the Crafting Jewish Style Hanukkah papers would work for this. The project that I saw used the tiles as coasters but I thought it would be great to create a decorative base/trivet by putting the tiles together.

The project is super easy. You'll need

4" tiles available at any hardware store (I got mine at Home Depot for 16 cents each)

4" patterned paper (I inked the edges of mine)

Mod Podge

foam brush

Clear Gloss spray paint

E6000 glue

Cut your patterned paper and glue it to the tiles using Mod Podge. Let it dry and then apply another coat of Mod Podge. I let that dry completely. Then, I glued the tiles together with E6000. It was a little tricky because the tiles aren't exactly even to stick flush together. I let this dry on a piece of aluminum foil so that it wouldn't stick like glue would to newspaper. In a well ventilated area, I then sprayed 3 coats of the clear gloss spray paint.

I love how this turned out but at 12x12", it might be a little big. Smaller versions would probably be better if you want it to be a little more portable. The Pinterest inspiration had it as coasters (with felt on the bottom of the tiles) which I think would be fabulous to use with the Passover and Rosh Hashanah paper lines. I can picture coasters for your cups of wine or Elijah's cup at your seder or to put under your honey jars at Rosh Hashanah. I think the options are endless.

Here's a close up of each tile, top to bottom, left to right.

Here's what it looks like with my Hanukiah on top.

Thanks for looking. May your festival of lights be bright!

Crafting Jewish Style's Handmade Hanukkah and Great Giveaway

2011-12-03T17:08:00.001-08:00

Hannukah is just around the corner and here at Crafting Jewish Style our designers have been busy with all sorts of beautiful fun papercrafts, projects and party and design ideas to present you with a...

Handmade Hanukkah!

All throughout the month we will be sharing gorgeous handmade Hannukah crafts, gift ideas, party decor, and fun projects for the whole family. Join us as we celebrate a Handmade Hannukah. Leave a comment and/or become a follower to be entered (twice) in our Great Giveaway! One special winner will receive a spectacular Hanukkah gift of most of the products featured in our handmade Hannukah posts from Crafting Jewish Style.

CraftingJewish Style special offer. Enter Hanukkah15 to receive 15% off your order and receive a free gift with every order!

So what are crafting for Hannukah? What are those "special someones" receiving from you? What would you craft if you win these great goodies?

Thank you card

2011-11-30T07:20:00.000-08:00

When I need a quick card I usually call my border punches to action. They can transform even the simplest design into something special. I made this card using the papers from Crafting Jewish Style Rosh HaShanah collection. I punched around the green square mat and layered two punched borders on top of the bottom edge of the square. I added a paper flower cut with Lifestyle Crafts dies and a sentiment sticker. Shiny white pearl finished the job. Great way to use up those small scraps left from the Rosh HaShanah layouts.

It is the last day of November. Are you getting ready for Hanukkah? We do! We will have December full Hanukkah posts from our team here on the blog. I am getting excited! See you soon!

Scrapbooking Tip: Burn the edges

2011-11-27T11:53:00.000-08:00

Hi,

It's Shir again :-)

I wanted to share with you a useful tip that I've been asked recently a few times: Slightly burn the edges of your ribbon, in order to prevent it from split open.

Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate your comments!

When in doubt, Eat Dessert first!

2011-11-23T08:28:00.000-08:00

When I was a child, I used to struggle with the relationship between the American holidays and my Jewish identity. I was never quite sure how to think about Thanksgiving. Then, 10 years ago this week, I attended a Bar Mitzvah on Thanksgiving. In the Rabbi's speech, he started by saying that Thanksgiving was the most Jewish of the American holidays. That cleared it up for me. That one little statement is one of the most useful things a Rabbi has ever said to me.

Tomorrow many of us will be celebrating Thanksgiving. All over the USA, families get together and celebrate the tradition in their own way, combining American traditions with those of their ancestors. As we gather with relatives for a kosher Thanksgiving, as Jews we struggle (at least in family) with the concept of a pareve dessert. In my family, we believe that dessert should be chocolate and creamy, preferably topped with ice cream. We have no interest in Honey cakes or fruit pies. In addition, half my family needs to eat gluten-free which makes those cakes and pies a serious challenge, definitely not worth the effort.

The first trick to dessert is to buy pareve baking chocolate or chocolate chips. It can be found all year round, although I find it easiest to buy extra at Passover time and store it in a cool spot (but not the refrigerator). Over the years, I have compiled the following short list of pareve chocolate desserts that my family is happy to enjoy:

Chocolate Mousse
Chocolate covered strawberries and marshmallows (or other fruit)
Chocolate chip meringues

Since we must wait to eat dairy after meat, but not the other way around, I have come up with another simple solution which is to eat dessert first. A wonderful dairy dessert can be enjoyed at snack time when the guests arrive, and then the turkey and other traditional foods can be enjoyed much later, at a normal dinner time. My children think this is a great idea.

Whether you eat dessert first or last, I want to wish you and your family a happy healthy, delicious, and safe Thanksgiving.

Israel Layouts

2011-11-16T06:00:00.000-08:00

Several of us were lucky enough to travel to Israel recently and have been working on our Israel scrapbooks since we returned home.

Rachel created this layout to use as the introduction to the old city section in her album. I love the banner so much I'm going to be lifting it soon.

One part of a trip to Israel is seeing relatives or meeting them for the first time. This was the first time we met many of the younger generation. It was amazing to find out how much we have in common with people who live so far away. I thought the Passover collection matched perfectly with their house, and I really liked the wine-glasses on the paper since we enjoyed learning about their collection of Israeli wines.

Maya used to live in Israel and created this wonderful layout of her family at the Dead Sea. I love the way she placed her banner and her layout design which allows for so many photos.

Thanksgiving Card

2011-11-13T04:40:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! It is Cassie here. I just wanted to stop in to share this Thanksgiving card I made with Crafting Jewish Style's Rosh Hashanah line. The colors of the line are perfect for fall and the prints are so versatile that they can be used for almost anything. I hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving this year and that you all stay safe, warm and joyful.

A Havdalah Project for You

2011-11-06T05:59:00.000-08:00

Hi! It's Aliza here. I have a little project to share with you. I love little jars, boxes, and containers. I just always have. They are just so cute and pretty that I always want to make things with them. So, I did.

I used papers from the Rosh Hashana line, a matchbox, and a metal tin to create this little besamim box and box of matches. Add a candle and a cup of wine, and you're ready for havdalah.

May you all have a shavuah tov.

New sketch for you!

2011-10-30T00:00:00.000-07:00

Hello dear crafting friends! Irit is here with our new sketch made specially for Crafting Jewish Style by Anam and here 4 takes of this gorgeous sketch made by our creative girls.

Here is a sketch for you to play

And here are our takes for this sketch

First is Cassie and she scrapped her Passover with our Passover line

Second one is from Jullie who scrapped her daughter blowing the shofar with our Rosh Hashana line

The third one is from Aliza

And the last, but hope not the least, is my take for this sketch. I scrapped my DN Omri (he is an American) on his Bar Mitzva day near Kotel in Jerusalem and I think this Rosh Hashana line was just perfect for this photo. The misted wall was made with those simple office stickers and some mist. Try this- easy and frugal.

So I hope you do like our takes of this sketch and hope you will try this sketch too.
See you next time

Irit from still sunny and hot Israel

Event layout: Torah Party

2011-10-26T08:30:00.000-07:00

Hi, it's Shir - it's so nice to post a layout here again!

Few months ago, at the end of first grade, my daughter (Ya'ara) had a Torah party: the first graders started to learn Torah. The teachers produced a party, the kids danced, sang - and the parents we busy in taking pictures & be proud :-)

It was important to me to add the invitation, so I chose a "blocks" technique, to fill the gaps. In order to add more interest in the layout, I punched half circles from 2 close papers, and added a smaller circle "inside".

It was a fun layout to make, no doubt about it. What do you think?

I appreciate your comments :-)

Until next time,

Shir

Do you Pinterest?

2011-10-23T08:22:00.000-07:00

Have you heard of Pinterest? I know what are you going to say - another time-sucker - and you are absolutely right! But it is a really good one!
Pinterest is a virtual pinboard. As their website says: Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web.
You can create virtual pinboards, add pins, browse and search pinboards created by others, leave comments and repin the things you like. Gone the days of bookmarks, post-it notes and spreadsheets! It is all in one place, organized beautifully by theme, ready for you to get inspired.

I am slowly building my own Pinterest collection, pinning the layouts I love, cards that inspire me, fun crafty projects that I am dying to try and of course I have a board for Jewish crafting.

Here are few other links for you to get inspired:
- our own Lisa's Hanukkah and Jewish Holidays board
- JuliaB has a board for every Jewish holiday!
- another great board curated by Michelle Braun

So please tell me - do you pinterest? How do you organize you inspirational sources? Can't wait to hear!

P.S. If you need a pinterest invite, leave a comment :)

A Joyous Sukkot!!

2011-10-12T05:00:00.000-07:00

Sukkot is the only Jewish Holiday where we are commanded to be Joyous...we live and sleep and eat in our Sukkahs and enjoy the blessings of family and togetherness. I like to decorate for this holiday with Sunflowers because to me, they are a Joyful flower! The colors of the flowers work well with the harvest-y theme that most of us strive to create in our Sukkahs, too. In honor, I created this Paper Garland using the Rosh Hashanah paper called Sweet New Year. The beautiful deep greens, reds and yellows made me think of Sunflowers and the Lulov and the Etrog and I was inspired!!

I found the sunflower shaped doilies at my Dollar Tree store today, hidden amongst all the Thanksgiving merchandise. I created a pinwheel using the Sweet New Year paper by accordian folding the paper at 1 1/2 inch intervals, then folding the whole sheet of paper in half and glueing the middle folds together using strong adhesive.

I then used the same paper and did the same thing. I trimmed a little upside down u off the ends so the pinwheel would look more flower-like and glued both sides together so they now looked like this.

I made some custom buttons with my Epiphany Crafts button maker and layered a Sunflower Doily with a button on the main pinwheel.

Then I punched a hole on either side and threaded twine through it and sandwiched the doilies around the twine, two on each side. I cut circles for the middle and added a custom button in the middle. I decorated both sides of the doilies and pinwheel so that it looked cute from both sides. All together the craft took me about 30 mins...and it is something that I will be able to recreate for more impact with other papers.

I hope you enjoyed this Sukkot Craft and that you all have a Joyous Sukkot!

L'Shana Tova

2011-10-06T10:10:00.000-07:00

L'Shana Tova everyone! Juls here. I hope everyone had a lovely holiday last week and you're gearing up for a final atonement push starting tomorrow night with the Shabbat bonus. Does that mean we can't eat our delicious round challah? For us adults, yes, for those who fast. My kids will still be happy at least.

Here's my Rosh Hashanah LO.

Every year, my aunt and uncle send us some beautiful honey to celebrate the New Year. My girls LOVE to eat challah and honey and we pretty much dip challah in honey every week for shabbat. I guess we all hope for a sweet week and it simply is a delicious combination. This year, my little ones started pre-school and they made their own round challahs for the new year. I wanted to remember this moment and our family honey tradition. Needless to say, there was nothing more perfect that the Rosh Hashanah line. I had a hard time narrowing down the paper choices for this one.

As we head into Yom Kippur, I hope we all can take a moment to count our blessings and ask G-d for forgiveness for our past year's transgressions. May your fast be quick and easy and may we all be inscribed, once again, in the Book of Life.

G'mar Hatima Tovah

Event Layout

2011-10-02T05:54:00.000-07:00

Well, it's sort of an event layout. There was a big event-my son's bar mitzvah. But, it turns out, I don't have the photos from said event. The gorgeous posed photos, filled with friends and family, with the Old City of Jerusalem as the backdrop. Those photos I don't have yet. They had to make their way from Israel, and I believe they are now somewhere in New Jersey. (I will track them down, now that one big holiday has been checked off the list.) During the big event I took two...count them, two...photos. The rest I left to the professional.

Anyhow, not yet having the main photos, has allowed me to tell a small little story from the big event. Namely, how after I worked and worked on the benchers, and then reworked the benchers, we left them in the car, and it was too far away to go back and retrieve them. Well, we could have, but one of us would have had to miss a big chunk of our son's bar mitzvah, and we were not willing to do that.

On the way home, as I looked in the back seat of the car, and sighed at the basket full of benchers, my husband said, "You should take a picture of them. That will one day be part of the story of Max's bar mitzvah." He definitely gets the point of this scrapbooking thing.

I used some Chanukah papers, and a smattering of the Rosh Hashana papers and stickers as well. I love those stickers. They always look good, no matter what I do with them.

Shana Tova, everyone!

Crafting Jewish Style wishes you a Happy and Sweet New Year!

2011-09-27T20:00:00.000-07:00

I like setting the holiday table early. This way every time I pass the dining room I feel that I am more prepared than I really am. For Rosh Hashanah I usually fill vessels with apples, pomegranates and other fruit for an easy and autumnal themed centerpiece. I fill out the arrangement with hydrangeas from the garden and/or mums or some other Fall flowers from Shoprite.

For the place settings I've purchased mini pomegranates and placed a die cut circle with a Shanah Tova sticker on it on top of the pomegranate. I find that pomegranates make great decorations and we love eating them both for their symbolism and because they taste great! I can't wait to try them in Maya's recipe.

That's it for my quick, easy and elegant holiday tablescaping ideas.

It's hard to believe that another year has once again flown by. Its a time of reflection as well as a time of hope and prayers. In the midst of all the cooking, baking and mundane preparations (Does everyone have ironed shirts for shul? Did I cook enough food?...) I send up small requests (OK, big ones too) that this year should truly be a good and peaceful one for everyone.
I wish you all a year of happiness, peace, good health, prosperity and may all your prayers be answered for the good!

Tzedakah

2011-09-25T04:30:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. It is Cassie. For Rosh HaShanah this year I decided to make a little box to place Tzedakah during Rosh HaShanah. I used Crafting Jewish Style's fun line of Rosh HaShana papers and I am really please with how it turned out.

Sketch time

2011-09-21T10:41:00.000-07:00

It is time for another sketch here at Crafting Jewish Style. Once again we have a beautiful sketch created for us by Anam Stubbington. I love Anam's sketches, they already look like a piece of art so you can never go wrong with them. This sketch features one big photo and 5 smaller ones.

Lisa closely followed the sketch and made a Passover layout with one big picture of the seder guests and smaller pictures of the faces and little details that make the seder special.

Louise used the sketch to document her recent family trip to Jerusalem. I love that she used the "Next Year In Jerusalem" saying and covered the "Next" with "this".

Shir used only one big photo on her layout. The title says "The 5th Modein Walk".

I omitted the big photo and used only 5 small square photos to document the details of our last Rosh HaShanah celebration. This layout will live in the album next to my Rosh HaShanah layout from the last year, so I skipped the journaling.

Four layouts based on the same sketch, four very different ways of sketch interpretation. Would you like to join us? Let see what is your take on the sketch.

Ruby grapefruit and pomegranate salad for Rosh HaShanah

2011-09-18T13:25:00.000-07:00

One of our favorite Rosh HaShanah foods is pomegranate. I personally think it is one of the most beautiful fruits and my girls love eating the red, juicy seeds straight out of the bowl. We always have pomegranate seeds at our Rosh HaShanah table and try to add them to a dish or two.

In the Bible, the Land of Israel is praised for its pomegranates. It is also said that this fruit contains 613 seeds just as there are 613 mitzvot. Another reason given for eating pomegranate on Rosh HaShanah is that we wish that our good deeds in the ensuing year will be as plentiful as the seeds of the pomegranate.

The following recipe features pomegranate seeds and ruby grapefruit. It can be a good addition to any holiday table. The recipe is taken from Haim Cohen & Eli Landau's Cook Book.

Ruby grapefruit and pomegranate salad

1lb fresh green leaves (lettuce, arugula, ...)

Seeds from 1 pomegranate

1 ruby grapefruit, peeled (including the inside membranes) and chopped coarsely

1 bunch of radishes chopped coarsely

1 Tbsp capers

1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

salt

olive oil

Combine all salad ingredients in a bowl. Season with olive oil and salt. Enjoy!

What are your favorite Rosh HaShanah recipes?

New Year Project

2011-09-15T12:39:00.000-07:00

When I came to live in Holland (16 years ago!!!) I saw something I've never seen before and loved it. It was a birthday calendar, a calendar with no specific year where you can write birthdays and days to remember. The Dutch custom is to hang it in the toilet where you visit daily and has nothing better to do ;)
As we celebrate our birthdays on its jewish date, I always wanted to make myself such a jewish birthday calendar.
In a Hectic lifestyle as mine and a big mishpoche (=family), such a calendar is a must!

I used a mixture of papers and stickers. 100% CJS products.

I love the result and hope not to forget anyone's birthday from now on...

Nili :)

Thoughts about Sept. 11 from the Crafting Jewish Style design team

2011-09-11T05:41:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that ten years have already passed since 9/11. It's an event that everyone will remember precisely where and when they were when the towers were hit. This is my story.
What strikes me the most about that day is its initial ordinariness. It began as just a regular day. A beautiful day, the sun shone so strongly that morning and the air had a bit of crispness to it. As usual, I was in a rush to get out to work that morning. It was my son's first day of preschool and I wanted to take him there instead of having his babysitter walk him. Before we left, I took some pictures of him and my daughter, both of them eager and smiling in anticipation of the fun to be had in school. (I have never scrapped those pictures, every time I see them I choke up.)
I dropped them off and rushed to work. There was traffic on the parkway.I turned on the news to hear the traffic report, anxious not to be late.. As I was listening to the traffic report the reporter relayed the sighting of what looked to be a small aircraft flying straight into one of the towers.
I sat in my car, listening in horror, as the chopper pilot flew in for a closer look. It was definitely a plane that hit the tower.
I made it to work. I stopped into the office to relay the news to the principal. His immediate response was -terrorists. I disagreed, said it must have been an unfortunate aviation accident, and went in to teach my class. Minutes later the principal knocked on the door to let me know that the second tower was hit. This was no accident.
The rest of the day was awash in horrors as we one tragic event after another occurred. frantic phone calls were made as we tried to connect with everyone who worked or lived in the area.

I think back now to the initial minutes and hours after the attack, when we hoped all those people would be saved and then when we saw that they wouldn't. I remember the grief on strangers' faces as I walked down the street and posters of the missing. I recall when we found out all the people we personally knew or knew of, as well as the thousands of strangers who died on that day. It was, and still is, too much to bear. Processing the enormity of that day was impossible. All I wanted to do is hug my family close and turn away from all the devastation. Yet we couldn't. And still cannot ten years later.
It's been ten years but I cannot forget the Rosh Hashanah that followed a week later.
We prayed with intensity for all those who were lost, their families and for ourselves-trying to make sense of the incomprehensible.
Nor can I forget Sukkot, that joyous holiday marred by the stench of the still smoldering buildings. The ground outside littered with the detritus of the fallen towers a boro away.
Most of all I remember the little things-talking to the garbage collector in front of my house hours after the attack, my children building block towers and toppling them down, reading the NY Times "Portraits of Grief" daily, the American flags that seemed to have sprouted from every car, home and building. and of course driving over the bridge and not seeing the towers-I still miss seeing them.

Feel free to leave your comments and thoughts.
We will not forget all those who were lost. Yehi Zichronom Baruch.

More Rosh HaShana Cards

2011-09-04T17:51:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of beautiful cards from Shir Benovich using the Rosh HaShana kit. These cards are an easy way to add a personal touch to your Rosh HaShana greeting.

I love the beautiful bow she tied on this second card.

The High Holidays are less than a month away. Now is a great time to get started on your cards. I hope these beautiful cards inspire you to create.

Cards for Rosh Ha Shana

2011-08-28T00:01:00.000-07:00

Rosh Hashana is almost here and some of us still mail some cards.. Some- like me- just make those phone calls /txt msgs or even this FB page post on the wall.
But here, on Crafting Jewish Style , we do craft our handmade cards and this is great, as some folks just love to get a real card in their mail box.

So here is my card, using CJS Rosh Ha Shana line- papers and stickers and in " not my style" at all...

Everyone who knows me, knows that I am a messy, too much things on my projects, crafter...

But after I made this clean and simple card I am very pleased with a result. Hope you like it too!

And here another card , crafted by Aliza- so very cute one, made with a very same Rosh Hashana kit..

ראש השנה שמח

לנו ולכל עם ישראל!!!!

Scrapping Jewish Life

2011-08-20T23:28:00.000-07:00

In Judaism, there are so many moments where our faith intersects with our daily life, so much so that we often take it for granted. One of the most meaningful things we can do is capture some of the routines for our scrapbooks...many years from now, the routines may or may not be the same and taking the time to remember them is something that I know my family cherishes.

For the last three years, my oldest daughter has been part of our temple's "Yad Squad". Each year, during Yom Kippur, she chants her torah portion. As I'm cooking dinner, or doing laundry I can hear her practicing, it becomes just a part of our everyday life in the month prior to Yom Kippur. Her Tallit bag and iPod are often found in the living room where she likes to practice. Obviously I can't photograph her during the services, so it is even more meaningful that I took the time to create this layout for her so that she will always remember how proud she made us by accepting this honor. I hope you'll consider taking some time to create a layout about some of your Jewish routines...I know it's something that your family will cherish. :)

Bar Mitzvah card

2011-08-14T09:00:00.000-07:00

My oldest child is getting big and I can't deny it any more. One of the signs of her growing up are the numerous bar mitzvah invitations she received this summer. While she sees this as an opportunity to socialize and have fun at the party, I see this as an opportunity to make few cards and maybe a homemade gift or two. I started with this simple card using the bright and colorful papers from Hanukkah collection. I used large alpha dies to make the letters. The circle with blue star of David was punched out from the same paper I used for the background. I added few drops of glossy accents to the star to make it shine.

Choose different papers and you will have a cute card for Bat Mitzvah. It is always good to have few on hand.

Winner

2011-08-11T12:30:00.000-07:00

I hope you all enjoyed our Hanukkah in July celebration and felt inspired to finish up your photos from last Hanukkah or start preparing for next year. The winner of the Hanukkah kit is:

Misty

Congratulations! Please contact us to claim your prize.

Happy August!!

2011-08-07T09:09:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

Julie here! My turn to post an event LO after Hanukkah in July. I chose Shavuot. At my daughter's school, they always do a big celebration. I love seeing the entire school dressed in pure, clean white. I love all the flowers that the girls and boy wear. I love the fruit and vegetables that the kids bring. And I love that all the new babies born in the last year are presented to our Jewish community. My little girls participated in the ceremony two years ago and it was a very special moment.

I used the Passover papers for this LO because of the pinks and to help bring out the colors of the flowers on my daughter's head wreath. And the browns were a nice complement to the white without bringing it all down.

I'm also including a card that I created for my cousin's Bar Mitzvah using the Rosh Hashanah paper line. I'm really bummed the picture came out blurry. I didn't notice that in my camera and, of course, I've sent off the card so I can't do a retake. But I think you get the gist of what the card is.

Altered Hanukkah treat tin

2011-07-31T04:18:00.000-07:00

Hey it is Cassie again. I am just dropping by to post one final Hanukkah in July project. Don't forget to comment on this post or any of our other posts in July to be entered to win the Hanukkah line from Crafting Jewish Style. For my final Hanukkah project I altered an empty nut container to make it into a tin to give Hanukkah treats in. I hope you enjoy and don't forget to check back. The winner of the prize for this month will be announced soon.

Recipe Time!

2011-07-24T08:18:00.000-07:00

Hello! Cassie here. Happy Hanukkah in July again! I was just dropping by to share a layout I made for my family "special occasion" recipe album that I am making. This way all the special recipes we use year after year will be collected in one place and be easy to find. For today's post I used one of my favorite Hanukkah treats, sufganiyot. Nothing says Hanukkah like these yummy fried treats. For anyone interested I use a recipe I found from Epicurious.

Hanukkah in July- Inventory List

2011-07-17T06:17:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, Irit is here with my July Hanukkah page.. Yes, 5 month earlier, but here I am with my Hanukkah Inventory list. As you all know, kids are playing with Dreidel and are waiting for their Gelt, we, the grown ups, are eating.. And eating. And then, after those 8 days, we are dieting.

So here is my journaling - laugh if you want, but it's so true.

One Holiday

Two girls

Three jars of oil

Four extra kilograms -that's more then 8 pounds, but it's for both girls

Eight days

Lot of food

As you all can see this July is full of HANUKKAH - see you again soon

Card Sketch

2011-07-10T06:25:00.000-07:00

Happy Hanukkah in July! Today we are celebrating by bringing you another wonderful sketch made just for us at Crafting Jewish Style, by the very talented Anam Stubbington.

Here are the examples by our design team.

Cassie

Aliza

Julie

Maya

We can't wait to see what you come up with. Link your projects here to show us. Also don't forget to comment on all the posts during our Hanukkah in July series for a chance to win the great Hanukkah prize pack.

Hannukah in July - layout

2011-07-03T06:00:00.001-07:00

Hi, It's Shir and I'm happy to share with you another layout:

Every year on Hannukah we celebrate in the girls' kindergarten... The kids are dressed with white shirts and during the celebrations the lights are turned off and only ultra violet light is on - and all the white shirts are colored nicely... The kids are singing and dancing and the parents are taking pictures - like paparazzi :-)

close ups:

--Shir

Hannukah in July with Crafting Jewish Style and Great Giveaway

2011-07-01T07:29:00.000-07:00

Hannukah in July? Seriously now, what's that all about?
Well, with (hopefully) lighter summer schedules and kids in camp we thought it would be a great time to either get a head start on holiday crafts and cards or catch up on layouts from last Hannukah. (I'm in the latter category-lots of pages to create this summer-oy!)
Throughout July, we will be posting some great Hannukah related layouts, tutorials and tips to get you in the crafting groove.
In addition, we have a great Hannukah in July Giveaway Package one lucky winner will receive a Hannukah 12x12 Scrapbooking Kit, Hannukah Card Kit and other assorted goodies!

Leave a comment on this post (and any other post throughout the month) in order to be entered into the giveaway.
Become a follower and you will be entered twice.
Link this post to your blog for an additional entry.

So what are you planning to craft this summer?
Do you even have time to craft in the summer?

We'd love to hear from you and see your creations.

Shabbat Shalom!

Have a great 4th of July!

Home Decor-Jewish Style:

2011-06-29T04:10:00.000-07:00

Hi All!

It's Aliza here. I hope you are all enjoying your summer, and that you are getting a chance to relax. Me, not so much, yet. But in a few more days I'll be finished with work (teaching), and then it's off to Israel for seven weeks! During that time, we plan to spend time with family, see the country, celebrate my son's Bar Mitzvah, and I am dreaming of some down time in which to craft, craft, craft. My mom already covered her dining room table so I can scrapbook there. Thanks, Mom!

I'm glad I got to whip up this little number for you all before the big trip. Can't you just see it hanging in a small child's room?

I used papers and elements from the Chanukah and Rosh Hashana collection, and I love the way the blues and oranges complement each other (really, they say nice things to each other all the time). The Hebrew font is Pecan_Sonc_Hebrew Regular. I use it all the time.

Here's to great summer! Enjoy!

-Aliza

Happy Summer

2011-06-22T06:00:00.000-07:00

Can you believe it's the first full day of summer and I'm still scrapping my Passover photos? This photos are from the seder at my in-laws apartment in New York City. The photos are poor because the light was streaming in through the window, but you can still get a glimpse of their beautiful view. We don't take photos during the ceremony so we take a nice posed photo before we sit down.

I used lots of glue dots to hold the pleats in the ribbon. It's an easy way to add some dimension and a fun look.

Have a great summer and keep checking back for Hanukkah in July!

Yom Ha'Atzmaut

2011-06-21T00:27:00.000-07:00

Okay, I should've posted this ages ago but I've had some serious scanner problems so I figure better late than never, right?

My daughter's school does something big for Yom Ha'Atzmaut every year. The past few years it's been a fundraising jog-a-thon. This year, they students ran to "cities" in Israel. An obstacle course was set up all over campus and the kids had to run to Eilat, Masada, Kirya Shmona, Haifa, Tel Aviv and everyone ran the final lap into Jerusalem. At each city, the kids had their passport punched and tried to get to each city at least three times.

I liked using the Hanukkah papers because of the perfect blue and white colors of the Israeli flag. I was able to take one of the elements of the borders sheet, cover up the "celebrate the lights" line so that it was usable for another event. A little vellum for journaling and it was a perfect way to share the story.

Folded Flower Tutorial

2011-06-15T05:22:00.000-07:00

Hey it is Cassie. I was just stopping by to show you how to make these great folded flowers. They are easy to make and use only tools that most paper crafters have on hand.

You will need:

double sided patterned paper or cardstock (you can also ink or mist the back of single sided patterned paper)
a circle punch or other circle cutter (any size will do, but the bigger the circles the bigger the flower)
adhesive
a button, gem or other center for the flower.

Step 1:

Using your punch or circle cutter cut out 8 identical circles from your paper or card stock. Remember the larger the circles the bigger your flower will be and vice versa. If you want to ink the flower or to add some distressing now is the time to do it. Just ink and distress the circles.

Step 2:

For each circle fold the circle in half.

Step 3:

Unfold the circle and then fold it in half the other way so the other fold line crosses the center of the first.

Step 4:

Unfold the circle again. There should now be 4 sections to the circle In the bottom 2 sections of the circle fold the curve in till it makes a straight line on the bottom. The line should go to just the edge of the two fold lines of that section.

Step 5:

Flip the circle over onto it's back and then fold the flat lines you just folded into the center line of the circle until they meet in the middle. This will be one of your petals. Repeat all these steps on each of your circles to get all 8 petals.

Step 6:

Using your adhesive pace one flower petal on your project. In a progression around the circle continue to add one petal at a time directly next to the another one. Take care to put the petals end to end and not to leave too much space between the petals or to squish then together too closely. This will ruin the spacing of your flower and you may not be able to fit all your petals in correctly. Continue until all petals are on your project and your flower is complete.

Add the desired center to your flower with some adhesive and your flower is ready to go.

Celebrate Shavuot with Crafting Jewish Style

2011-06-06T08:00:00.000-07:00

On Shavuot it is customary to decorate the synagogue and one's home with flowers to commemorate the way Mount Sinai was abloom with flowers when the Torah was given. I love flowers so this is a great excuse for me to decorate without restraint! Aside for the traditional vase of flowers ( I especially love to cut flowers from the garden-aren't the peonies beautiful?) on the holiday table, I like to scatter arrangements and small bouquets throughout the house. Sticking small sprigs of flowers or greens into drinking glasses, or other interesting containers, and leaving them on night tables or windowsills, add a small spot of color and holiday cheer throughout the house.

Since Shavuot begins tomorrow night we have the perfect project, for this beautiful holiday, that is quick and decorative. Here is a lovely way to get the kids involved in the holiday prep with an out of the ordinary flower arrangement display. It is also a wonderful way to present a bouquet if your gifting flowers to family or friends!

HANGING FLOWER CONE WITH DECORATIVE TISSUE PAPER ROSETTE TUTORIAL

Here's what you will need:

Scrapbook paper
scissors
stapler or double sided tape
glue stick or tape runner
hole punch
ribbon
tissue paper
optional-circle punch
foam or glue dots dots

FLOWER CONE

1. Roll one sheet of scrapbook paper into a cone shape. Staple together and trim the top of the cone.Bend the pointed bottom of the cone up toward the back and tape or staple so that the bottom should be flat.

2. Punch holes in either side of the cone and thread a length of ribbon through it. Knot in place.

3. Embellish the cone to your liking.

This simple paper cone can be dressed up with any sort of embellishments and/or trim.
So as not to detract from the beauty of the flowers, we kept it simple by adding a paper band around the upper part of the cone and affixing a tissue paper rosette to the center with foam dots.

TISSUE PAPER ROSETTE

1. Cut a length of tissue paper approximately 2 feet long and two inches wide. Fold the tissue paper in half width wise.

2. Fold the tissue paper into half or a quarter inch pleats. (See photo of supplies.)
as you fold the tissue paper will naturally curve into a circular shape.

3. Punch a circle out of scrapbooking paper and cover the back of it with a thin layer of glue or adhesive. Gently attach the folded tissue paper to the back of the circle. You my need to tuck it in, in some places, so that the folds lie properly.

This rosette is a great embellishment for cards, layouts or even attached to a skewer or toothpick as a cupcake topper. Here's a quick card I made using this technique. I attached the folded tissue paper to the back of a cardstock sticker. A folded small length of ribbon was added as well to make it look like mini "winning ribbon".

We wish you all a Chag Sameach!

Click here for more information about Shavuot and some super recipes! (Cheesecake anyone?)

We'd love to hear how you celebrate and decorate for Shavuot.
Leave us some feedback-any tips, recipes and pictures are always appreciated!

June sketch

2011-05-29T05:00:00.000-07:00

Hi, it's Shir again, sharing with you the June sketch challenge. The sketch was designed especially for CJS by Anam Stubbington:

4 DT members have joined forces for this one, I hope it will inspire you :-)

Lisa designed a rich and full of details Passover layout:
Maya designed a layout for Shavu'ot (I enjoy seeing Hebrew in layouts!!):
Louise designed a classic Passover layout (I say 'classic' because she used the Passover papers):
And here's my layout: I used Rosh Hashanah papers, to create a weekly routine, visitng my MIL and greet her for a great week....
We'd love to see your interpretation for this great sketch!

Leave us a comment :-)

Shir

Gift card holder

2011-05-18T00:26:00.000-07:00

I was asked to make a post with a small craft or a recipe.. O- as for the recipe- not me, no way. My DH

is our family cook and I hardly eat- lol.. So craft it is and a very small, but a cute one

I made this gift card size altered box to fit a gift card you can give to your family or friends for any occasion, and also this one was done with Rosh Ha Shana line and stickers,you can use other paper line and stickers from CJS and to fit it to any possible occasion too

Hope you like this small project and see your soon again

63 Independence

2011-05-15T06:41:00.000-07:00

Hi, It's Shir and I'm very excited to post my first layout as part of CJS design team!

Few days ago we celebrated Israel's 63 Independence Day and last Friday we celebrated in my little girl's (Mor) kindergarten. After singing, dancing and other activities - each family got a balloon and a piece of paper, in order to make a wish, write it down, attach it to the balloon and release it in the open air.... There were many wishes for Israel that day: Peace, Hope, Love, Health for all, Happiness, etc. I wish Gil'ad Shalit will be able to join his family soon.... What's your wish??

My layout:

Happy Independence day!

I appreciate your comments!

Shir

A Four Page Layout

2011-05-10T17:06:00.000-07:00

Hi, it's Aliza, and I am here to share a scrapbook revelation that I had this year. When beginning to work on a layout, often the first thing I think about is: One page layout or two? Lots of photos or just one or two? A mini album, perhaps? One day I realized, it doesn't have to be any of those! How? Keep reading, and you will soon find out.

I always have a lot of pictures from Purim, and lots of little things that I want to remember. In years past, I made multiple Purim layouts; about costumes, carnivals, baking, mishloach manot, and whatever else struck my fancy about the day. Last year, I decided I wanted to get it all on one layout, and I did. I liked it so much, I did it again this year. And this year, I had the added benefit of making the layout with papers and stickers from the Rosh Hashana line.

I was very pleased with myself for this darling little layout, and was all set to share how to create a grid in Photoshop Elements, and how I used text boxes for all that journaling.

Except. Then I realized that I forgot something. I really wanted to include a little story about my son on the morning of his school Purim carnival. I did not want to start from scratch, and I didn't want to make another 12x12 page. So, I made a 6x8 inch scrapbook page, and I included the story there. On the second side, I simply printed one of the photos again as a 6x8 picture. This 6x8 page will go right in my 12x12 album, right between the two pages that you see above. So, my two page layout, has become a 4 page layout. Like so:

This little technique is especially easy to use when working with a grid layout, as I often do. The smaller page flows so easily with the overall design. I cut an 8.5 x 11 sheet protector, and sewed the edge to make it the right size. (And I'm not one of those cool people with gorgeous stitching on their layouts. I don't have a sewing machine, and I just did the best I could to go in a straight-ish line. But, it suits me just fine.)

Anyway, I was very excited when I realized I had a whole new layout option for telling my stories. I hope it is helpful to you, too.

-Aliza

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T03:10:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! It is Cassie here. First off I want to start out by saying I hope all you mothers out there have a very wonderful Mother's Day filled with joy, laughter and lots of quality time with your children.

On top of the well wishes for all you mama's I wanted to go ahead and share a layout that I had a really fun time making with the Crafting Jewish Style's Rosh Hashannah line. I made this layout about Simchat Torah this past year. I went with my husband to a new synagogue and we had a truly wonderful time while there. There was dancing and singing. It was a night of pure fun and celebration. At the end we unrolled the Torah to be able to look upon it in its entirety and to be able to end the Torah reading of the last year and begin again. The photo below is just a small section of the Torah, but it is always such an awe inspiring sight.

Happy Mother's Day again to all the moms out there!

May Sketch challenge for you

2011-05-04T11:35:00.000-07:00

Hello to our dear friends !

I am Irit, one of the new DT for CJS company and today we are going to share with you a great sketch challenge.This gorgeous sketch was done specially for CJS by a very talented sketch artist Anam Stubbington

As this is just after Passover time, I decided to scrap Pesach, also we do not take photos during the Seder, we managed to take a few snapshots before...So my mom's Seder plate is this lo's star-LOL..

Here is my page, made with our CJS Passover kit and I just used our Israeli craft letters for a Hebrew title. We celebrated in Jerusalem with my parents and my trick was to use this " Next year in Jerusalem" for " Jerusalem" only and to make a subtitle of "Pesach in Jerusalem- Apr. 2011", and as a shabby style scrapper- this is a kind of a shabby page with distressing, inking and clusters of embellishments, so here is my page.

And here are another DT pages.
Aliza scrapped this fantastic Passover page with Mazoz on it with a perfect match to CJS Passover colors

Another gorgeous Passover page from Julie- made with the same kit. Just look at this lovely photo of old and young generation celebrating our Holidays together.

Cassie made a Hanukkah lo using our Hanukkah kit and this is a very cute page with this fun doggy
wearing his great outfit.

So now it's your turn. Scrap your Passover week or just your spring vacation with Anam's fabulous sketch and share it with us here, just linking it to the comment section.
We are waiting to see your creations!

Yom Hashoah-Zachor

2011-05-01T14:10:00.000-07:00

Since scrapbooking is so often about pretty papers and ribbons, about buttons, birthdays, and babies, the thought of connecting Yom Hahshoah and scrapbooking at first rubbed me the wrong way. But almost immediately, I realized how appropriate it would be to use scrapbooking to commemorate this day. Yes, we scrapbook the cute kids, the big events, and even the little moments, but most of all, we are trying to record our memories and our stories. And that, after all, is what Yom Hashoah is about. Zachor. Remember. There is a lot to remember. We remember the tragedy to make sure that it doesn’t happen again. We remember an entire culture that existed and that was destroyed. And, we remember the stories of the people who were lost, and the people who survived.

So it was that I felt inspired to create this page about my father in law, Zvi Deutsch, who passed away 4 years ago. As a child, he escaped Belgium, because of the courageous act of one man, the Portuguese consul in Bordeaux who, against his government's orders, and at the cost of his career, provided visas to 30,000 refugees. My father in law and his immediate family (who had fled to France) were able to leave in time, but so many others that he knew, did not. And, I think it was knowing that he lived when others didn’t that directed the rest of his life. He educated countless people of the horrors that occurred. He wrote about the man who saved his life. And, he always cherished the family he had, especially his grandchildren.

I kept the layout pretty subdued in keeping with the solemnity of the story. I first turned to the Passover collection, probably because Passover is still on my mind, but also because the theme of peace, freedom, and family, all struck me as being in the spirit of the day. But I also used the blue in the background from the Chanukah collection, and the strip of patterned paper in the center is from the Rosh Hashana collection. They are all beautiful and versatile, and made telling this story easy.

What stories can you tell today to commemorate Yom Hashoah?

Passover Exodus

2011-04-29T23:50:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Passover and that your seders were filled with family, fun and lots of good food. As much as our Jewish lives revolves around food, especially for Passover, the real purpose of Pesach is to celebrate the Jews being released from slavery and our journey to bring us to the Promised Land. At my daughter's school, they had the students reenact the "Exodus". The students dressed as slaves (white t-shirt, head covering) and had them fill a pillowcase with their "prized possessions" which they would have grabbed if they were told they had to leave their home on short notice. Pharaoh, played by one of the Dad's at school, told the "slaves" that he had work for them to do. The "slaves" were divided into 12 tribes, made signs to identify their tribes. The "slaves" then spent about an hour doing chores around the school campus under the supervision (and occasional authoritative direction) of the teachers who were the slave drivers. The students weeded the garden, cleaned the bathroom, cleaned up the pre-school yard, moved rocks, moved benches from point A to point B and then Pharaoh "changed his mind" and had to move them back.

After the hard labor, Moses, played our Head of School, begged Pharaoh to "let my people go", and he did. Moses then led the students "through the desert", a.k.a. the upper field, and then led the slaves between two buildings, decorated with blue tarps, fish and water misters, and the Jews walked through the parting of the Red Sea. The students then celebrated their freedom with dancing and ice cream. It was truly an experience for all the students and teachers and hopefully the students came away with a better understanding of what it might have been like to be a slave.

So, while I chose to do something different than seder pictures, the Passover paper line still worked perfectly for this layout. I loved how the brown and teal colors worked with the pictures at school. And the freedom doves and freedom tag were perfect to celebrate the Exodus.

It's Passover time!

2011-04-18T05:15:00.000-07:00

Today is a busy day in our home! After all the cleaning, shopping and advance cooking, we still have to set the table for the seder, cook all the rest of the food and prepare the guest room... The list goes on. I'm sure there will be still more runs to the supermarket and lots of last minute prep to be done!

We, at Crafting Jewish Style, would like to wish you all

Chag Pesach Kasher v'Sameach! Have a Happy Passover! Enjoy!

Just a thought-to keep little hands busy today, give the kids some Passover paper, scissors, glue, markers/crayons and embellishments. The kids can craft welcome signs, place cards, wine goblet tags, ten makot cards, and haggadah covers. It's a great way to get them involved in a meaningful and enjoyable way.

The memories of our Seders are strong in my mind. Since we don't take, nor do we encourage, picture taking at the Seder and throughout the holiday, I'll try to get a picture of the table decor in, before the holiday begins.
Hope you have a calm prePesach day.

Passover Tasks

2011-04-16T20:26:00.000-07:00

While preparing for Passover this year, I decided that I needed some help organizing the "help" during the Seder. My girls actually love to help with the Seder (I think they just like an excuse to get up from the table) so I created this little Task Jar using the Passover papers and a little repurposed jar.

I printed out some of the tasks of the Seder on paper and created little slips like this:

So each of the children willl pull one task from the jar and each child will have an important job to do during our Seder!
Some of the tasks the children help with are :
Serve Eggs
Serve Gefilte Fish
Clear Egg and Fish Plates
Clear Soup Bowls
Clear Dinner Dishes
Clear Dessert Dishes
Collect Haggadot and Props

You can personalize your own Task Cards with what you feel your children are capable of doing. I personally don't like my children to help with the China and Wine Glasses so now they will have tasks that make them feel like they are helping without fighting over the tasks. :)

Last year we did our Seder outside on our patio. I had to create some vases that were low enough to see over for the table without having to use my Waterford Crystal that I use for "good" inside. So I made little place cards to hang from everyone's Wine Carafe and repurposed "vases" made from Coffee Cans using the same Passover papers.

This year, why not get creative with your Passover papers and create some Seder Helpers for your dinner? Be sure to share with us if you do, and we would love to hear about how you have the children help with the Seder, too!

Four Questions Card

2011-04-13T03:35:00.000-07:00

Passover will be here in less than a week and my youngest son has been working very hard practicing the four questions. Now that he reads, I'm concerned that we will get to Grandma's house for Seder and the questions will be printed slightly differently in their Haggadah and throw him off. Therefore I decided to make him a "Four Questions Practice Card." He can practice from the card and then we can easily bring it to Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Here you can see the front and back of the card.

When my youngest son became old enough to do the Four Questions, we decide that his brother needed a special blessing to practice also and decided on the long version of the kiddush. Last year he didn't read Hebrew yet and had to memorize the whole thing. This year I searched the Internet for a transliteration and made him this practice card. I'm happy to report that he can now read enough Hebrew that he has not actually looked at the transliteration.

I find that all this practicing makes the boys more excited for Passover. What are you doing to get ready for Passover? Who does the Four questions at your Seder?

April Sketch

2011-04-10T06:00:00.000-07:00

Since everyone is busy getting ready for Passover, we decided to have a card sketch this month. Although not everyone sends Passover cards, I like to send them to a few close relatives, especially if we won't be seeing them for Seder. Passover cards can also be used for hostess gifts or thank-you notes.

This month we have a card sketch designed especially for Crafting Jewish Style by Anam Stubbington.

Maya used the sketch to create this beautiful card with lots of glitter and a wonderful edge punch. The glitter on the bird wings is so beautiful and the Mod Matzo paper definitely gives it a Passover feel.

Lisa used the sketch to create this fun and beautiful card. The celebrate Passover ribbon slide is a great way to add both texture and a greeting.

I used the stripes from the top of the Fab Four Cups paper on my card and one of the freedom stickers for my greeting.

Feel free to use Anam's great sketch to make your own cards, for Passover or any time of year. Don't forget to leave us a comment with a link to your cards.

Passover card

2011-04-06T06:00:00.000-07:00

The calendar on my kitchen wall says April but when half of my backyard is still covered with snow I find it difficult to believe. Spring takes it sweet time this year but I know it will come. So I pretend there is no snow anymore and think about spring, new beginnings and Passover.

To get myself in the holiday mood I started playing with my Crafting Jewish Style Passover kit. I came up with this cute card. To make the background I cut several strips of paper and distressed the edges. I cut out the dove from the patterned paper and added it using dimensional adhesive.

I stamped the sentiment inside the card leaving empty space for personal message.

What about you? Do you send Passover cards? Store bought or handmade? We want to know!

Crafting Jewish Style Purim Contest/Giveaway Winners!!

2011-04-03T01:00:00.000-07:00

It feels as if Purim was ages ago-even though we still have lots of junk food still left in our house from the mishloach manot. (Although the kids have been "hard at work" trying to polish it all off!)
Purim was great fun and although I still have yet to print out my Purim pics, let alone scrap them, some of you are much more capable... and we have our contest winners to share with you! Thanks to everyone who entered our contest and giveaway. we are always inspired by others' creativity.

Out contest winners is Faygie!

Taryn is our runner up and giveaway winner!! (We're assuming you are Tazzy. Thanks to Random.org)

Take a look at these ladies' creativity!

Here's what Faygie submitted:

I love the way she set up for her Purim meal. What a fresh, fun and happy decor-don't those big flowers make you smile? Check out the jelly bean vase filler and the embellished masks!

Love the mad hatter look to these costumes!

These layouts from Purim past -the little girl in the pictures is now 28-are just so charming.

Awesome job, Faygie!

Taryn submitted these pictures, just by the deadline, and we are so glad that she did! She took her pirate theme and ran with it. Not only did her family dress up as pirates (down to the littlest matey!) she also crafted pirate treasure chests for mishloach manot and a tag book for future scrapping.

Isn't this the yummiest baby pirate?

Here are Taryn's adorable mishloach manot treasure chests and tag book.

Just lovely!

So what do you think? Have you printed out your Purim pictures? Or are you knee-deep in Pesach preparation and have no time for it now?

Purim Carnival

2011-03-27T04:33:00.000-07:00

I have great memories of the Purim Carnival at my parents synagogue when I was growing up. We joined a new synagogue earlier this year, and I was so glad that the Purim carnival was great fun. My son played every game more than once, and he had fun picking prizes. I took a bunch of photos and made a 2-page layout for him to remember the day.

The bright colors in the Hanukkah collection are perfect for Purim too. I love to add some Hebrew to my layouts so I was thrilled to use one of Maya's labels. (If you haven't seen them, scroll down to her post about Mishloach Manot and click on the free download).

I couldn't find the right letters for my title, so I ended up stitching it. This technique is much easier than it would seem. I create a template on a scrap of plain paper, place it over my layout, and poke holes with a paper piercer. Putting a foam mat underneath makes it easier to poke the holes. I stitched around the edges too.

In case you are wondering about the photo in the lower left, the rabbi was very patient as people threw sponges covered with whipped cream at him.

Don't forget about our Purim giveaway. Add a comment to this post telling us something about how you celebrate Purim or linking us to your own Purim project and you'll be entered to win.

PURIM CONTEST and GIVEAWAY!!!!

2011-03-18T03:00:00.000-07:00

Crafting Jewish Style is in the Purim spirit! Our Purim contest and giveaway is in full swing! The winner will be getting loads of Crafting Jewish Style products,a tool set, embellishments, and much more!

Here's how you can enter the Contest:

1. Send us your favorite Purim pictures of creative costumes and/or mishloach manot

2. Send us a Purim layout, tag or card

Multiple pictures can be sent to info@craftingjewishstyle.com. Every entry will also be entered in the giveaway.

For the Giveaway:

1. Leave us a Purim comment on this or any other post from now till March 31.

2. Become a follower (and you'll be entered twice)

3. Link this contest and giveaway (and you'll be entered twice)

HAPPY PURIM!

Mishloach Manot and free Purim labels download

2011-03-16T18:46:00.000-07:00

Purim is coming and we are getting ready to celebrate this joyful holiday with dear friends. That means it is time to make "Mishloach Manot" - small gifts of foos that we share with family and friends.

I started with a blank 8"x8" treat box that I bought at Michael's. I wanted to add just few simple decorations. I didn't want people to feel guilty for throwing it away after Purim. The bright colors of Crafting Jewish Style Hanukkah kit were perfect for this project. I cut 4 stripes from "Start of David" paper, each measuring 9"x1.5". I adhered them to the sides of the box, folding one inch to cover the seams.

I used the orange side of "8 Nights" paper to make a zigzag border. I cut 1" squares from the paper (you could use a square punch if you have one) and cut each square diagonally in half. One 12"x1" paper strip gave me enough triangles to cover all sides of the box.

To make the ribbon rosette, I folded short lengths of ribbon and sandwiched them between two cardstock circles. I added "Hag Purim Sameah" label to the center of the rosette. The rosette is added to the box cover with one glue dot and can be removed if desired.

Here is the box, filled with some of the baked goodies we will be bringing to the party.

And here is my Purim gift to you. I saved the labels I made in pdf file and you can download it here. The labels will fit 2" circle punch.

Hope you will have a joyful time with your family and friends. Don't eat too many hamentashen! Happy Purim!

Purim Contest and Fun With Crafting Jewish Style

2011-03-13T10:18:00.000-07:00

photo courtesy: Crafting Jewish by Rivky Koenig

Purim is just around the corner! On Sunday we'll be busy with megillah reading/story of Esther, costumes, delivering mishloach manot, and Purim parties.
Look here for more information about the Purim story.
To add to the Purim merriment were having a grand Purim giveaway. Our mishloch manot to you, is a basket full of scrapbooking goodies.
Enter by sending us pictures of how you celebrate Purim. We'd love to see and post your great costumes and/or mishloach manot. Do you have a fun Purim layout or card? We'd love to see them too!
(Or take the easy way out and leave a comment to this post. Become a follower and you'll be entered twice!)
The Giveaway contest end on March 31, 2011-Time enough for you to get some great Purim pictures to us!

photo courtesy: Crafting Jewish by Rivky Koenig

If you haven't got your costume act together, then the following project from the book Crafting Jewish, is just for you. This cape couldn't be simpler to make and can be adapted for an assortment of costumes. Be it a princess, king, queen, superman, little red riding hood.... You can literally make this cape in ten minutes and it looks gorgeous. Just take a large square of fabric, cut slits in it, and thread ribbon through it. Then, have the kids decorate it with rickrack, ribbon, glitter.

Materials:
36×36-inch piece of felt (sold in packages at most craft stores, including Michael's)
Tape measure
Straight pins
Sharp scissors
48-inch length of 1-2-inch-wide ribbon
4 yards 1-inch-wide rickrack or 2-4 yards marabou or fake fur trim
Fabric glue, or glue gun and glue sticks

1.Place the felt onto a flat surface. On one side of the felt square, measure and fold over a 5x 36-inch section. Pin the folded section to the remaining felt with straight pins, to hold in place.

2.Use the sharp scissors to cut 1-inch slits into the folded felt: cut 20 slits spaced approximately 2 inches apart.

3.Remove the pins and unfold the felt. There will be 2-inch slits. Weave the ribbon through the slits. The part that folds over will form the collar of the cape.

4.Cut a length of approximately 50-52 inches of rickrack or marabou to fit around the outer edge of the collar of the cape. Use fabric glue or glue gun and glue sticks to attach the rickrack to the edge of the collar. Fold the rickrack at a 45 degree angle when you reach a corner and continue gluing.

5.Turn the cape over and hot glue the rest of the rickrack around the edge of the cape, not including the collar area (When the cape is worn the collar will be facing down).

Note: To make the cape longer or shorter using the same size of felt, increase or decrease the length of the collar.

How do you celebrate Purim? Do you and/or your kids dress up? Do you go with store bought or handmade costumes? Does your mishloach manot match your costume?

Give us some feedback and you'll be entered in the giveaway.

HAPPY PURIM TO ALL!!

Crafting Jewish Style New Design Team Members

2011-03-09T15:00:00.000-08:00

After much deliberation and time we have finally put our new design team together. Thanks to all of you have submitted layouts and portfolios for consideration. (We look forward to seeing some of the submitted work on Guest Designer basis.)Please continue playing along with us!

Drumroll please.....DaDa Dummm..... our new team members (in alphabetical order) are:

Shir Benovich-Modiin,Israel
Aliza Deutsch- NY, New York
Julie Gelfand- Woodland Hills, California
Cassie S.-Denver, Colorado
Irit Shalom-Rehovot,Israel

We are so glad they are joining the Crafting Jewish Style design team and we want to share with you a little bit about them.

Shir Benovich

Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you started scrapbooking:

I'm a QA engineer, working in a software company. Next week I'm starting a new role: QA Team Leader :-)
I started scrapbooking while I was pregnant with my first baby, Yaara (she is now 6 & half years). I knew I wanted to create a special album for my baby and I searched the internet and discovered this crazy-fantastic world!

How would you describe your style?

I think that I can define my style as Clean & Simple. I don't like messy work, but I like to try new techniques every once in a while.

How and when do you make time for scrapbooking?

I try to scrapbook everyday - my girls love to "create" with me and it's part of our everyday lives. After they go to sleep I usually scrapbook more, trying to create layouts, cards, participating in challenges, etc.

What are your 3 favorite products/tools and why?

My 3 favorite products / tools (these days, it changes from time to time :-)): Ink (pigment ink, for 'edge"-ing the papers), Sew Easy by We R Memory Keepers (it adds texture and although it takes time - I love the result!) and the third can be ribbons (I think they upgrade every layout and card). I love many other products & tools and if I think about it more I may change my selection, so I stop now :-)

Aliza Deutsch

Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you started scrapbooking:

I am a preschool teacher, though (interesting tidbit) I stopped teaching for a few years and worked as a construction worker. I am now back at teaching, and I am loving it.
I started scrapbooking in about 2005. I always admired pretty papers, and art tools, but I felt like I wasn't artistic. Then a friend of mine, shared some of her patterned paper with me. I took out some books, bought a few paper punches, and I struggled with them till I started to make things that I liked.
At first, I only made cards, because a whole page was too intimidating. Then I got a small 6x6 album as a gift, and I began to work with photos. Little by little my confidence (and my collection of supplies) grew. I now refer to scrapbooking as my art work. Very recently, I have been using longer and longer journaling on my pages, and I am starting to think, "do I like writing too?" Could be.

How would you describe your style?

My style is definitely simple, with nice clean lines.

Do you have a favorite layout; describe?

I don't have one particular favorite layout. I like looking back at all the pictures and stories. Although, here's a recent one.

How and when do you make time for scrapbooking?

Making time for scrapbooking--well that is always a challenge. It helps that I am working part time this year, and that my kids are not so little anymore. Otherwise, it's just about making choices about how to spend my time. My home could be cleaner, I'd love to bake a bit more than I do, but I really want to capture our family memories, and create art more than those other things right now. I also used to go to sleep earlier, but realized I prefer those extra hours for scrapbooking.

What are your 3 favorite products/tools and why?

Hmm... favorite tools. I love tools (I refer you back to the construction worker tidbit). I think I love my paper trimmer most, my nice sharp scissors, and paper punches. Those punches were out of style for a while, and it seems they are having a comeback with so many new designs every day. I also recently bought "sew easy" that pierces your paper with patterns for different kinds of stitching. That is 4 tools, but I love it too, because I don't have a sewing machine, and I don't think there will be one in my near future.

Julie Gelfand

Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you started scrapbooking:

I'm Julie Gelfand. I live in Woodland Hills, CA with my husband
Gregg, and 3 beautiful daughters. Carly will be 8 in April. Maya and
Hayden are 2 years, 2 months. And let's not forget two wacky dogs who
have been known to be escape artists.
I started scrapbooking in the summer of 2003 when Carly was about 3 months old. I caught "Scrapbooking" with Sandy Genovese somewhere on cable and thought
"wow, that's really cool. I want to do that." I found an "Intro to Scrapbooking" class at my local LSS, took the first class and stayed for the second "Beyond Basics" class right after. I was hooked.

When I'm not scrapbooking, I work part time as a freelance TV Associate Director. I work on mostly live variety and reality shows. Most recently, I worked on the Oscars Red Carpet show and I'll be working on about half of the upcoming season on "America's Best Dance Crew". My "regular" gigs are "Big Brother" and the Jerry Lewis Telethon. I bop around from show to show.
I also play the flute (flute, piccolo, alto and bass flute) and I play with a flute choir every Thursday. I'm a huge fan of the Los Angeles Kings. I'm also
busy with Carly's school (I do the school yearbook) and I'm on the
National Board of the Directors Guild of America (my union).

How do you make time for scrapping?

I am a busy mom but I do make time to do things for myself, which is
scrapbooking. Luckily, there's a regular crop that happens twice a month in my area which I really motivate to make at least one of the nights, and there's always other crops or weekend get aways that allow me to scrap and relax my brain.

How would you describe your style?

I'm not sure how I would describe my scrapping style. I think I'm a little bit of everything. Sometimes I do really simple scrapbooking and it's great. Other times, I put lots of elements, embellies, pictures on a page and that's great too. I do like to scrap more than one photo. There are times where one picture can say it all but I love to take pictures and there are times when it takes lots of shots
to tell the story.

Any favorite layouts you'd like to share?

I have lots of favorite LOs. Of the ones that I submitted, they're all a "favorite" for different reasons. I'll highlight two and explain why they're special to me.

My husband and I, when we first started dating, we made a joke about "making out at the Lincoln Memorial". We were in DC for a job and we had a friend take this picture of us. There were a bunch of people standing in front of Mr. Lincoln which I photoshopped out, LOL. It was a special moment for us and this photo captured the moment.

This LO was done pretty recently. This was taken right after I had
given birth to our twin girls. We didn't know if we were going to
have boys or girls so when Gregg came out to tell Carly that she had
sisters, she was thrilled. Lisa Spiegel (yes, DT Lisa) was also at
the hospital and was able to capture Carly's excitement. I treasure
this picture because it was it was just so pure.

What are your 3 favorite products/tools and why?

What are my three favorite products/tools? Just three, hmm. I love
Thickers. I have practically every font, color, style. It's the
perfect (IMO) product to label and create any title. I love my ATG
adhesive guns. I've been using Pop Dots a lot lately to add
dimension. I'm also a huge fan of anything Basic Grey (as you can
tell by my LO samples). I love that you can pretty much cut a couple
of patterned papers into a few different sizes, slap a photo on and it
works. Okay, not quite that simple but not that complicated either.
Sorry, 4 products are my current faves.

Cassie S.

Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you started scrapbooking:

I'm a library technician at a law school library.
I started scrapbooking in 1998 when I was 17. My sister just had my first nephew and she wanted to make a scrapbook for him. I went with her to a scrapbooking store. I thought it looked fun so I bought some stuff. Twelve years later I now scrapbook for her.
How would you describe your style?

I think I have a very eclectic style. My pages really depends on my mood. Sometimes I go with very distressed and grungy look and sometime I go with more bright and airy layouts.

Do you have a favorite layout; describe?

I think my favorite layout is a layout I did about one of my husband and my date nights. It came together really quickly and was just inspired. I think it is very whimsical and has some great colors.

How and when do you make time for scrapbooking?

After my husband leaves for work in the morning I have about 30 minutes home alone before I have to go to work and I tend to get a lot done in that time. It is one of my most inspired times.

What are your 3 favorite products/tools and why?

I love Distress Inks because they are so versatile, Glimmer Mist because I love the dimension and flare it adds to projects, and I love my Fiskars craft knife because I do a lot of hand cutting and it is so handy.

Irit Shalom

Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you started scrapbooking:

I am a working dentist, mom of 4 grown ups. I'm married to a retired police officer and I'm a very new grandma to an adorable baby boy named Omer.
I've been crafting for ages, and scrapbooking for about 4-5 years. Two years ago I took a big jump into designing and blogging.
I was a polymer clay and jewelry making artist long before I knew scrapbooking and papercrafting existed at all. My only sister lives in NY. After visiting her there, and seeing all the shows, museums, etc, she gave me a scrapbooking class as a present, to chronicle the trip. This was a love from a first try! Now here I am,scrapping a layout a day, sometimes 2...

How would you describe your style?

My style is a shabby/vintage. I can scrap in any style, but not clean and simple.. When I try it simple- it goes to shabby.. One way, or the other...

How do you make time for scrapping?

As all my kids are grown ups(one married, one working in Spain and 2 girls are college students) and my DH loves to cook and buy groceries- I actually have a lot of time for crafting. I work part time, approximately 30 hours a week in a dental clinic , and all other time is mine. OK- not all, as we, my DH and I , dance our Israeli folk dances 2-3 evenings a week. we've been doing it for 15 years and it is a hobby that ties us together.

What are your 3 favorite products/tools and why?

My favorite products? Paper is a first and the most needed. You need paper to papercraft, don't you?
Then there are flowers, all kinds of- my own hand made, bought, any kind.
Most of all, I need my distressing tools and a lot of distressing inks!

Thank you ladies for sharing with us. We are amazed by your creativity, and are looking forward to see what will inspire you as Crafting Jewish Style design team members!

Tell us what you think about our new team members? Aren't they great?

Purim layout

2011-02-27T08:44:00.000-08:00

Did you know that Purim is 3 weeks away? Time to start thinking about those costumes! I have to admit that it was a while since I went to Purim party for adults. Probably the last time it was on 2001. We still lived in Israel at that time. It was a big office party. I was 5 months pregnant with my second daughter and that explains why I don't remember much details about the party. My husband said that the face painting was done at the party and I have a distant memory of a mechanical bull..... I think it was a cowboy themed party. My husband Ofir is dressed up as a gardener (The back of his shirt says "Ofir's Gardens"). I am not sure what I was supposed to be. I probably just picked a dress that fit my 5 months pregnant belly. It is possible that I attempted to wear wings, but I am not so sure.

I found perfect papers from the Crafting Jewish Style Passover collection for my layout. The earth tones of greens, browns and pinks matched my pictures. I used border punch to add some interest to the page. I made 3 folded flowers from the striped paper. I sprayed the flowers with Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz.

The butterflies are punched out from the same paper that I used for the journaling block but they are sprayed with Cherry Ice Smooch Spritz. The color matches perfectly the pink stripes in the patterned paper.

Do you dress up for Purim? Do you have some fun layouts to share? Please do!

A quick card!

2011-02-22T18:20:00.000-08:00

Hi there..I'm interrupting the Design Team Call to showcase a quick card that was made in less than 5 minutes! Because, let's face it...sometimes, you need a card in a hurry. ;) I used the backside of the Rosh Hashanah packaging, some aqua bling cardstock, an aqua flower, a bit of tulle and a couple pins to create this quick Mazel Tov card for a Bat Mitzvah girl. :)

Nothing hard to create, but it sure looks fancy, huh? So grab a bit of Crafting Jewish Style paper and create some quick cards for your gift giving needs. Be sure to share with us by linking us in the comments. We love to see what you create!

Crafting Jewish Style design team call update

2011-02-18T09:20:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! We are having a short warm spell, here in the Northeast,and boy does it feel good! The piles of snow are actually receding and it seems like Spring is not too far off.(I know the weatherman has promised more cold weather, but a girl can dream..)

Anyway, we've gotten some lovely design team submissions and we are in talks with some potential new team members. Yay! Here are some more details about the design team obligations:

Each team member usually posts twice a month but sometimes more before holidays.
The post vary. Every month we have an assortment of posts which include, sketches, tutorials, cards, crafts and/or recipes, team challenge, guest designers, etc. We have a post schedule where we rotate the team's requirements. The blog coordinator rotates posts so that no one person is doing the same post(s) every month.
We are a very flexible team, and if one month or time is hard for someone we accommodate and are very understanding, we're all busy working women, who squeeze crafting into our hectic lives.
In general, we do Jewish related posts before a major holiday. Occasionally, we will do a Jewish themed post at other times as well. (ex: Hanukkah in July, Bar/Bat Mitzvah)
Our main goal is to showcase the Crafting Jewish Style product line and its versatility. Our secondary goal is to provide a fun forum for Jewish and non Jewish scrappers and crafters. You will be supplied with our full line of products to work with.

If you think you have what it takes to join our team email us info@craftingjewishstyle.com. If a long commitment is not for you, we are always looking for guest designers and/or crafty people for guest posts. So send us samples of your work.

Let us know, if you are you enjoying the brief warm spell.
Does the weather affect your scrapbooking?

Shabbat Shalom!

15% off all orders at Crafting Jewish Style!

Use coupon code: winter15

Crafting Jewish Style Design Team Call

2011-02-11T06:18:00.000-08:00

Sweet news for all you scrappers and crafters out there-Crafting Jewish Style is looking to expand its design team.
We are looking for a few "someones" who have a fresh scrapbooking style and could commit to producing and posting 2-3 layouts, cards or projects a month. Knowledge of (and ability to scrap about) Jewish holidays and life events is necessary for joining this team.
If you feel that you've got what it takes to join our team then email your scrapbooking resume or some layout samples to info@craftingjewishstyle.com.

Purim is coming soon and we will have some goodies and fun stuff for you. Leave a comment and you'll be entered in or prePurim giveaway details to follow.

Here's something special to banish the midwinter blues:

15% off all orders at Crafting Jewish Style!

Use coupon code: winter15

Order now and get scrapping!

Jerusalem of Legos

2011-02-05T17:01:00.000-08:00

In December, we had a wonderful program at our synagogue where we built a model of Jerusalem from Legos. A giant map was placed on the floor and the children chose buildings to work on, either individually or in groups. The grown-ups got to help too. After we were done, the organizer walked through the model city and taught us about each building. For the people who have never visited Jerusalem, it was like a virtual visit. For those of us who have been there, it was a wonderful reminder of a special city.

My older son, Zachary teamed up with the other third grade boys to build the Tower of David, an old Tower near the Jaffa Gate which has been turned into a museum. This was a great choice for him since he particularly enjoyed the exhibit when we were there. Each of the major buildings was assigned a particular color of bricks, so they were told to build the Tower of David in red.

My younger son Benjamin chose to build a gate and was assigned the New Gate. He was very proud of his creation and was happy to pose in front of it.

Since each of my sons were very proud of their participation in this event, I wanted to make a layout for each of their scrapbooks. I chose CJS papers with dotted patterns to echo the dots on the Legos. In case you are wondering, I asked my sons to "loan" me a few real Legos to use as embellishments. After much consideration, they looked through the thousands of Legos in the playroom and came up with 3 pieces that they were willing to share.

Scrapbooking and Papercrafting with Crafting Jewish Style-Silhouette Tutorial

2011-01-26T18:13:00.000-08:00

Got Snow?
This card says it all! We have lots of it-with more on the way! It doesn't seem like winter is going away anytime soon! Wouldn't you love to be doing this?

See how nicely CJ Style products translate into everyday layouts and cards...

Anyway, let's think positive thoughts, summer is just a few months away! I hope this snow doesn't mess up preCHA plans...flights are being cancelled left and right..uhoh!

I love scrapbooking.
I love putting together layouts and telling a story through the pictures and embellishments that I have chosen.
I love having special and mundane moments-particularly the everyday moments in time- documented in a creative way.
I love looking through my scrapbooks and seeing how my style has evolved over time. (no more bubble lettering!)

I hate not ever being caught up with my pictures.
I hate that I'm never sure if a layout is ever done.
I hate that I always think it's not good enough (good enough for what-I'm not sure...)

That's why I love using scrapbooking products for my own crafty fun. I love playing with the paper, and embellishments and using them on all different surfaces to add some extra goodness to projects-with no pictures and journaling to worry about!

A silhouette is a fun papercrafting project that is quick, easy and personal. Best of all, you only need basic supplies for it!

There are many tutorials for silhouettes floating around. These instructions are really simple; no photoshop skill required!

What you will need:

side profile photo

pencil and paper

fine tip black marker

scissors

scrapbooking paper and solid cardstock-we used paper from the Passover line

gluestick or double sided tape

frame

Directions:

1. Print out photo in black and white on regular paper. Or, take photo and copy in black and white on regular paper. Enlarge or reduce photo to your preferred dimensions.

2. Outline profile with the black marker

3. Cut out silhouette along the black outline.

4. With the pencil,trace the cut out silhouette onto the back of your solid cardstock and cut out.

5. Glue the silhouette to the patterned paper and place in frame.

Standback and admire your handiwork!

Do you papercraft? Or are you strictly into scrapbooking?
What's your favorite project? How do you know when a layout is done? Do you get "layout anxiety"? Drop us a line, especially if you are enjoying a snow day!

For those of you attending CHA and/or the NY International Gift Show, Crafting Jewish Style will be having reps and/or designers at both shows who would love to meet with you! Contact us to set up an appointment. We can't wait to meet you!info@craftingjewishstyle.com

January sketch

2011-01-23T12:07:00.000-08:00

In January our Design Team worked on this simple sketch.

Louise turned the sketch on it's side and used a combination of Hanukkah and Rosh Hashanah papers to make this beautiful layout of her son receiving his special Siddur, decorated by Louise.

Lisa used a picture from Hanukkah family party and various papers and stickers from CJS Hanukkah collection to create this beautiful layout.

While I was looking for the picture to scrap I found a picture of my husband's grandfather - Saba Shimon. Saba Shimon passed away last December and I decided that I want this picture in our family scrapbooks. The picture was taken during Sukkot 2001. I stretched the sketch into a double pager and added the photos of his grand-grandchildren from the same day. All papers are from CJS Rosh Hashanah collection.

Did we inspire you? We would love to see your creations using the sketch. Please share!

Not Just for Holidays!

2011-01-19T11:24:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite things about the Crafting Jewish Style papers is how STYLISH they really are! From polka dots to stripes, subtle prints to damask, the papers are just simply beautiful. Like quality style, they are very versatile, too. I love that because of this, I can use the papers for other Jewish Lifecycle Events like my daughter's Bat Mitzvah. In this case, I used the Rosh Hashanah Golden Damask paper and the Black Damask that is printed on the inside of the Paper Pack insert to create this lovely title page for my daughter's Bat Mitzvah book.

Don't be afraid of good style and be sure to share with us your creations that showcase the CJS papers for a Jewish Event that is NOT holiday related! I can't wait to see what you create!

Celebrate the Lights

2011-01-11T11:33:00.001-08:00

Hanukkah is one of the few events in the yearly calendar where you get more than one opportunity to take the same picture. In a house with beige walls, I really need multiple opportunities to get the candle-lighting picture just right. This year, I finally got the photo the way I want it, with the light from the candles glowing on the boys' faces and the candles reflected in the window. I also like that the photo shows the dining room table set for nice meal. We normally eat in the kitchen, but during holidays, including Hanukkah, we eat in the dining room.

Since this photo speaks for itself (in my mind), I decided to skip the journaling and keep the layout simple. The papers from the Hanukkah kit were perfect for my layout celebrating the lights on the holiday.

Crafting Jewish Style Layouts and other fun stuff!

2011-01-10T05:46:00.000-08:00

Hanukkah and winter break is over. Back to the old grind...work,school,work...snow day! Take advantage of the time indoors (even the South has been hit with snow) and craft some loveliness. We received some wonderful layout and card submissions here, at Crafting Jewish Style, that we'd love to share, and take a look at the prize package sent out to Deb, the winner of our Hanukkah giveway. We can't wait to see what she comes up with!

Love how Irit S. scrapped the candlelight and the food (of course!)in these layouts. So much beautiful handmade detail on each layout.

Chaya K. submitted these simple, yet graphic cards plus this menorah layout featuring loads of CJ Style goodness.

Lisa S. made use of the Rosh Hashanah damask paper for this stunner that was featured on Scrapstreet.com.

Finally, we have this humorous layout from Lauri, of her Jewish mom , as a little girl, in 1950! Oy vey!

Have you scrapped your Hanukkah memories yet? Are you using this cold weather as an excuse to scrap? Have you used your Crafting Jewish Style products in a fun way?
Leave us some love and submit your layouts-we'd love to share!

Getting ready for Tu bi'Shvat

2011-01-05T12:20:00.000-08:00

I hope you had recovered from Hanukkah celebrations and from the holiday season. New year is here, with new adventures, new holidays to celebrate and new crafty projects.

In two weeks from today, January 20th, we will celebrate Tu bi'Shvat. While our friends in Israel will be admiring almond blossoms and planting new trees, we will be looking outside the windows at the snowy desert, sipping hot cocoa and thinking about warmer places that are far far away.

We can not plant trees in January but we can eat their fruits. We mark this day by eating fruits from the Land of Israel, mainly dried ones like figs and dates, raisins and almonds. I will share with you a recipe for my favorite Tu bi'Shvat cake. It is dense, sweet and so very yummy!

Tu bi'Shvat Cake

Ingredients: (for 2 small loaf pans)
6 oz chopped walnuts
6 oz chopped almonds
4 oz white raisins
6 oz dried apricots
4 oz prunes
12 Tablespoons sugar
14 Tablespoon self rising flour
3 eggs
3 Tablespoons brandy

1. Preheat oven to 300F
2. Roast nuts in shallow frying pan for few minutes
3. Chop dried fruits coarsely
4. Mix all ingredients together
5. Transfer to a greased loaf pans and bake for 1.5 hours until the cake is deep golden-brown.
6. Cool for 12 hours before serving

You can store the cake in refrigerate wrapped in the aluminum foil for several weeks.

Chopped nuts in the frying pan

All ingredients in the mixing bowl.

Ready to go in the oven.

Yummy!

The cake makes a great hostess gift since you can make it in advance. I made a simple sleeve using beautiful papers from the Rosh HaShanah kit to dress up the cake. I cut a 4"x12" paper strip, scored it at 4", 1.25", 4" and 1.25" and glued together to form a sleeve. (Yes, I measured my cake). Cute label and few punched flowers - viola!

I couldn't leave you without my favorite dried fruit recipe. It brings up great childhood memories. It is not the same recipe that my grandma used but it is very good. It is from a fantastic cookbook "The Book of New Israeli Food" by Janna Gur.

Dried Fruit Compote
Ingredients:
2 cups dried apricots
2 cup prunes, with pits (to maintain the shape)
1 cup dried apple rings
1.5 cup raisins
1 cup sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1 lemon cut in half

1. Put the ingredients in a large saucepan. Add water to twice the level of the fruit. (It turned out really sweet so I added even more water after it was cooked)
2. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and cook for about 30 minutes.
3. Refrigerate and serve well chilled.

Happy New 2011!

December Sketch

2010-12-29T03:00:00.000-08:00

For December, the design team has been working with this sketch by Jana Eubanks. Since this is December, we all have plenty of Hannukah photos to scrap. This sketch uses 3 photos, although it is always possible to use more or less.

Lisa Spiegel created this layout with each of her daughters lighting the Hannukah candles on the fourth night. I love how she hand-cut the big 8 and the presents.

Maya Oren-Dahan also decided to showcase candle-lighting photos, hers are from the 8th night. I love the way she captured so many flames in her photos.

In this layout, Mimi Klien documented the hand decorated sugar cookies that she baked and decorated with her family.

They say the way to a man's heart is through is stomach. This was definitely true for my 9 year old when I decided to make Donuts, for the first time ever. He was quite fond of the donuts and his mother this Hannukah. I used the sketch to remember this culinary adventure.

I hope this sketch inspires you to scrap some of you Hannukah photos. Please share your work by leaving a comment.

Beat the boredom blues with Crafting Jewish Style

2010-12-22T12:19:00.000-08:00

Here are some fun crafting ideas to do with the kids over vacation and/ or snow day .(We're expecting lots of snow here very soon...) It's a great way to spend some time together and is answer to the "Mom, I'm bored..." refrain that we all hear when the kids are off from school for an extended period of time.

These crafts are great because they basically are made from supplies that are usually available in most homes! I love that you can reuse and recycle everyday containers into beautiful desk accessories, and it gives the kids a chance to (re)decorate their rooms.

Desk Set

If your desk is stuck, like mine, in a perpetual state of messiness then this desk set is just the project for you. Finally you’ll have a neat way to store the pens, pencils, papers, and other junk that seems to multiply and take over your desk space. With such gorgeous looking organizing accessories that you’ve crafted yourself, out of basic household items that you have on hand, you’ll be tempted to keep everything in its place- I’m certainly hoping that will happen to me!

What you will need:

Assorted clean metal, cardboard or plastic containers
Scrapbooking or wrapping paper
Ruler and pencil
Scissors
Mod Podge
Foam brush
X-acto knife
Trim
Hot glue gun and glue sticks
Label stickers
Marker

How to do it:

1.Measure the height and width of each container and mark the measurements, plus a 1/2”, with a pencil onto the back of the paper. Cut out the measured paper.
2.Use the foam brush to apply a thin coat of Mod Podge to the outside of the container. Stick the paper onto the surface of the container, overlapping where necessary. Smooth out any air bubbles with your fingers.
3.Brush another thin coat of Mod Podge on top of the paper. Let dry.
4.Use an X- acto knife to trim any excess paper form the top and/or bottom of the container.
5.Cut a piece of decorative trim to fit around the top circumference of the container and attach with a hot glue gun.
6.Label the container by writing the name of the item(s) on a label sticker and affixing it to the front of the container.

Estimated time: ½ hour

Bulletin Board and Pushpins

Keep all your important papers, pictures and fun stuff, tacked up for easy access and on display on a funky bulletin board made out of an embellished picture frame! It’s a great addition to your desk set.
Maximize your time by crafting the push pins while the bulletin board dries. The marble push pins are adorable for a change, you can easily make them into magnets by attaching very strong circular magnets instead of push pins.

What you will need:

Embellished picture frame
8½”x 11 sheet foam core board
Roll of corkboard material
Craft knife- x-acto knife
Ruler and pencil
Craft glue
Acrylic paint in the colors of your choice
2” wide foam
Scissor or circle puncher
Flat pushpins
Silicone glue- E6000

How to do it:

1.Take the back off of the picture frame and place out of crafting area.Measure the picture opening of your picture frame. Mark the measurements onto the foam core and cut out the foam core rectangle with sharp scissors or an x-acto knife.
2.Unroll the cork board material on a flat surface. Place the foam core on top and use a ruler and pencil to trace the foam core rectangle onto the cork. Cut out the traced cork rectangle.
3.Spread craft glue onto the foam core and glue the cork on top. Smooth the cork down with your fingers so that there are no air bubbles. If the cork curls upward then place some heavy books on top while drying. Let dry 1-2 hours.
4.Use a foam brush to paint the cork the color of your choice. Let dry.
5.Place the cork covered foam core into the picture frame opening.
Reassemble the picture frame.
For the pushpins:
1.Place the flat marble on to the back of the patterned paper.
2.Trace the around the marble with a pencil. Cut out the paper with a scissor or a
round punch.
3. Squeeze some glue on to a scrap of paper. Use a toothpick to place a
small amount of the glue onto the paper circle and place the marble down on top of the paper. Push out the air bubbles with your fingers and let the glue dry.
4. Glue the pushpin to the flat part of the marble and let dry.

Estimated time: 1 hour Drying time: 2-4 hours

Candy Pillow

Dress up your bed with pillows that look good enough to eat!

What you will need:
Fabric remnant
Pinking sheers
Needle and thread or use sewing machine
2 rubber bands or narrow pony holders
Poyester fiberfill or bolster pillow
3 yards 1/4” -3/8” wide polyester grosgrain ribbon in assorted colors
Wooden dowels and clothespins or metal alligator clips
Cookie sheet or large baking pan
Aluminum foil

How to do it:

1.If using fiberfill, use pinking sheers to cut the fabric in a rectangle approximately 21"x24". If using a bolster pillow, cut the fabric 6-8 inches longer and 2 inches wider than the pillow.
2.Fold the fabric in half, widthwise, so that the right side (printed side) is facing inwards.
3.Use a needle and thread or a sewing machine to sew the two sides together along the entire width of the fabric. It should look like a long tube when you are done.
4.Turn the tube right side in. Grasp one end of the tube in one hand and use your other hand to wrap a rubber band tightly around that end, approximately 6” into the tube.
5.Stuff the fiberfill into the open end of the tube making sure to pack it in well and that it is not lumpy. Leave 6” at the end of the tube not stuffed. (If you are using a bolster pillow stuff it into the fabric tube and continue with step 6.
6.To close the open end, wrap a rubber band tightly where the fiberfill ends and fluff the fabric out.
7.Preheat your oven to 250*. Cover a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and set aside.
8.Cut 1 yard lengths of grosgrain ribbon. For each ribbon curl: Clip one end of the ribbon to the dowel with a clothespin. Wind the ribbon tightly around the dowel making sure not to overlap the ribbon and clip the end of the ribbon to the dowel to secure. Repeat for other colors.
9.Place the ribbon wrapped dowels on the cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes. Turn off oven and let cool before removing dowels.
10.Unwrap ribbon from dowels (if the curl is not tight then rewrap return to oven and bake for another 10 minutes) and cut each ribbon curl in half. Tie the curls around the rubber bands making sure to completely cover the rubber bands.

Estimated time:1 hour Bake time: 20 minutes

Hannukah Layout

2010-12-22T05:00:00.000-08:00

Directions:

1. Cut the large eight from the 8 Nights paper, using it as a corner embellishment on the One to Eight paper (solid side). Adhere only the left side of the eight for now.

2. Adhere two 4x6" photos to a white photo mat.

3. Tuck photos under the large eight, as shown.

4. Trace openings on the eight onto a lined library card or lined patterned paper. Adhere behind the openings on the eight. Tuck small tags and embellishments in, as desired.

5. Adhere remainder of eight to the page and sew around the perimeter.

6. Add remaining layers and embellishments (journaling spots, stickers, photo turns, rub-ons, etc).

7. Add journaling strips to bottom of page.

I used eight 8s on this page. Can you find them all? :)

Hanukkah Scrapbooking Tips

2010-12-12T05:00:00.000-08:00

Now that Hanukkah is over, and you have loads of beautiful memories to be recorded, it's time to start thinking about how you want to organize your photos and what topics you want to focus on.

1. Create a collage. One of the easiest ways to get a lot of photos on a page, without making it look cluttered, is to make a collage. Collages allow you to combine various shots from an event without focusing on one particular aspect of the holiday or gathering. A 4x6 collage, for example, can have four 2x3 photos on it. The combination of sizes is endless (and you can certainly mix-and-match photo sizes, as well as mix landscape and portrait photos). A photo editing program, like Photoshop Elements, is one way to easily create a collage. Once you're done you can either print at home or use an online service.

2. Document family traditions. Holidays are the perfect time to focus on family traditions. Think about what your family does to carry on traditions that have been passed down through the generations (do you use your great-grandmother's menorah?) or what traditions your own family has created (maybe a special game or book you like to read).

3. Don't forget the food. Food is always important. LOL! What recipes do you make year after year? Did you try any new ones this year? How do you like to eat your latkes (with sour cream, applesauce or both? My father adamantly declares that there is no other way than to eat them with sour cream, LOL! ) What one food says "Hanukkah" to you?

4. Detail shots. I hope you were able to get some special shots during the holiday. These types of photos deserve to shine on a page of their own. Consider turning your favorite to black-and-white for a classic, timeless look. Maybe you have a picture of the menorah lighting, a playful game of dreidel or a collection of some kind (my father has a wonderful collection of Hanukkiah). When it comes time to creating the look of candlelight/flames on your page, you can cut or punch a heart and cut it in half. You could also use sparkling gems, rhinestones or glitter.

5. It wouldn't be a holiday without friends and family. Scrapbook about who you spend the holiday with. Do you always get together with family? Do you celebrate on multiple nights? Do friends attend your holiday gathering or do you go to a friend's home? Don't forget to include this part of your celebration.

I hope I've given you some ideas and ways to organize your thoughts and photos. Now it's time to get scrapping. :)

Crafting Jewish Style Hanukkah Grand Giveaway Winner

2010-12-10T08:40:00.000-08:00

Hanukkah is over and what a beautiful holiday it was! Gotta get back on the diet! (I feel like I've consumed a year's worth of latkes and donuts!)
Yes, we have a winner (generated by Random.org)!! Deb Long has won our Grand Giveaway! Please contact us for prize delivery information.

Don't forget to send us your holiday (and any day) memory layouts, cards, and/or papercrafts to be included in our post-holiday roundup that is coming soon.

Thanks for Sharing your Hanukkah Holiday experiences with Crafting Jewish Style!

Shabbat Shalom!

Latkes anyone?

2010-12-08T07:23:00.000-08:00

Tonight we will light the last Hanukkah candle. Another Festival of Lights will end, leaving us with happy memories, gifts, menorahs to clean and ..... pictures. Of course! If you are like me, your will find on your memory card endless pictures of candles, menorahs, hands, dreidels, donuts, latkes and more candles. Time to scrap at lest some of those pictures and capture those happy memories.

Latkes are big in our house. I like them with sour cream (my girls ate them one year with sugar, but don't tell anyone!) . I decided that latkes deserve a layout on their own. Those are from last year. This year latkes are still on my memory card but surprisingly they look just the same.

I wanted to use the numbers paper from my Hanukkah kit but the colors were too bold. I solved this by layering 2 sheets of vellum on top of the paper and stitching around. I added white punched scallop border (reminds me of sour cream) and layered it on top of light teal scallop border. Few white pearls and journaling strips and my layout is done!

All paper here, except the vellum, are from Crafting Jewish Style Hanukkah kit!

How do you like your latkes? Please share! Don't forget - you still have a chance to enter into the big prize drawing just by leaving a comment.

CRAFTING JEWISH STYLE WISHES YOU A HAPPY HANNUKAH!!

2010-12-06T12:54:00.000-08:00

Happy Chanukah to everyone!For those of you who want to know more about the holiday or need help with the blessings go here for some great info.

We have a winner for the party package from The Frog Prince Paperie generated by Random.org!! Lisa is our winner! We are so excited! (Lisa is an extremely talented crafter. Check out her Hannukah decorations here.)Please contact us to claim your prize! We hope you get to use it over the holiday, and take pictures to share with us. We will be picking our Grand Giveaway winner soon-don't forget to leave a comment in order to be entered.

It is wonderful to light the Hanukkah candles every night. I love having out all the menorahs and dreidels. We, of course, had latkes last night for dinner. We fried the traditional potato latkes, but I hear its a brave new world in latke land... all sorts of new flavor combos and exotic toppings are emerging....Move over potato latkes and apple sauce and sour cream, here come mimosa latkes!

Check out the recipes over here for a Asian inspired Hanukkah meal.

Kosher.com has a fab Indian Hanukkah menu

and The Kosher Gourmet will fill all you Kosher Holiday recipe needs.

have you tried out any exotic latke recipes?

We have been seeing Crafting Jewish Style products showcased all over in all different mediums.

Check out these cupcake wrappers using our Happy Hannukah paper:

Keshet Shenkar did a stunning Chanukah album on Write Click Scrapbook here's a sneak peak, but you must check out the whole album. Yum!

Finally, check out what our design team members, Lisa and Lisa,and follower, Irit have been up to at Scrapstreet.com.

Show us how you have been using Crafting Jewish Style products and we will include you in our Hannukah roundup!

Hanukkah Layouts

2010-12-06T07:46:00.000-08:00

One of the great things about Hanukkah from a scrappy perspective is that we get so many chances to take the perfect photograph. We get 8 nights of candle lighting as well as multiple nights of gift giving and eating the traditional foods. I try to take pictures of my sons lighting the menorah each night, and then scrap the best few. This year, I was pleased with thse photos from the first night. I used the Hannukah kit for this layout, which was inspired by a sketch challenge over at scrapbook.com, which used a sketch from pencillines.

Maya has also created a Hannukah layout from a sketch, she found hers at Tuesday Trio, a site which has both Hebrew and English.

I find sketches are a great inspiration and help me try new things on my layouts.

We hope you are all having a great Hanukkah and check back often as our Hanukkah winner will be posted shortly.

Crafting Jewish Style Day 8 of our Hanukkah Crafts Roundup

2010-12-01T08:13:00.000-08:00

Hanukkah begins tonight and we, at Crafting Jewish Style, are so excited! Our 8 crazy nights posts have been so much fun! We love reading all your responses. There is still time to enter our giveaways. If your hosting a party, than The Frog Prince Paperie giveaway is a must-have.

Wouldn't it be fun to use this...

And this...

for some fun holiday decorations at your Hanukkah party! They're yours, if you win our giveaway,so leave a comment.

If you need some more inspiration, then we hope you win this...

...along with the other prizes that are part of our Grand Giveaway!

HAPPY HANUKKAH!

Don't forget we are offering a 10% discount on all orders @ Crafting Jewish Style. Use coupon code "happy hannukah". The Frog Prince Paperie is also offering the Hanukkah set at discount.

Day 7- Hanukkah Photo Tips

2010-11-30T03:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Day 7! Today I will be sharing my tips for better Hanukkah Pictures!

1) My first tip for you would be to turn off the flash!

Let the lights of the candles illuminate your subjects. You will have to turn up your ISO and hold very steady but this is the most dramatic way to improve your Hanukkah photos

2) Try capturing a reflection of the candles for even more glow:

It sets a VERY subtle mood to photograph this setting. :) We like to light our Hanukkiahs in the window and I love the look of the reflection.

3) Put the candles in focus, not the people:

Here you get the feel for the child lighting the candles as her hand is in the frame, but we can see it is the third night of Hanukkah and the focus is on the candles.

4) Try a different angle to get a feel for the evening:

On this night we are at our large family party. Each family brings a Hanukkiah to light and I wanted to capture everyone's Hanukkiahs as we were lighting them.

5) Don't forget to capture the fun in action!!

We love a good game of dreidel!

6) Don't forget to take pictures of the decor:

Again, turning off the flash is the best tip here...and lastly, but certainly not least!

7) Photograph the FUN!!

It's always fun to capture a true and honest expression of joy!!

Hope you are enjoying our 8 Days of Hanukkah so far...please let us know in the comments section how you capture the best Hanukkah memories with your camera for your chance to win a prize!

Day 6: Hanukkah Books

2010-11-29T03:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Day 6 of our 8 crazy days of Hanukkah! I'm here today to share a couple of our favorite Hanukkah books (and I hope you'll share your family favorites too).

For the younger set (and for introducing the basics of the holiday to older children), we like Harriet Ziefert's lift-the-flap story called "What is Hanukkah?" This book answers questions like why we light candles, play dreidel, eat latkes, and exchange gifts as well as presenting the history of the holiday in an easy-to-understand way. It follows a boy named Josh, and his family, as they ready for the holiday and every page features a flap with additional text or illustrations.

Fran Manushkin's book, "Latkes and Applesauce", starts off like a fairytale — "It happened long ago in a village far away..." and follows the Menashe family as their village is hit with a terrible blizzard and they realize there will be no apples for applesauce or potatoes for latkes. A stray dog and cat help them realize the miracle of the holiday and find a way to bring apples and potatoes to the family's home just in time. At the end of the book there is a historical account of Hanukkah as well as a latke recipe and directions for playing the dreidel game.

Last on my list today (but definitely not least) are two books by Linda Glaser — "The Borrowed Hanukkah Latkes" and "Mrs. Greenberg's Messy Hanukkah". The first book starts on the last night of Hanukkah when Rachel's mother discovers she doesn't have enough potatoes to make latkes for all of their guests. Rachel is sent next door to Mrs. Greenberg's house to borrow some potatoes and what ensues is a sweet story of friendship and caring. Mrs. Greenberg and Rachel appear again in "Mrs. Greenberg's Messy Hanukkah". This time the pair attempts to make latkes in Mrs. Greenberg's sparkling clean kitchen. It turns out to be a really messy job and exhausts poor Mrs. Greenberg. Mrs. Greenberg, who lives on her own, soon learns that it is a wonderful mess, not a terrible one.

We're always looking for new books to read so please let me know what your favorite Hanukkah story is. Share your ideas and you'll be entered into the grand prize drawing.

Happy Hanukkah to you all!

Dayh 5: Kosher Wines

2010-11-28T03:00:00.000-08:00

With Hannukah coming up, there will be a lot of opportunities to bring house gifts and entertain guests. During Jewish holidays, I always choose to bring kosher wines, both to respect the holiday and support the kosher winegrowers. Kosher wine has come a long way from the square bottles that our parents drank. There are now wineries making kosher wines all over the world: Israel, California, France, South Africa, Portugal, and other places. Here are a few that we have enjoyed recently.

We discovered this Sforno Cabernet Sauvignon from Israel last Passover. We enjoyed it so much we went back to the store to stock up before they sold out.

I discovered this Red by W when I was shopping for High Holiday wines. This red blend from Weinstock vineyards is surprisingly inexpensive and very drinkable for the price. At under $10, this is a great choice for a casual family dinner at home, and since it's kosher it's perfect for a Shabbos dinner as well.

If you are into numerology and want to bring a special house gift, this Hai wine from Israel is perfect, and enjoyable to drink too.

Finally, if you're not able to drink alcohol, too young, or just not interested, there are still ways to enjoy the festivities of kosher wine at the holidays. We often serve the Kedem kosher sparkling grape juice which comes in a variety of grapes, such as the Merlot shown here. This festive beverage looks beautiful and is really tasty.

For the 5th day of our 8 crazy nights, we want to know what you think about kosher wines. What is your favorite kosher beverage? Share your suggestions here for a chance to be entered in the Hanukkah grand prize drawing.

Day 4: Homemade Hanukkah Menorahs

2010-11-27T18:30:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the day 4 of our Hanukkah celebration! Hope your Shabbat was a peaceful one.
Today we will talk about Hanukkah Menorahs or as we say in Hebrew - Hanukkiah. Lightning the Menorah is the highlight of Hanukkah and that's why they are so important. You can find some very simple ones and you can find some gorgeous Menorahs designed by artists. But you also can make a Menorah at home. Nothing puts you in the holiday mood like working on your own Menorah!

You can start with baby food jar Menorah or blocks Menorah. There are plenty of tutorials for making Menorah from wooden blocks including an adorable blocks Menorah from Creative Jewish Mom and this cute Menorah from Hadasah Young Women website

Image by Hadassah Young Women

Another cute and simple version uses glass tea light holders and tissue paper. You can find a detailed tutorial by Diane Gilleland for Craftzine here

Mazo Ball Soup shares lots of great Hanukkah crafts including clay Menorah. Another great clay Menorah with instructions can be found at FamilyFun.com

Image by FamilyFun.com

If a trip to hardware store is on your agenda you can make this dazzling Menorah from a piece of wood and few nuts.

Image by MarthaStewart.com

Or you can make this cool industrial looking Menorah from pipe fittings!

If you want to be more artistic, Inna's Creations has few detailed posts on how to make gorgeous menorahs from clay. Check this adorable Menorah with bugs and flowers, or houses Menorah, or even flying saucer Menorah! I think my favorite is this jags Menorah - so easy and so cute.

Do you have any special homemade menorah? Or maybe you are inspired by one of the tutorials and want to make one this year. Please share! We would love to hear your ideas and see your creations! Remember all comments are entered into two prize drawings!

Day 3-A New Tradition:Tzedakah Night

2010-11-26T03:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Day 3 of our 8 Days of Hanukkah!!
Several years ago we decided that on the night when we have our family best friends over for Hanukkah we were not going to exchange gifts. Our children have so much already and really, the joy on that night is being together, lighting all the children's Hanukkiahs together, playing dreidel...

and enjoying the act of giving. On that night, each of our children selected an animal to "adopt" from World Wildlife Fund for one of their friends. The kids LOVED doing this and each year since we have selected a new Charity to focus on...from the Binky Patrol where we made blankets, to collecting stuff for a local dog adoption agency that needed supplies to this year...well, sky's the limit!! We will be making our own Tzedakah boxes to keep the giving all year round and see how much the kids collect over the course of a year- to be donated to a new Charity nex year!
Here is a great resource for blank Tzedakah Cans..I will be ordering from here for my Tzedakah Night Party; http://www.tjssc.com/pc-2064-41-tzedakah-boxes-arts-craft-project-for-decorating-10.aspx and we will be decorating them with the colorful and fun Hanukkah papers from Crafting Jewish Style.

Many other families are doing the same and I encourage you to consider giving up a night of presents for your own children and bring the focus of GIVING and TZEDAKAH back into the holiday for your family.
Some other worthy tzedakah causes to get you started:

– MAZON, the ongoing Jewish battle against hunger.

– Heifer International gives kids a fun way to send cows, goats and chickens to impoverished villages around the world.

– Jewish Foundation for the Righteous, a way to say thanks to Righteous Gentiles who risked their lives to save Jews from the Holocaust.

– MooreMart is a civilian-based effort to send care packages, school supplies and sports equipment to American soldiers bonding with children in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo.

– Friends of the IDF gives Israeli soldiers a pizza, soft drinks, coffee, Bamba, and just a sense that strangers care about them and their mission.

– 88 Bikes spreads happiness one kid at a time, one bike at a time, to orphanages around the world.

My Charity Water

So what do you think of this new tradition? Let us know in the comments for your chance to win a prize!

Day 2: Let the Hanukkah Games Begin!

2010-11-25T03:00:00.000-08:00

When you think of Hanukkah games, is the dreidel game the first (and maybe the only) holiday game that comes to mind? We have quite a collection of dreidels in our family...plain wooden ones, colorful wooden ones, plastic, musical, and even bubble-blowing. Aside from the traditional dreidel game, we like to see who can keep theirs spinning the longest.

With a bit of creativity, and online searching, you can come up with a lot of other games and ideas.

Matching Game: You can find a fun one here or you can make your own using scrapbooking supplies you already have on hand. Cut 12-16 cards out of cardstock (about 3" x 5"), cover one side of each card with patterned paper (all the same). For the other side of the cards, you can use holiday-related photos, stickers or words. Try words like latke, Maccabees, menorah, dreidel, gelt, miracle, candle, etc. Be sure to make two of each word you choose so you'll have a set to match. :)

Pin the Hay on the Dreidel: For this game, cut a large dreidel shape out of construction paper, cardstock or butcher paper. Tape it to the wall. Next, print out a letter you would see on a dreidel, cut it out and have kids try to tape it onto the dreidel while they are blindfolded.

Candle Game: This is a game my daughter (now nine) came up with years ago. Place a piece of Hanukkah gelt or a coin in front of the menorah candle you think is going to burn out first (or last). The person who makes the correct guess or comes closest gets a small prize or gets to eat their piece of gelt.

Make it a "Scent"-sational Holiday: This game uses all of your senses. Have kids either say or make a list of holiday items related to each of our senses (touch=dreidel, sound=singing a song, smell=latkes cooking, taste=gelt, sight=candles flickering, etc.)

Web Sites: If online games are more your style, here are a couple of sites to check out:

Build your own Hanukkiah here.

Try your hand at Hanukkah tic-tac-toe here.

Take a look here for more games and puzzles and also here.

What games do you play with your family? Comment here and you'll be entered into the grand prize drawing. Happy Hanukkah!

Crafting Jewish Style Hannukah Party Giveaway from The Frog Prince Paperie!

2010-11-24T09:53:00.000-08:00

Great news! We are so excited to inform you all that the Frog Prince Paperie is hosting a Hanukkah Giveaway at Crafting Jewish Style!

The free giveaway will include a package of pdf files to print and craft:

"Happy Hanukkah" banner with 7x10 inch panels
2 inch circles for cupcake toppers that can do double duty as vase decoration, napkin ring holders, favor tags, stickers, etc.
Four (4) pages of cupcake wraps that includes files for stripes, light blue, dark blue and a star of david print 4 inch circles in 2 designs
Gift labels in 5 designs
Eight (8) Milk Carton Boxes - a different design for each day of celebration!
Three (3) dreidel boxes perfect for little treats
Food labels (in jpg) in four (4) designs
And she will aso include free personalization with a family name of the 2 inch circles! Aren't they gorgeous? I love them all! :)

We will be posting more about this incredible offer soon. Let us know how would you use these adorable products. All comments will be entered in this giveaway and the Crafting Jewish Style giveaway. We'd love to hear from you!

Crafting Jewish Style 8 Day and Nights of Hannukah Fun and Crafts!

2010-11-24T09:41:00.000-08:00

Hannukah is almost here and we at Crafting Jewish Style are so excited!
Hannukah is a wonderful time to get together with family to celebrate, and of course to eat yummy Hannukah food! Traditional Hannukah foods are usually fried in oil, to highlight the miracle of the menorah's oil lasting for eight days. Traditionally, latkes (fried potato pancakes)and sufganiot (Israeli jelly doughnuts) are eaten. Here are 2 great recipes for both.

● ■ ● ● ■ ● ● ■ ● potato latkes with applesauce ● ■ ● ● ■ ● ● ■ ●

These latkes are so yummy they are usually devoured as soon as they are ready and may never make it to the table! Serve with flavored applesauce — prepare it in advance so that the latkes will be hot when served. This recipe is from Crafting Jewish: Fun Holiday Crafts and Party Ideas for the Whole Family, used by permission.

Potato Latkes Ingredients:
- 4 potatoes
- 1 small onion
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons matzo meal
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
- vegetable oil
Strawberry Applesauce Ingredients:
- 16-ounce bag frozen strawberries
- 32-ounce jar applesauce
How to do it:
1. Use the vegetable peeler to peel the potatoes; place them into cold water in a large mixing bowl. With a knife, peel the onion and place it into the bowl.
2. Crack the eggs into the small bowl and stir them with the whisk.
3. Use the large hole attachment on your food processor to shred the potatoes and onion. Transfer to a mixing bowl. If using a box grater, grate the potatoes and onion over the mixing bowl against the large holes.
4. Take large scoops of potato mixture in your hands and squeeze out as much liquid as possible into the sink. Place the squeezed potato mixture into a mixing bowl.
5. Add the eggs, matzo meal, salt, and pepper to the potatoes and onions and mix with a wooden spoon until combined.
6. Pour about an inch of oil into the frying pan and place the frying pan over medium to high heat. Allow the oil to become very hot.
7. Ladle about a half-ladle of the mixture into the pan. Flatten with a fork and ladle in 3 to 5 more latkes. Do not place too close together. Fry for about 5 minutes; then flip with the pancake turner and fry for 2 minutes, until crispy but still soft on the inside.
8. Place 1–2 paper towels on a serving plate and transfer the fried latkes to the plate. Serve immediately.
9. For strawberry applesauce: Place strawberries into a large microwave-safe bowl; microwave for 4–6 minutes, until mushy and juicy. Add the applesauce to the bowl and mix well with a spatula.
Estimated prep time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 7 – 10 minutes per batch
Parve • Yield: 8 – 10 latkes

■ ● ● ■ ● ● ■ ● sufganiot ● ■ ● ● ■ ● ● ■ ●

In Israel, around Chanukah time, it seems that sufganiot (doughnuts), are sold on every street corner. These delicacies are traditionally filled with jelly, but dulce de leche (caramel sauce) or custard filling taste yummy too. Nothing can compare to the taste of home-made doughnuts! Since there is hot oil involved, this project definitely requires adult supervision and involvement.

This recipe is from What’s Cooking: A Unique Collection of Kosher Recipes, used by permission.
Ingredients:
- ¼ cup warm water (105°-115°F)
- 2 (¼-oz.) packets dry yeast
- ¾ cup sugar plus 1 tablespoon
- 1½ cups milk, soy milk, or rice milk, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
- 5-6 cups flour, plus more for pastry board
- 4 cups oil
- 1-2 cups confectioners' sugar, optional
- optional fillings: jelly, dulce de leche (caramel sauce), purchased custard filling
How to do it:
1. Place the warm water into the mixer bowl. Sprinkle the yeast and the one tablespoon sugar over the water. Let stand for 5-10 minutes or until the yeast mixture becomes foamy and bubbly.
2. Add the milk, sugar, salt, eggs, butter, and 2 cups flour. Mix on a low speed for a few minutes.
3. Beat in the remaining flour, ½ cup at a time, until the dough no longer sticks to the bowl. Knead for approximately 5 minutes or until the dough feels smooth and elastic.
4. Cover the dough with a dish towel and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
5. Sprinkle a counter or pastry board with a light coating of flour. Place the dough onto the floured surface and use a rolling pin to gently roll the dough to a ½" thickness.
6. Use the cookie cutter or the opening of the drinking glass to cut the dough into circles. Let rise again until doubled in size, approximately ½-hour. Re-roll scraps and cut more circles.
7. While the doughnut rounds are rising, clip a deep-frying thermometer to the side of the pot. Place 4 cups of oil into the pot and heat on medium-high heat until the temperature measures 375°F on the deep-frying thermometer.
8. Cover a platter with paper towels and set aside.
9. Carefully slide 4 doughnut rounds into the hot oil, using a slotted spoon or flat spatula. Let fry for about 40 seconds–1 minute, or until they rise to the surface of the oil. Turn over with the slotted spoon and fry for another 40 seconds–1 minute, or until golden brown.
10. Remove the doughnuts from the oil and place on prepared platter.
11. Use the sugar sifter to sift the confectioners' sugar over the warm doughnuts.
Optional: Make a small slit in the side of each doughnut with a knife. Insert the jelly or other filling with a tablespoon. Or, fill a pastry bag with your filling of choice and insert the tip of the pastry bag into the opening. Pipe 1 tablespoon of filling into each doughnut.
Estimated prep time: 1 hour
Rising time: 1½ – 2 hours
Dairy or Parve • Yield: approximately 4 dozen sufganiot

Share your favorite recipes with us and tell us how you celebrate! Every comment will be entered into the 2 Hannukah giveways going on right now!
Wouldn't these doughnuts look great with the Hannukah Picks, from the giveaway, stuck inside? Yummy!!

Card Sketch

2010-11-21T05:57:00.000-08:00

with the eye on the coming holiday, we decided to dedicate all our cards to Channukah.

A card by Lisa Spiegel:

A card by Maya:

A card by Louise:

Cards by Nili:

Get inspired and make your own cards. We would love to see what you come up with, so don't forget to link your cards to this blog post.

Happy Channukah!

Crafting Jewish Style Hannukah Card Kit Giveaway Winner!

2010-11-17T09:26:00.000-08:00

We have a winner! Thanks to everyone who participated in our card kit giveaway. We appreciate all your comments and feedback. We used Random.org to choose a winner.
Shayna is the winner of the card kit!!(Please contact us to claim your prize.)

Our Hannukah gift to you- Receive 10% off you Crafting Jewish Style order. Use coupon code: happy hannukah on all orders @ www.craftingjewishstyle.com

Just a reminder, beginning on November 24, we will begin counting down our 8 Crazy Nights/Crafts of Hanukkah. For 8 days, we will be offering Hanukkah tips and giving you opportunities to share your ideas, layouts, projects, recipes and thoughts.

Our Grand Prize winner will receive:

1. A signed copy of Crafting Jewish

2. Hannukah 12x12 Kit

3. Hannukah cookie cutters

4. Assorted ribbon, trim, tags and adhesives for Hannukah gift wrapping fun
(photo for illustrative purposes; assortment will vary)

Leave us your comments, thoughts, ideas, and Hannukah crafty inspiration.
All comments left from now until Dec. 1st will be entered in this grand giveaway!

For an added chance to win, send us pictures of your Hannukah projects to be included in our Hannukah roundup!

Have fun and Happy Hannukah!:0)

Planning for Hanukkah!

2010-11-13T03:00:00.000-08:00

I don't know about you, but planning for Hanukkah definitely takes some work for me. Besides the fact that it usually falls during our school year, there are just so many events that are related to the holiday. From Family Parties to our Annual Tzedakah Night, to Temple Services, there is a lot that happens in one week. So this year I vowed to hit the holiday with a plan in action. And to help me with this, I created a simple Hanukkah Planner with our Hanukkah papers and embellishments to keep me organized.

These type of planners come together so quickly as they use a simple file folder as the base.

As you can see, you simply open up the file folder, fold the bottom up and the sides in. I trimmed off the file tabs so that my planner was purely rectangular, but you can leave them if you like them. I also added a strip of double sided tape to the outside pockets just to close them up.

You can create whatever direction folds you desire, I chose to have the right hand panel be the back and the rest to fold into each other so that my calendar was the first visible panel. I then left one panel empty and added a clip in case I make extra lists I'd like to add. There is a pocket for reciepts and coupons, another for shopping lists, another for gift lists and lastly for menus. I found the printables HERE. I simply trimmed the bottom of my lists so that the URL wasn't on them. They are very nice generic lists and you may find even more useful lists in their gallery (such as Holiday Card Lists). They print up 3 to a page and are the perfect size for this style planner.

For the cover, I selected my papers and glued the ribbon under the papers all the way around the planner so that it could tie at the open edge. Very easy to do and with an extra piece of double sided tape on the outside edge where the ribbon comes out, it is very sturdy. I can toss my planner in my purse and take it with me so everything is where it belongs, reciepts, coupons and lists. I am actually excited to go shopping for Hanukkah now as I know I will be well prepared. And as an added bonus, I'll have a record of what I did for next year!

Hope you enjoy my Hanukkah planner. Email me with any questions you may have in making your own and enjoy Hanukkah series!

Hostess Gift

2010-11-10T06:43:00.001-08:00

During Hanukkah, and this time of year in general, we often find ourselves leaving the house without a hostess gift in hand. In these cases, we often grab a nice bottle of wine to bring. To make them look less like a last minute gift, I keep a stash of wine bottle tags, which I can quickly use to dress-up the bottle.

I made these festive tags using the Hanukkah collection; adding a simple loop made with regular or curly ribbon. I know many paper-crafters are not fond of curly ribbon, but I feel it adds a certain festive feel. My tags are all backed with white cardstock, so we can write our names or a quick message on the back.

I also made an extra tag using this lovely wine-glass paper strip from the Passover collection. This tag can be used for Thanksgiving, general holiday gatherings, or saved until Passover.

Making tags is fun and easy, and a great way to use up scraps!

Hannukah banner

2010-11-08T08:58:00.000-08:00

Welcome to our first Hannukah post! This year I decided to put a little bit more effort in our Hannukah decorations and made a festive banner. I used the back side of the Hannukah paper kit packaging to die-cut the letters and to make the decorative border at the bottom of the banner.

The paper rosettes are made from 1.5"x18" strips of paper. I punched the long edge of the strip using Fiskars "Boundary Waters" border punch, made an accordion fold along the strip, formed a circle shape and glued it all together.

I like all the bright and festive colors. It reminds me the Hannukah candles. What about you dear readers? Do you decorate for Hannukah? Please share with us!