[Disclosure: This post contains some Amazon affiliate links.]
Category Archives: Gifts
Made with Love: A Stationery Set
When you think of homemade gifts, what usually comes to mind? Some carefully frosted sugar cookies? Or maybe a freshly picked fruit pie? Perhaps a knitted scarf or a custom t-shirt? Well, handcrafted cards can be more than just snail mail you send, they can also be a gift, especially for the less crafty folks in your life. Read on to learn how to design your own custom stationery set for a friend, whether it be for a Hanukkah gift or any other gift-giving occasion.
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Gearing up for Hanukkah – a few of my favorite things
[Disclosure: This post contains some Amazon affiliate links.]
Ugh! Halloween is over and it appears as though Christmas has settled in to stay – it is EVERYWHERE already! And I am not even going into it having had a nice solid dose of the Jewish holidays to sustain me since I spent Rosh Hashanah through Simchat Torah with pneumonia (and I am not talking just take a Z-pack and be okay pneumonia, we’re talking hospitalized for a couple days, out of the office for five weeks pneumonia – but don’t worry I am finally on the mend). Anyway, Christmas is exploding already and so my natural response is to start thinking about Hanukkah. My son and I went to JoAnn on Saturday to pick up some craft supplies and were very sad to not find a single Hanukkah thing amidst all of the Christmas stuff. In addition, as we were checking out the checker commented on my pretty blue glitter cardstock and then proceeded to ask what color our Christmas tree was. While I really wanted to be like WTF?! and ask why that even seemed like a sensible question, all I said was “Oh, we celebrate Hanukkah, this is the perfect color for that.” Then she was either too scared to say anything else or was trying to wrap her head around the fact I didn’t celebrate Christmas.
OY.
Despite this experience, there is some fabulous Hanukkah stuff out there already which is the inspiration for today’s post. It can go quickly so no time like the present to start your Hanukkah planning and shopping!resw
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Not Your Kid’s Hanukkah Countdown! L’Chaim!
If you look around at all of the Advent calendars out there, there are just as many designed for adults as there are for kids. But, in the land of Hanukkah decor, it seems that most of the designers seem to think only little kids celebrate Hanukkah. So last year I decided to make my husband his very own Hanukkah Countdown for each night of Hanukkah.
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Calendar time!
After spending time at my synagogue board retreat yesterday and with my little one on the verge of starting kindergarten, it is all too apparent that fall is about to sneak up on me. Last year’s Jewish calendar that functions as our family calendar in the kitchen is about to become obsolete and I haven’t even ordered a new one yet so it’s time to shop! So in Mamaleh-tradition, here is my round-up of this year’s calendar picks. Continue reading
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Watercolors!
First of all, Happy Mother’s Day to all the mamalehs out there! Second, sorry I have been MIA for a while but I’ve just busy with work and life. I am trying to remember that a little creativity helps keep me going. I have this print hanging in my craft room/office and it is the darn truth!
I have been missing my creative mojo lately, so I needed a little inspiration to kick my butt into gear and get the wheels turning again. Having seen so many watercolor projects in the online papercrafting scene lately, I decided to sign up for Watercolor for Cardmakers with Online Card Classes.
The quantity and quality of instructional material has really surprised and impressed me – each day there are 3-4 fantastic videos as well as printable step-by-step instructions and detailed supply lists linking to all of the materials. In addition, there is an online gallery to share your creations and a forum to ask questions. One cool thing about this format is that you can go at your own pace; the other day I started a video, got interrupted by my son and just went back to it later. Another day I didn’t even have time to watch so just doubled up the next day. The ability to do it on my schedule has been fantastic. And you have access to the videos when class is no longer in-session so you can always go back and watch them again. For $25 it is seriously a ton of information and really fun!
There have been so many amazing techniques on display this week swirling around in my head. So, yesterday a friend, who I convinced to take the class with me, came over and we just played around. Now I have even more ideas! Here’s what the craft table looked like when we were finished:
First up is my take on the very first card from class which utilizes a technique involving watercolors and a stencil. I am pretty happy with the result and plan to make more variations of this.
Supplies used: Paper Source Peacock Cover, Amuse Studio Happy Birthday To You (from Birthday Greetings), Versafine Majestic Blue, Fabriano Cold Press Studio Watercolor Paper, Memory Box Disperse stencil, Angora watercolors, foam tape, ribbon, Silhouette tag file
Next up I decided to try the technique that involved placing color directly on a stamp with a dye marker and then spritzing with water before stamping. At first glance, I didn’t think I could do this technique since I don’t have any Distress markers but then it got me thinking about my neglected Le Plumes so I decided to give those a try and was so happy with the result, I ended up doing a color chart (as you can see in the mess photo above).
Supplies used: Bazzill Basics Cardstock in Midnight, Flower stamp – Silhouette 3 by Impression Obsession, Sentiment by Savvy, Delicata Golden Glitz ink, Marvy Le Plume II markers, Wink of Stella Clear brush pen, foam tape.
I loved this result so much I decided to make a gift set using Fabriano 3×5 notecards which are really gorgeous cards with a lovely deckled edge. I used a mix of Le Plume colors and did both first and second impressions (not reinking but just spraying again). For a few, I subbed Tsukineko Shimmer Spritz for water and it may just be my new favorite product ever. It’s like a fairy just landed on your paper and sprinkled it with fine fairy dust. I must confess, I do have a bit of a sparkle obsession.
Supplies used: Fabriano cards, Marvy Le Plume markers, Wink of Stella Pen, Tsukineko Shimmer Spritz.
Then I wrapped it up with a little twine bow and tag (retired Amuse sentiment in Delicata gold) all ready for my aunt’s bday (a tad late but made with love).
I am having so much fun with these techniques so don’t be surprised if I pop back later with a few more to share in the class galleries!
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Popping by to say Happy Purim!
It’s been WAAAAYYYY too long and I do apologize! Life has simply happened and I have been busy trying to keep up. I’m still here just not crafting as much as I’d like at the moment. But with Purim almost here (it starts Saturday night), it’s time to think about some Purim goodies! You might recall that last year after my son got lots of Valentine’s treats, I opted to make some fun mini mishloach manot instead. So, I decided to do the same thing again this year and since his pre-K class is on the smaller side, I decided to treat the kids to one of my favorite (and quite novel) Israeli sweets: Elite Milk Chocolate with Popping Candies, or in other words a chocolate bar with pop rocks! If you’ve never tried these, you are missing out! I must confess to you that when my husband (who back then was my boyfriend) and I did Birthright back in 2005, we came back with so many of these in our suitcase, I’m pretty sure the El Al agents had a good laugh at our expense. There are several places you can order these online but the prices are definitely higher than what you’d find in Israel or even locally. I was so excited when I discovered our local Safeway started carrying them, especially in Seattle!
So, in order to put together these cute mini mishloach manot, I designed some simple label wraps in Publisher and printed them on vellum for a fun look (my son was very intrigued that you could see through the paper). But really any paper or light-weight cardstock would work equally well. Each is 2.5 inches wide so you’ll get 4 per standard 8.5×11 sheet of paper – there are no cut lines just start from the left and cut every 2.5 inches. Once they are printed and cut, address them (as you can see my son is working on writing all of his letters) and use some cute washi tape to secure them in back and you have some adorable Purim treats. You can download the label wraps for yourself for some last-minute Purim printables.
These would also work well used as an addition to a traditional Purim basket of goodies. If you are looking for ideas in that department, two of my favorite Jewish blogs, Chai & Home and Design Megillah each have some darling ideas! What about you? Are you putting together any purim goodies?
Happy Purim!
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From Cheap to Chic
I’m back! Not sure where the time has gone but it’s been way too long since I’ve posted and I do apologize. If you’ve stuck around despite my absence, thank you ever so much! I can’t believe that November is here and that Hanukkah is right around the corner. It starts the evening of November 27th which means it is just over 3 weeks away! So time to start shopping and/or crafting some gifts! Today’s project is one that would be perfect for Hanukkah or really any gift-worthy occasion.
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Babies’ First Rosh Hashanah
I happen to know a whole bunch of babies celebrating their very first Rosh Hashanah and thought I’d add some holiday flair to their baby gifts. Continue reading
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It’s Time for A New Jewish Calendar, Again!
I can’t believe that Rosh Hashanah starts the evening of September 4th! It’s coming up so quickly and I have so many projects still floating around in my head and we’ve been dealing with a bunch of, well, life. At least one thing I can take care of pretty easily is ordering my new Jewish calendar to help myself enter the new year organized!
For those that don’t know, the Jewish calendar follows a lunar calendar. Although secular calendars have tried to be more inclusive of Jewish holidays, they often only include the major ones and often confuse when they actually start and end. So, I like to have at least one Jewish calendar in the house so that I always know when the holidays are. Some even provide details like candle-lighting and Torah portions. Ours hangs in the kitchen for daily reference and use as a family calendar. There also happen to be some gorgeous ones out there that add a nice little Judaic flare to your wall. You can also give one as a fabulous Rosh Hashanah hostess gift if you are lucky enough to have someone cooking for you! So, once again, I am sharing with you my picks for a 5774 Jewish calendar:
My yearly pick hasn’t changed from last year (shockingly) and will probably always be the Jewish Art Calendar by Mickie Caspi. You can see each piece of artwork featured on Caspi’s website. I LOVE Mickie Caspi. She sort of reminds me of a Jewish Mary Engelbreit in terms of the warmth and cheer of her art. We gave both sets of parents her parents’ gifts when we got married and her artwork is simply beautiful.
I am super bummed that there is not an updated Sammy Spider kids’ Jewish calendar. We ordered one for my son last year and it has been fantastic with great monthly projects/stories. The only saving grace is that the 5773 version actually goes through the end of secular 2013 so I guess we can hold off but I am still bummed nonetheless.
My Very Own Jewish Calendar is seemingly kid-friendly but it’s certainly no Sammy Spider. But, could be worth a try.
The art featured in Jewish Celebrations: Paintings by Malcah Zeldis offers a lot of vibrant, family imagery that kids and adults alike would enjoy.
If you need something a bit more portable or to keep on your desk, check out The Jewish Museum’s Jewish Engagement Calendar. I am contemplating this one for blog planning purposes especially.
Another portable option seems to be the Executive Jewish Calendar but this doesn’t really look like it packs much pizzazz although maybe it’s great inside. Who knows? Has anyone tried it?
Well, there you have it. I’m a bit disappointed in the lack of kid options since I think the calendar is a great place to add a little daily dose of Judaism. Maybe I’ll have to get a head start on next year and start designing a kids’ DIY Jewish calendar (I remember buying one of those for myself in college and loving it – it came with stickers and everything!). Oh the wheels in my brain are a turnin’…
Hope this helps you start to prepare for the new year just a little! You can always check out last year’s free printables if you want to get a jump on some super easy but sweet decorations to ring in the new year. Or check out what I think is the Best Honey Cake Recipe Ever! And stay tuned for more new year’s sweetness in the coming weeks!
madebymamaleh 