Shalom Chanukah

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!

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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!

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