Day 7- Hanukkah Photo Tips

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

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

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

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

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!

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!

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!