I have a little dreidel...Actually, I have exactly 653 dreidels in the above photo. There will be a contest tomorrow to guess how many dreidels are in a large dreidel-shaped container at my Chabad Center's Chanukah Party. Don't, however, assume you now know the magical number, because that was only the figure for the dreidels I counted!
It's the fourth night of Chanukah. After spending a restful and lovely Shabbat with friends, I returned home to fry up some latkes for dinner and light my menorah. I had some batter left over from the latkes I made on Thursday. After about the 10th latke came out of the pan that night, I realized I was going to have a lot of leftovers to eat cold or microwave, and I decided to try refrigerating the batter. I knew it would change color once it oxidized, and wasn't sure how it would work for frying up latkes after a few days, but it was a total success! Freshly fried latkes are always so much tastier than microwaved leftovers.
I decided before Shabbat that my menorah's light would be made even more bright and beautiful if it were accompanied by some additional Chanukah decorations. Even simple accents like hanging a scrap of Chanukah-themed fabric in the window and displaying my candles in glass jars added some pizazz.
A simple strand of yarn and some blue and white paperclips made a perfect display for the greeting cards I've received from friends and family.
The classic Chanukah song tells of a dreidel made out of clay. A crafter's imagination runs wild with that, though! What other materials could be used to make dreidels, menorahs, and Chanukah decorations? I turned to various online sources to see what other bloggers are creating and crafting to celebrate Chanukah in their homes.
I have a lot of colorful felt scraps that would make a wonderful dreidel garland, like the one shown on this blog, called Upper West Side Mom: A (Jewish) Parenting, Cooking, and Crafting Blog.
To GREEN up your Chanukah celebration a bit (especially after using so many paper napkins to soak up excess oil from the latkes!), I found a great craft idea to make with recycled paper bags. In the above author's guest post on this blog, Bringing Chesed (Hebrew: kindness) Home. The author shows how to make recycled dreidel "paper dolls" using, or rather reusing paper bags, crayons, and various embellishments. It is a great idea for a preschool classroom or child's project as depicted here, and promotes the importance of recycling and reusing things we already have around the house. This time of year, kids are often bombarded by advertisements and promotions for all kinds of toys and treats; what better way to reign it in a bit than to enjoy some time together doing something fun with items already in your home. For the kid-at-heart, this project could still be fun. I thought of decorating the dreidels with glitter, rubber stamps, sequins, or buttons instead of making them into dolls.
Speaking of kids, the preschoolers in my classroom have been making a lot of Chanukah crafts using construction paper frames in Chanukah themed shapes that are covered on one side with clear contact paper. The kids take pieces of tissue paper and stick them to the already-sticky contact paper. Another sheet of contact paper is then placed on the other side, sealing the project and making a lovely "stained glass" window decoration. I saw this similar idea for a "stained glass" menorah.
Here is an idea for making nesting dreidel Chanukah mobile, and here is a cute idea for making a menorah out of clothespins.
Well, my original plan was to start crafting tonight...but, alas, my Chanukah candles have burned out, it is late, and I'll need a good night's sleep to (wo)man the kids' craft table at tomorrow's Chanukah party!
Crafting with kids and creating homemade gifts for loved ones is a great way to spread a little light this time of year and all year round. For all of the fancy gadgets and gizmos to be found out there, some of my favorite Chanukah decorations year after year are still those that began with something as simple as a scrap of yarn and paperclips hung as a garland to show off the thoughtful greetings I've received from family and friends. You don't need a huge budget or massive variety of tools to craft; you need only a spark of an idea, perhaps a pair of helping hands (small hands count!), and someone to share in the joy of your creations.
I have a lot of colorful felt scraps that would make a wonderful dreidel garland, like the one shown on this blog, called Upper West Side Mom: A (Jewish) Parenting, Cooking, and Crafting Blog.
To GREEN up your Chanukah celebration a bit (especially after using so many paper napkins to soak up excess oil from the latkes!), I found a great craft idea to make with recycled paper bags. In the above author's guest post on this blog, Bringing Chesed (Hebrew: kindness) Home. The author shows how to make recycled dreidel "paper dolls" using, or rather reusing paper bags, crayons, and various embellishments. It is a great idea for a preschool classroom or child's project as depicted here, and promotes the importance of recycling and reusing things we already have around the house. This time of year, kids are often bombarded by advertisements and promotions for all kinds of toys and treats; what better way to reign it in a bit than to enjoy some time together doing something fun with items already in your home. For the kid-at-heart, this project could still be fun. I thought of decorating the dreidels with glitter, rubber stamps, sequins, or buttons instead of making them into dolls.
Speaking of kids, the preschoolers in my classroom have been making a lot of Chanukah crafts using construction paper frames in Chanukah themed shapes that are covered on one side with clear contact paper. The kids take pieces of tissue paper and stick them to the already-sticky contact paper. Another sheet of contact paper is then placed on the other side, sealing the project and making a lovely "stained glass" window decoration. I saw this similar idea for a "stained glass" menorah.
Here is an idea for making nesting dreidel Chanukah mobile, and here is a cute idea for making a menorah out of clothespins.
Well, my original plan was to start crafting tonight...but, alas, my Chanukah candles have burned out, it is late, and I'll need a good night's sleep to (wo)man the kids' craft table at tomorrow's Chanukah party!
Crafting with kids and creating homemade gifts for loved ones is a great way to spread a little light this time of year and all year round. For all of the fancy gadgets and gizmos to be found out there, some of my favorite Chanukah decorations year after year are still those that began with something as simple as a scrap of yarn and paperclips hung as a garland to show off the thoughtful greetings I've received from family and friends. You don't need a huge budget or massive variety of tools to craft; you need only a spark of an idea, perhaps a pair of helping hands (small hands count!), and someone to share in the joy of your creations.
Olivia is sooo looking forward to the party tomorrow. She asks me several time a day if it's time for the party yet! See you tomorrow!
ReplyDelete@otter_pop19 I am soooo excited! It will be great to see Olivia again and I'm glad she's so looking forward to the party this year. It is with great relief, er...I mean, regret, that I inform you we won't be pressing olive oil this year. There is another project/demonstration instead, and lots of crafts again!
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