March 2011

  • Container Gardening: Hedenbergia—A Lovely Winter Blooming Vine

    Ahhhh, there is a lovely sight in my mostly dormant container garden right now — a hedenbergia vine in full bloom! The delicate purple blooms are such a wonderful surprise each winter when most of my other plants are leafless! So if hedenbergia is suited to your climate, don't walk, run to buy at least…

  • A Mexican Costume For Our Purim Fiesta!

    We love classic Mexican style— and after this year's Mexican Purim Fiesta crafts which I shared with you a few weeks ago, it only seemed natural for my daughter to dress up as a Mexican girl. (The girl's schools are doing their Purim costume party today.) And fortunately for this very busy mom, we had…

  • Make A Migrating Birds Mobile!

    This shabbat we had the great joy of witnessing flocks of migrating cranes flying over our house in Northern Israel. It is a sight that is so exciting and exhilarating, because the cranes fly fairly low and meander on their way, giving one time to observe them. We all ran to the window and the…

  • Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

    Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday! Thanks so much to everyone who contributed last week, there were some fabulous projects! It really is wonderful to see so much talent out there! And without further delay, I bring you the features from last week’s party: To start off today’s features, lets all give a nice round of…

  • Parsha Parenting: What’s In A Name?

    This week's parsha is Parshas Vayikra, the title of which comes from the word "to call". While the parenting tips and tools that we've been learning here from Eydl Reznik's wonderful installments often come from many aspects of the Parsha, I thought it was interesting to note that this week's lesson is referred to in…

  • Parsha Parenting: Parshas Vayikra

    Calling someone by name is a natural way to address someone you are close with. A mother calling one of her children to the table, a father gathering his children by saying their names, a teacher doing attendance all involve the same act—that of calling a person by his name, that represents the child’s self…

  • A Treasure Chest Gift Box From Recycled Plastic Containers!

    Recycle those plastic containers that often hold sprouts or other fruits and vegetables, and make adorable gift boxes in just a few steps! I came up with this idea because we've been eating lots of sprouts lately, including soy bean sprouts (among others) that come in plastic containers like these. And of course I just…

  • Purim Decorations…….Crepe Paper Flowers & Clowns Galore!

    Purim decorations are a great reason to fill the house with colorful crafts— not that one needs an excuse, but at least you won't have to explain yourself! I had planned to share some mishloach manot crafts with you today, but my photo studio (aka the great outdoors) was drenched so when the clouds parted…

  • Gorgeous Signs Of Spring In The Galil, Israel

    I love Spring, and especially the wild flowers of Israel and blooming fruit trees. I promised you that I'd share photos of the old almond trees in bloom, and here they are in full glory! So very dramatic—huge trees with dark trunks and delicate pink blooms.

  • Parenting Series Part 5: Raising Children To Care About You.

    Chodesh tov! Today is the first day of the month of Adar Sheni. And fortunately for us, that means that we've got another great installment in the parenting series written by Eydl Reznik. Eydl asked me what I'd like to learn about, and I said "getting kids to listen", since I've been having that challenge…

  • Parenting Series: Raising Children To Care About You!

    Having “the right to choose”, and “choosing the right thing”, are in some ways two completely different ideals, which have a symbiotic relationship. We assume that people who have the right to choose, will choose a good thing. That, however, has to do with the way a person is raised. Was he raised to be…

  • Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

    Hi crafty friends, welcome once again to that day of the week when the spotlight is on you! Once again I've got some great projects from last week to share with you, and looking forward to another wonderful international get together this week! The great thing about crafting is that you don't even need to…