How To Make Geometric Collages Inspired By The Marble Tile Floor Of The 2nd Beit HaMikdash

I never actually considered how to make geometric collages inspired by the marble tile floors of the 2nd Beit HaMikdash, as I had never seen photos of any flooring other than beige stone of some kind. Imagine my surprise, when trying to think of chanukah craft projects for my 5th grade students, that I came across the information that due to excavation findings in Jerusalem, there were stunning geometric marble floors in the very last version of the second Beit HaMikdash before its final destruction! (Check out the new 3D renderings of the temple mount courts here. ) And just like that a fun idea for making mosaic collages using magazine pages was born, and the results are truly precious. My example is the perfectly straight one on the upper right hand corner, but i prefer those of my three students as they have so much more life to them! Okay, this is truly a lovely project, lets get to it!

You’ll Need:

• creme paper

• magazine pages with images that echo the colors in the photo of the tile flooring, below

• metallic gold tape

• a glue stick

• scissors and a craft knife for the adult who will cut the larger squares

Aren’t these patterns just perfect for crafting unique items for Chanukah? Make a mat on which the chanukah menorah will sit, make pieces to decorate a cardboard base of a cardboard chanukiah, make geometric stars to hang in a garland, decorate carboard dreidels with these patterns (that I will do!)

How To:

• Cut the creme paper to the desired size

• Cut squares from magazine pages, roughly 1″ x 1″ is a good base size, and then cut squares that are 1/2″ x 1/2″ or any size you desire, together with tiny squares for the centers.

• You can choose to make a checkerboard pattern with dark tiles, and then use the creme paper spaces as tiles in themselves, a very good idea!

• Dont worry about being exact, just have fun

• When the page is completely filled, create a metallic gold border with gold tape or paper.