Hanukiah made using discarded discs and boxes

A quick Hanukkah post today. For the second time in a row, our Hanukkah Menorah (or Hanukiah) made of recycled materials won first prize in the school contest. That was a big challenge to our craft skills. How many new craft ideas can you come up with, really? This year we made our Hanukiah of round cheese containers and old compact discs we had been collecting for almost two years. The cardboard containers were assembled together to build the body of the Hanukiah, which was then painted dark brown to make a good uniform backdrop for the brightly colored decoration.

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Calendars decorated with quilling

With the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah) being celebrated this week, and the New Year of the Gregorian calendar about three months away, I thought it would be a good idea to share my quilling-decorated calendars. A beautifully embellished, handmade, one-of-a-kind calendar can be a wonderful present for just anybody, and is relatively easy to make. You can start with a printed calendar and add quilling to it, or find calendars to print on the internet.

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Home blessing in antique quilling style

This time I'm going to show a quilled picture I created for my parents as a "housewarming" present. They moved to a new apartment, so I thought a home blessing would be appropriate in this case. I must say that I love antique quilling and decided to try to mimic its unique style in this project. I searched the Internet for photos of antique quilling, saw tons of examples, drew a few sketches, and only then set to work.

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Giant Hanukiah made of corrugated cardboard

Like every year, my children are participating in the school contest of Hanukkah Menorahs made using recycled materials. Last year we made a Hanukiah of discarded plastic egg-shaped containers, this year it was decided to create a large one of cardboard.

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Handmade Hanukkah greeting cards

The supermarkets, groceries, coffee shops, and street stalls here in Israel have already started selling sweet and delicious "sufganiyah" doughnuts, stuffed with jam and covered with powdered sugar. This means that the holiday of Hanukkah is just around the corner. This year it will start on December 20, and I've been already making greeting cards and children crafts for Hanukkah.

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Mazal Tov quilling card

Some time ago I created this simple greeting card with paper quilling. The lettering says "Mazal Tov" (מזל טוב) or "Congratulations!" in Hebrew, I used letter stickers for it. The base was made out of thick watercolor paper.

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Quilled Mezuzah case

Today we celebrate the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, so I wanted to show a new Judaic item I've created. It's something completely different this time — a quilled Mezuzah case.

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Hanukkah Menorah made from recycled paper

To continue the subject of Hanukkah-themed recycling crafts I started in the previous post, I'm sharing another Hanukkah Menorah idea. This one is made of recycled paper using the paper quilling technique from 1/4"- and 3/8"-wide strips (0.5cm and 1cm). First I planned to paint it silver, but then decided to leave it as is. This Menorah is approximately 5 inches (12.5cm) in height, I think it may be called "Mega-quilling" compared to the miniature quilled Hanukkah Menoras I made last year.

Happy Hanukkah! חג אורים שמח

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Hanukkah Menorah made from recycled materials

Very soon, at the beginning of December, Jewish people around the world will be celebrating the holiday of Hanukkah. Candles, Hanukiyot (Hanukkah Menorahs / Hanukkah lamps), doughnuts and dreidels (spinning tops) are being sold everywhere in Israel.

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Shana Tova - Happy New Year

In three days starts a new year by the Hebrew calendar. I'm wishing everybody who celebrates, a sweet and happy new year. May it be filled with peace, prosperity and good health. And creation, of course!

!שנה טובה ומתוקה

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Miniature quilled Hanukiyot

I think these Hanukiot (Hanukkah Menorah's) are my last Hanukkah crafts for this year. I'll be giving them to friends and family, hope they'll like my miniature handmade gifts.

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Homemade flying saucer Hanukkah Menorah

This year's Hanukkah Menorah (Hanukiah) — a flying saucer (UFO). Every year we're trying to come up with a new idea for homemade Hanukkah Menorah. Last year it was the Hanukiah with houses, the year before — Hanukiah with jugs, and so on.

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Hanukkah (Chanukah) crafts

Hanukkah (also spelled Chanukah) is a Jewish holiday, the Holiday of Lights. This year it will be celebrated in mid-December. You can read about Hanukkah in Wikipedia, but if you're looking for craft ideas for Hanukkah, I have a few to share:

Hanukkah Quilling and Greeting Cards

• Hanukkah cards with quilled Hanukkah Menorah (Hanukkiah)


• Magnets with quilled dreidels


• Decorative quilled Hanukkah Menorah with daffodils


• Miniature decorative Hanukiyot (quilling)

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Make a Hanukkah-themed lantern from a milk carton

Hanukkah is coming, and I'd like to suggest this simple craft idea. A Hanukkah-themed lantern can be made with kids, it doesn't require special skills or materials and lets you recycle things you would otherwise throw away.

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Quilled Rosh Hashanah cards, final

It's time to wrap up making Rosh Hashanah greeting cards for this year. Seems like I've made enough for all friends and family :) This is the third and final set, the previous two can be found here:

• Rosh Hashanah cards with quilling, and


• Quilled Rosh Hashanah cards, continued.

Well, the one at the top isn't too much original. Apples (how to quill apples) with honey are traditionally eaten on Rosh Hashanah eve. Size: 3 1/8 x 3 1/8 inch (8 x 8 cm).

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Quilled Rosh Hashanah cards, continued

I've been still making Rosh Hashanah greeting cards for this year. Here's another set of cards. The first two cards were made according to the same sketch. Just like with the previous set, I used oil pastels to color the edges and stickers for the lettering. I also added tiny rhinestones at the corners.

Size of the square cards is approximately 3 7/8 x 4 1/8 inches (10 x 10.5 cm).

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Rosh Hashanah cards with quilling

Just like one year ago, I'd like to share a few ideas for greeting cards for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. On these cards you can see two words in Hebrew: שנה טובה (shana tova). They mean "a good year", this is the traditional greeting on Rosh Hashanah. Pomegranates, apples and honey are all symbolic foods.

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Turquoise clay hamsa with a template

Paper quilling isn't my only passion. I also like making Hamsa wall hangings (Chamsa, Chamsah). Here's a brand new one. I wrote about making these decorations in a number of posts, for example here is a short tutorial.

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Floral clay hamsa with ladybugs

Here's a new addition to my pearl clay Hamsas that I like very much (the Hamsa with a butterfly and Hamsa with a flower). This Hamsa is decorated with beads, flowers, leaves and ladybugs, too, although the design is little different. The hanger is made of macramé. It's quite easy to make a Hamsa like this, I've already written a short tutorial.

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Quilled Hamsa pendant

The Hamsa is an amulet in the shape of a hand. It's believed to protect against the evil eye. It's usually hung in a car, at the door of a house, or worn as a jewelry. Often it has an image of fish, eye or The Star of David in its center. Blue color is also said to protect against the evil eye.

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