Last Minute Gift

We are in the middle of the crazy gift shopping season! It doesn't matter what holiday you celebrate you need to buy so many gifts. No matter how well prepared you are, how organized your list is there is always that last minute gift you need and then you embark on a crazy search for that perfect gift. Sometimes you find it but mostly you have to compromise. Even if you already bought a gift for everyone on your list maybe you want to add one more gift or maybe buy a present for yourself!

I know I always have this problem but I found a solution...

You don't need to go to the mall to buy it

You don't need to pay big bucks to get it

You don't need to get out of your Pajamas

and you don't need to wrap it

I got a gift like that on my birthday a few years ago and it was great! What is it?
An online class!

Online classes are a great way to learn. Each class includes video lessons supported by PDF files, photos and more. You can work at your own pace, pause, rewind, and fast forward the video lessons as much as you need as well as print the PDF files.  You can even learn in your pajamas and slippers!

All you need to do is buy a class here and email me the name of the person you want to give it to. I'll send you a class voucher to print on your home printer and voila! you have an instant gift! The recipient will email me their voucher number and will immediately get an invitation to the classroom.

You can get one for yourself too (wink, wink)

Don't miss out! Keep up with all the crafty goodness by subscribing to the Einat Kessler creative newsletter

Have fun creating!

5 Minute Craft - Star Card

This card is so easy to make you'll not believe it! And the best thing about it is that it's great for Hannukah or Christmas. Change the pattern of the paper, the colors and the sentiment and you have a great card for both holidays!

You can also change the size of the card. All you need to remember is to have an equal sides triangle. There might be a slight problem in fitting into an envelope but that's easily fixed by simply using a large envelope or giving it in person.

This card can be a gift card holder or even the gift itself if you put some money inside, because if you fold it a certain way it can stay closed like a gift wrap!

Don't miss out! Keep up with all the crafty goodness by subscribing to the Einat Kessler creative newsletter

Have fun creating!

Hanukkah Altered CD Mini Album

Every year I create a Hanukkah mini album for the holiday photos and every year it stays empty. however this year i made a promise to myself to add all the photos!
The mini album is created from CD's in red and yellow colors which are two important elements that need explaining.

 

Many Jewish holidays revolve around eating specific, traditional foods: matzah for Passover, hamentaschen for Purim and challah bread for Shabbat. On Hanukkah, Jews celebrate the miracle of the oil in the Temple that miraculously lasted eight days when it was only enough for one.
Accordingly, Hanukkah celebrations revolve around the miracle of oil and the menu features fried foods (not very healthy I know). Crispy fried potato pancakes take center stage at the beginning of a Hanukkah dinner, and in Israel and elsewhere, jelly donuts, called sufganiyot, are the most popular Hanukkah food.

Both foods have round shape like a CD which makes it perfect for a Hanukkah mini album!

In regards to the colors...traditionally in the US the colors of the holiday are white and blue, and sometimes silver. The explanation for that are probably the colors of the Israeli flag. However, I think that yellows and reds which are the colors of light and fire are a perfect fit too. After all this is the festival of Lights in which eight candles are lit.

The album design is very basic. All pages are covered with patterned papers. Each page is embellished with candles according to the days of the holiday from one to eight. The candles are created from rolled scraps of paper and a flame I cut from paper and adhered to the rolled paper.
All pages are interactive to allow room for more photos and include decorated tags for journaling.

Follow me on Facebook and YouTube for more crafty treats!
Happy Holidays!

Have fun creating!
Einat

2014 Holiday Gift Guide - A Guide for hanukkah Gifts

Are you finished with all your holiday shopping? Do you still need to buy a gift for someone and have no idea what to get? We have teamed up with some fellow bloggers to provide you with fantastic gift ideas for pretty much everyone on your list.

What to Give Jewish Friends for Hanukkah

If you want to give a Jewish friend something for the holidays, if your family celebrates Christmas, and your child's best friend is Jewish, or you work with someone who's Jewish, what should you get them? Here's the ultimate guide for Hanukkah gift giving!

8 do's and don'ts in Hanukkah gift giving:

1.      Hanukkah is not the Jewish Christmas: First of all, it's important to know that Hanukkah is not a "Jewish Christmas". It’s a Jewish holiday that is much less important in Jewish religious terms than Christmas is to Christians. However in the United States especially, Hanukkah has taken on a gift-giving dimension because it just happens to be in the month of December, during the Christmas season.

2.      Do give: books, clothes, toys, electronics, equipment, alcohol beverages, jewelry, trips, cash, and gifts of time such as free babysitting or a work shift, or donations to charity.

3.      DON’T give a Hanukkah gift with a pattern of Christmas trees or Santa or pass on clothes with red and Green colors. Christmas colors are red and green. Hanukkah colors are blue and white.

4.      Give It During the Holiday: Try to give it in a timely fashion, meaning during Hanukkah. This year Hanukkah is December 16th until December 24th 2014.

5.      Rely on Traditional Hanukkah Gifts: If you're Uncertain, it’s always a safe bet to give something traditional.

6.      DON’T Wrap a Hanukkah Gift in Christmas wrapping: Avoid wrapping a Hanukkah gift in Christmas wrapping paper; if you buy wrapping paper, select a generic pattern or special Hanukkah wrapping.

7.      Buy or make a Hanukkah card: Don't put a Christmas card on your Hanukkah gif. Make a combo of Christmas-Hanukkah gift wrap for mixed-faith families.

8.      If you're invited to a Hanukkah dinner try to familiarize yourself with the holiday basics: During Hanukkah a candle is lighted in the Menorah each evening through the eight days of Hanukkah as a blessing is recited. Each day a candle is added until in the 8th night of Hanukkah all eight candles are lit. Traditional foods include potato latkes, applesauce and brisket. Spinning the dreidel (a four-sided top) for "Hanukkah gelt" (gold-wrapped chocolate coins) is another part of the celebration. 

* Don't ask the hosts or their children if they wish they could have a Hanukkah bush or stockings. 

* Don't blow out the candles.  

* Don't fuss about how latkes don't fit into your diet.

8 ideas for HANUKKAH GIFT GIVING

In honor of eight nights of Hanukkah here are 8 Hanukkah gift ideas.

1.      Food Gifts

Every holiday has special foods that are traditional.  For Chanukah, latkes (potato pancakes with applesauce and sour cream) are a must.  Fresh fruit baskets, fancy mixed nuts, dried fruits or sweets are good suggestion but the best idea (at least for me) is a cookie gift. Cheryl's Cookies has Hanukkah cookies you can buy packaged in a lovely blue and white holiday boxes. Also consider giving a dozen doughnuts, especially jelly doughnuts, since an Israeli custom of having them for Hanukkah has caught on in the U.S. in the past decade or so. Remember before giving cookies, or any food gift, make sure that the recipient doesn’t keep Kosher.  If keeping Kosher is the challenge, Harry and David has some kosher gift baskets that anyone would enjoy. 

2.      Gifts for Kids
For children, the equivalent of Christmas stocking-stuffers are a dreidel (a special toy top with Hebrew letters on each side), or Hanukkah Gelt - little bags of chocolate wrapped in gold paper to look like coins. HanukkahGelt.com has great deals for both chocolate and dreidles. Kids can spend hours of fun doing crafts. The Craft Shop has many Hanukkah craft options. The KidKraft Wooden Chanukah Set is another option to consider.

3.      Books

Seems that for about every occasion of Jewish gift giving, books come in as the number one choice. For children, there are a number of Chanukah books that can be selected by age appropriateness or family situation. * Happy Hanukkah, Curious George tabbed board book by by H. A. Rey and Margret Rey.   * Maccabee!: The Story of Hanukkah by Tilda Balsley          * Elmo's Little Dreidel by Naomi Kleinberg  * I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Dreidel by Caryn Yacowitz. For adults and kids alike the Hanukkah popup book, Chanukah Lights is a great gift.  It is a spectacular book and a work of art, as many popup books can be.  Children will be fascinated by each scene, which appears magically as the pages are turned and adults will appreciate the artistic renderings and paper engineering. If you are not certain what books the person has read or not, or their specific taste in books, give an Amazon, Kindle or Nook gift card.

4.      Candles or Menorahs

Chanukah is the festival of lights, so what better gift to give than candles and Menorahs, the candelabra for Chanukah.  In order for it to be true to the holiday, it should have 8 places for the candles to fit, along with a ninth space for the Shamas or candle for the sole purpose of lighting the other eight candles.  Anything less is not a true Menorah.  There is a huge selection on JudaicaWebStore.com ranging from traditional style to artistic and modern.

5.      Charitable Donations

“Deeds of giving are the very foundations of the world”  (Jewish saying) In the Jewish religion philanthropy is an obligation.  One should never turn away from someone in need.  So, giving a donation on someone’s behalf is considered a “Mitzvah” or good deed.  It doesn't matter if the charity is specific for Jewish people as long as it's an organization that is supported by the recipient. Getting a card with the donation written on it will make anyone mushy.

6.      Handmade Gifts 

For all you crafters out there who are looking for handmade gift ideas here are a few easy, fun and beautiful projects. Hanukkah in a jar is a practical gift. Just fill a mason jar or any plastic jar and fill it with candles, gold chocolate coins and a dreidel. Embellish it with white and blue ribbons, glitter and card. Alcohol is a great gift for every holiday. Decorated wine bottles with printed Hanukkah labels will make everyone happy! One of Hanukkah's fun traditions is the dreidel game. It will become a wonderful gift for kids when it's presented inside a cloth sack customized with the rules. Fill bag with a dreidel and counters (you can use coins, candies, or buttons).

7.      Funny gifts

In Jewish tradition being happy and laugh during the holiday is a must, so what better way than to give a funny humorous gift. The best gifts are those with a little self humor…The Schlep bag is a joke about the Yiddish word that means carry with while complaining.  The Mench on a Bench is the Elf on a shelf's Jewish counterpart and Oy to the world cd is a funny music cd.

8. Let them buy their own gift! 

If you have no idea what to buy there is always the option of a gift card. This way the recipient can buy themselves whatever they want and everybody's happy!

Don't miss the giveaway! Be sure to enter here for a chance to win a Target gift card!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And don't forget to checkout all the gift guides below!

An InLinkz Link-up

Follow me on Facebook and YouTube for more crafty treats!

Happy Holidays!

Have fun creating...and shopping!

Einat

8 Dayz of Light

We'll be celebrating Hanukkah in just a few days so I thought I would share with you a mixed media layout you can create with your holiday photos.

In this layout I used a few easy but really cool techniques to create the festive light effect I wanted. I started with creating a corrugated paper. I had a piece od corrugated paper I got from IKEA but it was covered only on one side. So I covered it with a 12X12 patterned paper to create the cover. Then I tore it to create a layered effect.

I created dripage with acrylic paint to mimic the melting wax of the candles.
I added more layers of paper all in orange and yellow colors like the colors of a candle's flame. I also embossed some of the papers with a Spellbinders embossing folder.
I finished my page with hand made candles I created from rolled pieces of paper and layers of flowers in matching colors.



 

 



If you were looking at this page and asking yourself "what exactly is Hanukkah anyway, why 8 candles?" Here's the Hanukkah story in a nut shell...

* In 175 BCE, Antiochus Epiphanes, invaded Judea (ancient Israel).

* The Temple in Jerusalem was looted and services stopped, Judaism was outlawed. 

* Antiochus ordered an altar to Zeus erected in the Temple. He banned circumcision and ordered pigs to be sacrificed at the altar of the temple.

* Antiochus's actions provoked a large-scale revolt. By 165 BCE the Jewish revolt was successful.

* The Temple was liberated and rededicated, it was cleansed, a new altar was built in place of the polluted one and new holy vessels were made. 

* Olive oil was needed for the menorah in the Temple, which was required to burn throughout the night every night.

* The story goes that there was only enough oil to burn for one day, yet it burned for eight days, the time needed to prepare a fresh supply of oil for the menorah. An eight-day festival was declared to commemorate this miracle - Hanukkah!

You can easily create the same layout for Christmas simply by changing the color scheme and using green, gold and red.

Have fun creating!
Einat

Happy Hannukah card with Spellbinders

Hanukkah is just around the corner! In two weeks we'll light the first candle and start the eight days holiday which is one of my favorite holidays.

Here's the first card I created for the holiday, first of many I still need to do...

This card tells the story of Hanukkah through it's bright yellow and red colors which mimic the colors of the candle's fire. It will also look great next to the Menorah because it can stand on its own.

For this card I used papers from the amazing Sunset collection by Prima. I created the front of the card with one of my Spellbinders embossing folder Numbers and letters. This embossing folder I so easy to use and has such an amazing effect! I cut strips of paper to create the candles and added flames I cut from the same paper. To finish the card I added a big 8 and a title.

Don't wait until the last minute to make your holiday cards like me...

Have fun creating!
Einat

8 Days of Light

Hanukkah is one of my favorite holidays! It's a special holiday that celebrates remarkable miracle of light!

Here's the story of Hanukkah:

In 175 BCE, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, invaded Judea.  The Second Temple in Jerusalem was looted and services stopped, Judaism was outlawed. In 167 BCE Antiochus ordered an altar to Zeus erected in the Temple. He banned circumcision and ordered pigs to be sacrificed at the altar of the temple. Antiochus's actions provoked a large-scale revolt. By 165 BCE the Jewish revolt was successful. The Temple was liberated and rededicated, it was cleansed, a new altar was built in place of the polluted one and new holy vessels were made. According to the Talmud, olive oil was needed for the menorah in the Temple, which was required to burn throughout the night every night. The story goes that there was only enough oil to burn for one day, yet it burned for eight days, the time needed to prepare a fresh supply of oil for the menorah. An eight-day festival was declared to commemorate this miracle - Hanukkah!.

Happy Hanukkah and Happy Holidays to you all!!

 

Have fun creating!

Einat

 

Hanukkah Cards

Hanukkah is just around the corner, but there's still time to create some last minute cards! These are really clean and simple cards without a busy design or too many embellishments. Hanukkah is all about light and the best color for light is yellow. Both cards have yellow colors and shiny sparkling motifs.

The first card has a simple light background with a gold rub-on. I added a punched border with a white flowery ribbon. Since Hanukkah is all about light I used a soft yellow ribbon for the bow and a gold sparkly embossed star as a shiny embellishment.

The second card is shinier and has a yellow background with a flame like stickles dots swirl and ribbon's border. I created two candles by rolling two pieces of paper to a pipe shape and added a little glittered flames on top. I adhered the H on a glittered yellow star to emphasize the title. For a finished touch I added a few small stars.





















Happy Holidays!
Have fun creating!
Einat

Susan K. Weckesser and Unity Stamps Blog Hop!

Hello friends, we are so very excited you are joining us for our first ever Susan K Weckesser

Design Team Blog Hop with Unity Stamp Design Team!

During this 2-day hop, both Susan K. Weckesser and Unity Stamps Design Teams will be sharing Simple Christmas and holiday Card Ideas using Unity Stamps designed by Susan K Weckesser Inc.
You will be inspired and in awe of all the fabulous creations shared by members of these two talented design teams.

So, what did I create?

I created a holiday card suitable for Christmas as well as for Hanukkah (since as a Jew I only celebrate the latter...). Here's how I did it:

1. Start by stamping and embossing a background paper and then mist it with Glimmer mist.

2. Stamp Susan K. Weckesser house stamp, my favorite stamp!, on paper and cut it out.
3. Add bricks with a mask and distress ink.

4. Created the snow on the roof with Mica flakes and some white paint.

5. Adhere the house to the card and add another small house. Add some more Mica snow on the bottom.
6. Punch three stars and color them with Glimmer Glaze.
7. Add a fence and a title. For a final touched ink the edges.

We are giving away two chances to win an amazing prize package containing a generous variety of Susan K Weckesser stamps co-branded with Unity Stamps.

For a chance to win, visit each blog and leave a comment.Then come back on Dec 3 at 6 PM CST to find out if you are a winner at Susan K Weckesser Inc and Unity Stamp Co blogs.

Here is the blog hop order: You can start hopping from the blog on the top of the first day's list and continue all the way to the second day! 

Day 1 – November 29th

Susan Weckesser: http://mysweetearth.blogspot.com/

Angie Blom: http://www.angieblomdesigns.blogspot.com/
Erin Lee Schreiner: http://www.erinleecreative.com/
Carisa Zglobicki: http://ladyguineveresinkyfaeries.blogspot.com/
JJ Sobey: http://1-goodthing.blogspot.com/
Lisa Arana: http://dahlhouse-designs.com/
Tracy Easson: http://queeniesscrapmad.blogspot.co.uk/
Lisa Henke: http://www.mylittlecreativeescape.blogspot.com/
Julie Short: http://timetocreate-handmadetreasure.blogspot.com.au/
Vicky Varvadouka: http://vartig12.blogspot.gr/
Natalie Dever: http://www.dougnat.blogspot.com/

Day 2 – November 30th

Unity Stamp Co Blog: http://theunitystampco.blogspot.com/

Einat Kessler: http://scrapinit.blogspot.com/
Renee Aslette: http://www.reneeaslette.blogspot.com/
Rita Barakat: http://letsembellish.blogspot.com/
Robyn Weatherspoon: http://robynweatherspoon.blogspot.com/
Shilo Miles: http://papermeetsglue.blogspot.ca/
Jennifer Hottinger-Sloan: http://www.lifebescrappy.blogspot.com/
Stephanie Muzzulin: http://www.handmade75.blogspot.com
Thienly Azim: http://modpaperie.blogspot.com/
Cheryl Boglioli: http://cherylswindow.com

We hope you enjoyed the hop and got inspired to create your holiday cards...it's not too late, so get to work!

Have fun creating!

Einat