Color and craft a fun Shivat haminim garland with this beautiful printable – or print the full color version instead! When you’re done, try this felt Shivat Haminim template too. This post contains affiliate links.

Ready for a low-key and fun way to decorate for Tu B’shvat? Assemble this simple Shivat Haminim garland printable! There are two crafting styles:

• The full color garland to print, cut, and assemble OR
• The color-in one for when you want more of a detailed activity, and you want to sit and color!

Both of these are available in my shops: my own website shop, Etsy, and Teachers Pay Teachers. Or scroll on for more details and a few ways you can assemble this!

Get the Shivat Haminim Garland Printable

The Shivat Haminim Printable Garland is available for a few bucks in my shop, on Etsy, and on TpT. Purchasing premium products from me enables me to keep doing what I do, to give more focus to my Jewish blog, creating authentically Jewish resources for homes, educators, and parents.

Get the color-in version:

Get the FULL COLOR version:

Crafting your Shivat Haminim garland printable

Here are some general tips for crafting these – but I do have a full tutorial at the end.

Stringing it up – & More cool ways to craft this

The garland is scaled to full pages so that you can display it large. Since images can be scaled down without losing quality but not up, I wanted to leave you with the maximum quality. I did not include any specific hanging mechanism in the template so that you can choose that as well. Here are some ways you can string this Shivat Haminim garland printable – or not!

• Print it any size by using the PNG images. On Windows, you can right click all the images and choose “print” (under “show more options”) and it’ll give you the option to print them in different sizes. I chose 5×7 for this.
• I glued the full color one along a string – simply gluing the back.

• You can glue two back to back to make a two-sized garland. If using the above method, first glue one side, flip it over, and glue the second side to make sure it’s in order.
• For the color-in one, I punched two holes in each one and strung it up with a ribbon.

• You can make tabs on the top of your garland to make hanging loops. Leave two tabs on the top when cutting out your pennants and loop them over. Or, attach loops from a separate piece of colored paper.
• This is a really fun craft for Tu B’shvat or as a Sukkah decoration. If you’re making it for Sukkot, laminate it and leave a laminated border around any cuts. Even if crafting it for Tu B’shvat, laminating it will really protect it and allow it to last from year to year.
• Print it in full size and use it as a bulletin board. Even though these are pennant shapes, you don’t even need to turn it into a garland! You can even make these as a coloring or flip book.

Coloring Tips

If using the color-in version, there are many ways you can color this in!

I used these paint markers to color mine. They are somewhat opaque and a good low-key grown-up marker. Colored pencil gave me a light background. Alcohol markers are also great for adults, as are colored pencils. For kids, colored pencils, markers, or anything really goes.

You can also simply print it on colored paper. Or print on colored paper AND color them in with opaque paint markers.

Variations

There are different options to print – I’ll walk you through them here!

Full color vs color-in

Available as two separate downloads, you can choose from full color Shivat Haminim garland printables or from a color-in version.

If you want more of an instant decoration with minimal assembly, the full color one is the way to go. The photos hardly capture it, so check out the preview below.

It is digitally colored, using digital watercolor brushes for dynamic, artistic color.

The color-in one is great for kids to create home decor for Tu B’shvat or the Sukkah. It’s great for crafting workshops, as an activity that can be started and taken home.

With Text vs. Without

For each version, I’ve made one both with text and without. The text says the Hebrew word for that fruit. The biblical verse for the fruit isn’t always an exact match (for example, dates are referred to as Devash – or honey.) I used the Hebrew word for the fruit (dates are Tamar).

Choose if you want it with text or without and print the one you want.

PNG vs. PDF

As usual, I offer both PDF versions and PNG. The PNG does have in mind Cricut crafters who want to use their machines to Print then Cut, but it’s also fabulous for crafting them different sizes.

The PDF size is quite large. You can print it at scale (for example, 75%) if it’s too big. I did want to give the option of having it large enough for a bulletin board, for example. Print one page to test before printing them all.

This Shivat Haminim garland printable makes gorgeous home or classroom decor for Tu B’shvat, Yom Ha’atzma’ut (celebrating the special fruit of Israel), or as a Sukkah decoration. It’s easy to assemble and will look gorgeous – whether you’re coloring it yourself or using my colored version.

How to assemble your Shivat Haminim Garland Printable

You’ll need

• The files – get them in my shop, on Etsy, and on TpT – printed, preferably on cardstock
• Markers or other coloring supplies, if assembling the color-in version
• Scissors
• Hole punch – optional
• String
• Hot glue gun – optional

Process

1. Cut out your pennants.

2. Color them in.

3. Punch holes at the top if stringing it that way.

4. Run a string through them.

You can also just hot glue them along a string. Hang them and enjoy!

Just a reminder you can download these in my shop, on Etsy, and on TpT. Enjoy!

Get the color-in version:

Get the FULL COLOR version:

The post Color & Craft Shivat Haminim Garland Printable appeared first on Jewish Moms & Crafters.

Use this simple felt Shivat Haminim template to craft some beautiful home decor for Tu B’svhat or the Sukkah. When you’re done, try making an air dry clay fruit bowl too. This post contains affiliate links.

While I created an SVG and PDF template a while ago for a paper Shivat Haminim garland, I wanted to create one that is more felt-friendly. While they are totally interchangeable, that one is more detailed and a bit harder to work with felt.

So I loosely based this off of that one, but also changed it up to make it more current and simpler. I wanted to show it beautifully stitched but ran out of time, so I hot glued mine together.

Get your felt Shivat Haminim template

The felt Shivat haminim template is available for a few bucks in my shop, on Etsy, and on TpT. Purchasing premium products from me enables me to keep doing what I do, to give more focus to my Jewish blog, creating authentically Jewish resources for homes, educators, and parents.

Assembling your felt Shivat Haminim Template

The basic structure of the template

The idea of this template was to avoid any unnecessary details and focus on the basic shape of the fruit. To accomplish that, each piece has a background base, and a fruit made of simple shapes that fit on it.

Additional items like leaves are separate pieces that fit over the “main” fruit to lend it some texture.

Cutting it out

The felt Shivat haminim template can be cut out by hand or using a Cricut. I cut mine by hand. Some of the shapes (especially on the wheat and barley) do get quite fine and need to be handled with care.

It’s a bit time consuming to cut by hand, but if you can put on a podcast and relax with the job, it can be really enjoyable.

The hand-cut template is a fixed size. The Cricut one is scalable and can be made any size.

I used a mixture of different textures and finishes of felt to cut out my garland. Stiff felt is okay for glued-on details, but you’ll want softer felt for any items that will be sewn. Very thick high quality felt is worth it if you want to make a quality piece that will last, but it can get pricey.

Assembling it

There are many ways to assemble your final piece. I highly recommend carefully stitching your work together by hand… but that takes time. You can glue on the finer details and stitch around the outline for a good mix. Or just hot glue them all together…

You can also machine sew some parts, but you’ll need precision and a good command of the sewing machine for that. I only recommend doing that if you’re using your Cricut to make these large.

Another cool way to assemble this is to glue it and then use careful stitching as a decorative edge.

I turned mine into a garland by simply gluing the fruit along a piece of twine, but I’ll share more ideas for this below.

More ways to use this felt Shivat Haminim template

Adding detail

Felt projects look so much cuter with detail added. If you’re hand or machine sewing, add some embroidered detail. Think: lines down the leaves, French knot seeds on the pomegranate and fig, a little shine on the grapes…

If you’re not up for sewing or embroidering, you can also try puffy paint! Add color-on-color details for a classy touch. For example, use green for detail on the leaves. The goal is to add texture, not necessarily color.

Beyond a garland

While I designed this as a garland, felt lends itself to so many different final creations.

Repeat the back layer and turn them into stuffies by filling them with poly fil and then stitching around the edge. You can even make beanbags by filling them with poly pellets. Or turn them into crinkle toys by adding crumpled cellophane between the layers.

Use these as appliques as well. Make them smaller (it will be a bit more challenging) and from stiff felt and glue them onto headbands or barrettes. And you don’t need to do all of them! Choose your favorite fruit and run with it!

How to make your felt Shivat Haminim Garland

You’ll need

• Felt – quality matters. If gluing, you can use stiff felt, if sewing go for a soft felt.
• Good fabric and detail scissors OR
• Cricut, rotary blade, and fabric mat
• Embroidery floss in corresponding colors or hot glue gun – or both!
• Recommended sewing clips and/or straight pins
• If hand sewing: scissors that are not fabric scissors for your template.
• The template – find it in my shop, on Etsy, and on TpT

Assembly instructions

1. Print out your templates if hand cutting. I recommend printing them in color as an easier color reference. The last page is a color reference, so if you’re short on ink, you can print only that one in color.

2. Cut your shape around the outer line. Start by pinning the outer layer on your background color.

3. Cut out your outer layer from felt. Then, cut out the outer layer, preserving it to use as a placement guide when assembling your fruit. Pin and cut out the next color.

4. Repeat with all your parts. Use the cut outlines of the fruit as guides for placement and glue or sew them on the base.

5. For designs with leaves, sew that on top of the piece. It’ll give it a bit of texture.

Your felt Shivat Haminim are complete! If you want another fun craft for Tu B’shvat, try this Tu B’shvat coloring page – it’s free! Or, download these Shivat Haminim puppets – a fun craft for kids.

In case you missed it, you can download your Shivat Haminim template in my shop, on Etsy, and on TpT.

The post Felt Shivat Haminim Template – DIY Garland appeared first on Jewish Moms & Crafters.

Tu B’shvat, the birthday of the trees, is on the way! We are so excited to celebrate! I wanted to share a fun idea for a workshop-style craft – one that is a bit more of a functional end product and requires a bit more skill-learning to craft.

I thought a fruit bowl is the perfect craft for a holiday where we focus on eating lots of fruit!

Yes, it IS a beginner level craft. That is, you don’t need to have crafted this type of air dry clay project already – it can be your first. But you will need to follow the instructions carefully and learn the skills.

Of course, this craft is cool for anyone to make any time – not just for Tu B’shvat! So hop right in and enjoy this craft!

Basic Guidelines for making a DIY air dry clay fruit bowl

Here are loads of tips you may want to read through for smoother crafting – or you can just skip to the step-by-step tutorial at the end.

Food safety tips

Disclaimer: I am NOT a food safety expert, so follow this at your own risk.

When it comes to crafting, food safety can be a touchy issue. Most standard craft materials aren’t safe for food contact. However, there are workarounds.

Since this is used as a fruit bowl, and fruit are often stored in dubious conditions, coated with dubious materials, and rinsed before using, it needs a bit of a lesser degree of safety. Using a non-toxic clay and sealing it with a food safe coating (such as Alumilite Clear Cast epoxy resin) should be good enough. You’re not using it for heating food or for anything wet.

You can, of course, use food safe resin to coat it. You can even find food-safe paints to paint it with. I haven’t yet found a food safe air dry clay, but again, that’s the base layer on an item that isn’t really used in a very altering way.

Shaping tips

This DIY air dry clay fruit bowl is shaped around a large mixing bowl. This is my favorite way to make the bowl shape because it’s just the easiest.

Pinch pot methods are much more difficult. Multi-part assembly requires a lot of skill. The coil method can be cumbersome and time-consuming. So while all of the above methods of shaping clay can work, this one is the simplest. It also uses a smaller amount of clay – but is harder to control the outcome of.

The final bowl will be quite a bit smaller than the bowl you’re using as a mold. It’ll also be hard to control the exact size. Keep that in mind when choosing your bowl. It can also be difficult to remove the clay from the bowl.

My best tips for removing the clay from the bowl:

• When shaping it, don’t go too tight.
• Cover your bowl with plastic wrap. It may give the bowl some texture on the inside, but it’ll also make it much easier to remove.
• For some reason, metal bowls work better than glass bowls.
• Partially cure (air dry) your bowl just enough that the walls will stand freely and then remove it. Air dry clay does shrink as it cures, so it’ll be less tight if you remove it early.

Painting it

Painting your fruit bowl can be stressful. I recommend not looking too close at your bowl when you are painting it. Take a step back and see how it looks then. I reworked my kiwi bowl a LOT. I share more ideas for how to finish it below, so if you are uncomfortable with making a fruit slice, go ahead and do one of my alternate ideas.

I painted the edges with a gold paint marker (mine is matte – you can go for a real chrome look with this one) to embrace the messy edge. I really like the organic look of it, and the gold marker makes it look intentional.

Sealing it

When it comes to making dishes from clay, you really do need a seal. How tight that needs to be will depend on your intended use. For a fruit bowl that sits out, and holds fruit in the peel, only a quick wipe-down will be needed.

If you’re going for food-safe, resin really is your best bet. It creates a solid seal and makes it so durable. But if you don’t want to mess with resin, you can use Mod-Podge – any hard-finishing water resistant formula will work. Mod Podge is non-toxic but not food safe. I used their outdoor formula.

More ideas and alternatives for making DIY air dry clay fruit bowls

There are so many different ways to craft this – and while I did make this as a kiwi bowl, you really don’t need to!

Cool design ideas

Beyond my kiwi, here are more ideas for finishing and designing your DIY air dry clay fruit bowl:

• Try other fruit slices! Citrus is a shoo-in (lemon, lime, etc). Give the peel (outside) some texture before the clay cures.
• You can paint any pattern. Simple designs like polka dots (dot it with a pencil eraser) are easy to get right. If you’re more skilled, try painting more complex patterns.
• Watercolor your bowl like I did with this pomegranate honey drip tray.
• Keep your bowl white (you can also paint it white after it dries) and add some texture instead.
• Decoupage napkins like I did with these toilet paper roll napkin rings.

Beyond Tu B’shvat

Of course, this is a fun craft workshop for any occasion! Make fruit bowls just to have as home decor. Make them smaller as trinket bowls or dip bowls (they’ll need to be more food safe for dips). Make them larger as a tabletop centerpiece to fill with any bowl filler.

Or, craft these for other Jewish holidays! In small, they can make a cool honey dish. You can even make them for Pesach as bowls for Charoset or salt water. If you have patience to make a lot of them, you can use them as Mishloach Manot containers (just make sure you finish it simpler – such as a solid coat of cream or tan paint, or watercolor paints.)

How to make a DIY air dry clay fruit bowl

Supplies needed

• A full block of air drying clay – I like DAS brand a lot for its quality, durability, and workability
• A protected surface to work on. You can use parchment, but if you have a good sturdy silicone mat, or even a clay-dedicated silicone baking sheet, it’ll be helpful
• A rolling pin dedicated to clay
• A bowl or jar of water
• A clay-dedicated craft knife
• A metal mixing bowl to use as a mold – it should be somewhat larger than you want your bowl to be. If you only have a glass one, it’ll work too, but metal is easier to remove the clay from
• Plastic wrap – again, if you don’t want to use this, it’ll work but be a bit harder to remove your clay.
• Acrylic paint – depending on how you plan to finish it. For a kiwi, a medium brown, different shades of green, red is helpful for toning, and black.
• Paintbrushes – a good mix of sizes, flats and rounds
• Sealer – I used outdoor Mod Podge – see food safety notes above
• Gold acrylic paint marker. Preferably one that you don’t mind ruining. If you don’t want to go that route, you can use gold acrylic paint and a brush.

Watch the video

Watch the full-length video on YouTube if you prefer to learn that way! Or scroll down for written instructions with photos.

Craft your bowl – step by step instructions

1. Start by softening your entire block of clay by kneading it for a few seconds. Form a ball and then flatten it to a pancake.

2. Start rolling out your pancake.

Keep rolling, flipping it over occasionally, keeping your thickness as even as possible, and using water to smooth out any cracks that form.

3. Keep rolling until it’s a bit larger than your bowl. It shouldn’t be so thick that it’ll take forever to dry, but it should be thick enough to be sturdy. About 1/8-1/4 inch is a good target thickness. It’ll thin towards the end so the more clay you have around the perimeter to trim the better.

4. Run your knife around the edge of the bowl to trim off the excess clay.

Remove the extra clay and store it in an airtight container for the next project.

5. Smooth the edges a little if you’d like.

6. Cover the outside of your bowl with plastic wrap. Make it as smooth as you can – creases will need to be fixed as they’ll show on the bowl.

7. Center your bowl (plastic wrap side down) on your clay circle.

8. Flip your whole mat over, holding the bowl with one hand and the mat with the other – supporting each with your whole hand. If you don’t have a mat you can flip over like this, you can carefully lift up your clay circle.

9. Lift up your mat. Make sure your clay is properly centered on the bowl.

10. Carefully shape your bowl. You can ruffle the edges for a ruffle edge bowl, or carefully smooth and fold the parts to form it.

11. If you’d like, you can etch your initials into the bottom of the bowl – or stamp it if you have a stamp.

12. Let your bowl partially cure. It should be strong enough to hold its shape but still flexible. Mine sat for 7 hours in a somewhat humid and cool basement. Environment will influence the cure time, so if you’re in a dryer or warmer setting, you’ll want to check much earlier.

When it’s partially cured, carefully remove the clay from the base bowl. Slide your fingers between the two and gently nudge it off.

13. Trim around the edge of your bowl to even it out as much as you can.

14. Use water to carefully smooth out the creases on the inside of the bowl. You may have some pretty serious ones from where it creased when you formed the bowl. The plastic wrap will have also given it some creases.

Use one hand to support the bowl from the outside, and the other to smooth things out.

15. Allow your bowl to dry completely! Then start painting. I did a very light green uneven circle in the center.

Followed by a brighter green for the rest of the inside.

16. I painted some light green lines going outward.

And then blended them in. I did rework my painting a few times – you may prefer to ditch the lines and keep things simple.

17. Add black seeds right around the light portion. A paint marker might be easier, but I used a round brush, pressing it down to widen it at the end.

18. Paint the outside brown, using unbroken strokes from the edge toward the center.

19. When your paint has dried, color the edges with a gold acrylic paint marker.

20. And seal your bowl!

Your DIY air dry clay fruit bowl is complete! I hope you enjoyed crafting this unique piece!

The post Craft a DIY Air Dry Clay Fruit Bowl for Tu B’shvat! appeared first on Jewish Moms & Crafters.

Celebrate Tu B’shvat with a fun Shivat Haminim puppets craft – featuring the 7 species of Israel. When you’re done, check out these Neviot puppets too! This post contains affiliate links.

If you’re looking for a fun and engaging Tu B’shvat craft that can be made by many different age groups, you’ll want to give these Shivat Haminim puppets a try! This is a really easy craft that can be made more simply, or colored more ambitiously. And I created a color-in AND full color version based on how much crafting you really want to do.

I explain more about each puppet and how to assemble the set below, but meanwhile, if you want to get them, you can do so in my shop, on Etsy, orTpT.

Get the color-in version:

Get the full color version:

The Seven species of Israel feature five fruit, plus wheat and barley. These are the fruit that were biblically the celebrated “special” foods that Israel was blessed with, and so they have always been special in Jewish culture, and even have significance in Jewish practice, in the priority given to foods when reciting blessings on mutliple foods.

While some of these are featured as Rosh Hashanah simanim (and I made puppets special for those too) This set is very specifically the seven species. In order, they are: wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegrate, olives, and dates.

Tu B’shvat is a Jewish holiday that celebrates the “birthday” of the trees (or more accurately, the new year for the trees). It falls of the 15th of the Jewish month of Shevat (its name is actually that as “tu” spells out the Aleph-bet of the number 15). This usually is sometime in February – about a month and a half after Hanukkah and a month before Purim.

IT’s a very minor holiday, usually celebrated by eating fruits, with a focus on the five of the seven species that are fruit. Okay, grapes grow from a vine, but they are included in our Tu B’shvat fruit celebrations.

These puppets are fabulous for Tu B’shvat, or any time you’re highlighting the seven species. It’s great as a Parshat Eikev craft – the portion of the Torah that lists the seven species.

About these puppets

The puppets were hand-illustrated digitally (that is, with a stylus but without any generation or anything along those lines) on my Surface Pro using Adobe Fresco. They were colorized the same way and then turned into puppets for you to enjoy using Illustrator.

2 versions: Color-in and full-color

I love “color & craft” projects – they offer the same easy entertainment of a coloring page, with lots of input from the kids, and an educational factor. But they also give kids an end product to play with! For that reason, I offer a line-art only version, which is perfect for classroom or at-home activities.

These offer so many options for any age group. I pulled out alcohol markers (perfect for teens and older) for a more professional color. Toddlers can use do-a-dot markers, preschoolers can use crayons, and grade-schoolers can use SuperTips.

Sometimes, you just want a quick finished product to cut and assemble as a classroom tool, toy, or visual. For that reason, I decided to create a full color version too! And while the puppet itself is a bit smaller than you might want for a bulletin board or classroom decor, you can scale up the PNG images a little to get a larger size for more versatile use.

The Shivat Haminim(the 7 species)

The seven species featured are as follows. If you want to learn more about them, I recommend this resource. You do get printable instructions as well as explanations with your download.

The source – Deuteronomy 8:8 – lists them as: “ אֶ֤רֶץ חִטָּה֙ וּשְׂעֹרָ֔ה וְגֶ֥פֶן וּתְאֵנָ֖ה וְרִמּ֑וֹן אֶֽרֶץ־זֵ֥ית שֶׁ֖מֶן וּדְבָֽשׁ׃ – a land of wheat and barley, of vines, figs, and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey;“

• Wheat: Chita (חִטָּה)
• Barley: Se’ora (שְׂעוֹרָה)
• Grapes: Gefen (גֶּפֶן) – This translates to vine but refers to grapes
• Figs: Te’ena (תְּאֵנָה)
• Pomegranates: Rimon (רִמּוֹן)
• Olives: Zeit Shemen/Zayit (זֵ֥ית שֶׁ֖מֶן/זַיִת) (olive oil/oil) – While it refers to olives as the fruit, the Torah refers to it as olive oil.
• Dates: Devash/Tamar (דְבָֽשׁ/תָּמָר) (honey/date honey) – Once again, it states honey but we understand it as dates/date honey.

The puppets were illustrated to be playful, with some showing more than one of the fruit and adding character to them.

Get them here

The Shivat Haminim puppets craft is available for a few bucks in my shop, on Etsy, orTpT. Purchasing premium products from me enables me to keep doing what I do, to give more focus to my Jewish blog, creating authentically Jewish resources for homes, educators, and parents.

Get the color-in version:

Get the full color version:

How to assemble your Shivat Haminim Puppets Craft

You’ll need

• The puppets, printed on cardstock
• Craft sticks
• Glue or glue lines. I like to prep these in advance with glue lines for kids, with the backing still intact, so that they can just peel it off and stick it on without glue.
• If using the color-in version, crayons, markers, etc, depending on the age group. I used alcohol markers – perfect for teens and adults,
• Kid-friendly scissors.

Process

1. Print your puppets on cardstock. Choose the color-in or full color version.

2. Color them in if crafting the color-in version.

3. Cut them out on the solid outer line. To make it easier, I placed each one in a shape that creates the puppet.

4. Glue or tape a stick to the back/bottom.

5. That’s it! Your Shivat Haminim puppets are ready to play with and celebrate Tu B’shvat.

In case you missed it, you can get the Shivat Haminim puppets craft here!

Get the color-in version:

Get the full color version:

The post Shivat Haminim Puppets Craft (Perfect for Tu B’Shvat) appeared first on Jewish Moms & Crafters.

Tu B’shvat is such a fun chag to celebrate. It’s also easy to gloss over it and miss it, as it comes between Chanukah and Purim, two of the kids’ favorite holidays.

However, it really is a cool one, and while not as serious (no one tried to kill us), it’s a wonderful opportunity to show gratitude for the world around us.

M preschooler and toddler both LOVE making hats in school, so I thought I’d design a hat craft for them. Then I realized… why not do a birthday hat, instead of the traditional crown-style hat? It is, after all, the trees’ birthday!

I designed this as a free printable coloring craft that you can download at the end of this post. I illustrated it digitally in a fun, kid-friendly way.

Tips for crafting the Tu B’shvat Hat

Choosing your hat

To keep this open to all, I made three hats for you to choose from. One is blank with no text – just the drawings of the trees. One says on it “Tu B’shvat” in Hebrew. And one (my favorite” says “Happy birthday to the trees!” along the bottom.

Finishing it off

To add a really playful touch, I topped my hat with a pom pom. The one I used was a DIY one (learn how to make pom poms from yarn here) but you can also purchase large pom poms to top your hat with – recommended if doing this with young kids.

I also attached some colorful elastic to the bottom. You can swap that with ribbons, flat elastic, or even glue it onto a headband.

Different ages variations

I totally had this Tu B’shvat hat in mind for the preschool stage, however, after I illustrated the trees, I realized that they might be slightly more complex than I had intended.

However, I find that young kids don’t necessarily stress about filling in all the lines anyway. Younger kids generally enjoy the overall image and then color in larger areas.

If you want to make it more little kid friendly, you can:

• Give them a more specific way to color the small areas – like dotting paint with a cotton swab.
• Give them a more specific way to overcolor the whole thing – like Do a Dot markers or watercolors (where they won’t try to color in the lines and get frustrated)
• Or just encourage imperfection, focus on the process, and provide a sample of one with larger areas colored in as they would do it.

More creative preschoolers can color in the lines with sharpened colored pencils.

A closer look at the free printable Tu B’Shvat Hat craft

The trees included

One of the reasons that my tree details are somewhat fine is because I wanted to be accurate with my trees! I focused on fruit that grown in Israel as that’s where the holiday is centered.

On the hat you have:

An orange tree – while not one of the seven special species of Israel (Shiv’at Haminim), Israel is famous for its Jaffa oranges.

Olives are one of the Shiv’at haminim, and engrained in Jewish practice thanks to its use to light the Hanukkah Menorah (and, of course, the one in the Holy Temple, historically). Its gnarly trunk gives it a distinctive look that dots the Israeli landscape.

The date palm is another tree that produces one of the Shivat Haminim and can be seen throughout Israel. Its presence flanks the historical sites and of course, its fruit is a treat used both in traditional cooking and as a honey.

Bringing it together with Tu B’shvat

Tu B’shvat is a holiday that is best celebrated by… eating fruit! You can try making these dried fruit chocolate lollipops as part of your celebration. Make a whole birthday party with fresh or dried fruit as the centerpiece, and of course, these birthday hats!

Play some Tu B’shvat music and of course, celebrate the trees!

How to assemble your Tu B’shvat hat craft

Supplies needed

• The template, printed on cardstock
• Markers. I used these more big-kid style markers. Crayola SuperTips, colored pencils, or any coloring supplies work!
• Scissors
• Hot glue (adults only) and/or double sided tape. I recommend hot glue for the pom pom and glue lines/double sided tape for the hat assembly.
• Optional: a bone folder if you have one to make your crease sharper
• Large pom poms (or make your own)
• A hole punch (if you have a 1/16th inch one it’ll look prettier, otherwise use a standard 1/4 inch one).
• Elastic – I used braided elastic cord in fun colors

Step by step tutorial

1. Color in your hat.

2. Cut it out around the solid line edge.

3. Fold it along the perforation.

4. Apply double sided tape or hot glue along the extra tab next to the dotted line. Form your hat into a cone. It can be a bit hard to glue around the tip. I find that flattening the hole design and putting your hand inside to apply pressure helps. You’ll just need to reshape your hat after.

5. Punch two holes – one on each side of the hat. They should be opposite each other, with the seam in the back.

6. Measure the elastic you need to fit around the child’s chin (or the back of the head – it can be more comfortable). Add an extra inch or so to each side. Insert it from outside to inside and tie a knot inside the hat.

7. Glue on a pom pom on top of the hat.

Your Tu B’shvat hat is complete and ready to wear!

Download your free printable Tu B’shvat hat

Download your free template! It’ll arrive right in your inbox. By downloading, you’re subscribing to our FREE newsletter with updates on cool printables like this, ideas to simplify Jewish life, and more. Unsubscribe at any time at the bottom my emails. I respect your privacy and the law, and won’t share or sell your email address.

The post Free Printable Tu B’Shvat Hat Craft appeared first on Jewish Moms & Crafters.

The Shivat Haminim, or the seven special species of Israel are celebrated all year, but especially on Tu B’shvat many people enjoy eating those fruits!

While I did design this as a Tu B’shvat decoration, I also wanted to include the non-fruit species – wheat and barley – to make the set complete.

Consider this a “choose your level” Shivat Haminim craft!

1. Simply print the ready-to-go fruit, cut, and assemble into a garland.
2. Print the outlined version, color, cut, assemble into a garland.
3. Print the layered version, cut out the layers, assemble each one, and assemble the garland. This gets you something between an easy, printed craft and a cool, layered look.
4. OR, use it as a template, cutting it from cardstock or another material for the best, most upscale look – and the most work, of course.

Originally I wanted to make this from felt, and you definitely still can. The reason I didn’t is simple: time!

I ended up not even matching the colors of cardstock to the layers, and simply printing it out as layers, cutting them, and putting it together. The size allowance is smaller this way.

While you can make this Shivat Haminim craft with a variety of materials, this tutorial will show you how to print and then cut the various layers with your Cricut OR by hand, so that you don’t have to find matching paper.

Alternatively, you can make this from felt, layered vinyl on a cardboard base, or colored cardstock.

Feeling really lazy? I also included a version where you can simply print the fruit already in layered images to just cut out and throw onto a string for an instant craft!

Want to hang it in the Sukkah? Just laminate each fruit – or use a water resistant material like acrylic felt.

What you need to make this Shivat Haminim

• The template – above
• White printer cardstock
• A good quality color printer (the better your printer, the nicer your garland will come out)
• Alternatively: a good variety of shades of felt, cardstock, or vinyl
• Glue – tacky, this glue pen, or glue dots
• String
• Masking tape

For Cricut users:

• Blue LightGrip mat (or the green StandardGrip mat that’s not as sticky as it used to be 😉 )
• Fine point blade
• Recommended: brayer for adhering it well to the mat
• Cricut Maker or Explore families

How to cut it by hand:

1. From the Shivat Haminim PDF Printables folder, print out the PDF file that says “Shivat Haminim Printable Layers” on cardstock. I recommend also printing out the reference page.
2. Cut out the outermost outlines. Make sure to keep your parts in place. If you’re finding the seeds difficult, you can punch those out of coordinating paper, or leave them off. They’re not totally necessary.

How to cut with your Cricut

Design Space Setup:

1. In a new project, click upload. Upload your image.

2. On the next screen, choose complex

3. Just continue on the next screen since PNG is ready to use. On the next, choose Print then cut

4. Repeat with each image. Select all your images and insert

5. With all the images still selected align left and top.

6. Resize the width to 6.75.

Cutting it:

1. When you “Make it” you’ll be prompted to send your project to the printer. Print it out. I recommend that you read more about what is print then cut on Cricut if you haven’t tried it yet.

2. Place your printed page right side up on the top left corner of your mat. Use the brayer to adhere it well.

3. Load and when prompted hit “go”. It’ll first scan the border/registration marks and then cut in the right spot. If it doesn’t cut accurately, you need to calibrate your machine.

4. Unload and carefully remove your parts, organizing them as you go along.

How to Assemble a Paper Fruit Garland

1. Organize your pieces. I included a lot of layers in this for this cool, textured look, however you don’t need to use all. The main point of the background layer is to serve as a solid base for all your parts.

2. Use the reference page – or keep this post open – to assemble your parts.

3. For items like the wheat, barley, I recommend leaving it on the mat in place until you glue so that you remember the order. Or place it on a piece of contact paper (right side up so the wrong side is on the sticky part) in order and remove as you need it.

4. If you need help with your seeds, you can cut out the outline and use that as a template. I did that, marking it with a pen and then gluing in those spots. Tweezers would help but mine were lost. Oh well!

5. Place your fruit in order but flipped over, spaced apart as you’d like them. Tape a piece of twine or string on the top back.

Hang, and enjoy!

Happy Tu B’shvat!

The post Shivat Haminim Craft – Paper Fruit Garland appeared first on Jewish Moms & Crafters.

As I try to bring you more content for the Jewish holidays, I’m going to be incorporating some of the things that I’ve created for my main blog, Moms & Crafters, but in the context of the Jewish holidays.

This way, you can find what you’re looking for, when you’re looking for!

A while ago, I created these Citrus slice cards as a free printable for the blog. I’m going to share with you some Tu B’shvat variations for this:

1. Gift it – Make it as a card to gift with a fruit platter
2. Decorate with it – You can cut out the citrus slices and turn them into a garland, bulletin board, shadow box – whatever you want!
3. Set a table with it – They are the perfect shape for coasters! Print on cardstock, color, cut out each individual slice, and laminate. Or, make it smaller and cut two slits to thread a ribbon through and turn it into a napkin ring.

To download, you’ll need to visit the original post. This includes a fun citrus slice coloring tutorial. This makes a fantastic Tu B’shvat workshop where you can learn how to color citrus slices – how fun!

I colored these using Prismacolor Premiere dual tip alcohol markers. I primarily used the brush tip. Of course, you can use regular Crayolas too! Alcohol markers blend and layer better without dissolving your page.

While Tu B’shvat is perhaps under-celebrated, it’s a fun holiday. It’s basically one big birthday party for the trees!

You can make fun chocolate and dried fruit tu b’shvat treats to enjoy. Or color a fun Tu Bshvat coloring page .

You can also check out this Shivat Haminim (7 species of Israel) craft template I designed – including SVG files and PDF files.

[show_boutique_widget id=”1114988″]

The post Fruit Craft for Tu B’Shvat – Paper Citrus Slices appeared first on Jewish Moms & Crafters.

Shavuot is a beautiful time of year, during my favorite season (even with the allergies!). It’s the perfect time to beautify your homes with flowers and nature.

Fresh flowers in my home are a treat on any occasion, but Shavuot is when I go all out. I am not a huge crafter, but I always make a faux flower arrangement every year in honor of Shavuot, in addition to the fresh bouquets and branches I place around.

I also like to give special attention to my table; the centerpieces, the table settings, the napkins, and of course, the napkin rings.

Making DIY Flower Napkin Rings on your own is a great way to bring something personal to the table. All the examples listed below are fairly easy to make, even if you’re new to crafting.

Copyright: All of the images for these DIY Flower Napkin Rings were used with the permissions of the respective bloggers for the purpose of this post. Click on the title link or image for the full tutorial. 

I have created a square and vertical image for your convenience for sharing these DIY Flower Napkin Rings. Please use the first or last image in this post when sharing and not one of the individual photos below, out of respect for the creators’ copyrights.

6 DIY Flower Napkin Rings

1. DIY Flower Napkin Rings by DIY Decorator

These gorgeous flower napkin rings use real flowers and just scream “Spring”. They’re simple, bright and will add a beautiful touch to your table settings. You can make them for different seasons, using whatever greenery and flowers are available.

2. Fabulous Bendy Flowers by Heart Handmade

These cute DIY Flower Napkin Rings use various fabric scraps, buttons and lace to create a one-of-a-kind project. These flower napkin rings are so versatile and fun to make. Use different fabrics to get different effects, and to match your color scheme.

[show_boutique_widget id=”706066″]

3. Fabric Flower Napkin Rings by Creative Jewish Mom

These gorgeous flower napkin rings really have that craft element if you want to go all out. They are fairly simple to make, and they will really brighten up your table. It’s also a fast craft, once you get the hang up cutting the organza, so you can easily make a lot a time.

4. DIY Flower Napkin Rings by A Beautiful Mess

Aren’t these DIY flower napkin rings just so fresh and gorgeous? They can be made with either fresh or faux flowers, whichever you prefer. You can work with classic Spring colors, as pictured, or go monochrome, or with colors that match your table scheme. They are just that perfect thing to bring your whole table together.

5. Crepe Paper Flower Napkin Rings by Over the Big Moon

You’re never too old to make a good looking tissue paper flower. This craft takes it to a whole other level, with lovely looking flower napkin rings that don’t look like a kindergartner made them! I love the added touch of the yellow yarn in the center of the flower that makes it look even more realistic. Small details like that always make a difference!

6. DIY Succulent Napkin Rings by Inspiration Made Simple

If you’re looking for rustic and chic, this is the way to go. Succulents are a beautiful part of nature, and can last a long time if cared for properly. These napkin rings add such a natural and simple, yet perfect touch to a set table. To take them to the next level, add a small piece of burlap, either under the succulent, or wrapped around the wire into a bow.

Note: Some of the crafts above use real flowers. Please consult with your own Rabbi or halachic authority as to using them on Shabbos or Yom Tov. Consider substituting silk flowers in place of real. 

What special thing do you do to beautify your home for Shavuot? Will you be making any of these DIY Flower Napkin Rings? Comment below!

The post DIY Flower Napkin Rings – Perfect for Shavuot! appeared first on Jewish Moms & Crafters.

When I was a kid, every year in school we’d get these little baggies filled with dried fruit, mostly unidentifiable. My favorite was actually carob- I kind of loved breaking my teeth on those! Aside from those baggies and some new fruit at dinner that night, there wasn’t much to celebrate. There are many Jews that don’t even know Tu BeShvat exists, due to how minor of a day it seems.

But I love to get my kids excited about any day we can celebrate, and Tu BeShvat is no exception. I’ve printed Tu BeShvat coloring pages to start, and made these awesome dried fruit chocolate lollipops and stashed them in the freezer. The lollipops are going to make an exciting dessert for an otherwise average weeknight dinner, and hopefully it will be a springboard for discussion about Tu BeShvat.

I am actually allergic to a lot of fruit, including certain dried fruit, like kiwi. However, my kids and husband love them, so I went ahead and made these dried fruit chocolate lollipops anyway. Because everything tastes better with chocolate, am I right?

They’re super easy to make, and the sky’s the limit. Instead of making them like chocolate bark, with randomly placed pieces, I took this a step further and made flowers out of the dried fruit with the chocolate poured right over them. They have even more of a Tu BeShvat feel this way.

I don’t love how white baking chocolate melts (or tastes), so I chose to use color melts instead for the white lollipops. For the dark chocolate lollipops, I used really good quality chocolate chips.

Items you will need to make Dried Fruit Chocolate Lollipops:

• Double boiler (alternatively, you can melt your chocolate in a microwave)
• 2″ round lollipop molds (I like to use silicone ones, but plastic ones will do the job just fine)
• Lollipop sticks
• Food tweezers (optional, but helpful)

Food you will need to make Dried Fruit Chocolate Lollipops:

• good quality chocolate chips or baking chocolate
• candy melts in any color
• assorted dried fruits, like kiwi, apricots, craisins, guava, apples etc.
• assorted nuts and sees, like sliced almonds, pumpkin seeds, pistachios etc.

[show_boutique_widget id=”682891″]

How to make Dried Fruit Chocolate Lollipops:

1. Make sure your molds are clean and dry. Pick an assortment of nuts/seeds and fruit. Arrange them in the molds as desired, either in a flower shape or stripes, or a different pattern of your choosing. Place them randomly if you just want a chocolate bark effect. You can use food tweezers to help you arrange the layout as desired.

2. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. Make sure the pot is very dry before you put the chocolate in. If you are melting the chocolate in the microwave, do so in 45 second intervals to ensure that the chocolate doesn’t burn or clump.

3. While the chocolate is hot, carefully spoon it over the dried fruit in the molds. Do this very slowly and gently, so as not to disturb the dried fruit arrangements.

4. Put the lollipop sticks into the molds, covering at least half of the chocolate rounds. Use a little melted chocolate to cover the part of the stick inside the round.

5. Tap the mold against your surface gently for all the chocolate to smooth and set in place. Place the molds in the freezer for 35-40 minutes until hardened.

6. Remove the molds from the freezer. Gently pop them out of the molds. Repeat if desired, either in a different color or just to make more!

7. Serve and enjoy! These lollipops will hold up well in the freezer for a few weeks if you’re making them in advance. Wrap each one individually in cling wrap and place them all into a large freezer bag, to serve at a later date.

How do you celebrate Tu Beshvat? Let us know in the comments!

The post Dried Fruit Chocolate Lollipops appeared first on Jewish Moms & Crafters.

Yep, I mean anyone. The drawing is mature enough that it invites grown-ups to add shading and detail.

But the outline is simple enough for kids to practice coloring in the lines. Most of the spaces are large enough even for preschoolers. Only the grapes are too small for that, but you can introduce a collage element for really young kids and have them place small dot stickers on the grapes.

And of course, it’s suitable for your tweens and teens too.

Tu B’shvat is a fun holiday – I mean, what can be better than celebrating the beautiful trees that Hashem gave us?

This Tu BeShvat coloring page for adults and kids celebrates more than that. It features the 5 fruit that are included in the Shivat Haminim that the land of Israel is blessed with: a grapevine, a fig, a pomegranate, an olive branch, and a date palm.

To color this beautiful Tu BeShvat coloring page I used one of my favorite tools for this type of project, where detail is needed – Prismacolor double-ended markers. I should have used more of the fine point but I used the brush tip for the most part – I like the smooth blend it gives me.

When I finish this, it’s evergreen enough to hang with my pomegranate DIY sukkah decorations that hang in my home all year round too.

The details were hand-drawn, but, unlike my typical pages, I did NOT vectorize these – I wanted to keep these as natural looking as possible.

I’m embracing the imperfections in this coloring page and enjoying the fact that it won’t take me forever to complete – because I don’t have forever to do it…

I hope you enjoy!

Download your Tu BeShvat coloring page below:

Who will be coloring this Tu BeShvat coloring page – you or the little ones? Comment below!

[show_boutique_widget id=”679778″]

The post Tu BeShvat Coloring Page appeared first on Jewish Moms & Crafters.