Posts Tagged ‘magen david’
Front door chanukiah
Posted on: 10 December, 2010
I admired my neighbours’ door wreaths late last year, and decided we needed something cheerful and seasonal as well.
Our front door has a wire mesh security screen which is absolutely perfect for attaching this chanukiah and magen David, which I made out of pipe cleaners. I just twisted them together and used extra pieces to lash it to the screen. The unlit candles all go on at the start, and then each evening of Hanukkah we add an extra “flame”.
The chanukiah is made of the fluffier pipe cleaners, the “candles” from striped ones, and the “flames” from gold metallic pipecleaners, as is the magen David. (Can you tell I love these things?) I made this last year and put it away in my little (but growing) stash of Hanukkah decorations, and both my daughter and husband were so excited to see it back up again this year. We will leave it up until the end of the year.
Magen David decorations
Posted on: 18 November, 2010
It’s November, and everywhere we go the shops are festooned with decorations. My daughter is three and a half, and mesmerised by anything shiny and glittery, but alas, Hanukkah decorations are not so easy to come by. I have no plans for a “Hanukkah bush”, but am happy to indulge her interest in sparkly things for the festival of lights and we spent a very pleasant afternoon making these star-shaped ornaments to stick on a window.
Materials
– popsticks (6 per star). I bought coloured ones from a craft store.
– glitter (optional)
– glue or double sided tape
Equipment I used
– pegs (clothespins)
– scissors (to cut the double sided tape)
– blu-tack, to stick the finished product to a window. Alternatively you could use a ribbon or fishing line or similar to hang them.
How to make your Star of David decorations
1. Decorate your popsticks. My daughter wanted glitter (and lots of it!) but I didn’t want a big gluey mess, so I put some double sided tape on the sticks, and she put the glitter on that. Just tap off the excess and you’re done. Leave the end 1cm of the sticks clear of glitter to make it easier to stick them together.
2. Use pegs to hold three sticks together (this helps you get the right angles). Stick together using a suitable glue or double sided tape, and leave clamped with the pegs until firmly bonded together. Repeat with remaining sticks.
3. Place one completed triangle on top of the other – there will probably only be two points of contact – and glue together and clamp again.
4. Blu-tack your Magen David ornament to a window, step back and admire.
Magen David biscuits
Posted on: 16 October, 2010
This is a very easy recipe for shaped biscuits. My three year old daughter enjoyed helping punch out the shapes and decorating them almost as much as she enjoyed eating them afterwards!
Ingredients
55g softened butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon cornflour
1 cup self-raising flour
(optional) Some of those little metallic balls used for cake decorating. My packet says they are called “cachous”.
Method
Preheat oven to 180C.
Cream butter and sugar, then beat in the egg.
Add the flours (sift if necessary) and mix well.
Tip out the dough onto a flat surface and roll out to about 0.5cm thick.
Cut into shapes – I recently found a set of different sized Magen David star shaped cookie cutters at Spotlight.
Place on a prepared tray (I am a big fan of baking paper rather than greasing) and decorate with a cachou if you are using them.
Bake for about 10 minutes.
Enjoy!
This “stained glass” suncatcher features that most famous of Jewish symbols, the Magen David or Star of David.
Materials
– card or paper. I used A3 card, available from art and craft supply shops.
– coloured cellophane. I bought mine in various places – eg newsagents, supermarkets (try the party supplies section)
– sticky tape
Equipment I used
Pencil, ruler, scissors, stanley knife and cutting mat (optional but make life easier)
How to make your stained glass window Magen David suncatcher
1. Make a template for your design. I drew a six-pointed star of David, then cut out the six triangle points and a hexagon from the centre. To fill out my design, I drew an extra four triangles. You could use any shape, but triangles are easy to draw and cut out. It’s not strictly necessary to make a template if you only want to make one suncatcher, but if you are going to put in the effort to make a beautiful design, it’s good to be able to replicate it in future without having to start from scratch.
2. Use the template to copy the pattern onto the piece of card or paper you want for your finished product.
3. Cut out the shapes to make a frame. I found it easiest to use a stanley knife and cutting mat, but if you don’t have these then scissors are fine. If you’re using the stanley knife to cut straight lines, use a ruler – but take care not to shave strips off it! I made multiple frames to use with my Shabbat Tot group.
4. Cut cellophane into pieces. Mine were approximately 5 or 6cm wide and roughly rectangular, but this could vary depending on the size of the “holes” in your design.
5. Stick pieces of cellophane onto the frame using sticky tape. For brighter colours, use two thicknesses of the same colour, or overlap differing colours. (This looks particularly good in larger areas.)
6. Turn over and hold up to the light – ta dah! Your stained glass Magen David suncatcher is complete. Blu-tack it to a window and admire it. For a neater finish (if you are displaying it on a window where you’ll regularly see both sides), put a duplicate frame on the back.
Joyful Jewish 