Shabbat Crafts
Challah Cover
What You'll Need:
- Cotton or linen fabric (a white tea towel works well)
- Permanent markers
How to Make It:
Decorate the tea towel with the markers—some ideas are a Star of David, the words "Shabbat Shalom" or a picture of your family at Shabbat.
Mezuzah
What You'll Need:
- One recipe flour-salt dough
- Pencil
- Foil
- Poster paints (if not using colored dough)
- Floor wax or hair spray
- Klaf
How to Make It:
With a rolling pin, roll the dough to a 1/4-inch thickness. Wrap foil around the pencil (a wooden spoon handle or anything of a similar diameter works well, too). Shape the dough around the end of the pencil, flattening and smoothing to a long, narrow rectangle and closing off the end. Decorate by adding thin ribbons of dough or small flattened balls. Remove the pencil. Ask an adult to help you poke holes in the top and bottom so the mezuzah can be attached by nails to a doorframe. Air dry or have an adult help you bake the mezuzah in an 200-degree oven for about 2 hours. Paint or decorate as desired. Have an adult help you "varnish" the mezuzah with floor wax or hair spray. Slip the rolled klaf into the open center of the mezuzah.
Shabbat Candle Holder: "Saltscape"
What You'll Need:
- Two baby food jars
- Plastic bags
- 1 cup salt
- Food coloring
- Newspaper
- Candles
How to Make It:
Divide the salt into as many plastic bags as you want colors. Add several drops of food coloring to each bag, then close tightly and shake and knead the color into the salt. Spread each color of salt on a sheet of newspaper to air dry. When dry, return the salt to their plastic bags. Use a spoon to sprinkle the colored salt into the jars, layering one color at a time. Carefully push one candle through the salt in each jar. The salt will keep the candle firmly upright.
Shabbat Candle Holder: Star of David
What You'll Need:
- One recipe flour-salt dough
- Star of David cookie cutter
- Two candles
- Knife
- Poster paints (if not using colored dough)
- Floor wax or hair spray
How to Make It:
Roll the dough out to a 1-inch thickness. Cut out two star shapes with the cookie cutter. Carefully press a candle into the center of each star, pushing just hard enough to make a clear indentation. Ask an adult to cut out the center with a knife, using the candle indentation as a pattern. Air dry. Paint or decorate as desired. Have an adult help you "varnish" the candle holders with floor wax or hair spray.
Shabbat Placements
What You'll Need:
- Construction paper
- Markers
- Clear contact paper
- Glue
How to Make It:
Trace out the words "Shabbat Shalom" on one sheet of construction paper. Ask an adult to help you cut out the letters. Glue the letters to a second sheet of construction paper. Decorate with markers, tissue paper or more construction paper cutouts. Cover one side of the construction paper with a sheet of clear contact paper large enough to overhang the edges. Turn over and cover the other side. Have an adult help you trim off the excess contact paper.
Star of David Suncatcher
What You'll Need:
- Star of David template
- Black or other dark construction paper
- Colored tissue paper
- Utility knife
- Glue
- Scissors
How to Make It:
You can print out this page to use it as a template. Trace or draw a Star of David on the construction paper. Have an adult cut out the star with an utility knife. Ask an adult to help you cut out triangular pieces of colored tissue paper to fit each open "window." Glue the tissue paper to the construction paper frame. Tape to the inside of a sunny window.
Alternate Version: Use tracing paper instead of tissue paper. After gluing the tracing paper triangles to the construction paper frame, color the "windows" with markers or colored pencils.