Egg Carton Menorah

Last night we had a family dinner at my grandparents' house for Hanukkah. I started the "Hanukkah dinner" tradition last year with Zel because I wanted him to learn about different cultures and ways to celebrate. Now that we're living back home near family, we got to involve everyone in our new tradition. My grandmother was thrilled because she was raised in a Jewish family and was so happy that we wanted to incorporate this part of our heritage into our lives. We ate latkes, pot roast, and desserts and all (except Zel) partook in some wine (even my non-wine drinking husband). Saturday night was the official start of Hanukkah, so last night we lit 5 candles. At first, Zel thought that it was a birthday party and kept singing happy birthday to Zel and Papa (whose birthday is coming up soon). Zel was very concerned once the candles went out and made sure to bring it to our attention several times.

Before Hanukkah started, Zel and I made a menorah out of an egg carton, paint, and popsicle sticks. We don't actually have a real menorah so we have been using this one at home. It is very simple to make. Cut an egg carton in half, then cut one side in half so that you have a piece with 6 and a piece with 3. You can tape them together if desired. I had some colored popsicle sticks and used 8 yellows and one blue (for the shamash). I had Zel paint the egg cartons and popsicle sticks with blue paint, then I numbered the yellow sticks from 1-8. Cut a slit in the top of each spot with a knife. Each night we place the corresponding popsicle stick in the carton.

Here is what it would look like with all the sticks in.

Happy Hanukkah!

Happy Earth Day!

In honor of Earth Day I wanted to make something fun out of recycled items that I had around the house. I was inspired to do this since I just ran out of paper towels. There are so many things you can make with a cardboard tube, but I am not going to list a million things here for you (Google can help with that). I chose one project that I thought my toddler would enjoy and also not immediately dismantle. That is a big factor in choosing crafts for me, I have to think about all the ways a one year old boy would attempt to break it. Sometimes he destroys things in ways that I could never even imagine. Boys are just born with that inner, burning desire to destroy. I remember the first time Zel played with matchbox cars. His Daddy immediately began crashing cars together. It escalated to the two of them building towers of cars and crashing other cars into them. I could see the joy in both of their faces (Men are never too old to enjoy crashing toy cars).

I have been taking a lot of pictures lately for the blog, so my son has been pretty interested in the camera. He often says the word "cheese" when I bring it out, but quickly gets angry when he isn't allowed to touch it. Since I don't really want to let him play with my $800 camera or hear lots of screaming, I thought I would make him his very own.

The materials you need are:

•  a small cardboard box
• a cardboard tube
• super glue
• double sided tape
• construction paper
• 3 googly eyes
• a photo
• a box cutter

First, cut out rectangles of construction paper to cover all sides of the cardboard box. I used black paper for mine to make it look more like my camera, but you can choose any color you desire. Then use the double sided tape to stick each rectangle to the box so it is completely covered. I was out of packing tape, but you can put packing tape along the edges so that your child doesn't just rip the paper off.

Next, cut out 3 small squares of construction paper for the flash and two buttons. Also, cut a photo to fit the back of your box to be the screen (we are of course making a digital camera). I chose white for the flash and orange for the buttons. Tape or glue one square on the front upper corner for then flash. Then tape the photo on the back lower left corner. Grab two of the googly eyes and arrange them with the small construction paper pieces, so that the eyes are like buttons and the paper is the label. I wrote "Menu" on one and drew a triangle on the other. Glue or tape the last googly eye to the top right side of the box for the button that takes the picture.

Lastly, cut about an inch long piece of the cardboard tube and super glue it to the front center of the box. Then use your box cutter to cut a small rectangle in the top center of the front and back of the box for the view finder.

 Now your child has their very own camera. Say cheese!