I sneak in Arabic around our house as often as I can and this chalkboard vase allows me a chance to do it with names of Arabic colors.
I received the chalkboard paint as a Plaid Ambassador and have used it before on multiple projects around our home. We added it to my daughter’s lunchbox so I can leave her messages, we painted it on a lazy suzan so I can write down what we were having and used it as a writing block.
We’ve used it on several other projects as well that are listed on the bottom and it is really great how there is still so much left to do with that little bottle.
Follow along as we used chalkboard paint to help learn our Arabic colors.
Make sure your glass vase has been cleaned and is thoroughly dry before you apply the tape. We didn’t measure where to put it, just about a few inches from the bottom.
Tear off the tape to make sure there is overlap, then go over with your fingertips to remove any air bubbles. Especially around the bottom edge.
Use the sponge brush to add the chalkboard paint to the glass vase. We waited a few hours, then added another coat. Then another.
We left the vase alone for a few days, then followed the instructions on the paint bottle on how to condition our surface.
Once we wiped all the chalk off, our vase was ready to use. Here I’ve written the Arabic for white flower: زهرة بيضاء
Reminder: Arabic is read right to left, so زهرة is Arabic for flower and بيضاء is Arabic for white.
I have to admit that it is a bit harder to write on a rounded surface, but with time, I think I can get it down. Now when we change out the white flower for a different one next week, I can practice again on that color.
I wanted to make a furry ghoul pillow to take with me to Arabic story time, for the kids to enjoy while I read the book The Ghoul by Taghreed Najjar.
I was recently sent the book by Interlink Books and I loved it. The illustrations are really beautiful, and could be made into a print for a children’s nursery. They were bright and colorful, each one depicted a Middle East village scene in a lively way. Some were so detailed that I could count the freckles on the ghoul’s cheeks.
The story line follows Hassan on his quest to go talk to the evil ghoul that has terrorized his village. No one around him thinks this is such a good idea. But honestly, he’s had enough of being afraid.
Upon arrival at the ghoul’s home, Hassan finds that not everything is as it seemed. What he (and his community) had created from their fear was not the reality but a distorted perspective.
I loved the final photo in the picture book of the ghoul with all the community children and the wide smile on his face. I wanted to try to capture that on a pillow that the kids can hold while I read the story.
I cut two pieces of fuzzy fabric into a 18 inch squares. To help with bulk later when I am sewing, I went around all the edges and cut off 1/2 inches of the fur. I used a sewing gauge to show you how much to cut. You do not need this tool necessarily, just use a ruler or eye ball it.
I cut an oval shape out of the beige felt that I thought was about the right size for the head. I wanted it to be centered on the pillow and used the scissors to trim it until I had it the right size.
Again to help with the bulk later when this is going through the sewing machine, I cut off all the extra fur that was under the face.
I cut a mouth out of the brown felt, an eyebrow from the black felt and a nose from the red felt. After I took this photo, I also added two nostrils cut outs from the red felt.
The ghoul in the book does not have a full round eye, it is actually half a circle. I had to come up with a solution to cover up half his eye. First I cut out a round circle from the same color felt as the face. I used a circle cutter, but you can also place the google eye on the beige felt and cut around it, adding 1/4 an inch all the way around. I then cut out a smaller circle, but stopped half way and cut across.
There are google eyes that have sticky backs but this one did not. Even though the eyelid cover I had just made above could tuck the eye inside it, I still wanted a more secure way to attach the eye. I came up with the solution of adding two sets of holes with an awl. I used them like button holes to secure the eye to the face with the needle and thread.
Now that all my pieces were cut and the cyclopes eye was secure, it was the perfect time to play with all the pieces and make any adjustments.
I hand sewed the nose pieces, then used the sewing maching to attach the eye lid around the eye.
I attached the eyebrow and mouth, then placed the face on the fuzzy fabric and sewed it on as well.
I placed the two pieces of 18 inches fur, right sides facing and pinned them all the way around. I like to use the same color of pins and I will explain why in the next step.
Before I started to sew the pillow, I figured out how much of an opening I would need for the filling. I added two pins, from that measurement, that were a different color than the other pins above. These help tell me where to start and stop sewing.
I turned the pillow insidie out & added filling. You can also use newspaper or old clothes. I then hand sewed the opening shut.
And here is my ghoul pillow, ready for the kids at the library.
Stop by Interlake to see more books that offer a global, cosmopolitan perspective.
We have a few families coming over this week so I created a kids area for them to paint these metallic khatam garden rocks.
Khatam is the Arabic word for eight point stars.
I had seen a similar craft with letters in an old craft book from years ago but now can’t find the original source. I do remember being mesmerized by the gold paint that was used. At the time, the only options to create such a rock gem would have been use to use gold leaf. Now, crafters have the easy use of craft paint that is in metallic colors, like the paints I recently received as a Plaid Ambassador.
To make the gathering go smoothly, I’ve written out the instructions before hand and will leave all the supplies. It will be exciting to see what develops over a day of crafting.
We washed & dried our rock before we got started. After we made sure it was thoroughly dry, my daughter cut out two square pieces of painters tape. She placed both, offsetting one to created an eight point star, on the rock. She then drew out the design in pencil before removing the tape.
My daughter used the paintbrush to add three coats of the metallic paint.
Here is what the final khatam garden rock looks like.
It will be fun to see the different sizes that kids will create. I also plan on leaving out blue & white paints to create Nazar rocks.
Stop by these other fun tutorials on how to craft with nature:
