Artsy Ummi  blogs

These are wonderful links to keep you and your kids busy all Eid Week! Click on these pictures to take you to the respective weblink and instructions. 

 Decorate Your Home with These Crafts:

 Ramadan Mobile: 

Eid Banner:

Eid Stained Glass Craft:

Decorate Your Home With These Ideas: 

Eid Card Ideas

Transform Your Old Cards Into Awesome Eid Greetings:

Make an Eid Card with this Eid Poem, or print it smaller (about half the size of a regular letter sheet) and  get the kids to color it. Fold it in half and call it an Eid card! 

Peter Gould’s Eid Art Download to “use and share as you wish” From His Facebook Wall:

Eid Craft Ideas

Practice Your Artsy Skills and Gift This to a Loved One:  

Great Project for Those Little Hands: 

Henna Skills Need Some Practice:

Or You can Settle With This Idea- Practice “Henna” on Paper Hands instead! Less Messy Anyway!:  

Eid Cakes  and Cookies

Bake an Eid Cake or Decorate a Store Bought One:

Or Perhaps Bake Them in Mini Sizes!:

Make These Henna Hand Cookies- They Are a Guaranteed Crowd Pleaser!:

Gift some of your cookie creations in this Eig Box, don’t forget to make the kids write messages on them along with their coloring: 

Sr Alif blogs

Sr Sarah’s  6th and 7th Grade class was smelling very sweet during their “Around-the-World Masjid Project’.  Students were asked to choose a masjid that was well known historically, and do research on it’s historical significance as well as its architecture.

After the students had about a week to complete their report on the masjid, they had exactly one hour in the afternoon to create their masjid completely out of sweets. They were told that they could not share their ingredients so they better come prepared!

This one hour turned into quite a productive assembly line of students frantically smearing frosting on their graham crackers, and trying to keep the walls from falling. The biggest challenge was to make the dome. Some used bread buns cut in half while one opted to use a giant Hershey kiss covered with yellow frosting. He was making “The Dome of the Rock”, so he wanted to make sure it looked grand. He even had a chocolate covered Marshmallow cookie to use as the ‘rock’.  Another student used gummy bears as little Muslim worshipers.

In the end, the students some how proved to be talented confection architect artists as they created very similar replicas of the famous masajid.

Artsy Ummi blogs

Islamic geometric patterns are so much fun to color. You can download them and have your children color them in all different patterns.

Islamic Geometric Patterns 1 DOWNLOAD HERE

Islamic Geometric Patterns 2 DOWNLOAD HERE

I have started the kids early this year- our big project is to create as many repeated patterns so we can paste them on card stock and create Eid cards for all of our friends and family. I figured any art work can be converted to a card, and I’ll have enough for everyone we know and just in time for Ramadan too!

Artsy Ummi blogs

I thought it would be fun to have a family art gallery in our hallway celebrating Islamic Art. My children have became interested in the idea of repeated pattern since I have introduced it to them. They even came up with some neat ideas of their own!

It was pretty simple to create the pattern templates and we began tessellating…the hard part was cutting them out! Here’s a link we used:

http://mathforum.org/sum95/suzanne/cwtess.html

1. To make a square template open a cereal box and lay it flat. Cut squares 3X3.

2. Inside the square, draw shapes on two sides of the square, free-form or trace a shape. The shape needs to be a closed form.

3. Place the template on magazine picture or wrapping paper. Trace around the template and cut out template shapes. It would be best if you have 2 contrasting shapes.

4. Place the pattern shapes and glue them into place and……voila!!!!

Artsy Ummi blogs

For centuries Muslim artists have been using tessellations to create beautiful art designs. Geometric patterns have always been dominant in Islamic design. The use of shapes rather than real life images allows the artist to conform to the religion without stepping out of its boundaries.

A tessellation is a mathematical design sequence that covers a plane surface with geometric shapes in a symmetrical way, without overlapping or leaving gaps. The result is a gorgeous geometric pattern such as this one found on a structure in Morocco…

The best way to introduce tessellations to your child is to make a connection to nature or find patterns around your house…

Then try making some patterns yourself with this free online tool called the Tessellation Creator. Click here.

Another site that my child adores is this one. It is something I can leave her on when I have to get things done around my house, and she can sit there for hours playing with the snowflake maker or the Kaleidodraw!

You need to purchase the full software to be able to get more options like print….but there’s still a lot you can do without having do so!

Artsy Ummi blogs

Do you know what sets ancient Islamic art apart from any other type?  Well here’s a clue …. You will not find the artist’s name signed upon the art. In the Islamic view, God is the Ultimate Reality. The early Muslim artists experimented with the intricate systems of interconnected geometric forms, and connected its patterns to Allah’s cosmos. Unlike ‘impressionists’ who show the world their vision through their eyes, the Muslim artist only seeks to please Allah by creating flawless art.  To destroy ones ego with the aim of pleasing Allah is often the goal.  When you enter the mosque, you are humbled by its simplicity of the interior with nothing but a clean open area rug with no furniture. No figurines, portraits, or human faces to worship. All of that is insignificant compared to the beautification of the place of worship.

What you will see is a lot of geometric shapes, weaving in and out of each other as they create mesmerizing patterns.  Complex structures that seem simple till you start to follow them with your finger.  Whether etched in rock on a building, or painted with finesse on pottery, on carpets, coins and yellowing manuscripts …. Islamic art has left an impression on the ancient world that still echoes till today. From the Omayyad’s in Spain with their Splendid architecture to the Fatimid’s in North Africa with their cutting edge ceramic techniques , Lush Ottoman carpets from Turkey to the intricate blue handicrafts of Persia, each depicts the science and advancement brought about by Islamic thought and remembrance of Allah (SWT) Almighty.

Next time you see a work of beauty remember it took a process to get there and that the artist made sacrifices to create something sublime to please The One he loves.