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: 

Artsy Ummi blogs

Fanoos Lamps that originated in Egypt around 969 AD have widely been incorporated into other parts of the world including the United States. The history of how the fanoose lamp originated is mixed with legendary  tales of Fatimid Caliph Moezz el-din’s entrance to Egypt in the early part of Ramadan. The Egyptians recieved him with lamps and torches, and since then the Fanoos has been known as one of the icons of Ramadan. Another explanation for this lamp tradition is that during the 12th century in the reign of Mumlek, the women were mostly restricted to stay home after dark. However during Ramadan, they were permitted to go to break their fast with their relatives, as long as they had a child leading the way with a fanoose. This allowed the men to know that the women were coming, so they cleared the path for them out of respect.

If you go to Egypt in Ramadan, you can see the children continuing the lamp holding tradition, running in the streets after dark with their fanoos swinging  from their hands, collecting sweets and money.  You can hear the children singing about the Mesahaty who carries the Fanoos and  wakes people up at night in order to eat before Fajr. The traditional fanoose is made of tin and glass, however this has become a craft tradition in America to both Muslims and Non-Muslims to celebrate the welcoming of Ramadan. Most of them made from paper materials, that use LED lights instead of candles!

Here are some crafty Muslim mom Fanoos Lamp List. 

Here’s a great recycling idea! It might take you two days to make this although it is very easy! 

http://www.americasmuslimfamily.com/hullabaloo/fanoos/fanoos.html

Very cute paper fanoos, It also looks like hmmmm…minature pinatas!

http://muslimlearninggarden.wordpress.com/2010/09/20/eid-lantern-fanoos/

Here’s a link to make your own LED lights with sheet protectors, so easy and beautiful! I also like the Ramadan Gift Bag idea on this same link. You can gift your home made lanterns in these gift bags. 

http://growmama.com/tutorial/ramadan-crafts/

Artsy Ummi blogs

Could not resist to make a Ramadan Craft to say the Dua for the Ramadan New Moon. Didn’t get a chance to take pictures yet….will post them when I do. But in the meantime….here are the instructions:

DOWNLOAD HERE: Moon Sighting Dua Craft 

1. Print and cut out the download, and paste it on the paper plate.

2. Color the sky dark blue. Color the star a light shade of yellow.

3. Outline glue on the moon.

4. Pour glitter on the glue area. Take the excess off.

5. Tie a ribbon on top, and hang it before Ramadan, so that the whole family can remember to say the Ramadan Moon Dua.

Artsy Ummi blogs

Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is filled with a secret treasure of Islamic Arts. We can not only marvel and view Islamic ancient crafts here, but can also expose our children to thousands of years of great arts and achitecture from all over the world. We should really take advantage of this monumental place in Manhattan. If you live in New York and have never been to the Metroplitan Museum, I would recommend it highly as an educational place to see the whole world under one big roof.  A frozen place in time where you can see some of the greatest art work ever created from the beginning of time to this modern era. I am even more excited to learn that the Islamic Art collection at theMuseum is a new and upcoming venture.

I used to work at the Met as a young and aspiring college student, and be able to walk around the Museum on my break or when I was a floater. I was able to roam the marble halls with ancient sculptures from China, vases from Greece, and mummies from Egypt. I would sit in the quiet chamber of the Tiffany Garden Collection, and marvel at the craftsmanship of the flowered stained glass windows.  Although the collection of Islamic Arts was not as big as the others, I would still spend hours studying these ancient relics and create sketches of them.

This year, I’m teaching Art to 6th and 7th Grade, I thought why not take them to the Met and give them the ultimate experience! If you are not close or like to take a look at their collection and connect it to art history, check out this weblink, it has the entire Islamic Art Exhibition on it’s website: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/orna/hd_orna.htm

Looking for a lesson for your older students? Look at this booklet for some great ideas:

http://www.metmuseum.org/explore/publications/pdfs/islamic_geometric/islamic_art_and_geometric_design.pdf

A great Islamic Art lesson on this site:

http://artlessonsforkids.wordpress.com/2009/10/21/geometric-designs-in-grade-five/

Email me some of your Islamic artwork so I can feature it on one of my posts! jannahsteps@gmail.com

Artsy Ummi blogs

I have always been obsessed with Japanese products. How can you not fall in love with those cute colorful dolls, pens, papers, and mini food shaped erasers? I used to collect them as a child and recently gifted my entire collection to my daughter, much to her delight. I’m not surprised she is in love with Hello Kitty and Japanese characters, it must be in the genes!

Then I met someone who is Japanese, Mashallah, who grew up Catholic, but accepted Islam during her years in Art University, San Francisco. We instantly became the best of friends. While exchanging emails on cute Japanese toys (see link below), she mentioned to me “If more Japanese people accept Islam, we’ll probably have a lot more cute Islamic stuff!!”  Ha, I couldn’t agree with her more!

I want to share the link we were discussing about…aren’t these so cute?

http://coocoocafe.blogspot.com/2010/08/islamikawaii-series-1-caramel-chocolate.html

And here’s a cute online store for engaging in your Japanese cravings!

http://www.kyotogeneralstore.com/

There is a growing Muslim anime artist population, although some may frown upon using eyes in the face…they are catchy enough to bring the Muslim youth to take pride in their Muslim identity and in a graphic form. I found Nayzack’s anime both professionally done as well as making an excellent Islamic statement. His gallery can be viewed at here.

The secret fascination of anime in the Muslim youth circle is undeniable. A college Muslim niqabi in the pharmacy department confided to me that she couldn’t resist reading Naruto. Some Hafiz students in Madressah use their pass time to secretly read the anime cartoons on line (the clean ones). Japanese anime has taken Muslim youth by storm! That’s why I think there should be alternative anime for the Muslim youth. I admire the work of muslim manga website  which is a good start for providing graphic novels (fancy word for comics) to the Muslim youth of this generation. I especially love this manga “The Pious Student” , adapted from a famous Islamic tale told by Maulana Siddique Ahmed Saheb Mudda Zilluhu. It can be found in the book “Addab ul-Muttallimeen”. I recognized this from listening to a Khutba on Friday! It could also be printed and used as Islamic discussion in Sunday schools for older kids.

Artsy Ummi blogs

We have partnered with Sitara school in promoting the love of giving as well as love of reading (after all, the first word revealed from the Quran was “IQRA”!) – The charity bookmark project. We would like to encourage as many schools, masajid, MSA, and families in US or elsewhere to participate in this fundraising activity. It’s really very simple; download the chosen template and allow the children to color the book marks, laminate,  sell, and send the money to the school via their secure school website, www.sitaraschool.org

Here are steps and lessons on how to teach our children about charity and reading can go hand in hand.

1. During morning message, circle time, or Calendar time, ask them to name all the things they have to learn. ( notebook, pencil, erasure, compter etc.) Then have them imagine having no books to read, not having even a pencil. Send a couple of minutes having students only write with sticks with ink well, chacoal on wooden slate, chalk on chalkboard.

2. Show them pictures  of Afhgan children from Sister Sommeih’s site. Tell them that these children do not go to school because they have to make a living to survive. Ask them what would happen if you do not go to school? Why is going to school so important?

3. Show them books and letting them know how reading is the key to success. And ofcause the most important book to read is the Quran.

4. Have the book marks already printed and cut-the black and white version. (download here).Have children color it. It might be better if you have them color it with markers and then add glitter die cuts, or stickers.

5. Lay  four of them down on laminating sheet and then laminate it. Cut them and separate the book marks.

6. Punch hole and add ribbon and embellish them with beads or charms.

7. Have the children sell them for $ 1.00 each. Once you collected the amount you  feel is enough,  you can donate in line to her school project website, www.sitaraschool.org

Download:

Bookmarks-Stars

Bookmarks-Starsincolor

Bookmarks-boy

Bookmarks-boycolor

Bookmarks-girl

Bookmarks-girlcolor

Summer’s over and we’re all heading back to school this month! This year, the excitement of starting school in a fresh, new class may actually be overshadowed by the anxious wait of Eid that is just around the corner. We may hardly get into the right spirit of school until we actually finish with our full blown Eid celebrations!

All over the country, Islamic school teachers are busy decorating their classrooms to fit the theme,  and create a sense of excitement for this special month that is about to end.

Here’s a Ramadan Bulletin Board I created for this very occasion. To print the borders you need about 3-4 pages or more if you’re planning on doing up a bigger bulletin board. DOWNLOAD HERE- Ramadan Border . The instructions for the rest is in the printable itself.

Happy decorating your classroom or homeschool walls!

Artsy Ummi blogs

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