HOLIDAY FEATURES

Sufganiyiot is Sweeter than Ever

By Jonathan Gorodezki

Some Jewish foods take a lifetime to love. It can take a very long time to enjoy the extraordinary texture of gefilte fish. And as festive desserts go, the dry honey cakes baked for the Jewish New Year are hardly durable. This may explain why American Jews have embraced a Hanukkah treat popular in Israel, sufganiyot, or, as we know them, jelly doughnuts. Fragrant with sugar and jam, sufganiyot has become a sweeter holiday symbol, especially for children. Sufganiyot are kosher, sweet jelly donuts with powder on top of them. They were first made initially in Israel. They have become prevalent throughout the years, and you never get used to them.

New Years Resolution

By Miah Jackson

The first category for a New Year's resolution is to become more organized. The more organized you are, the easier life will get for you.

The next thing that you can do is schedule time for yourself. There is a lot to do if you want to have self-time. These consist of relaxing, breathing exercises, and being intentional about all you do. Most importantly, be creative.

The next category is building solid relationships with the people you love. Always make sure that you show how much you love your friends and family every day.

The third category is growing self-confidence. You should already be confident in your own body, but some people are not, and that needs to change. Something always said is, "Don't compare yourself to others" That is entirely true cause some women go on Instagram and like other women's photos, making them feel self-conscious. One thing you can do to gain this confidence is don't say "I am Sorry" unless you mean it. For example, if you're hanging out with one of your guy friends and you are eating loud, you don't have to be sorry because a good friend would not judge you. Next, celebrate small wins. Let's say that you completed your to-do list—That's something to be proud of because you finished your list without stopping. If I did that, I would be super proud, so maybe that is one thing that I want to continue you do for the rest of the year.

The fourth and final category is healthy habits. You can take the stairs instead of the elevators. I know it's tempting to take the elevator, so it won't take as long to get to your destination, but walking would up your heart rate and make your legs even more robust. Another thing to do is Make a good night's rest a priority. This is because your morning starts with a good night's sleep. You can only get something done the next day if you go to sleep at a responsible time. Lastly, you can drink more water, which is always essential—eating more fruits and vegetables, Doing something healthy every day, even drinking green tea, and Reading more books.

Credit: womansday.com

Hanukkah Vs. Christmas

By Davina Separzadeh

Hanukkah versus Christmas. Let's talk about the benefits of both of them and see which one is better. Hanukkah is good because there is a meaning to celebrating it. Another reason is there are eight nights, so there are more gifts.

Also, on Hanukkah, you get to eat jelly or custard donuts. The benefit of celebrating Christmas is you decorate your house with lots of festive holiday decorations. On Christmas, you get lots of gifts, just like Hanukah. They are both the most beautiful holidays of the year and everyone's favorite holiday. What holiday do you think is better?

Bottle Brush Trees

By Miah Jackson

Materials

Natural Bottle Brush trees

Dye

Mod Podge

Glitter

Paint Brush

White acrylic paint

Container for dye

Instuctions

1. Fill container with hot water and then add your dye according to the instructions. To test to make sure you have the right color before adding your tree, test a swatch on a paper towel.

2. Holding on to the base, dip your tree in the dye bath. Move in a circular fashion, gently, for a few minutes. Once your ideal color is achieved, remove from the dye bath, shake out the extra dye in the sink, and let dry. Dye will drip off the tree a bit, so just make sure you have something down to protect your surface. You can also pat the tree dry a bit with a paper towel.

3. Next up is to give your trees a snow covered look! Mix your glitter into a small amount of Mod Podge. Dab mixture on your trees and let dry. To really make sure the trees look snow covered, once the glitter is dry, repeat the same process with white paint. It’s best to start small and add more paint as you go.

4. Once trees are fully dry, add to any Christmas display and enjoy! I love the idea of adding to this collection year after year with new colors and sizes. Enjoy making them!

Plastic Spoon Christmas Trees

By Wolf Nazari

Materials Needed:

• Paper Mache Christmas Tree form

• Plastic Spoons

• Spray Paint

• Hot Glue

You start by buying bunches of spoons from Target (equally good from the Dollar Store, but cheap where ever you go), then cut the tops off. You tried just breaking them off, but lots of the split. Once You have about 100 cuts, You must lay them outside on paper face down and spray them with a variety of different spray paints. You don't want it to be even, so Krylon (usually crappy and uneven) worked great to give texture. After they were all dry, You began gluing them onto the paper mache form, starting at the bottom using hot glue. You varied the spacing on the different layers so that the spoons alternated on the layers. And You keep working your way up to the top until it is done! Super EASY!! And done!

Source: oneprojectcloser.com