Guest Post: Matzah Craft

Matzah Craft by MAC Reader Sheryl-Lynn Makela: I came across this cute, pretty easy craft online and modified it a bit—wanted to share!

For those of you thinking “matzah” is Greek to you…it’s actually Hebrew. What is Matzah? (a.k.a. Matzo, Matzoh, Matso, etc.—it’s like the Chanukah/Hanukkah/Hanukah spelling thing…when you transliterate a Hebrew word to English, it can be spelled many ways)

Matzah is a symbol of Passover. Passover is a Jewish holiday and festival lasting 8 days in the early Spring of each year which celebrates the emancipation of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt. This year Passover begins the evening of April 6th. Matzah is an unleavened flatbread that pays tribute to the unleavened bread that the Israelites ate when they left Egypt (they were in a rush to get out of there so the bread did not have the chance to rise). Think of matzah as a large, square-ish, rather bland cracker (to some, it tastes akin to cardboard which makes sense why it is useable as craft material).

Matzah usually can be found in the “International” or “Jewish” section at the grocery store (or in a Jewish home, sometimes sitting around long after Passover has come and gone—ahem—great to do some spring cleaning and put it to use as a craft). Now that we have the terminology down, here is the craft!

These make great little favors (for teachers, for relatives, as friendship “swap” items, as prizes, as gifts). If you are Jewish you know that after several days of eating matzah, it’s nice to find something else–anything else!–to do with it. If you are not Jewish, make these to give to Jewish friends or use your creativity–I’m thinking adding some bunny ears and a cute little pompon nose would be a great Easter twist!

Matzoh Pin from http://www.makingfriends.com

You need:

• Matzoh
• Decoupage Solution
• Foam Brush
• Wax Paper
• Red Paint and Brush
• Wiggle Eyes — 10mm
• Tacky Glue
• Jewelry Craft Pins
• Low Temp Glue Gun

Instructions: Break matzoh into 2″ pieces. Lay on wax paper. Use a foam brush to apply decoupage solution to the surface. Let dry. Turn over and repeat for back. Glue on wiggle eyes. Paint on a mouth. Glue on jewelry craft pin.

Suggestions/tips/variations for this craft:

• When breaking the matzah, you will most likely make a mess (lots of crumbs)…and you might not get perfectly even 2” pieces, at least not at first—it’s okay…a little rough breaking gives some character to the pieces.
• Instead of “decoupage solution,” I created my own homemade solution using equal parts glue and water (oh, Google search, how I love thee)–worked great!
• I used mini clothespins and magnet buttons instead of the jewelry craft pins (that’s what Wal*mart had and I didn’t feel like going to another store…which worked for me because I’m not a big fan of craft pins anyway, especially because I’m giving these to kids).
• I didn’t bother with the low temp glue gun (I do have one and it is usually very comfy sitting in my craft drawer)…used good ‘ol Elmer’s glue and it seemed to work fine.
• Instead of using paint, I simply drew on a mouth with a red permanent marker…no paint mess or drying time required.
• Use your creativity to make these more elaborate as desired–yarn for hair, feathers, glitter, etc.!

Disclosure – this post may contain affiliate links and MyActiveChild.com does receive compensation if you make a purchase after clicking on an affiliate link. To read our full disclosure, please read our Terms of Use.