Goodbye To Our Morocco Meets Recycling Crafts Succah, Until Next Year…….

Today is the last day of the Jewish holiday of Succot, here in Israel, where we celebrate the holiday for 7 lovely days. Elsewhere the holiday is 8 days. While I am always a bit sad to say goodbye to the succah, we actually can’t take it apart until Saturday night/Sunday as the holiday goes right into another holiday, called Simchat Torah. Our succah is constructed in the entrance courtyard of our home, so truthfully I still get to enjoy it for another day or so. While this year has been a quiet and restful holiday, I somehow did not find time to photograph my succah properly! I did of course take photos of all the crafts that I wanted to share with you, and last night I quickly took a few more, so I now present to the world my Morocco meets recycling craft Succah! Yes indeed, many succahs do look alike, decorated with crafts kids make in school and traditional posters, but that certainly need not be the case, and of course is not the case here at CJM central! Okay, lets take a peek inside!

A brand new project just in time to enjoy this year, my tree of life wall decor, made from an olive branch I found in the olive grove.
A traditional Succah decoration from days of yore, an onion with feathers stuck into it……it is a play on words, and if you must know you can ask me by simply dropping me a line! (trying to write it all out in hebrew written in English and then translating it is too great a task at this moment when the kitchen is calling!)
A magazine page starburst that is still going strong a good four years later, and the solution that always baffled me regarding what to put in these Moroccan frames that hang in our couryard year round.

Accordian folded paper stars that magically appeared from the attic, and look perfect on this vintage fabric that my mother in law brought with her from Morocco when they moved to Israel! This is the first year that the fabric made it on to the succah walls, and this will be the new plan for a few years to come…….and in fact next year’s succah will be very similar to this year’s succah, with just a few improvements in areas that are a tad bare, yippee, so happy to be ready for next year already! (That last minute struggle to produce the succah of my dreams is sometimes not so fun, so realizing that I don’t have to create something entirely new each year is a huge relief!)
A Moroccan star lantern that hangs in our living room made its debut in the Succah this year and is gorgeous!
My golden branch with artful leaves wall art, that I now need to find a place for in the house!

Cute as can be colorful painted apples centerpiece that we will likely continue to enjoy in the house, I could work for Chanukah too? And then certainly Tu B’Shevat?
Another Succah debut, a piece of hand embroidered fabric that a friend picked up in Africa on her travels years ago. I have always loved it but never found a use for it, but now it is our new fabric panel that covers the gate, and it will get packed up with the succah decorations, yippee, it has found its place. And that my friends is something we all need to live by: find your place that place that really makes your heart sing! For me that place is the Succah, and I look forward to it all year long!