Thursday, December 6, 2012

Hanukkah in the House

One crisp late-November afternoon, a blogger curled up on the couch with a cup of tea and her laptop.  She clicked through holiday inspiration on Pinterest, humming along to the Pandora Christmas station - but soon her cheer turned less cheerful and her glee less gleeful.  For where were all the Hanukkah decorations?

It's going to come as no surprise to longtime readers of Betsy Transatlantically that I am she, the above blogger and Dr. Seuss impersonator.  But really - why don't we see more creative photoshoots in Jewish homes?  I love Christmas moodboards just as much as the next Jewpiscopalian, but I'd also like to recognize this minor but lovely holiday that celebrates my people's commitment to our faith.  So I went trolling the interwebs for Hanukkah* decor.  My search was a bit frustrating at first, since I don't think that throwing a bunch of Magen Davids onto a table or a mantel automatically makes a house more festive, but I did manage to find some beautiful ideas in the end partly because I appropriated some of the (ahem) less religious elements of Christmas decorating into what I consider acceptable for Hanukkah decorating.

They've given me some good ideas for when I come to decorate my own future home for the holidays, but they've also inspired me to think even more creatively about what it means to celebrate Hanukkah in this day and age.  And, on that note, I give you also my new favorite Hanukkah song, which may possibly blow your mind.  Dare you to go about your normal life without singing the chorus!

[ 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 ]

*I have discovered that searching for "Hanukkah" decor only gets you so far; you also have to search "Hannukah" and "Chanukah" and "Channukah" and so on. Darn transliteration!

25 comments:

  1. I never realised it before, but I guess it's true that you don't see much Hanukkah inspiration on pinterest! What you did find is beautiful though, especially #5 :)


    xxx
    Jenna

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  2. #5 is from Martha - she never disappoints! thank you :)

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  3. That song certainly kicked my day off on a cheery note :) And just to share the Hanukkah love, I'm going to Pin your collage so other people looking have an easier time than you did! And look at your labels! Good work, lady. xoxo eliza

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  4. Our next door neighbors (and Finn's best friend) is a mixed religion couple, and they celebrate Christmas and Hannukah. She does an awesome job of incorporating both into their decorations, with silver and blue ornaments on their tree and it is just lovely, I love how she blends both!

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  5. Ah that's true, I never really see much of Hanukkah on Pinterest. (That said, I've only recently signed up!) Your collage is gorgeous though and definitely worth some pins :)

    Best
    Milsters

    (http://www.littlepiecesoflight.com/)

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  6. I know! who knew Jews could cha-cha? and THANK YOU - achieving Pinterest status is quite an honor :)

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  7. oh man, this is DEFINITELY a post I'll have to write when Jon are living together again because I was always iffy about "Christmas-tree Jews" but I'm going to be one soon enough!

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  8. well, we ARE a minority so I guess it makes sense - but thank you for helping spread the word :)

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  9. LOVE this. I always want to decorate for Hannukah the way people decorate for xmas but it just never seems to be in the cards. I love # 5 - of course its Martha!

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  10. haha I know! it was the last image I found, and when I did I was like, "Duh. Should have checked Martha first!" She is a friend of the tribe.

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  11. A lot of my friends are practicing Jews but they all do "trees" - they just call them Holiday trees. I just made a great winter table decoration by taking some fairly large branches, painting them white and some gold then hanging teeny glass ornaments from them. It has a real Narnia look to it and makes a great centrepiece.

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  12. I think it's just a mental thing I need to get over. we're working on baby steps! http://instagram.com/p/S5pOE-ws8i/

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  13. It's so true. I don't think Hanukkah/Hannukah/Chanukah/Channukah (whew!) is a minor holiday at all! It's kind of a big deal, people! The world could use for Jewish crafters, I guess? ;)

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  14. When I was little and we would do wrapping paper sales for school, I always wanted the Hanukkah paper- I love the shimmery blue and white! My mom would have to be like "Kate, that Star of David pattern doesn't really go with the whole theme I've got going here..." haha I think you've got a lot to work with! :)

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  15. well, in terms of like religious significance it's not really up there. but in terms of festivity - yes! :)

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  16. HAHAHA I love your mother. that is amazing.

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  17. It is weird that I not only have a menorah but also have blue and silver mini baubles and other small Hanukkah decor... and I'm not Jewish? Oh, and I've definitely used Hanukkah wrapping paper for Christmas gifts. Hey, what can I say? I grew up friends with and in close proximity to lots of Jews and blue and silver are more my taste than red and green...

    Also, Sloan prefers her Hanukkah toys to all others. http://www.amazon.com/Multipets-2-Inch-Dreidel-Hanukkah-Singing/dp/B0002IJWM2/ref=sr_1_fed1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1354819304&sr=8-2&keywords=jewish+dog+toy Seriously, she's gone through at least one every year. She loves the singing.

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  18. You can hear the dreidel here: http://www.dogtoys.com/tadrdogtoy.html and click on the Gefilte fish as well. Seriously.

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  19. I'm still laughing at Jewpiscopalian. Great word!

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  20. This is so true you managed to find some beautiful decorations though :)

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  21. we hale and hearty few :) I'll be writing more about it in the coming week!

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  22. it took a lot of arm-twisting to get me to spend that much time on Pinterest... haha!

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  23. Love this! I think Jewish bloggers/crafters need a bigger presence in the blogging world. If nothing else, there would be more Jewish crafts out there, that's for sure. We should discuss this...

    I love the song, too! When *I* was a kid, all we had was dreidel dreidel dreidel!

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  24. since Hanukkah isn't our equivalent of Christmas, I don't go all out with my Hanukkah decorating as some people might. However, I did a whole series on my blog about our Sukkah and Sukkot decorations!
    http://notinjersey.blogspot.com

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  25. it doesn't have the same religious significance, true, but it's still fun to nest creatively - especially during such a dark and cold month!

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