Eid Mubarak Punch Out Bookmark Tutorial

Eid Mubarak to all my friends, followers, and family! Here we are enjoying a glorious Eid Al Adha 2015.

 

Eid Mubarak means Blessed Festival in Arabic and is said to Muslims as they celebrate major religious holidays.

 

Eid Al Adha is an event commemorating the willingness of Prophet Abraham to sacrifice his promised son, Ismail, as an act of submission to God's command, before God intervened to provide Prophet Abraham with a lamb to sacrifice instead. 

 

This day is being observed by 1.75 billion people around the world. Last year we went to a party with a few friends and are looking forward to spending time again with them soon.

 

This time of year is very special to Muslims who are able to perform Hajj, one of the 5 pillars of Islam.  Hajj is the Arabic word for pilgrimage and entails visiting the sacred city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, to perform specific religious rituals. For those unable to perform Hajj, they may fast and observe Eid to take part in the consecrations of the season.

 

This year I'm honored to be taking part of Multicultural Kid's Blog series on Hajj for Kids. As my post falls on a holiday, I thought I'd celebrate by creating an Eid craft with my daughter to share with everyone.

 

 

Supplies

Ribbon

Everywhere punch

Decorative paper

Double sided tape

Corner punch

Hole punch

Scissors

Pen

Bonefolder

Paper slicer

8 x 11 white cardstock

 

 

Start by folding your 8 x 11 white cardstock in half and cutting on the fold.  Turn the long pieces sideways and cut it in half again. You should be left with 4 pieces that are 4 x 5 1/2 each.

 

Fold your paper in half and use the bonefolder or a ruler to make sure it is creased well.

 

I bought this lattice design Fisher punch system and find it's really great for punches that can be placed anywhere. You can also use a regular punch or even a hole punch to make a punched out design on the left side of the fold.

Move your punch elsewhere on the paper and punch out the same design again.

Use the scissors to cut out a small piece of decorative paper that will fit inside the folded bookmark.

Add double sided tape to the back of your decorative paper and place it on the un-punched side of the white cardstock.

Add double sided tape to the sides of the lattice punch outs to secure the bookmark closed.

Close over your lattice side and punch a hole at one end.

Use your pen to write Eid Mubarak.

Make the corners nice with a rounded out punch.

Cut a ribbon piece that is about 6 inches long and fold it in half. Place the folded end of the ribbon through the hole punch and bring the loose ends through the loop. Pull snug and your bookmark is done.

We also made more using a different decorative paper inside.

 

My daughter will take these to school to pass out to her teachers today. Enjoy making your own!

Hajj Word Search

A Crafty Arab is participating in the Hajj and Eid ul Adha for Kids series being put on currently by Multicultural Kid Blogs. I will be creating a blog post later this month, so be sure to stay tuned and see what my daughters and I (and visiting taita, Arabic for grandma) create!


Hajj Word Search by A Crafty Arab

In the meantime, I designed an Hajj Word Search in honor of the series, feel free to download and share here.

I have also recently compiled all my free printables in one easy to find board on Pinterest here. Be sure to follow it for future downloads.

And if you performing your pilgrimage this year, may Allah accept your pilgrimage and forgive your sins.


Hajj and Eid ul Adha for Kids



Arabic Colors Animal Poster is here!

Five years ago, I released a dream into the world that had taken 10 years to realize.

I created an Arabic Alphabet Animal Poster that was bright, fun, cheerful and happy for children to learn the Arabic language. From there, I went on to produce magnets and create a successful Kickstarter campaign for game cards.

The Arabic alphabet poster can now be found online, at locations around Seattle, Washington, the Arab American Museum in Dearborn, Michigan and the African Museum at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.

Today I'm excited to let everyone know that the dream continues with the release of the Arabic Colors Animal Poster©.

A Crafty Arab's Arabic Color Animal Poster©

The new Arabic Colors Animal Poster features eleven of our animals from the original Animal poster, doing various activities with color. Each color is also written in Arabic in the color it represents. I will be working on a Parent Teacher Guide soon that will go with the poster to help with pronunciations and continue the story lines of each character.

Raisa the Racoon (raccoon in Arabic) is organizing her peas

The Arabic Colors Animal Poster has been in the planning and design stages for over a year now, going through some rigorous focus group discussions to come up with the design.

Gasem the Qird (monkey in Arabic) started in a box

I'm working on getting the poster added to my Amazon, Etsy, and Zibbet shops soon. I just picked it up from the printers on Friday, so I haven't even had a chance to put it up on my studio wall yet.  I really hope that people like it.

I promise it's not going to be another 5 years before a new poster is revealed because drawings have already begun for the Arabic Numbers Animal Poster and Arabic Shapes Animal Poster.

Stay tuned!