I’m thinking that the impending holiday has to be about more than the fact that my husband is leaving for two weeks to work as a baal tefillah at a synagogue in Toronto — read, vacation money, new furniture funds and maybe some put into savings — the food that has to be cooked for three days of chag and the mountain of dishes that will be washed. (Although there are some good recipes in there.)

And so, I’ve been inspired by a gan tradition that I had to fulfill, which was that we had to make cards to be given to our boys this week. It happens in schools and ganim throughout the country before Rosh Hashanah, but this was a first for me. So I first thought about easy ways to fulfill it; scribble something on a paper, print out a coloring page and use that. But then I warmed to the idea and came across all these momblogs that are just filled with crafty ideas, some cool, some kitchy. I finally settled on this one, from ChallahCrumbs, Thumbprint Bees for their RH cards, using just black construction paper, yellow fingerpaint and a white crayon. The idea was really adorable, just that my yellow paint ended up drying invisibly on the black paper and I had to use yellow crayons to outline the bees. No matter, it’s the thought that counts, right?

Even thought the thumbprint bees weren’t a total success, we had a great time today with Playdoh and a new Fun Factory, so much so that I’m thinking of embarking on another project tomorrow, Wine Cork Stamp Rosh Hashanah cards from creativejewishmom, in which you use wine corks and a red stamppad to create really sweet apple stencil cards, napkins, gift tags, what have you.

I can’t promise what will come out of all that, but I’m willing to give it a try. Finally, I’ll also be creating a non-dairy frosting for very sweet apple-shaped cupcakes. I already made these a week ago, using a lime cupcake base — gotta use all the limes from our tree — and a readymade frosting with red food coloring. But, have to think non-dairy for some big meat meals, so will probably be using this frosting recipe. Still, I can tell you that the cupcakes are a hit and there’s something very satisfying about creating such a finished looking product.

How’s them apples?