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12 Tishrei 5764 - October 8, 2003 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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Home and Family


Fancy Succa Decorations
by Devora Piha

Inside the walls of the classroom, girls are busy at their tables working over their fancy Succa decorations. Metallic tape and scissors, glue and shiny paper, styrofoam and sequins are being passed around from hand to hand. Each grade has its special Succa project this year. Either the teacher brought in the example to follow or the girls designed their own eye catcher. An appropriate Succa verse is added and the project is finished.

READY-MADE KITS

Precut and ready-to-assemble packages of everything one requires to produce a stunning Succa decoration are available now. A large decorative kit may include a precut sixty centimeter styrofoam shape of a guitar or a large circle, royal blue or burgundy velvet material, gold cord, sequins and short pins, a package of self- hardening clay and stick- on letters of a verse extolling the joys of the festival.

An equally lovely kit may contain poster cutouts of the ushpizin in individual circles to be assembled on a circular velvet background. Once the circle is glued in place, one places little figures: a ladder, stones, the choshen, a striped robe, a mountain to represent Har Sinai and so on from cloth and self hardening clay. Silver cord is then wrapped around, framing each circle. Thicker silver cord is wrapped around the entire display, setting off the ilustration of the seven holy visitors to our Succa.

Colorful `matchsticks' to be glued around a circular frame will keep young children busy choosing colors to glue. In the center of the frame will be a poster photo of a Succa. The children will glue miniature pieces of green foliage in place and a few mosaic size rocks on the ground.

Some kits leave very little room for personal variations or individual taste. One merely assembles the works with glue and pins. Other kits require decisions. Either way, one pays for what one gets. Someone designed the decoration, worked out the idea from concept until completion, chose the color scheme, the materials and the type of impact the decoration will give off. Cultural backgrounds, taste or goals will influence style.

Conservative [in taste], modern, informative, educational or purely decorative, age appropriate or general for the family - - take your pick. Somebody did all the shopping and knew just what glue to use on which materials and which thickness of cord and tassel would be best. Another person behind the scenes stood for hours with a utility knife and cut out thirty giant styrofoam guitars in the shop, not an easy feat with several curves to maneuver. It is ready to buy and ready to assemble.

DO IT YOURSELF

There is no doubt that the finished piece will beautify any Succa and guests will be charmed by what they see. For those of you who want to put your own taste, style and signature into the decoration, here are a few tips on how to make your own gorgeous display. Schools that want to save money will benefit by making Succa projects from scratch under the guidance of a creative teacher.

Find an example of a Succa decoration you like.

Study it carefully, especially the materials used and how it is constructed. Note size and dimensions. Think out how you would change the texture, color, arrangement of words, the placement of the objects etc.

Imagine in your mind how you would like to see it. Would you prefer gold and silver instead of Kelly green and pink? Or vice versa? Is black velvet too dramatic for you or does it suit your idea of elegance?

Can the size be changed? Can you scale down a life-size guitar to twelve inches and keep it proportionately correct? Do you want your verses made from wooden letters, stick-on letters or sequins? Can you make your own letters from a stencil or cut out from a magazine or catalogue?

ARRAY OF MATERIALS

Have ready: sharp scissors, utility knife, white plastic and a glue gun.

Choose your base and foundation forms, be it construction board or styrofoam.

Choose material to cover the base: gold, silver, hologram design, colored, corrugated, velvet, crinkled foil, felt etc.

Choose tape and trim. Use sequins and pins, glitter, bells, beads, feathers, ribbon and stick-ons.

Choose strings, threads, ropes, yarn cord, trim.

Choose size, shape, material and style of letters.

Choose poster, illustrations etc.

Choose self-hardening clay, spray foam, plastaline-oil clay, mosaics, craft sticks etc.

PATTERNS

Are you ready to use a utility knife or scissors to cut styrofoam board or metallic papers? If so, let's begin.

We will make a simchadik viola or a guitar. I must admit that this is not an original idea. I took it from two kindergarten crafts supply stores in Geula that display sample craft ideas to inspire customers. Supplies are on sale in the shop. The original side is how you choose the materials such as colored papers and the overall design.

Once you have made the decison to begin, the fun will start. Begin with a pattern of the piece you will be using. Make the pattern free hand or by tracing it from an existing decoration or a real object, such as a real guitar or from a computer printout, a poster or other illustration of the object.

Craft and kindergarten stores may sell precut styrofoam shapes of shofars, apples, grapes, violas etc. Use this for your pattern or make a copy of the pattern. It may then be enlarged or reduced.

You will be expected to give the viola the look and decorative touches you like.

MATERIALS

PINK styrofoam board two centimeters thick or precut white styrofoam guitar shape. Utility knife, white plastic glue, sharp scissors, pencil. Thick metallic paper.

Decorative metallic tape two centimeters thick. Sequins, small pins. Metallic thread. Stencil for letters, decorative ornaments.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Cut out the pattern.

2. Place the pattern on pink styrofoam (not white) or on a ready-cut white styrofoam viola.

3. Trace the pattern on to the styrofoam.

4. With a sharp longish blade, cut out the styrofoam. Experiment with the most effective method of cutting for you. Cut on protective board. Heat the utility knife first. This cuts and melts the foam.

5. Trace the pattern onto a sheet of thick metallic board or paper. This will cover the top of the viola. Glue in place.

6. Cut out other functional or decorative pieces to mimic the look of the viola. Glue on.

7. Use small pieces of styrofoam to raise any pieces off the surface for a realistic look.

8. Glue on metallic strings and decorative touches.

9. Stencil out letters for the posuk on the back of the metallic sticky tape. Cut out, arrange, pin in place, then glue in place verses or words about the chag.

10. Cover the sides of the viola with stick-on metallic tape. Reinforce with small pins. Or -- cut out long strips of metallic paper and apply with glue and pins.

11. Attach a craft frame hook at the side of the viola and hang at an angle.

Cutting, gluing, measuring, fitting and assembling the materials is very satisfying. Producing a beautiful symphony of handiwork that uses a variety of materials is exciting. The end result is the hiddur mitzva.

You have embellished your Succa with the work of your hands.

Devora Piha is available for Succa projects, consultations and class plans for teachers, and classes for mothers and children alike in Ramat Bet Shemesh at 02-992-0501.

 

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