Some years Sukkot falls in late October. One year when it did, Batman came to my sukkah. So today when I received an email advertisement about Halloween costumes from Michaels craft store I thought about the crossover aspect of COSTUMES. Halloween costumes are on sale now. They’ll be marked down on November first. But that is still months before Purim. So now is the time to ponder your – and your children’s – Purim costume.
The American marketplace doesn’t plan for Jewish holidays so you have to be on your toes to pick up items when they are available.
Fall offers some other creative options. Sukkot is an autumn harvest festival. Right now you can buy all sorts of harvest themed items that can be used to decorate your sukkah. Traditionally a sukkah is festooned with fruit, but wasting food isn’t a good practice. So use artificial fruit. I’ve found lots of it at craft stores. My daughter-in-law pointed out some beautiful artificial apples and then moved on to colorful decorative butterflies – we bought them both. I found a kit to make an autumn wreath of paper flowers and converted them to a string of flowers to hang in my sukkah.
Keep your eyes open all year for things you can use for a Jewish holiday. Think out-of-season! For example, I buy my sukkah light strings in the hardware store after Christmas when they are greatly marked down. (They begin life as Christmas tree lights.)
Tell me about your innovative Jewish DIY ideas!