the vintage umbrella

paper sack bird's nests

2013-05-20T04:30:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you had a wonderful weekend... I can hardly believe that May is almost over. Next week is my last week of school! I will be starting kid's crafts on Fox 9 Monday June 3rd.
Last week we made paper sack bird's nests. Start by cutting off a couple inches off the top of a paper lunch sack. Fold the top over a couple times and squish it down to make a nest shape.

We glued in brown and cream paper crinkles for the sticks. To make the birds we glued 2 pompoms together and added feathers for the tails.

We finished them up by adding googly eyes and beaks.

They looked very cute on our mother's day bulletin board!

More birds! Have a crafty day!

Five for Friday

2013-05-17T04:30:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday! I can't believe May is half over... only 2 weeks left of school. I'm excited to have a little time off. I will be staying very busy with my 3 daughters. I will also be appearing almost every Monday morning on Fox 9 this summer. I will be sharing summer craft ideas... fun crafts to keep your kids busy!

I've been knitting dishcloths lately. I give them away as soon as I knit them up!

I just love these READ letters. I made them for Izzy's teacher... I may have to make some for my classroom too!

We've been doing lots of fun froggy activities this week...

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

2013-05-15T04:30:00.000-07:00

Hello friends! I wanted to let you know that I may not be posting as frequently in the next few months. I'm going to try to get 3 posts a week in... Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Nothing is wrong! Last time I missed a few days, I had all sorts of emails asking if everything was o.k. I am working on some really fun new projects which I will share with you soon.
Today, I'm going to answer a few questions that I get asked all the time!

1. "Do you craft every day?"
I absolutely do not craft every day. I usually do a whole bunch of crafting in one day, and then write my blog entries. It has become such a habit I can't imagine not doing it. I get so much pleasure from it.

2. "Where do you get your ideas?"
I have always been an idea person. They spill out of me. I am inspired by the seasons, art, colors, and the world around me. I get completely obsessed with ideas. I also love pinterest for that same reason... check out my boards here... http://pinterest.com/jenni_swenson1/boards/

3. "How do you have time to be creative?"
I can't not be! I make time for it because it's so important to me. I'm lucky to have friends who love to craft together. My favorite thing in the world is to knit and talk (I'm laughing to myself about that, but anyone who knows me, knows that it's a true statement).
If you have any more questions, I'm happy to answer them! Have a wonderful day!

April showers bring May flowers...

2013-05-14T04:30:00.000-07:00

Spring came late to Minnesota this year. We've had lots of snow, rain, and cold. We needed to bring a little spring into our classroom!
The first flower project I'm sharing is made with contact paper and tissue paper. Older students can cut their own flowers, but I cut them out for my preschoolers.

Students arranged their spring gardens on 1/2 of their contact paper. (Fold it in half first and it's easy to see the line).

They look beautiful on the windows with the light shining through. The day I took these was very cloudy!

The next flower project might be my favorite of the year. We were inspired by Picasso's flowers for this project. I traced each child's hands and cut out stems, ovals and petals.

We made a pod podged group project first and then the preschoolers each made their own.

Picasso would be proud!

Mason jar cards

2013-05-13T04:30:00.000-07:00

I just love Mason jars. There are so many cute uses for them. I've had the mason jar stamp set from papertrey ink for a few years, but just pulled it out to make some cards. If you want more card ideas, check out my pinterest board here... http://pinterest.com/jenni_swenson1/paper-crafts/
You can buy the mason jar set here... https://www.papertreyink.com/stamps/friendship-jar-fillers-stamp-set/

I made a background for the paintbrush card by coloring a piece of white cardstock with copic markers.

I love the simplicity of the flowers in a jar too...

Happy crafting!

Five for Friday

2013-05-10T04:30:00.000-07:00

It's Friday! I'm linking up here today... http://doodlebugsteaching.blogspot.com/
I had my fox 9 appearance last Saturday. I shared these cute ideas and a bunch more.

Are you ready for mother's day? I will be heading north for a soccer game. We will have Bob's mom with us too. I'm sure there will be a little celebrating too.

We read about birds in preschool this week. I thought these little bird's nests turned out very cute!

We also made these flower for mother's day gifts too. The preschoolers were so proud of their presents!

My youngest got confirmed on Sunday. We had a cinco de mayo party afterwards... lots of good food and great friends! Have a great weekend!

Organized mama

2013-05-09T04:30:00.000-07:00

Is your mama the organized type? I try to be... but it doesn't come naturally to me. Today's project are 4 cute little nesting boxes that can be used to corral all sorts of treasures. I got them at Michael's for around $5.

I spray painted them red and cut paper to fit the insides and around the edges.

I mod podged the paper to each box...

now they are ready to be filled with all sorts of treasures!

Here's another fun, easy idea. Take photos of your kids holding a sign... this is my niece and nephew last year. They held a sign that says "we love mommy"... I then framed the photo for her and had it waiting on the table for her birthday. Wouldn't it be cute for a grandma too?!

A little bird told me it's mother's day...

2013-05-08T04:30:00.000-07:00

Remember the free printables I shared with you last month? http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Newsprint-birds

Today's project is an "I love mom" banner made with the birds. You will need office supply manilla tags, ribbon and leftover fabric, and letter stickers. You also need to print the birds out on cardstock. They are free!

I glued a little scrapbook paper to each tag. Next I cut out the birds and added them to each tag with scotch 3D tape. I spelled out I love mom with stickers.

I can't tell you how much I love my mom. She has an amazing outlook on life. She coaches me through life's ups and downs. I can't imagine life without her.

Next I tied the tags onto some ribbon. I added streamers of ribbon and fabric scraps on each end.

Two of my three daughters modeled the finished product for me. It took lots of tries because they both love to make the dumbest faces for pictures. Ha!

I'm linking up here... http://www.ladybehindthecurtain.com/cast-party-wednesday-link-party-90/

Gardening mama

2013-05-07T04:30:00.000-07:00

Today's mother's day present is for a gardening mama. Everyone can use another watering can, right? Your kid's can help with this project!
I bought this watering can at WalMart for around $4.

The paper can be found here... http://www.jillibean-soup.com/retail/

I think Archiver's may have it, but I got mine at Craft's Direct.

Cut out the seed packets. Any other scrapbook paper would work for this too. I used outdoor modpodge for this project. If it gets wet, it won't ruin it.

I added 6 seed packets around the watering can.

Once they were adhered, I added a couple more layers of mod podge on top.

I made a little tag with one of the remaining seed packets.

A thrifty, useful gift for your gardening mama. A great teacher gift too!

vintage mama

2013-05-06T04:30:00.000-07:00

It's day one of my five days of mother's day gift ideas! Today's idea is for those mamas who love vintage stuff. I know there are lots of you out there. My mama is not one of them. But this present isn't for her anyways!
I found these 2 adorable pyrex dishes at an antique sale. I knew they were a perfect present for a pyrex loving friend.

I love that ruffled milk glass cake plate, it was my mother in law's!

To make the presentation cute, I used the book page bird's nests I made last month... http://jennicanknit.blogspot.com/2013/04/newspaper-nests.html. I added a little green raffia and a couple painted eggs...

tied it up with some ric rac...

and added a tag made out of my free bird printable found here... http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Newsprint-birds

Come back tomorrow for another easy mother's day idea!

You're Sweet!

2013-05-04T04:45:00.000-07:00

Good morning! I'm on Fox 9 this morning at 8:25! If you live in the Minneapolis area, I hope you will tune in. If you saw me this morning and you would like to see more crafty ideas, enter your email at the top of the page. You will get crafty emails from me a few times a week! You can also find me at pinterest here... http://pinterest.com/jenni_swenson1/boards/
This morning I shared teacher's appreciation and mother's day ideas. These are both so simple!
Gather up some baking mixes at the grocery store, add some sprinkles and frosting too.

Add a card that says "My teacher (or mom) is SWEET!"

I wrapped my package up in cellophane. I get mine at Michael's. Tie it up with a big bow and you are done!

The next idea is also just a couple steps. Buy a jar candle. I got mine at WalMart. Find some ribbon that you can wrap around the candle. I took the label off.

I made a simple little card to match the color scheme. You could ask your child to draw something too.

I added a little patterned paper to the top of the jar and it was done. If you like these ideas, come back next week for more mother's day ideas!

Five for Friday

2013-05-03T04:30:00.000-07:00

It's Friday! I'm going to have a busy weekend! I will be on Fox 9 Twin Cities tomorrow at 8:25. If you live in the Minneapolis area, I hope you will watch. I will be sharing teacher appreciation ideas, and mother's day ideas too.
I have another really simple teacher gift today. A great gift for teachers to give parent helpers too. I bought this darling Mason jar cup and straw at Walmart. I filled it with markers and voila, an adorable, useful gift!

I think my favorite thing I did at school this week was this handprint flower. The preschoolers helped me glue tissue paper onto a big circle and 2 leaf shapes. I traced their hands and added them around the edge with sticky tack.

We also planted seeds this week. What a mess. The preschoolers loved the poking and pouring. Hopefully we will have seedlings next week!

I've been decorating like crazy for my daughter's cinco de mayo Confirmation party on Sunday. I will share pictures of it soon!

Teacher appreciation idea: bird flower pot

2013-05-02T04:30:00.000-07:00

This gift is another quick and simple one for teacher appreciation. I will be on Fox 9 Twin Cities this Saturday at 8:25 a.m. If you live in the area I hope you will tune in! I gave this gift to our administrative assistant and she just loved it. Start out with a painted flower pot. I give directions for it here... http://jennicanknit.blogspot.com/2013/04/birdie-flower-pots.html

I bought garden gloves at Home Depot. I don't know about you, but I can never find them in the spring. I also tucked some seed packets inside...

The little bird's nests I made last month fit perfectly on top. I wrapped it all up in cellophane and attached a little bird tag...

which you can print out for free here... http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Newsprint-birds

Teacher Appreciation idea: gnome garden

2013-05-01T04:30:00.001-07:00

Are you ready for teacher appreciation week next week? I'm going to be sharing teacher ideas and mother's day ideas on Fox 9 Twin Cities Saturday morning at 8:25. If you live in the area, I hope you will tune in!
My first teacher appreciation idea would be great for mother's day too. I am in love with Fairy Gardens... you see all sorts of cute accessories to make them now. I decided to make gnome gardens after seeing these adorable garden gnomes at Wal Mart.

A wonderful lady at Holasek's nursery helped me design the garden and pick out the plants. I made it with children in mind... so I chose an inexpensive plastic pot. Gasp! Fill it up with good gardening soil...

Next you add the plants. I did a variety of herbs and flowering plants in mine. At Holasek's the fairy garden expert gave me some bags of wonderful different sized rocks to use. I bought the moss at Michael's. The little toadstools come from Holasek's nursery too.

The best part of the project was that my mom was visiting, and we made a couple for her too.

Adorable and functional! Do you like gnomes like I do? Check out my pinterest board here... http://pinterest.com/jenni_swenson1/garden-gnomes/

May Baskets part 2

2013-04-30T04:30:00.000-07:00

It's May Day tomorrow! Are you planning on making baskets with your kids? At preschool we are using tissue paper dots to make baskets out of paper cups. Simple and cute. I already had all the supplies!

We also made May baskets out of paper. We made tulips using cardstock, striped straws and paper leaves. We glued them together with tacky glue and let them dry face down on wax paper. Next we made little flowerpot shaped "baskets" by gluing around the bottom 3 sides, leaving the top open. When the preschoolers flowers dried, they could put them in the basket.

Simple and fun! Do you notice that my little 3 year olds are trying to write their names on their papers? They are so proud. I'm excited to have the summer off but I will miss those adorable little faces!

Come back tomorrow for teacher appreciation ideas!

Tissue paper May basket

2013-04-29T04:30:00.001-07:00

Did you have a good weekend? It's finally spring in Minnesota. I even put some pansies and tulips in my pots! After such a long winter, I appreciate this weather even more!
Do you remember celebrating May day when you were a kid? My girls and I used to make May baskets for all their little friends. Such a sweet celebration. This year I am going to share a really cute May basket that you might make for a grown up friend. A friend who appreciates your crafty amazingness. Start out with a paint can... someone gave me a gift in this one and I'm reusing it. You can get them at Michael's for a couple dollars.

I punch scalloped circles out of tissue paper and adhered them to the container with a little mod podge. Glue would probably work too. Wrap the tissue paper circle around the end of a pencil or paintbrush and stick it on.

It just looks like spring!

You could fill it with candy or maybe even some flowers.

Hang it on your friend's door and run!

Come back tomorrow for another may basket idea for the kids!

Five for Friday

2013-04-26T04:30:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday friends! It has been an unusually busy week for me at preschool. Lots of extra hours and early mornings... I'm ready for the weekend! We had a big snowstorm Monday, and beautiful spring weather yesterday. That's Minnesota for you! I packed up most of the snowboots and mittens from the back hall closet yesterday so hopefully spring has officially started!

Below is a picture of my daughters in front of the sorority house I lived in during college. My oldest daughter will be living there next year. It is pretty amazing to share that experience with her. When we left North Dakota Sunday, it was snowing like crazy.

I shared a new flannelboard story with the preschoolers this week. White Rabbit's Color Book perfectly illustrates color mixing... the bunnies jump into the pots of paint and come out different colors.

Magic!

Speaking of magic, what's better than new playdough? We got a big donation of the brightly colored playdough this week and the kids are in heaven!

I'm working on these swedish fish mittens... they are addictive. Tiny yarn and needles...

Are you making May baskets this year? I've got a couple cute ones to share with you next week!

Rice and beans are in the sand table. Shaking, pouring, spilling, digging. Such fun! Have a wonderful weekend!

Spring cardmaking

2013-04-25T04:30:00.000-07:00

I recently got to spend hours making cards with friends. I don't know what is more fun than sitting around crafting with girlfriends.

The compliments are flying across the table as we cut, stamp and glue...

every card is admired and passed around. Such an ego booster! Ha!

This is an old papertrey ink set from a few years ago.

I had fun stamping on old book pages too...

I left with a big pile of cards and a big smile on my face!

Little knit Robin

2013-04-24T04:30:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things to knit are little toys. I don't know why... I just get a kick out of them. I just finished an adorable knit robin. The pattern is a free one by Susan B. Anderson found here... http://petitepurls.com/Summer11/summer2011_p_fatrobin.html

We have had horrible spring weather the last few weeks in Minnesota. I have seen flocks of robins looking for a place to nest. I don't ever remember seeing so many of them together at once.

The cleverest thing about this pattern are the 3 little eggs. They tuck very neatly under the birds tail. My preschoolers were very interested in the tucking and untucking.

The author of the pattern has just released a new book... full of amazing toys that you can turn inside out... can't wait to knit a few up!

More Eric Carle ideas...

2013-04-23T04:30:00.000-07:00

One of my preschoolers favorite things is when I read stories with "props". While reading the Hungry Caterpillar I used a sock for a puppet and cut out shapes of the food from the books. As I told the story, the caterpillar "ate" the food through the holes. I found this cute set on teachers pay teachers.

I made a giant version of the butterfly with paper and tissue paper. I had the best time recreating the colors and shapes.

We also made a flower inspired by the book The Tiny Seed.

We aren't having any kind of spring at all, so it was fun to make some flowers to brighten up the hall.

The last Eric Carle project we did was The Grouchy Ladybug. I was lazy and bought the ladybugs at the teacher store. We added red and white polka dot tissue paper to them and black details. Only one kid would make his ladybug grouchy though...

I hope your Tuesday isn't grouchy!

Preschool Very Hungry Caterpillars

2013-04-22T04:30:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday! Did you have a good weekend? My family got to attend my daughter Hannah's sorority event Saturday night. It was such a nice event... we had fun dancing all night! Hannah is a Delta Gamma just like I was which couldn't make me happier.

One of my favorite children's books is The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. I love the cheerful bright illustrations, and I remember my girls poking their little fingers through the holes as the caterpillar eats his way through the book. I decided to make a great big hungry caterpillar to hang on my bulletin board in the hall...

My preschoolers finger painted circles and ovals with green and yellow paint. We looked at the amazing textures in Eric Carle's work to get inspired.

Below are my niece and nephew lying next to it on the floor!

I bought a package of circles at Michael's that we used for a smaller version of the caterpillar. We finger painted them red and green, let them dry and glued them together.

We added little brown feet, purple feelers, big eyes and a nose. They turned out so cute!

Come back tomorrow for more Eric Carle ideas!

Five for Friday

2013-04-19T04:30:00.000-07:00

It's Five for Friday! It is soooo cold and snowy here in Minnesota. My family is heading up to Grand Forks to see our college daughter this weekend. It will be even colder and snowier there! I've heard that we are going to see spring weather next week but I'll believe it when I see it.
We have been reading Eric Carle activities this week at preschool. I've been retelling the story with a sock puppet and some fun food props.

We made flowers inspired by The Tiny Seed.

I filled jars with nests and eggs...

and made a banner using my free bird printable found here... http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Newsprint-birds

I started a flannel version of The Greedy Bee...

Happy Weekend!

Vintage favorites...

2013-04-18T04:30:00.000-07:00

Do you like to collect stuff? Last weekend I got to hit a few junk stores with my friends. When I moved last summer, I really pared down my collections. I managed to hang on to a few of my favorites...
Pyrex is one of my faves. You can almost always find it at antique stores and sometimes even Goodwill!

Milk glass is another favorite. Goodwill almost always has that too. I have a girlfriend who just started collecting it.

Vintage tins and enamelware... you can hide junk inside!

Fireking primrose pattern... I once bought an entire box full at a garage sale. I keep my eyes open for little pieces I don't have.

Vintage children's books... love, love, love.

Have you gotten your free bird printables yet? You can find them here... http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Newsprint-birds

Bird's nests and eggs in a Mason jar...

2013-04-17T04:30:00.000-07:00

Today's project was inspired by these 2 big mason jars that I bought at Michael's. I think they were $4. I had never seen that large size before and I new they would be fun to use for centerpieces and decorating.

I used my newsprint nests and robin's eggs from last week for this project.

First I layered the bottom with some green sisal that I had from another project.

Next came the little nests. I had to squeeze them a little to put them inside.

I added eggs to the top of the jar...

I adhered scrapbook paper with double stick tape for the lid. That way I can take it off for the next project.

Finished!

Bird mantel

2013-04-16T04:30:00.000-07:00

Welcome back... today I'm sharing my bird mantel. It's just what I needed to make the house look like spring!

The printables for the birds are found here...

the best part is that they are free!!

No, I didn't make the number tins... I got them at Michael's a long time ago.

I added little clothespins just for cuteness...