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Monday, April 30, 2012

DIY Birds Jigsaw Puzzle | Gör-det-själv: Fågelpussel


Ok, so this is a different kind of crafting. Each Sunday (almost), I bring twelve five-year-olds into the woods close to where we live, to hold a two hour session where we play and learn about nature. My Swedish readers might have guessed what this is about - yes, I am a "Skogsmullefröken". This is a totally Swedish concept I think, that has been exported to some other countries as a very exotic thing. 

In Sweden, you has the right to move around almost as you want in nature, as long as you follow the rules - don't disturb, don't destroy! (If you're interested in learning more about this public access to nature, read more here.) 

When I bring the kids out, it's a real challenge getting them to listen. So we end up playing a lot instead. Yesterday we searched for (and found plenty of!) ants, and the week before we had a bird theme. Since I like to laminate stuff, I had then made a simple jigsaw puzzle to get the kids to see the difference between birds that are common around here.


I printed out pictures of birds and cut them in half. Then I laminated the pieces. I attached the top pieces to a tree with clothes pins and put all of the bottom pieces in my "secret bag". The kids got to pick a piece from the bag (without looking), and had to find the matching piece in the tree. When they returned to me with both pieces they needed to tell me the name of the bird, and we talked briefly about what it looked like/ate/looked like flying and so on. 

This is super easy, almost too easy for a five year old, but they loved this all the same. It doesn't have to be that advanced sometimes.


Do you recognize all of the birds?



And when looking for real birds, we used our special homemade bird binoculars (You need: two toilet rolls and one rubber band.). Also a complete success!

I think this is a beginning of a new feature on this blog, I will sometimes post things that I and the kids have done in the woods. Do you want to read about that?

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Summary in Swedish: På söndagarna är jag en Skogsmullefröken! Tolv femåringar, jag och en hjälpledare är i skogen och leker och lär oss om naturen runt omkring oss. Eftersom det är svårt att få alla att lyssna samtidigt leker vi massor, och jag använder min pysselådra för att skapa saker vi kan använda. 


Igår letade vi myror och förra veckan hade vi fågeltema. Då hade jag gjort det superenkla fågelpusslet ovan. För lätt för en femåring kanske, men de älskade det! Och vi passade på att i flykten prata om skillnader mellan olika fåglar. En fågelkikare fick de göra var också. 


Det här är nog första inlägget om skogspyssel, men jag tror det blir fler. Om ni vill läsa?

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Five children's book storage solutions | Fem sätt att förvara barnböcker

This week I've, as usual, selected five pictures that I've pinned on Pinterest, and since we are redecorating the boys' rooms I am totally into storage of kids' stuff. And we have a LOT of children's books! So I present to you - five awesome ideas for the storing of children's books:

From Vintage
A really good use of a dead corner.

From Sunshine on the inside
Believe it or not, these shelves are made out of vinyl rain gutters!

From On the banks of Squaw Creek, via Babble
Isn't this clever? Great for small spaces, or if you like to rearrange your furniture a lot. No marks on the wall! See how she did it here.

From House of fifty
Who wouldn't want a book tree?

From Dejligheter, via Apartment Therapy
And - I've saved the best for last - this fantastic idea that I'm totally going to copy for baby I's room. A library style drawer-turned-into-book storage! I love it! This way of displaying books is perfect for babies and toddlers, and this looks so much nicer than the Ikea boxes we have had in A's room. I'm so going to construct one of these, pictures will come!

Follow me on Pinterest here!

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Summary in Swedish: Den här veckan delar jag med mig av bilder och idéer kring barnboksförvaring! Titta och inspireras! Följ mig på Pinterest här!

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

A knitted Yllet scarf | En stickad Yllet-halsduk



My favorite scarf is one that I've knitted years ago with yarn and a pattern from Yllet, the fantastic yarn store in Gotland that is - very sadly! - now about to close. This scarf is warm and soft, and huge! 120 x 20 inches, or 3 m x 50 cm! It's perfect on cold days, and it can double as a blanket or even a throw.


I have bought so much yarn from Yllet in the past, the very first thing with a more advanced pattern and several colors that I knitted was a pair of Yllet mittens for my sister when I was twelve. I couldn't figure all parts of the pattern out, but since it was to be a Christmas gift I didn't want my mom to know either. Instead I went to the Yllet store every now and then, and the nice lady in the store helped me with my knitting questions. The finished mittens looked something like in this picture (only more wobbly looking):

From Yllet
If you are a knitter, and happen to be in Visby, or in Stockholm (but hurry, their Stockholm store closes tomorrow!), I strongly recommend you to stock up on their yarn and knitting kits. I think you can still shop on their web site as well. I will certainly buy the material for the scarf below, it's lovely and I really like how the colors shift.

From Yllet

The scarf above is way more advanced than the one I knitted already though. That pattern seem to be out of stock, but it's so simple that you don't really need one. I used their regular 100 % Gotlandic wool and knitted the whole thing in garter stitch on large sized needles.

Happy knitting!


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Summary in Swedish: Yllet är ett av mina favoritställen när det gäller att köpa yllegarn och mönster! Men nu stänger de sina butiker... Mycket sorgligt, men skynda skynda, än finns det tid att handla! Gå till deras hemsida, eller besök Stockholmsbutiken (idag - de stänger i morgon!) eller butiken i Visby som stänger efter sommaren.


Min favorithalsduk har jag köpt garn och mönster till hos Yllet. Den är fantastisk, varm och mjuk och tre meter lång. Hurra!

Friday, April 20, 2012

DIY Easy gift wrapping with flags | Gör-det-själv: Enkel presentinslagning med vimplar


I like flags. Sometimes I don't have much pretty wrapping paper.

These two facts don't seem to have anything to do with each other, but sometimes they can be combined. Like in this easy gift wrapping idea I got when I was to wrap a present for my soon-to-be-two year-old nephew. Regular brown parcel paper, and some paper scraps. Easy peasy. Congratulations (GRATTIS in Swedish...) B!

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Summary in Swedish: Ibland har man inte tillräckligt mycket snyggt presentpapper. Detta faktum kombinerat med min faiblesse för vimplar ledde till denna idé. Brunt paketpapper och småbitar av trevligt papper gav ett snyggt vimpelpaket, perfekt för en blivande tvååring.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

DIY Baby food jar vases | Gör-det-själv: Vaser av barnmatsburkar


I saw the paint-dipped baby food jars over at Oh happy day some time ago, and I knew it was the perfect project for me, since we are simply overloaded with empty baby food jars.

I dipped the jars in paint (harder than I thought to get it smooth), and planted tiny crocuses and daffodils in them. Hey presto - a spring installation!

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Summary in Swedish: Jag har planterat små krokusar och påskliljor i färgdoppade barnmatsburkar. Idéen kommer från Oh happy day!

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

The knitted baby hat Estelle | Den stickade babyhättan Estelle


It is still a bit chilly outside, so I knitted a baby hat that ties under the baby's chin and doesn't fall off all the time. Yay! I used Maja Karlsson's free pattern for the baby bonnet Estelle, found here (in English and Swedish). It is for a newborn, but after a few re-makes and mistakes, I managed to enlarge it to fit baby I who is now 8 months (but big as a 1 year old...).

I used as always the Hillesvåg Superwash, a 4-ply machine washable Norwegian 100 % worsted wool bought here, and the ribbon is from M&J Trimming in New York. The project turned out pretty well, I think.



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Summary in Swedish: Jag har stickat babyhättan Estelle till I, och eftersom mönstret är för 0-3 månader har jag ändrat det så att det passar storleken 8 mån-1 år. Det tog några försök, men till slut blev den bra! Originalmönstret är skapat av Maja Karlsson och kan hämtas här.

Monday, April 16, 2012

Five kinds of fabric I pinned on Pinterest | Fem tyg jag markerat på Pinterest

I am always searching for nice fabric. I like it colorful, fun, and clear. Here are some of my favorites that I've found lately!
From Simply Grove
Lotta Jansdotter is super talented (and Swedish! I think.) and have launched Echo, a great new fabric collection a couple of months ago. Read more about her here.

From Katherine Codega on Etsy
These ones are made for me. I swear. They have the greatest color scheme going on. I'd like to make more art caddies of them, or maybe finally a needle caddy for me? I simply couldn't make anything that I had to give away though. I want to look at these colors and patterns everyday.

From How About Orange
And these are great! Look at the colors, the design! The wonderful Outside Oslo fabric line by designer Jessica Jones is stunning, and would make great tote bags as shown at Purl Bee. Who has a few of the Outside Oslo fabrics ON SALE. Buy now!


From Purl Soho
From Purl Soho
I couldn't choose, so here are two kinds of fabric from Robert Kaufman's City Centre line. For the kids and for me.

From The Humble Nest
The Humble Nest lists 30 Great Places to buy fabric online, they have great sources and even if you don't want to get your fabric online it's really exciting browsing through it all.

Help me out. What would you make of the fabric above? And what are your fabric favorites?

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Summary in Swedish: Den här veckan listar jag några fantastiska tyger och ett tips på var man kan hitta tyger på nätet. Om man inte vill handla tyg från utlandet kan man alltid inspireras! Och mycket kan man ju hitta här hemma också.

Vilka är era favorittyger? Och vad skulle ni göra av tygerna ovan? Idéer?

Sunday, April 15, 2012

DIY The most simple Hama bead coaster ever | Gör-det-själv: Världens enklaste pärlplatte-glasunderlägg


Remember that I was planning to make Hama bead coasters? Well, I haven't got round to that yet. But I left A, 5 years old, with the Hama beads for a few minutes, and he designed this colorful coaster for his dad. Sometimes the simplest things are the best. I am not sure my probably over-designed coasters would have been a better choice.




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Summary in Swedish: Ett glasunderlägg designat och tillverkat av min femåring blev ursnyggt och förmodligen minst lika stiligt som de något över-designade underläggen jag planerade att göra.

Friday, April 13, 2012

DIY Paper peonies, with tutorial | Gör-det-själv: Pioner i papper, med instruktion


It's raining. Again. And I have finally realized that spring won't come this year. What a shame. But what to do if not take matters in own hands, and create some spring inside? So today I'm making paper flowers.

There are a million tutorials for how to make paper flowers online, and here is one more... This is a real easy one that still creates beautiful flowers though, so I highly recommend it. Here goes:


You will need:
Tissue paper in two colors. You need enough to make three squares that are 15 x 15 cm (6 x 6 inches) in each color. I used one 50 x 70 cm (20 x 28 inches) paper and cut it in six squares.
Green crêpe paper (2,5 cm/1 inch wide)
Paper glue
Wire


Put the three squares in each color on top of each other. Fold in half (each color separately).


Fold again.


And fold again.


And fold to a cone shape.


Cut the base petals like this.


Cut the upper petals like this.


Unfold (but do not flatten!) the petals. Starting with the base ones - one layer at a time - connect with a little glue dot in the middle. Put the upper petals on top of the base ones, one layer at a time.


Press with your fingers at the glued area, shaping the petals like an umbrella. Take a wire piece (this will be the stem) and insert through the glue. Form a small hook at the end inside the flower to prevent it from slipping out (I have no pictures of this, but you'll get it, right?). Keep pressing with your fingers until the glue is dry(ish).


Take a new piece of wire and twist it tightly where the flower meets the stem. Continue twisting the wire down the entire stem.


Carefully separate each layer, forming the shape of the flower.


Cut a 2,5 cm (1 inch) wide piece of the crêpe paper. Twist it tightly around where the flower meets the stem, use a little glue to secure it. Continue wrapping the entire stem. Secure at the end with a little glue.


 Done!

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Summary in Swedish: Idag har jag gjort papperspioner. De är enkla att göra, och vackra! 


Du behöver silkespapper i två färger (tre fyrkanter om 15x15 cm i varje färg), grönt crêpepapper (en remsa som är 2,5 cm bred), papperslim och ståltråd. Lägg ihop fyrkanterna i varje färg separat och vik som på bilderna ovan. Klipp de yttre kronbladen som den rosa mallen och de inre som den vita mallen. Följ bildinstruktionerna, säg gärna till om något är oklart! Lycka till!



Tuesday, April 10, 2012

The Felt Cat | En katt i filt


When I found the book KUL med tyger at my parents' house this Christmas, I recognized it at once. It might not look all that special, but I clearly remember reading it over and over again as a kid, dreaming of all projects I would do one day. I don't know why I didn't try any of the projects then, at least I don't remember doing so.

Anyway, the thing I remembered most clearly was that I planned to make a grey and white felt cat. So, almost 35 years later, the dream came true... The cat is here! Better late than never. It was easy to make and is really cute, as long as you don't look too closely at the stitching. And baby I loves it.

Now I'm ready for more, I have already bought the fabric to make a lion, and the giant ballon felt owl in the book is also tempting. I'll keep you posted.


KUL med tyger from Wezäta Förlag (1978)
It is translated to Swedish from English, but it doesn't say what the original title is. Does anyone recognize it? There are several books in the same series, about crafting with paper, yarn, clay, and so on.

The tutorial and pattern. Super instructive and clear, I wish I could find more books today that look like this.
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Summary in Swedish: När jag hittade boken KUL med tyger hos mina föräldrar i julas, mindes jag hur jag bläddrat igenom den som barn. Jag planerade bl a att göra en grå och vit katt i filt, men det blev aldrig av. Förrän nu! Tada, 35 år senare är katten klar. Bättre sent än aldrig, eller? Någon som känner igen boken, eller hade någon av de andra böckerna i serien?

Monday, April 9, 2012

Five things made of Hama beads I pinned last week | Fem saker av rörpärlor från Pinterest förra veckan

I admit it, I got somewhat inspired by my Hama bead Easter eggs. These plastic pearls are really the best, and if you need a project for kids they are also perfect. I realized I have collected Hama bead ideas for some time, and here are a few I have pinned on Pinterest.

Follow me on Pinterest!

From Mini eco
Lovely candle holder.

From fine little day
A nice collection of 70s' Hama bead baskets, read more about them in Fine Little Day's Lucky guest post here.

From Craft and Creativity
I will definitely make these! I have seen this idea in several places, but Helena at Craft and Creativity makes the nicest looking ones. And she has the nicest looking tutorial.

By Superskurk, via Amio
Isn't this baby mobile the cutest thing? It has a sun above it as well, fun!

From Flores de Celofán
We will make Hama bead coasters for summer. And nothing says summer like a storm trooper, right?

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Summary in Swedish: Den här veckans Pinterest-tema är pärlplattepärlor, eller rörpärlor som de egentligen heter. Låt er inspireras! 

DIY Hama Bead Easter Eggs | Gör-det-själv: Påskägg av pärlplattepärlor


Anyone up for a really small almost-too-late Easter project? It's always good to be prepared in advance for next year, or maybe the kids are bored and need an easy project?

This morning I made some Hama bead decorations for my Easter tree, or "påskris" in Swedish (read all about this great Swedish tradition, with an American twist, at Aunt Peaches). Super easy, and done in a flash. These babies can be varied indefinitely when it comes to colors and pattern. I used beads in the ordinary midi size, ironed them, and hung the eggs with sewing thread (since I was out of ribbons). Done!

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Summary in Swedish: Sugen på ett sista minuten-påskpyssel? Gör ägg till påskriset av pärlplattepärlor. Busenkelt, och ett bra projekt för barn. Man kan använda samma mall och variera sig i det oändliga. Jag hängde upp dem med vanlig sytråd, men ett smalt band går också bra.

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Happy Easter! | Glad påsk!


YAY - the Easter bunny came to our house yesterday, and hid the eggs in the garden (in the snow...). There were Easter eggs for everyone - candy-filled for the most of us, but with corn sticks (aka "majskrokar") for the baby. Happiness for everyone.

Happy Easter!

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Summary in Swedish: Påskharen kom till oss igår! Med påskägg till alla, godis i massor blev det, och majskrokar till I.


Glad påsk!