Into the Woods

I grew up in a small town in Minnesota close to the North Shore of Lake Superior.  Most of my childhood was spent outdoors in the woods and water.  Like may of us from generations past (not that many though), building forts, climbing trees and mud pies were mainstay activities when in search of something to do.  These activities are something that I feel made me the nature loving person I am today and my husband and I want to be sure to instil this in our kids (especially since we live in the city).
This past weekend we spend the day in my husband's old stomping grounds on a mission to plant hundreds of White Pine trees on his families land (you can check out more about White Pine Reforestation here).  While he did most of the work, the kids and I discovered some of the beauty that nature has to offer in the Springtime in Minnesota.

 And of course, with all that fresh air, we all slept really well that night :)

The Family

Tamarack Tree

Trees, Pond, Sunset

Moss Tree

Caterpillar

Moss on fence post

Front Step Greeting DIY {Hello, Goodbye}

Hello! FINALLY the snow has melted here in Minnesota (aka the frozen tundra) and our yard is looking up.  The lawn has been mowed for the first time and a few new plants have been added to my two existing flower beds.  I even filled the planter on the front steps with a few varieties of leafy vines and bright blooming varieties.   All this freshening up reminded me that I have to share this fun Front Step Greeting DIY with you. I have had quite a few tutorial requests due to our house tour over on Houzz so thanks for your patience while I put this together.

 Last year our front step was in need of an updating.  The concrete was chipped, warn and dingy.  It was a bit of an eye sore and in need of some freshening up since it is the first thing anyone sees as they visit our home.  It turned out to be a really great, low cost way to update and personaize our entry.

Materials:
1. Concrete Stain (I used Behr brand from Home Depot) two colors
2. Paper and Printer (to make own stencils) Or pre made stencils are available from a craft or hardware store or online (I used the moroccan stecil from stensilease.com here)
3.  Foam Paint Brush (for letter details)
4.  Paint roller (for solid portion)
5.  Foam roller (for stencil)


Here we go...
First, I prepared the concrete.  You can use the directions on the concrete stain for more detail since you will need to prepare differently weather your surface is currently coated or uncoated (info. here)

Next, I applied the stain with a roller directly to the prepared surface (solid area). Once dry I applied an additional coat to be sure the surface was eavenly coated.

  As you can see in the above picture, I used a pattern for the stoop and the run of the steps.  To achieve this, I purchased this morrocan stencil from stencilease.com.  I laid the stencil on the surface, then used a foam roller to apply the stain directly over the top of the stencil.  Once coated, I moved the stencil so that the one row of the pattern was on top of the most recently painted portion.  This made it easier to line up my pattern.  I kept overlapping the pattern until the entire area was painted.  Be sure to not move the stencil or it may smudge your pattern.

Once the solid area was dry (after 2 coats of stain) I stenciled the words "hello." and "goodbye." on opposite sides of the walkway to welcome friends.  This was the most fun part of the project because I wanted to be sure that it was unique to my house and families personality.  To be sure, I customized my own greeting stencils.

How to make your own stencil.  
First I found a free font that I liked (dafont.com had great free options).  Then I downloaded it and scaled the size to fit my front step area.  As you can see in the below picture I scaled it quite large (2 letters per page).
Then I used an exacto knife to cut out each letter.
Once it was all cut out, I placed the full word on the already painted concrete surface and taped it down.  

I traced each letter with a pencil (instead of painting on top of the stencil) to be sure that my edges were clear.  I also wanted to make sure I liked the spacing of the letters before I started painting.

Finally, I used a small foam paintbrush to paint the letters by hand in a contrasting concreted stain.
Tip: Since I only need a small amount of this contrasting stain I just purchased a sample.

Yay, fresh and personal.  And as you can see (from my instagram photos), a lot of great memories are made on our front steps.
I hope you have a great time creating your own Front Step Greetings!

Do it for MOM

Hi Friends!  Mothers Day is ugh, in 2 days and hopefully you are prepared.  Even if any of the Mothers in your life say they "don't want anything"  you will totally gain some extra points (which you will need down the road) with a little something special.  Maybe a simple hand made Glazed Lemon Cake, a hand made card or (for big time points) a trip to Casa Verde Design  in Minneapolis to get her something from my Pop Up Shop AND a piece of that Glazed Lemon Cake that I was talking about.
It just so happens that Susan Brunn one of the 3 partners at Casa Verde Design has used this fantastic recipe from Simon Pearce to bake  this yummy fresh Lemon Cake and man it is good.  So get here before I eat it all it's gone.
Here are a few peaks of what you will find here.  See you soon!

+Pop Up Open Thurs. & Fri. May 9-10th 9-5, Sat. May 11th 10-2. more details here.

And to the Mothers in my life, let me just say THANK YOU.  I appreciate you now more than ever as a Mother myself it is the most difficult, non rewarding, sometimes rewarding, amazing, stressful, amazing job anyone in the history of mankind has ever had.  For that...Enjoy it because you DESERVE IT MOMMA!

Spring Planting

Even though it may not look or feel like it outside, it won't be long and we will be spending a lot of time outdoors, immersing our hands in the warm soil in hopes of having a bountiful garden this Summer.  Growing up with fresh veggies from the garden I haven't forgotten the fact that the taste and nutrients are so much better straight from the garden (have you ever tasted a cucumber straight from the garden? Mmmmm, no comparison to the store) and this is the year we get to share that unforgettable joy with our little ones.
Spring planting has begun in the Jensen household, indoor of course and I am getting Avery and Q involved in the incredible and educational planting process.  Our plans of colorful bell peppers, unique heirloom tomatoes and sweet peas straight off the vine are in full swing...now if the snow would just melt. 

We started our seeds in recycled egg cartons that we have been saving.

I purchased some soil formulated specifically for starting seeds.  It says it helps with root growth.  I guess we will see how it works.

After following the planting instructions on the seed packages we gently watered each seed with  little droppers to be sure to not disturb the seeds too much when watering.

Finally, our seeds are planted and will be stored in a warm spot (on the top of our refrigerator) out of the sun until we start to see green popping out of the soil.

This is my first year starting seeds indoors.  Do you have any tips?

Droolin' Over Druzy

You know, Druzy, like a coating of fine crystals on a rock fracture surface, vein or within a vug or geode (thanks wikipedia).  Oh yeah, this love for natural rock started at an early age.   One of my families pastimes was to search the local gravel pit for agates and other unique stones.  We spent hours walking endlessly with our heads down.  At age 8 I received a rock tumbler for Christmas and our rough treasures were slowly turned into shiny wearable jewels. 
I didn't do much with the stones after that.  Except for occasionally coming across a unique rock and secretly putting it in my pocket for later.
Well, a couple years ago my hubby and I took a trip to see a friend in Arizona and a stop at a local gift shop with a beautiful selection of natural, hand carved druzy rings which reignited my love for stones, in their natural state.   Ever since then I have been in love with that stunning cobult blue ring...enter my beautiful jewelry loving daughter.  It seems that she liked the ring as well and somehow lost it in one of her seceret "dress like Mommy" games.  Now I am on the hunt for my beautiful replacement ring.  Along the way I have become obsessed with earrings, necklaces and just about anything druzy. So, these babies are all in the running. 

1. Lux Divine  2.  Made for Margaret   3.  House of Stonez  4. Delezhen Handmade Jewelry  5. Rocked Jewelry



You may have noticed that this rough stone obsession has runneth over to my home decor and styling too.  Just can't get enough.

Natural stones make beautiful accents in your planters.  Can you spy the the pyrite stone in this succulent planter?

Not hard to see why this has become an obsession.  Do you have a favorite?

Painted Feather DIY

This is one of my favorite projects to do with my daughter.  We have so much fun blowing the feathers at each other and getting covered in mixed paint, lots of giggles ensue.  None the less, they always turn out perfectly imperfect.  There isn't a right or wrong way to paint the feathers because the beauty is in the uniqueness of each feather itself and each brush stroke paints on a special touch.
There are so many uses for these little beauties,  I have strung them together with clear fishing line as a garland and used them to adorn presents, hung as room decor and if you have ordered one of my Mini Treasure Pots you have likely received one of these special little feathers inside.  So, here is how we make them.

Materials:
Feathers (I cut open an old down pillow)
Acrylic Paint
Paint Brush (any kind, we used a very inexpensive one)
Water (to rinse the brush)

 Now, lets get to work.

And Voila! Perfectly imperfect!

What would you use these fun feathers for?

Spring is Here

In my own mind the new year basically starts off in anticipation of Spring.  Winter here in Minnesota is loooooong and although I have lived my whole life in this beautiful state I yearn for Summer about 9 months out of the year.
 I am happy to say that this weekend I photoed the Wind & Willow Home Spring 2013 line.  It seems that it has become my cure for Spring fever.  The new products have been slowly arriving and this past weekend and I have been adding them to the shop but the official launch of the new products for Spring will be March 1st.   
One of my favorite parts of having a shop is portraying my vision through photos and this Spring is the best yet.  I am bubbling over with excitement for the fun mix of brights, muted and a little metallic shimmer mixed in. 
Here is a little collage of some sneak peeks from Instagram.

How about you, do you have a go to cure for Spring fever?