Create Your Own DIY Valentine Tree

If you have branches, a vase, Valentine craft supplies and a glue gun, you can quickly create a Valentine Tree for your home or Valentine Event. I enjoyed creating the ornaments of this tree with the help of my 8 year old son and his friends.  They created the ideas and I took care of the glue gun. Fun was had by all of us.

Create your own Valentine Tree.

Cupcake liner Valentine ornaments

Tie-dye Doilies. All you need are watercolors!

Rick-Rack Heart Ornament

Tie-Dye Heart

Candy Heart Ornament. What you need: 2 candy hearts, 2 cutout paper hearts and 8 inches of yarn.

Valentine Cupcake Liner Ornaments. What you need: 2 cupcake liners, 4 cotton balls, 6 inches ribbon, glue gun.

Easy Valentine Art For Your Home

I love changing the artwork in my home every holiday. Here are 2 simple, inexpensive ideas for Valentines Day that YOU can make at home.

LOVE Art. Draw 4 squares and the letters with pencil on an 8x10 piece of paper. Have your kids (or you) paint the squares using different colors. Supplies: Frame, Paper, Pencil, Watercolors.

Candy Heart Art. I bought an inexpensive frame and used my hot glue gun to glue on 12 candy hearts. Easy!

Valentine Crafting with Kids

Valentines Day is coming soon so I grabbed Charlie and his friends Ellie and Kate and we spent an afternoon making cards, containers and ornaments for our Valentine Tree. I love the creativity the kids have. Paper, water colors, ribbon, hearts and a glue gun goes a long way!

Sandra Began Launching Charity Shopping Event to Benefit The Building for Kids Children's Museum.

I am launching The Spring Fling Shopping Event to help raise funds for the Building for Kids Children's Museum in Appleton, Wisconsin.  The charity shopping event will be held at the Building for Kids on Monday, April 23, 2012 from 12:00 - 7:00pm.  

After a successful 3rd year of my Holiday Preview Event in October of 2011, which has over 800 shoppers and has raised  close to $15,000 for 2 of my favorite local charities, Bundle Up Kids and The Miracle League of the Fox Valley, I thought what a great way to help the museum raise funds to enhance exhibits and the educational programming and what an easy and fun way to promote my artist and retailer friends to our community.

I am a proud museum Member and Board Member and have enjoyed hours of fun and learning at the museum with Jack and Charlie so having the event benefit the museum is a natural choice.

Over 45 artists and vendors will showcase their creations at the museum and feature spring goods for Mom, Baby, Kids, Teachers and you! You will find unique gifts, jewelry, home decor, fashion, bath and body and oh so much more!

Tickets are $10 in advance/$15 at the door

100% of the proceeds will benefit enhancing exhibits and programming at the Children's Museum

To learn more about the event or if you are interested in exhibiting, visit www.springflingevent.com.

Fresh Berries and Boughs 101

I love decorating with different types of fresh berries and greens. You can create a designer look in minutes by mixing in any of my favorites to your planters, garland or containers.  All of the beautiful berries and boughs below can be purchased at The Wreath Factory in Menasha or Plymouth, Wisconsin or at your local florist or greenhouse.

WINTERBERRY: stems of bright beautiful red berries add color to planters.

PORT ORFORD CEDAR: short needles with graceful blue-green color and wonderful scent. Hang in a chandelier, drape on mantle or add to planters for a soft, whispy look.

INCENSE CEDAR: yellow buds at tips of boughs. Tuck into faux garland to add color and texture.

BERRIED JUNIPER: scented, silvery durable greenery with blue berries.

ROSE HIPS: Orange and red large berries are a festive addition to wreaths and arrangements.

FRESH MAGNOLIA: Fresh glossy green leaves with a brown and gold underside add texture and beauty to wreaths, garland and planters.  A vase filled magnolia alone or mixed with fresh greenery is always stunning!

Fresh Holiday Greenery Buying Tips

If you area heading out soon to purchase fresh greens for your outdoor decor, here are a few things to remember:

Outdoor Planters: Mix your greens, choose pine, balsam and cedar. I love adding port orford cedar and boxwood to my planters too. Don't forget red twig dogwood and white lights. You can use dirt or floral foam in your planters to hold your fresh greens in place.

Wreaths: A 24" wreath is the perfect size for a door. Adding a bow? You need at least 3 yards of ribbon to make a bow that will stand out on your wreath.

Garland:  Frame average sized doorways with 25 feet of garland. I love the mixed garland at The Wreath Factory.  Want to add lights? Use 100 lights per 10 feet of garland.

Swags: Hang swags from lights, light posts and on doors.

If you want to choose from the biggest and best selection of holiday greenery in the Fox Valley, visit The Wreath Factory of Menasha, located at 220 Main Street, downtown Menasha.

Add berries and pine cones to planters. These adorable buckets can be found at The Wreath Factory

Shop WISH Boutique Clothing and The Wreath Factory Holiday Open House This Weekend

Sandra Began Holiday Pop-Up Boutique featuring WISH Boutique Clothing

Your Wish has come true, we are bringing the boutique clothing back to the Fox Valley. WISH was so popular at the Holiday Preview Event and so many asked "when is WISH coming back to the Valley?", I decided to showcase the fabulous boutique clothing and accessories at my Pop-Up Boutique.

Hours:

Saturday, Nov 12 noon - 4:00 pm
Sunday, Nov 13, noon - 2pm

Where:

216 Main Street, Menasha

right next to The Wreath Factory of Menasha

downtown Menasha

Featuring:

Sandra Began Holiday Decor and Bundle Up Wreath, goods Made Good

Wish boutique jeans, clothing, bags, boots

Stella and Dot Jewelry

Grab some friends and come and shop for holiday fashion. WISH is cash and carry and credit cards accepted.

The Wreath Factory of Menasha's Fresh Zone now Open

Right next door to the Pop-Up is the Wreath Factory of Menasha and their Fresh Zone. Find fresh garland. boughs, wreaths and planter inserts for the holidays.

 The Wreath Factory is located at 220 Main Street in Menasha.
920.886.9989

New Wreath Benefits Bundle Up Kids

I've teamed up with The Wreath Factory and Goods Made Good, a creative extensive of Goodwill of North Central Wisconsin, to create a new holiday collection. The handcrafted Bundle Up Wreath features fresh balsam, pine and cedar and adorned with seeded eucalyptus and pine cones. The wreath also includes a one-of-a-kind trendy handcrafted bow, designed from salvaged wool sweaters by Goods Made Good.  The wreath’s bow also doubles as a scarf, which can be worn long after the holiday seasons are over.

The wreath and scarves are available at The Wreath Factory’s stores in Menasha and Plymouth and can be purchased online by clicking here.

For every Bundle Up Wreath purchased, $5 will be donated to Bundle Up Kids, a program I created which collects donated warm winter apparel and distributes it to school-age children in need. Since I started the group in 2009, more than 400 children have been helped. In addition to Bundle Up Kids, proceeds from the wreath sale also benefit Goods Made Good.

Here I hung the Bundle Up Wreath above a decorated mantle of fresh greens.

I’m really excited about this partnership with The Wreath Factory and goods MADE GOOD, the Bundle Up Wreath serves not only as a distinct and beautiful holiday decoration but a statement that speaks to our commitment to the community as a whole.  

Every Bundle Up Wreath comes with a Care Tag.

The Bundle Up Wreath is adorned with either a Red or Natural Scarf/Bow and makes a fabulous gift for the holidays. Gift shipping begins November 7th and wreaths can be shipped in the 48 US States via
Ground Delivery if ordered by December 15th.

You Are Invited to the Holiday Preview Event

I hope you will join me at this fun and festive shopping event featuring 40 artists and retailers and help me raise money for local programs that support kids in our community. Last year over 650 shoppers enjoyed browsing and buying gifts, holiday decor, jewelry, baby items, handmade goods and so much more.

100% of the 2011 tickets sales will be donated to 2 of my favorite local organizations that help kids in the Fox Valley: Bundle Up Kids and The Miracle League of the Fox Valley. With your support, this event has raised over $10,000 for these and other local charities.

Tickets are $10 each and $15 at the door. 

Purchase your tickets here.

The first 100 shoppers on both Friday and Saturday receive a goodie bag filled with gift cards, coupons and a fabulous $50 Gift Card from our sponsor Avenue Jewelers.

Schedule Of Events

Friday, Oct. 14 5-8pm
Saturday, Oct 15 9-4pm

Shop. Socialize. Cash Bar.

Harmony Cafe Sweet Samplings & Coffee Bar in The Lounge

The Compassion Project: 7 Student Artists Visit The Exhibit

Last week, Jack, Charlie and I took a trip downtown with family and friends to view the Appleton Compassion Project at the Trout Museum of Art. Words cannot express how we all felt when we walked in the museum. So many tiles with so many deep thoughts and emotions from over 10,000 Appleton Area School District students and teachers were incredible. 

My kids and their friends were so proud of their work and were excited to share not only their tiles with our group, but also the tiles of their friends and teachers. 

This exhibit is a must for you to see. You will be inspired by children's passion for compassion and the beauty of the exhibit will take your breath away.  The exhibit closes on June 30th so don't delay. Take a trip to downtown Appleton and discover an amazing exhibit of compassion.

To learn more about these images, visit my photo gallery.

Don't Miss the Miracle League of the Fox Valley's Opening Day, Saturday, June 4th

If you love baseball, come out and join the Miracle League of the Fox Valley players, buddies, fans and friends at the 2nd annual Opening Day ceremony. Celebrate with over 150 kids with physical and mental disabilities the start of their second baseball season.  Buy a hot dog, learn more about the league and have some family fun! Learn more about this amazing league at www.foxvalleymiracleleague.com. The field is located at Memorial Park in Appleton. Play Ball!

5th Grade Ferber Students Create Compassion Tiles at The Fire

In December of 2010, over ninety 5th graders from Ferber Elementary in Appleton took a field trip to The Fire - Pottery, Mosaic & Glass Fusing Studio on College Avenue in downtown Appleton. Why? To create a tile for the Appleton Compassion Project.

The students created a drawing of their Compassion tile at school ahead of their visit and Audra and Cathy from The Fire scanned the drawings on a glass tile.

At The Fire, the students added colored glass to their tiles and then the tiles were "fired" to create the beautiful pieces of art. As you can see from the images of the tiles, these 10 and 11 year olds are compassionate kids and talented artists. My son Jack enjoyed the field trip and was very proud of his tile.

Art teacher Jessica Hartjes took both the 5th and 6th grade classes from Ferber on an art field trip to The Fire. She wanted the students to experience creating their tiles in a "real art studio".  Thank you Jessica and the Ferber teachers for making this happen for these kids. What an amazing experience they had.

Click here to view the complete photo gallery of the students visit to The Fire.

The Compassion Project Exhibit Opens Tomorrow, Sunday, May 1st

In less than 24 hours, the Appleton Compassion Project exhibit opens. The Trout Museum of Art, in partnership with the Appleton Area School District and Appleton Education Foundation, are proud to announce a new project that aspires to teach the practice of compassion through the use of art. "The Appleton Compassion Project" is an art project involving 10,436 Appleton Area School District K-12 art students. In fall 2010, participating students received a 6-inch-by-6-inch art panel to draw or paint their idea of compassion.

The inspiration behind the project came from Richard Davidson, PhD -- a University of Wisconsin-Madison psychology and psychiatry professor and brain investigator who has scientifically found that those who practice compassion have measurably healthier brains, and generally, a happier outlook on life. Davidson's vast research has earned him the most distinguished award for science given by the American Psychological Association -- the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award in 2000; he was also named one of the world's most 100 influential people in 2006 by Time Magazine. Davidson's research shows that compassion can be learned, and should be practiced, as a skill.

Click here to visit the online exhibit of the Appleton Compassion Project.
Visit the Appleton Compassion Project Facebook page here.

Need Parenting Tools and Advice? Attend This Free Presentation on Wednesday, April 13 in Appleton

Need parenting tips and ideas? Check out Parenting Tools You Can Use...From Newborns to Toddlers to Teens, a FREE presentation happening on Wednesday, April 13 at 7 pm at Appleton North High School. This community event is offered by the Appleton Education Foundation in collaboration with the Fox Cities Book Festival and several community partners.

Join parents like you looking for practical tips and ideas with Dr. Patricia Nan Anderson, "practicing" mom and grandmother and noted Educational Psychologist, Parenting Coach and Author of the popular handbook, Parenting: A Field Guide.

No one rolls up their sleeves like Dr. Anderson when it comes to discussions on effective, productive parenting. Be sure to bring your notepad, because the ideas will come fast and furious during her enthusiastic sharing of thoughts and recommendations covering:

• those critical first three years
• school readiness
• behavior and discipline
• guiding school-aged children
• the nuances of parenting preteens and teens

A great presentation for soon-to-be-parents, parents of newborns or toddlers, and parents of children of all ages!

The Post Crescent features Appleton Compassion Project

Ferber Elementary 5th graders work on their tiles at The Fire, downtown Appleton.

Today The Post Crescent featured a wonderful article on the Appleton Compassion Project. Click here to read the article and read below for details about how you can see the exhibit:

What: “The Appleton Compassion Project,” an art project by over 10,000 students in the Appleton Area School District

When:  May 1 through June 30

Where: The Trout Museum of Art, 111 W. College Ave., downtown Appleton

Admission: $6 adults, $4 students and senior citizens. Children age 10 and under enter free with an adult. Trout Museum members also enter free. AASD students with work in the exhibit will receive free family passes.

Museum hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, noon to 4 p.m. Sundays. Closed Mondays.

Related event: “The Appleton Compassion Project Live!” is an inspirational event that invites the community to celebrate compassion through science, art and music. The event takes place at 7:30 p.m. May 17 at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center in downtown Appleton. Keynote speaker is brain researcher Richard Davidson, whose work inspired “The Appleton Compassion Project.” Live entertainment includes musician Cory Chisel and Appleton North High School choral music students. Admission is free. Passes are required in advance. They are available now at The Trout Museum of Art and the PAC and from the Appleton Education Foundation.

Learn more about The Appleton Compassion Project at www.appletoncompassion.org

Countdown to The Appleton Compassion Project Debut

“The Appleton Compassion Project” is a community art project involving 10,436 Appleton Area School District K-12 art students. This school year, participating students received a 6-inch-by-6-inch art panel to draw or paint their idea of compassion.

www.appletoncompassion.org

The inspiration behind the project came from Richard Davidson, PhD — a University of Wisconsin-Madison brain researcher who has found that those who practice compassion have measurably healthier brains. What’s more, Davidson’s research shows that compassion can be learned, and should be practiced, as a skill. “A little more joy might be within everyone’s reach,” says Davidson.

The Appleton students’ panels will be installed in The Trout Museum of Art galleries and on view from May 1–June 30, 2011.  Click here to visit The Compassion Project Facebook page.

Both of my kids, Charlie, a 1st grader and Jack, a 5th grader at Ferber Elementary designed a tile and wrote their own artist statement on what compassion means to them. Their art teacher's, Jessie Hartjes, Nicole Callahan and Lynn Sauby, did a beautiful job talking about compassion with the kids. They helped each and every student discover that even though they are kids, they show acts of compassion and feel compassion every day.

Jack's tile

Once the tiles were completed, all of the teacher's at Ferber took the project to the next level. Each grade participated in their own "Compassion Project" by creating thank you notes to neighbors, compassion quilts, essays and more.

As a parent, I am thrilled my kids were able to participate in a community art project that taught them about themselves and the power of caring and giving to others. I look forward to sharing the images of Ferber students creating their art and showcasing many of the compassion tiles and artist statements from the Ferber students.

Compassionate kids become compassionate adults. How lucky we are to have these students in our community and lives.

Click for more information:

Appleton Compassion Project website

Appleton Compassion Project Facebook page

Timber Rattlers Kids Crew...Great Deal and Fun for Kids!

My family loves baseball. Both boys play Little League and we love watching the Brewers and our Fox Cities Timber Rattlers. My son Charlie had the opportunity to be in the commercial with Fang promoting the Timber Rattlers Kids Crew. What a day he had working on his lines with Fang!

My boys are Kids Crew members and can't wait for the season to start.  Here is the Kids Crew flyer. Hope to see you at the ballpark!