April 15, 2010

Taking time to smell the flowers



The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf

The Story of Ferdinand (Puffin Storytime)I dare you not to love this book. Just try. Pick up a copy at the library (I promise they have it) and read it to your kids. You'll find out why this story of a gentle bull has been in print for over 50 years.

Ferdinand is a sweet-tempered bull who is content to sit under his favorite tree and smell the flowers. One day some men come to his pasture looking for the fiercest bull to fight the matador. As fate would have it, a bee chooses that moment to sting Ferdinand on the nose. The men see Ferdinand's violent reaction and pick him to be in the bull ring. You can guess what happens when this gentle giant enters a ring full of flowers!

Like Ferdinand, E loves to smell - and pick - the flowers... any flowers. I think I have her pretty well trained to leave our neighbors' gardens alone, but any wildflower along the way is fair game. Her favorites are dandelions and she'll often bring home bouquets of the weed, handing them to me with pride.

Since it is spring and flowers (and weeds) are in full bloom, we created a pretty little vase for her very own. I found a sheet of striped tissue paper and cut it into small squares. Then I coated an empty spice jar with mod podge. While I held the jar, E pressed the tissue paper squares onto the glue until the sides and bottom of the jar were covered. I applied a second coat of mod podge and then printed out an "E" and framed it with a small square of construction paper. When the jar was completely dry, I mod podged a ribbon to the top.


Our azaleas are in bloom, so I tucked a few blossoms in for the picture, but I'm sure this little vase will soon proudly display a fresh bouquet of dandelions!


22 comments:

  1. We have this book too! I love the vase! :)

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  2. Will see if I can find this book! Love the vase.

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  3. I just came across that book, in a box of old books from Mom's. Funny the things we forget from childhood - and how quickly they come back once we open the books again.

    Beautiful vase!

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  4. We love this story, I love the flowers, it so reminds me a spring.

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  5. So, so, SO beautiful! (Oh, and did you know Disney had a cartoon made about Ferdinand? Y'all should check it out...unless my aging brain is playing tricks on me, and I am incorrect...in that case, just ignore my suggestion!)

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  6. So super cute, love all the colors! We made larger orange ones that I then added jack-o-lantern features. They were so pretty with a little tea light inside. Love the idea to make a vase the same way. The initial is the best part. I know my E would love a little vase of her very own too.

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  7. Very nice! I love mod podge! I need to get some arts and crafts done! Thanks for the inspiration!

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  8. Very pretty vase. Would make a nice Mother's Day gift! I'm a bit afraid of bulls...just big and scary. My great-aunt's first husband was killed by one so reading about them kind of bothers me, even nice flower smelling ones.

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  9. This sounds like a great book and the vase is adorable! Thank you for linking to stART :)

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  10. I have heard of this book before.. I can't remember where.. Looks great and those litte jars. Lovely!

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  11. What a beautiful vase - perfect for your little nature lover. The book sounds interesting too!

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  12. This was one of my favorite books growing up. The vase is a great idea.

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  13. We just watched the filmstrip of that book during story time last week at the library. I loved it!

    What a cute vase idea. I've done that with clay pots for mother's day before when I was a teacher. Yours turned out much cuter though!

    Thanks for sharing and thanks for stopping by today.

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  14. I hope I can find the book at the library!

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  15. It turned out so nice. It's a great vase for them to use and not worry about anything breaking and still be beautiful.

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  16. We need to get this book since you have featured it twice. It must be a really good one... and the vase is too cute and very green indeed. :)

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  17. It turned out super cute, and I love Ferdinand, have you seen the Disney short of it?

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  18. Ferdinand is such a cute book. I used to use it in my 1st Grade classroom. And I love the project. It's really cute!

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  19. This is so precious - I love it!

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  20. with your recommendation, i checked this sweet little book out of the library for my daughter..we read it together last night....she loves it! i do too. i think this is one we will be buying and adding to our permanent library! thanks for the suggestion...i ♥ your blog!
    xo

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