The Upcycling Nanny: About Us

This Websites Purpose:

Follow me for more on upcycling with arts and crafts with your child.

WWW.TheUpcyclingNanny.com educates on how children and their families can help reduce our carbon footprint by upcycling with arts & crafts through a collection of tutorials for upcyclers, which are useful to people using skills and materials for non-upcycling projects. Some tutorials will be geared toward working on projects with children, while others will be projects I worked on alone. This is also a place that allows the artsy side of me to show off. Not only my own creations but my family's, friend's, the children I work with and sometimes just some cool stuff or ideas I find out there. I have also included information I have often been asked about from parents and nannies or that I have found useful while upcycling with children.

Visit our supply store to purchase any supplies, tools or equipment you need to put your skills to work Upcycling with your child.

About The Upcycling Nanny

My background:

I have always enjoyed arts & crafts. I can't pinpoint an exact date I started upcycling with arts & crafts. I can remember doing projects with my mother and grandmother as a child. I remember their projects being called recycling and re-purposing, but now that I am older and have a better understanding of upcycling, I know that is what we were doing. My mother did alot of macrame when I was younger and I picked up on her skills. I enjoyed crafting beaded macrame jewelry. In my teens I began adding wire or using only wire for accents and jewelry. I soon grew tired of the same look and found out how to roll magazine paper beads. For a time, I quit making jewelry out of the beads because I enjoyed rolling them so much! I taught myself to knit one evening because I wanted to use you t-shirt yarn I had made. When I found the pattern I wanted to use it was for crochet, so I taught myself to crochet. I wouldn't say I am an expert at either knitting or crochet but I certainly enjoy practicing both skills. I decided I liked crochet for most projects and began looking for things to crochet. My son ran a family campaign a few years ago to collect enough pop-tabs to make a moving robot for a recycled school project. We had so many I decided to make a purse for myself. I came full circle and began making macrame pop-tab jewelry soon after. I love going to thrift stores to find my next upcycle. I enjoy using crochet and making beads for jewelry and accents. When I do an upcycle at home, it is usually because I need something with a particular function and as I look around my house I can't find anything that will do the job. I do however find a number of things I could change or adjust in some way to make it do what I want it to. The upcycles I do most often are making T-shirt yarns for crochet, rolling paper beads for jewelry and accents or turning no longer needed clothing into something else. Most individuals do mainly one craft skill for upcycles and projects. I am always willing to learn a new a craft, try a new pattern or practice using a new material. I like to find new ways to upcycle materials we have around the house alot as well. This is good for all of you visiting! It means there is or will be information on many different arts and crafts! I married with 4 children. My oldest moved out of the house about 2 years ago to raise my grandson with her husband. I have worked with children for about 15 years professionally and have been babysitting for closer to 20 years. My favorite age group is 2-5 years. Yes, I included all the 2 year old children out there!! I started working with children in head start programs as a volunteer. I really enjoyed every day in the classroom and began taking child development classes. Once I graduated high school and finished my CDA, I began substituting on a regular basis until I was promoted to a teacher's assistant position. A month after my first lead teacher position for a Early Head Start program, my husband joined the Air Force. I continued to work as a lead teacher at each base we moved to until my youngest was born. By this time, we had 4 young children in need of care while I was working. I started picking up odd babysitting jobs here and there, so I could still be home with my children. Sometimes, I kept children in my home and other times I went to theirs. I began to notice I preferred to care for children in their own home. After my oldest moved out, upcycling wasn't enough to keep me busy. My husband suggested I start a small business caring for children. I joined some web-based nanny agencies and began looking for a position. I have been TheUpcyclingNanny ever since.
I started blogging under a different name and recently moved everything here.

Skills I Use Most

For Myself: Crochet, Macrame, Knitting, Scrapbooking, Photography, Beading, Painting, Stamping, Sketching

With Children: Scrapbooking, Beading, Macrame, Finger Knitting, Painting, Stamping

Tools I Use Most

For Myself: Scissors, X-acto, Bead Rollers. Rotary Cutters, Crochet Hooks, Knitting Needles, Needles, Wire Cutters, Pliers, Bead Crimper, Hot Glue Gun, Paint Brushes, Rulers, Measuring Tapes

With Children: Scissors, Paint Brushes/Sponges, Stamps

Materials I Use Most

For Myself: Clothing, Fabrics, T-shirt Yarn, Threads, Yarns, Beads, Assorment of Papers, Wire, Recyclables, Broken Items, Furniture Pieces, Assorted Tapes

With Children: Assortment of Paper, Upcycled Clothing, Threads, Yarns, Beads, Wire, Recyclables, Wiggly Eyes, Pipe Cleaner, Pom Poms, Q-tips, Cotton Balls, Craft Sticks, Broken Toys, Old Game Boards and Pieces, Craft Lace, Paper Plates, Index Cards, Playing Cards, Flash Cards, Stickers

Supplies I Keep on Hand:

For Myself: Assortment of Glues, Markers, Pens, Pencils, Paints

With Children: School Glue, Glue Sticks, Washable Markers, Colored Pencils, Washable Paints, variety of common activities for children to practice skills with

I hope you enjoy looking around and thank you for taking the time to read. I look forward to your comments and be sure to email me at jennifer@theupcyclingnanny.com any pictures of items you decide to upcycle!!

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