Monday Made It #3!

Well friends, summer officially ended for me and the Finners today. She went back to daycare and I spent almost 10 hours at school. My room is REALLY looking awesome this year and I can't wait to post pics of it when it is finally all done. But I've got a couple more days to go on that.



In the meantime here are a few projects that I finished up today in time to link up with 4th Grade Frolics.


The first one I am sharing is my FINALLY labelled teacher toolbox. I bought of one the toolkits last year after seeing it on Pinterest, just like I am sure millions of other teachers. :) If you are one of the 4 people that have no idea what I am talking about you can check it out HERE. ( Not sure if that is where the idea originated, but it seems to be the most popular one on Pinterest.)

 

 

 



Now, I can't take credit for these cute labels. That honor goes to Kristin Doyle. The BEST part of these labels is that they are editable. So I was able to change them to fit what I had in the drawers. The BEST BEST part is they are FREE! You can get your's HERE.

 

 

I wanted some of those super cute READ letters that I have been seeing all over the place. Nicole at Rowdy in Room 300 made some cute one's for Monday Made It today in fact. You can check those out HERE. I wanted some for my own library. I had the perfect space for them above some text connection posters in my library.

 

 

I made what I hope is my last trip to Walmart before school starts and was browsing in the craft section. We are not lucky enough to have a Michaels here. :( They had wooden letters. SCORE. They had an A, a D, an E....but no R. *wahw, wahw*

 

I went around the corner and saw GLITTER FOAM with a STICKY BACK and the creative juices just started flowing. I decided that I would cut the letters out of the foam. Plus the sticky back would make it so that they would DEFINITELY stick to our walls. ( Which are notorious for not letting anything stick to them!) AND...TADA!

 



 

 

I had to show you a view of the whole reading corner too. Its not totally done but I wanted you to see how the READ letters fit in with everything. I think it is all looking SUPER cute!

 





 

 

Well, thats all for me friends. We have our first in service tomorrow and I am beat!  Go link up with Tara and share what you have made!

 

 

Teacher Week: Therapeutic Thursday

Today I am linking up with Blog Hoppin' again. This time for Therapeutic Thursday and to share how I unwind after a stressful or long day/week.

The first thing I do is run and find these two coo-coo birds so we can " talk it out". They always have good advice and they make me laugh.

Look! It's Mrs. Zocoo and Mrs. V!
 

I wish it wasn't but, the next thing I do is get something tasty to eat. It usually involves something carb-y and covered in cheese. But, I mean, who doesn't like that?!

I DO like to go for walks or go to Zumba. Thankfully the place where I do Zumba has no mirrors. This way I can perpetuate the myth in my head that I look good while doing the steps. :)

Lastly, I love to veg out with the tv or computer. You KNOW I love me some Pinterest! :) I also like to watch my shows which are all pretty much trash if I'm being honest.  I like Dancing with the Stars, PLL, The Voice, House Hunters, Glee, Grey's Anatamy, Scandal ( LOVE IT!), The Middle, Modern Family, Up All Night and Project Runway just to name a few ( THOUSAND).

So there you have it. Go link up with Blog Hoppin' and share your tips.

Teacher Week: Monday Must- haves/ Monday Made It!

WHEW! What a busy week I just had. My husband's high school class finally decided to have a reunion this year ,but discovered they had no money to rent a place to get together. Enter my house and our huge yard and my sweet hubby who offered up that we host the event. So I spent all of last week cleaning, cleaning, and more cleaning...with a little painting thrown in because I am crazy like that! I hardly had anytime to get online to check my Pinterest account, let alone check out blogs and post anything myself.

Today I am able to re-enter the world of technology and have enjoyed almost 2 hours of mindless internet browsing, while my little one entertains herself with The Fresh Beat Band and her endless supply of toys. While purusing my facebook account I saw that Amy Lemons had posted about a Teacher Week Linky Party. Score! Just the thing to get me back into the blogging world. So I followed her link over to Blog Hoppin' and here I am sharing my teacher must-haves.

I've actually shared some resources before in this post HERE. So I am going to try to share some different one's with you. If you want to join in the fun you can!



Number 1 on my list of must haves is a supportive hubby and I have that in SPADES! ( If your not married it's still important to have family support!) He understands the crazy life of being married to a teacher. There are those days when he texts me when dinner is done so I can run home and eat with him and Fin and then head back to school for another couple of hours, or when I need him to come hang something in my room, or lug something heavy up the stairs. He does it all without complaint.



<3 him!!!

Number 2 on my list of must haves is a school support system. You need those people you can go to when your day has been horrible and you just need to vent and eat a peice of chocolate. These are the people that keep you from going crazy. I'm lucky to work with some of my very best friends ( Mrs. V in the library and Mrs. Zocco for you CCA folks). Those two coo-coo birds make life super fun!

Number 3 is my morning coffee drink. I alternate between these 4 coffee drink options.

My fave is the Rockstar Light Vanilla but it doesn't seem to be readily stocked at the gas station by my daughters day care. When I do see it I buy all the ones they have. :) The top box is little packets that you can add to milk. Thats been my go-to this summer.

The Number 4 must have for me is being hyper organized. Teacher toolbox, plastic tubs with labels, file folders organized by subject area or monthly theme, I have them all. I am constantly organizing and reorganizing my space and I love it. I allow myself one area for chucking things, but everything else must be a place for everything and everything in it's place. I think it's important that if we expect our students to be organized and neat that we model that as well.

I hope to add a Number 5 must have someday as a personal laminator. :) Sara over at Smiling in 2nd Grade is giving one away and I hope, hope, hope I win it. If not, it's going on the Christmas list! :) You can head over to her blog HERE and enter.

One more thing. I am updating this post so that I don't do 2 in one day...oh the horror! :) I am linking up with Tara for another Monday Made It to share with you my lunch choice "board" for lack of a better term, for the year.



I saw this super cute idea on Pinterest last year and knew I wanted to do something similar this year.

I was a little unsure of how to go about it. I am not a very good artist and I couldn't find any sharks on any websites big enough to use. Then I remembered these great Shark Acrostic poems the kiddo's had made courtesty of the FAB Amy Lemmons. You can find it HERE.

This is the sample on her site.

So I took the template from the shark acrostic poem and this is what I made:

I think it turned out super cute. I tried to make the sign look like it had a bite taken out of it. :) The space between the sharks and the sign will be for our lunch menu. I have this right in the doorway when you enter my room.

When my kiddo's come in in the morning the first thing they do is make their lunch choice. I have a clothespin with their name on it that they put on their lunch choice. This also serves as my attendance chart as well. I have a lunch helper who tell's me who is having what for lunch and then I enter it into my computer. I love it, I love it! 

Monday Made It: Numero Uno! :)

I am so pysched to have something done on time ( and that I took pics of) for Monday Made It.


Last weekened my adorable nephew turned 1. So my husband, my sister, one of my brothers, and my daughter all schlepped it down to Ann Arbor to celebrate. We had to drive SOOOOOOOOOOO SLOW because we took a U-HAUL of stuff that my sister- in- law's mother had been storing for them. I'm a big fan of driving and everyone was a little nervous about me driving the huge suburban with the U-HAUL attached.But, I did it and I did a good job! So there! :)

Anyways, when we were unloading everything I brought in a rattan chair and asked my S.I.L. where she wanted it. She didn't and offered it to me. I jumped at that ,BECAAAAUSE there is just something SO teacher-y about having a wicker type chair in your room. I have been looking for one for awhile and I really wanted more of a kid size one but ,beggars can't be choosers!

I am a self professed spray paint QUEEN! I've done chairs, bookshelves, tables, dresser drawer pulls, the list goes on and on. So I knew that in order to change this chair from Drab to Fab all it would take was just a little paint. :)

The chair and cushion BEFORE ( and a little boring)

The Chair and Cushion After and Fabulous Option #1

The Chair and Cushion After and Fabulous Option #2

A Side View of the Chair


I spray painted the chair with a turquoise blue spray paint. Originally, I was going for a brighter look but I ran out of paint! And I kind of like the beachy shabby chic vibe it has going on right now so I think I am going to leave it. I used acrylic paints from Walmart, 97 cents a bottle!, for the buttons.

My first plan was to just cover the buttons with the paint, but after I was done and had a boatload of paint left ,I thought maybe some polka dots would be fun. So I'm not sure which one I will go with. Since it's for the kiddo's maybe they can choose. Thoughts?

Heading in to school later and will post some pics of things I have gotten done there. Fingers crossed we have a new lamination roll!

Now go forth and link up! :)

UPDATE

Just got home from school were I am kind of at a standstill for a little while. The laminator is out of film ( which is why I am asking for a personal one for Christmas!!!!!) and I am waiting on my new bulletin board borders to come in. :( But I did add some fun duct tape to my rolling white board. :)

This FUN duct tape

PLUS!

This boring white board

=

This SUPER fun white board. I really kind of love it. :)

And my chair is looking good in my room too.

" I'd hate to think it was all just fashion."

Anyone catch my movie reference there? If not, stop reading, run to your local video store ( or your netflix account!) and rent The Big Chill ASAP. Then come back, we can be friends again. :)

Found a few new blogs to follow today. One of them has the weirdest title, until you actually go to the site and see the subtitle. Its called From Blood to Books! ( I know what you're thinking "thats a smidge odd".) But the subtitle is My Journey From Healthcare to Education. Oh, lightbulb moment. It all makes sense now...hey,what a cool name for a blog. ( In case you were wondering, yes, this was my thought process while clicking on the link.) Anywho! Jess, who runs that blog, is having a linky party about one of my favorite things: Fashion!

I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE clothes. I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE shopping for clothes. I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE spending hours on pinterest looking for new ways to pair my clothes. Now, that is not to say that shopping doesn't ever leave me in a horrible mood, feeling like absolute crap about myself, OR that I can necessarily always afford to go. BUT! I love it none the less. So I knew I just HAD to link up. If you want to, and you should, you can too. You can join here:

http://mrsjwalk.blogspot.com/2012/08/whats-your-style-teachers-fashion-linky.html

Here's the guidelines:
1. Tell me your favorite store(s) that you like to get your "teacher's fashion".
2. What are some of your favorite accessories?
3. What type of shoes do you teach in? (i.e. heels, flats, wedges, etc.)
4. Do you have a "go-to" item in your closet? (i.e. sweater you wear weekly, shoes you wear daily, etc.)
5. Have you ever had a fashion "uh-oh" at school? (i.e. heel broke, button popped off of blouse)

Please feel free to post any cute items, sales, outfits that you have grabbed for this upcoming school year!

1. My favorite stores to shop at are:

TJ Maxx ( If it was possible to live in a store I totally would live here.)
Old Navy
Target
Kohls
Lands End ( on sale stuff only)
and JC Penny ( mostly because it's the only real clothing store we have in town)

 
                    

( Don't try clicking on the pictures. For some reason my blog is not wanting to do picture links today. GRRR!)

2. I really LOVE purses. I get a new one for my birthday every year. This year the purse I wanted, a Marc Jacobs tote, sold out before I got it. So in the interim ,while I am deciding what I want instead, I am using this cute Betsey Johnson tote that I picked up at TJ MAXX for only $30!

I LOVE jewelry and I really love the look of bracelets but I am just not a bracelet wearer. I do usually wear a necklace. One of my fave's is my name necklace that my Best Friend got me for my birthday. I also love my fingerprint necklace. My husband and daughter got it for me for Christmas this past year. It has my daughters fingerprint engraved on a heart. Super cool!

I know I just said I am not a bracelet wearer but, I am super hardcore wanting this watch by Fossil. So if any of you have an extra $150 laying around and want to get this for me that would be great. :)

3. I am ALL about comfort on my feet. Usually I wear flip flops as much as possible. What typically happens is I wear dress shoes to work and shove a pair of sandals in my bag. Then I change once I get to my room. If we are going out of our room I put the dress shoes back on. That way I can look professional " in public".  In the winter I have several pairs of boots that I go through. I have kind of become obsessed with the look of ballet flats and I think I will be purchasing several pairs for this year. But NOTHING I wear has more than an inch heel and even then its a thick heel...no stiletto's for this girl!

4. You know those t- shirt/ jersey material " sweaters". They're basically like a long sleeve t-shirt cut down the middle. Yeah, I pretty much LIVE in those. They go with everything and they are SO comfy. I have one in black, one in tan, and two in different shades of blue. I want one in white, one in grey, and one in a fun color like purple or pink. Then my life will be complete. :)

5. After I had had my daughter I was in that in between stage of having some regular clothes fit but having to still wear some maternity wear. I was wearing a button down plaid shirt that apparently I wasn't quite as ready to wear as I thought, because during our reading time one of the little girls made the comment that she could see my belly through my shirt. ( It was gappy between the buttons. Ouch!) So needless to say it was a while before I wore that again and then I wore a tank top underneath it for a while after that. :)

I will leave you with a few things I am wanting to purchase for myself/ pinterest outfits I am re-creating come fall. :)

Really want both of these little numbers ( but with a black top for the skirt) from Old Navy.

I have most of the peices to recreate similar looks to these come fall.

HAPPY SHOPPING!!!

And the Winners Are....

Well, the day has arrived for me to announce the winners of my first ever giveaway. I first want to say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to everyone who entered and everyone who is following my blog. I'm at 59 followers now, which I think is incredible!

Now, a little explanation, just so there is no confusion. :) Here is how I picked my winners. First, in order to even be entered you had to be a follower of this here blog AND leave a comment on the giveaway post. Then before I did the random number generator I went in and deleted the comments that I had made in response to people's posts. This left me with the number 28. So in the random number generator I had a range from 1- 28.( Sidenote, for some reason when I copied it on to this page it keeps saying my max was 100, but on the random number generator site it says 28. Not sure what is up with that.) So anyway, I plugged those numbers into the generator and got.....

Drum roll please..................

True Random Number Generator
Min:Max:
Result:4

So, then I went to my comments section, counted down to the 4th spot AND, this is who was comment 4 and ultimately the winner.....

Sam KellyJuly 30, 2012 8:10 AM

just followed your sweet blog!!!! I think you resolution #4 is so important! I had great mentors but some of my friends, unfortunately did not! I'm sure you'll be wonderful!

SamMrs. Kelly's Klass

BUT WAIT! There's more! Remember when I said if I could get to 50 followers I would giveaway 2 gift certs! Well, lo and behold, something I thought would not happen, DID!  So, I did the same thing as above and got....

True Random Number Generator
Min:Max:
Result:14

Went back to the comments section, counted down 14 and found...

K. MoAugust 1, 2012 11:09 AM

Reading this gave me a flash-back to me this time last summer!

❤ Karen
flamingofab@gmail.com
Flamingo Fabulous in Second Grade

Congratulations to the winners. I will be contacting you this morning about your gift certificates! Thanks all for following and entering. I still can't believe I have 59 followers. I know it's not the hundreds and thousands that other people have, but it sure feels that way when I look back to a month ago and my 2 followers. ( One of which was ME! Haha)

* Still shaking head in disbelief*

50 is the new 25

YAY! WOO-HOO! * Does a happy dance of joy* I am at 50 followers. Thanks all for stopping by, checking out my always under construction blog, and joining me on this lovely journey called being a teacher. :) Please make sure to comment under the original post as that is what I am going to be drawing from.

Also, head over to Brigid's Daily Lesson Log and join her classroom photo's linky party. I linked up my awful looking before pictures and I will update that once my room comes together. But ,unlike so many of my bloggy friends, I don't head back until September so I still have time to get my 2nd home back to normal.

http://brigidsdailylessonlog.blogspot.com/

Again,thanks for following and there is still time to join in. I am not drawing until Tuesday morning! ( Remember to comment on the original post!) I think you all may have some idea of the elation I feel when I see a new follower, as you were all once new bloggers or are new bloggers yourselves. But, from the bottom of my heart, I thank you for the immense thrill that it is. :)