So...what have you been up to?

So...what have you been up to?

Full disclosure: I hate this question, especially during the summer time.

If I share that I've been working on classroom stuff, especially with other teachers, I'm sometimes met with attitude.  Yes, I know it's summer but my brain and teaching ideas don't just turn off.  I'd rather do a little bit of work to make the transition back less painful.   (Read more about my decision to cut my summer short {here}).

If I share that I've watched a lot of Netflix, I'm met with a similar attitude from non-teacher friends.  Plus I feel like a lazy bum if I wasn't amazingly productive.  I'm not cut out for the stay at home mom thing.

I just can't win sometimes.

So, here's the recap:

Crafting
 
I've enjoyed crafting time.  I made a wreath for my mom, for a good friend, and for hopefully my future SIL Leah.  

(L's wreath)

  

(Mrs. K's wreath on her front door)

(Mom's wreath)

I'm working on a banner for my classroom and a photo booth frame (inspiration from another teacher on Instagram).  

(Pre-cut banners were a find at Target! Hooray for less work.)

I've got three more wreaths in the works. 


Reading

I knocked out Teach Like a Pirate, Your School Rocks...So Tell People, and The Essential 55 this summer.  Professional reading keeps my mind sharp and the ideas flowing. 

I also read The Dark Prophecy and created TpT products. 

I also read several magazines and some just for fun books on the airplane ride(s). 

I enjoyed:

I'll be writing a more in-depth book review with my "a ha" moments in a few days, so stay tuned!

I'm also working on:

We'll start with the classroom first because that's a less daunting task.  Plus it coincides with my {clean desk} goals!


House Improvement Projects

I deep cleaned and reorganized the pantry:

(Yes, we have a doomsday-prepper sized pantry and I love it.)

I cleaned out closets.

I finished staining our cabinets so they could be installed.  

(More on that adventure {here})

I continued to tackle organizing the garage.  With classroom supplies in there, it's difficult!

I made sure the guest bedroom is ready for when friends from Florida come to visit in September and October.


Teachers Pay Teachers

I am no where close to my end of the summer goal of 250 products, but I did make a {year of journal prompts} and various activities for {The Dark Prophecy}.

I also started a journal of my future projects:

(I'll try to create one new thing a month.  That seems reasonable.) 


Prepping for Next Year

I picked out bulletin board ideas and started the banner.  I snagged supplies for 70% off (thank you Joann's).  

I'm reusing blue fabric for one bulletin board, undecided on a second, and snagged a tan sheet for the third at Goodwill for $2.99. I'd call that a win!

I bought pillows for my classroom library (thank you sales at Joann's and Target).

I revised the grade level long range plans to fit my teaching ideas:

I brainstormed future lesson ideas...by looking at Pinterest.

I also felt very strongly about Target rolling out back to school items right after the fourth of July. 

There was still over a month left of summer at that point.  Calm down guys.

However, {this video} does a pretty good job of summarizing how teachers feel about school supplies being out too early.


Helping Others

I helped K with her upcoming Labor Day Weekend wedding by finding table center pieces and loaning her various items (head piece, card box, etc).  I loved it, she's an awesome friend, and it could be her something borrowed.

I am helping host a baby shower at the end of September and we've had a few planning sessions on the logistics of the event.

I had lunch with another friend several times to help her plan her son's Sweet 16.  I went shopping for materials with her and loaned her photo booth props.  While I didn't attend, from the looks of it, he had a wonderful time and that's what matters.

I went into work to help with open library on a few Wednesdays and reorganized the Sunshine Club's cabinet.

I continued to clean out the garage and donated boxes to a friend who is moving.

I brainstormed paper topics for friends who are finishing up teaching degrees and loaned out books (so the published authors were the experts). 

I helped my mom with the start up logistics of her Etsy shop (coming soon!)


The Rest 

We went bowling. I'm still awful.  Wait no, I'm a teacher and this is a growth mindset situation.  

With practice, patience, gentle guidance (and beer), I transform from awful to mediocre over the course of several games.  I ended up with a 105 (without bumpers).  Hubby is still undecided if he wants to do a bowling league with me.

We celebrated a friend's 30th birthday.


I had brunch and lunch with gal pals several times.


I went to Gilley's for line dancing and birthday celebrations.

I enjoyed bonding with the couch and Netflix.


I had lots of pet snuggling time.


I had the oil changed in both vehicles and B's truck got new tires.  He put new windshield wipers on my car (because that's love) and I look forward to the annual smog check and registration in a few days (not).


I spent a week with family in Arizona.


I hosted B's graduation party.

All the pets went to the vet.  Some were more behaved than others.


We spoiled our niece and nephews on their birthdays.


I did a lot of blogging,

Sometimes with help.

I had lunch dates and mani/pedis with friends.


Oh, and we enjoyed an amazing two and a half week honeymoon.  We visited Arizona for family time, saw friends in Florida, went to the beach, played mini golf, saw alligators, went to Universal Studios, and then jetted off to St. Maarten for a week.


I've got a few more days until I officially have to be back to work, but I'm ready to ease back into it.

Thanks summer 2017, it's been lovely!

Wreath #3

It appears to be the summer of wreath making and that's totally fine by me!

My brother and his lovely girlfriend moved to a new apartment this week.  It's much closer to her work and I'm super excited to get to see it in a few days (when it's not just boxes piled everywhere).

As a gift, I wanted to make them a new wreath for their front door.  The idea was strongly suggested by L and my brother went along with it.  Keeping their decorating styles in mind, I knew I wanted it similar to the one I made Mrs. K:

I asked L what she liked about Mrs. K's wreath.  Initially she said she "loved everything" because that's just her warm and bubbly personality.  With some prying, she said the K wouldn't work for them (because they aren't married), she didn't love the sea stars and would like shells instead, and the net wasn't going to do much for her but loved the over-all beachy vibe.

The net was a complete pain to use, so I'm more than thrilled I got to avoid it the second time around.  Since all three of my hot glue guns are still missing (and I refuse to buy a fourth), I borrowed a glue gun from Mrs. K and once again visited Joann's.

(With Hobby Lobby's recent {smuggling scandal} and the 10% back Ibotta rebates through the end of the year on top of my teacher discount, Joann's is my go to store for crafting.  No, I don't get any sort of endorsement deal from them, although that would be quite nice.)

I went in knowing I needed another grapeline wreath and to visit the 70% off summer clearance aisle.  I knew I wanted to do a wreath with blues and yellow tones.  I was a tad intimidated by my options:

I then discovered instead of netting, I could use rope for a similar nautical effect.  I also found a bag of shells with some brightly colored options, so those came home with me as well.

Knowing her love of octopi, I found a small one to incorporate into the design.

After letting the hot glue gun warm up, I wrapped the rope around the wreath.  Next, I attached the wooden sign with twine and rope.  I then laid out the seashells and glued each one directly to the base of the wreath, getting my fingers several times in the process.

Only one of our three pets came to help and she was quite interested in the rope.  Luckily she has the attention span of a small child, so she quickly moved on to something more interesting.

I'm hoping she likes the final result:

I will have to wait a few days to see how it looks on their front door.

I'm a sucker for sales...

I didn't plan on having such good luck at Joann's, but I'm a sucker for sales:

Both for 70% off (plus 25% off my whole purchase and 10% rebate from Ibotta).  

The pillow will be another addition to my classroom library.  It also goes really well with the other pillows:

I'm going to have a lot of pillows in my classroom.  Some can be used as floor pillows for flexible seating, but for the most part, they'll just be used during reading time.

The basket was an unexpected find near pillows.  I want to make this frame and selfie props for my classroom:

I also want a place to store props (for when they graduate, make growth, etc).  This bucket will be designated for that purpose.

My students love selfies and silly pictures of themselves, so why not bring that into the classroom as a reward?

Run, don't walk!

I was planning on doing some dramatic Instragram reveal about my classroom theme once my bulletin boards are done next month, but I couldn't wait.  These deals were just too good!

I was at Target today (to no one's surprise) buying mosquito repellent for our honeymoon.  Low and behold, I wandered by the outdoor aisle.  There were large bins with outdoor pillows on sale.  

These outdoor pillows happen to perfectly match my classroom decor.  They're quite large and were super on sale.  They also happen to be scotch-guard and rather durable, which works out quite well for third graders.

The large navy pillows were $8.98 (regularly $29.99), the teal one was $14.98 (regularly $29.99), and the octopus one was $9.99 (regularly $19.99).  All of them were at least half off!

Feeling pleased with my classroom finds, I wandered over to Joann's where my luck continued. 

I wandered into their summer section where everything was magically 70% off (because they're getting ready for fall).  There I found three more beautiful outdoor pillows to complete my boho/beachy/nautical/calm ocean vibe.

I also found mesh for my bulletin boards (more info to come) for 70% off.  

Oh, and the entire purchase was an additional 15% off with my teacher discount card. 

Oh, and I scanned the receipt into Ibotta for an additional rebate.

Here are my pillow finds (displayed on our twin guest bed for size reference):

Run, don't walk to Target and Joann's if these interest you!

Another day, another wreath

I often choose to procrastinate work or chores with a craft project.  It's not really something I'm ashamed of, but rather accept that when I'm feeling creative, it's best to just run with it.

Last month, I crafted this beauty for my momma:

(Read more about the creation of my mom's {wreath} and {being creative})

My awesome friend Erin was in need of a new door wreath, so I decided she was going to be the victim of my next craft idea.

I once again visited Joann's for supplies.  I snagged a grapevine wreath, a K (for their last name), sea stars, and sea netting.

Her one request for the wreath was a {Hidden Mickey}, which I incorporated into the K.

I painted the K blue, but it was too harsh for the rustic sea look I was going for.  Luckily, a coat of white paint, then wiped off did the trick to done down the blue.

I used a Q tip to paint on a Mickey, but then one of my furry helpers decided to aggressively smell the paint and smeared it.  (She's fine, she just made a mess.)

So I wiped off the Mickey, hoping to try again, but was left with the mouse outline:

It reminded me of the smudged Simba outline from The Lion King, so it all works out:

 

Here's the final product:

I spent a good hour fighting with the netting, but the third time is the charm.  As a side note, wrapping it doesn't work.  I wove in the sea stars with twine, but used extra netting to secure the sign.  

The entire project took about three hours, but I was also watching Ink Master, so I wasn't entirely focused the whole time.  The pup tried to eat glue, I got paint on the counter, one of the cats sniffed paint and made a mess, plus I couldn't find all of the necessary materials so there were some definite hiccups.  

Fortunately, I like the final product.  Erin and her hubby love it.

Look how great it is on their front door:

Up next? My brother and his lady are moving to a new apartment and I think they need a wreath too...

(They do.  She told me. My brother has no say in the matter.)

Creative Breaks

While I'm still digesting the information from Teach Like a Pirate, one of my big take aways was about preventing a professional and creative stalemate.  (For more feelings on being creative, read {here}.)

I've been in a bit of a professional stalemate, which is one of the reasons I'm super excited to move to third grade.  I've never had the desire to be one of those teachers with thirty years experience, but only in one grade level.  I'm looking forward to a new curriculum, getting to know a new team, continuing to mentor, and quite frankly, smaller class sizes (with smaller humans).

One of the things I'm excited to bring back to next year's classroom is pillows for my library.  I had them years ago, but fifth graders got a little inappropriate with them, so I discontinued their use.  Granted, not setting the appropriate boundaries was a rookie mistake (and I was a rookie teacher).  The entire class got punished for a few students' poor choices.  Again, rookie mistake.

So I had my mama turn some old school shirts into pillows for my classroom library:

We used a 16" x 16" pillow form from Joann's (and coupons, a teacher discount, and an {Ibotta rebate}, because I like to save money.  If you're new to Ibotta and would also like 10% back on Joann's in store purchases, sign up with my referral code: uvnspet  and happy savings).  It took her about twenty minutes to transform a clean shirt into a new classroom pillow.

While she was whipping up some pillows, I decided to create a new wreath for her door.

I snagged flowers on sale at Joann's, so the whole project was around $20 (and I still have flowers left over for the next project).

With the help of wire cutters and hot glue, I created this:

I used a {twig oval base} and two bouquets of {fake flowers} (from the heavily discounted spring section!)  Green is her favorite color and pink is mine, so the color selection was easy.

 I cut apart the flowers with wire cutters and used a hot glue gun to attach them right to the base.  Tomorrow I'll use floral wire to secure the flowers to the base to ensure gravity doesn't undo my crafting.

The final product:

Teachers need creative breaks too!

#BestYear

Even though we don't go back for a few more weeks, I acknowledge that the start of August means it's time for back to school.

For me, that means a tango between actively avoiding those aisles at Target...

...and gleefully couponing/cartwheeling to stock my classroom.  I am super excited that I picked up some new gray bins and polka dot fabric for a bulletin board (no one should be surprised that polka dots are involved!) for a super sale price.

 The bins were on sale and significantly cheaper than Target's price.  The fabric was on sale.  If I spent $40, I got $5 back on Ibotta (join my saving adventure with code uvnspet).  But when I got to the counter, I joyfully discovered that my entire purchase was an additional 25% off as a teacher appreciation day sale.

Naturally, that had me like:

 But I was in public, so the excitement had to be kept to a socially acceptable level.

I'm trying a lot of new things in the classroom this year.  We're doing a lot of integration and emphasizing technology, history, and critical thinking.  We're being more creative and that excites me because I function well with freedom.

I'll have the GATE kids, so the fluidity between subjects will be a nice structure for my outside of the box thinkers.   

After a few rough years, I'm optimistic that this year (#8!) will be my best year ever.

With that theme, I'd like to share that it's the annual TpT back to school sale:

And my {entire store} is 20% off for the next few days.  Happy shopping!