Saturday, June 29, 2013

Currently, Already??

When I first saw Currently was up....I was thinking, "What? July already? Did I lose a few days in June?" But apparently Farley is posting a little early to go on vacation! 

Then I thought, "Cool, I can get in on this one a little early this time." Nope....wrong! Two days early and already over 120 link ups! Wow!



Listening - Today is our hottest day of the year in NV, 120+ degrees!!!! I'm serious, my A/C has not shut off once since I got up! It's an old unit too! Hang in there baby.....make it through this summer!!! 

Loving - My principal emailed next year's schedules out yesterday for us early planners! I love that she does this early so I can figure out my year. It's hard to plan out everything when you don't know what time lunch or specials will be! I'm implementing new centers next year and it's very helpful now to know just how these rotations will go and the time I can allot!

Summer is soooooo flying!!! Doesn't it always!??

Wanting - to finish my classroom decor pack, but I've hit a stump! Is there such thing as "Designer's Block!!?" Like writer's block! It's just not coming together like I want it! I don't know about you, but sometimes I just need to take a break from it for a few days and then come back to it. I'm notorious for having 3-4 projects going at once, and several unfinished! It's not that I put things off or procrastinate.....I just have to be in the right mood for certain things!

Needing - I so need to do some summer cleaning! It's summer and my house has been more neglected than when I'm working!!! Go figure!

My tip is "Pin Your Stuff." I tend to pin everyone else's stuff and forget to pin my own! Now that I've started pinning all of my things, I've gotten a lot more exposure and my sales in my shops have drastically increased!!! 

So get busy Pinning!!!!!!

**update**Another tip I'd like to throw in.....is share some love for other bloggers out there! I'll get 60-70 views on a facebook post and not ONE SINGLE LIKE! Surely some one likes it! Come on people, how hard is it to hit that "like" button!!! You really start to second guess yourself, ya know!

And if you haven't heard.....my blogoversary giveaway starts Monday!! Be sure to head back & enter!!





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Friday, June 28, 2013

Five for Friday!

My first link up with "Five for Friday." I've been wanting to join this party....and today I finally am!!!


1. My 18-year finally got a job!!!! Yippee, more money in my pocket! Now she can start buying her own clothes and makeup! 


Yes, I'm really lovin' it!!!

2. Fabulous finds at Big Lots for my new color theme!!!! And love, love, love the pink tape dispenser!!! That was from Walmart! And guess what I'll be finally making with those crates??!!  





 3. This stuff is awesome!! Can't get enough! It's addicting!!! Sorry my pics are always so blurred! Not sure if it's me or my camera! :)




4. My 1st year blogoversary is Monday!!! And what a wonderful year it has been. I love blogging and have been so inspired and have learned so much from all of you fabulous teachers out there!!! To celebrate I'm having a giveaway!

Be sure to stop back by Monday to enter.....and hope you'll help me spread the word!! Besides winning my store, I'll also be giving away a pencil sharpener and Lakeshore interactive software!

5. And......I now have a "Fan Freebie" on my Facebook page!!

Click on the banner and like my page to grab your freebie!!!

Oh, and if you haven't entered "Primary Possibilities" playdough pack giveaway.....hurry! It ends in 3 hours!!! Adorable playdough pack with tons of activities for your math and literacy centers next year!!!!

Until next time...........

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Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Some Great Finds in a day of Cyberspace!!!

What a lazy day!!! I have literally spent my entire day reading blogs, entering giveaways, pinning, searching ideas for my chair, and on facebook! I wouldn't call it unproductive though, because I found some great things along the way to share with you! 

But first, did any of you enter the K-3 grab bag giveaway that Educents was having?? Well, I WON!!!! And I was so excited to get my package Saturday! 


Look at everything I got!



 Here are my favorites!!!

If you haven't invested in any of these interactive Smartboard programs from Lakeshore......then do! They run 15-20 dollars each and are well worth it! I already have two, "Letter of the Day" and "Phonics Tic Tac Toe" and am excited to add the "Bubble Pop" to my collection!

Lucky for you.....the "Solar System" one is not really practical for my students. So I think I'm going to include it in my blogoversary giveaway that starts on the 1st.

Some other goodies that were in the box.

This is a nice book with full color worksheets! It's hard
to see, but it's in a hard cover binder.

 I thought this measuring book might make a nice center activity.....and a count, add, and subtract music CD with 15 songs!

These are by Carson Dellosa and are intended for summer practice, but I'm sure I'll be able to use these in my classroom! Maybe even as an activity for early finishers!

This one, I'm not sure if I'll be able to use it with my students, but looks pretty cool and comes with an interactive Smartboard CD.


So now for some things I found while in cyberspace all day! 

I'm sure everyone's heard about Bloglovin' by now. Well I finally jumped on the wagon today. I saw this button on a couple of blogs last week and just knew I had to have it on my blog!! 


Follow on Bloglovin


Thanks to google, I found it today! The creator is Melissa over at "Common Core & So Much More" and she is more than happy to share it! You can go to her blog {here} to get it for your blog! But FIRST, click on it to follow me!

My chair is still a work in progress and while looking for ideas today on how to paint polka dots, chevron, and the best way to put my name on my chair, I found a great tutorial for painting chevron from Kelly at "First Grade Fairytales." Hers turned out great! She makes it look so easy, that I'm thinking maybe I can do this!




A polka dot tutorial on "you tube" led me to find this fabulous blog that definitely fits its name....."Show Me Cute." This is not a teaching blog, but if you're looking for cutesy craft ideas, for thank yous, your home, or whatever, you want to be sure to follow this  blog!!

Also found a great....and easy....tutorial on how to make editable powerpoints and lock down clipart from Jessica at "A Turn to Learn." But then again what tutorial can't you find from her??? She is my "go to" when I'm trying to figure out technology!! I thought I knew how to do this by simply using the group feature, but found that some of the images can still be moved, copied, and taken!

With Jessica's tutorial I was able to create these lovely editable teacher binder covers.









If you've been trying to figure this out, or only using the grouping feature, you can see her tutorial {here}. The binder covers are available at both my stores if you like them!

Can you believe they've already been pinned 62 times......WoW!!??

And last.....some giveaways I found today! Who turns down a giveaway, right?

The Bubbly Blonde Teacher

Melonheadz

Kindergarten Works

And the best for last!
Ashley is having multiple giveaways EVERY day
this week!!

I'm telling ya, this girls knows how to throw a celebration!
It's crazy!!!


And don't forget about my upcoming giveaway on July 1st!
Spread the word!
You might even be able to win the Lakeshore interactive Smartboard software!!
Here's a sneak peek at my classroom chair I've been painting on!

I really want to put my name on the white head board, but am not very artful! Does anyone know the easiest way??? Was wondering how printing it and modge podging it on would work! I'm afraid if I free hand it, I'll mess it up!
Any Suggestions?????



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Sunday, June 23, 2013

Pencil Sharpener Craze

Hi Everyone,

I finally got in on the pencil sharpener craze that everyone's been raving about from Classroom Friendly Supplies. With all of the talking going on about this sharpener, I knew I had to have one for next year! 

Once I arrived at the site to make my purchase, I discovered that Troy, the owner, was looking for potential bloggers to do reviews on this sharpener and help spread the word. I was excited to hear back from Troy the following day, accepting my submission to do a review. 

And let me tell you, now I know what everyone was raving about! I love it and can't wait to throw out my electric sharpeners when school starts! I also love that my students can stay engaged and in their seats to sharpen their pencils......we can simply pass it around as needed! 

Well here.....watch my video review to see for yourself!!!





So what did you think?? I love it and can't wait for my kiddos to use it. And just love the fact that they won't have to get out of their seats. I don't know about yours, but my students tend to get into mischief on the way to the sharpener or use it as an excuse to get out of their seats! 

One thing I forgot to mention in the video is that the sharpener also comes in 4 colors, so if you don't like the blue, you can get red, green, or black. Classroom Friendly Supplies is also hosting a giveaway right now for one of these sharpeners. It ends in six days....so head over there and enter! 

And don't forget, my blogoversary giveaway is in 8 days!!!! You could win my store......and pssssst.......

I may even be giving away one of these awesome sharpeners!


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Friday, June 21, 2013

Brilliantly Remove Stickers & Freebie

I have a great tip for you guys for taking sticker labels off! My son is absolutely brilliant!!! He's 16 and helps me out with so many projects! He has such great ideas and even has his own woodworking website: www.dylanswoodworking.com. So proud of him!!!

So, two years ago my school adopted EnVisions for math, leaving Saxon math behind. Our Saxon math materials have been in storage for two years. Over the summer, the custodians are disposing of all of the stored Saxon materials and these were going to be thrown out!!!


Over my dead body! These are awesome, sturdy plastic containers. And being the container freak I am, I knew I had to snag these up!! 


 In order to use them in my room, I knew I had to get rid of the sticker labels.

First thing I thought was, razor blade!
That didn't work! These things are literally baked on!
 So I resorted to soaking them in water.

I'm already thinking this is going to be a job. Each container has 4 labels......and I have 5 containers. That is 20 labels to soak off!!

This was the result of the first label after soaking in bleach water for an hour! Still a major job. I'm beginning to think....is it worth it????

And then my brilliant son came into the picture! 
He says, "Mom, all you have to do is melt the glue with a hairdryer and they'll come right off." 

I'm like, "What? Seriously?"

So I did it, and IT WORKED!!!

I ran the hairdryer across the labels for about 60 seconds, holding it very close! The labels peeled off so clean, without even leaving any sticky stuff!!!! 


I'm telling you the kid is genius!!! Thank god he told me this after only soaking one label. Imagine if I had soaked all of the 20 labels and then he told me this!!!

I have wanted to paint a chair for my classroom! I've been searching second hand stores and finally TODAY, my son and I walked into Good Will for the 3rd time in two weeks and there it was!!!! My chair!! :)



I love it! I was so nervous to begin painting on it, as I haven't attempted a painting project like this in some time, but I did it!


This is one of the chairs that inspired me and the look that I'm leaning towards! 

Isn't it beautiful?



This chair comes from Sydney at


Stay tuned for the finished product!!

Now to link up with TBA for another Freebie Friday!!!

I have some desktop name labels for you!
I've been seeing these everywhere, so I whipped up some for my kiddos......and yours too if you like them!





Get them {here}.


Freebie Fridays

AND
July 1st is my blogoversary! Woohoo! A giveaway!
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That' right! No misprint!
I'll be giving away my entire store to one lucky winner, plus another surprise!

Giveaway starts July 1st.....so mark your calendars!!

Add this cute button to your blog by going to www.blogoversary.com.



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