fun friday: old friends

Happy Friday! My Fun Friday is going to consist of hanging out with some old friends, Jessa & Alyx, watching Big Bang Theory and having some wine tonight - I think that sounds like a good Friday to me!

So, for today, I'm linking up with Hoot, Hoot, Hooray! for her Pintervention Party! Click the button below to go link up for yourself!

I hopped upon the bandwagon and I, too, made a teacher toolbox. I'm actually happy with the way it turned out. I'm OBSESSED with anchors at the moment, and probably will be for a while, so I decided to use some anchor print ribbon for my large boxes and left my small boxes blank. BUT, I added a red/white/blue ribbon on the drawer pulls - I'm not sure if I like this... but I think I do. What do you all think??

The idea and template all originated from Create.Teach.Share. Stop on by and take a look, grab the template, and make one for yourself!

Here's some giveaways to tell you all about:

April over at The Idea Backpack is having a giveaway for getting 100 followers! Stop on by, follow her, and check out the giveaway!

The authors over at Technology Tailgate are having a welcome giveaway! This is an AWESOME site filled with awesome contributors - go check out the resources they have, leave some love, and enter into their giveaway!

Next, Katie & Lisen over at Second Grade Smartypants are having their 100 follower giveaway! These ladies are great so make sure to check them out!

Finally, Ms. C over at Just Wild About Teaching is having a 200 follower giveaway! She's got such a cute blog, plenty of resources, and a great giveaway going on! Check her out :]

That's all I've got for ya! I'm going to go try and survive the bipolar weather of Ohio - first we have 100+ temperatures for the last two days, and now we've got extra strong storms rolling on through. Hellooooo, Ohio!

Have a good night, y'all!

thinking thursday scratch that & giveaways

Happy Thursday! I'm supposed to have done some thinking today... which typically is reading, but I said I would only do it outside. BUT, today was 100+ degrees all day long sooo instead, I stayed inside and blogged, worked on homework (which requires thinking!!), and watched some movies. So much for my Thinking Thursdays! I've got to come up with something else because it never seems to work... any ideas what I could replace THURSDAY with?!

Anyway, I'm just going to dedicate this post to some giveaways going on in the bloggy world. I'm going to post their blog buttons/signs and then under the buttons/signs will be the names of the people doing the giveaways and a link to their blogs. All these ladies doing these giveaways are AWESOME and have some great things to give away. Make sure to stop on by each one of them and give them a warm hello!

Elisabeth over at The Adventures of Miss Elisabeth

Erica at Sprinkles to Kindergarten

Kelley at Teacher Idea Factory

Miss N. at Coffee, Kids and Compulsive Lists

That's all I've got for ya today!

Have a good night, y'all!

what's cooking wednesday: funfetti cake batter cookies

Happy Wednesday! Today for What's Cooking Wednesday, I decided to make Funfetti Cake Batter Cookies. I was inspired by Cookin' Cowgirl at this post. I followed her exact recipe, but mine didn't look like hers... REGARDLESS, they were amazing and delicious and perfect with milk!

(I don't know why this is blurry... blame the iPhone, not the operator :])

INGREDIENTS:
1 box of vanilla cake mix (18.5 ounces)
1 teaspoon of baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup of vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 cup of sprinkles

STEP 1: Preheat your oven to 350°. Once you've done this, grab two bowls to mix your ingredients together in. First, in one bowl, mix together the box of vanilla cake mix and the teaspoon of baking powder. Set aside. In the next bowl, mix together your eggs, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract. Once mixed, combine both bowls together and mix until it's "dough." Mix in sprinkles.

STEP 2: Lay out your dough in ball form on your sheets. Put in oven for 10-14 minutes. The recipe from Cookin' Cowgirl calls for 10 minutes, but I put them in for 14 because I didn't think mine looked done... well, the first batch I put in for 16 minutes and they looked too done, so then I reduced it to 14 minutes for second batch. Anyways, anywhere from 10-14 minutes I would recommend.

STEP 3: Once complete, take out and let cool for about 5 minutes. Then, enjoy!! I suggest a glass of milk on the side... who doesn't like milk and cookies??

 The cookie on the left was a cookie at 16 minutes. The cookie on the right was a cookie at 14 minutes. The cookies at 14 minutes were much more chewy and doughy... the way I like them :]

Happy baking! Nom nom nom....

Have a good night, y'all!

PS. I've also linked this recipe up at Miss Nelson's blog titled Run! Miss Nelson's Got the Camera. She's doing a linky party where you can win a $50.00 gift certificate to Erin Condren to shop! So, go take a look at all the different things others have posted :]

tried it tuesday: bayou fish house

Hi guys! It's the second Tried It Tuesday of the SUPER SUMMER SCHEDULE!! I only have about two weeks left in Cincinnati, so Kristin and I decided the next two Tuesdays would be dedicated to new restaurants we want to try. Last week, as you know, we went to Pit to Plate. Well, this week, we went to Bayou Fish House in Newport, Kentucky! MMMMMMM was it good!

We got to the restaurant and you would not even know that it's a real restaurant - here's the signs outside of the restaurant and the front door (I felt like I was going into someone's house!):

We went inside, and they had possibly the cutest decor a fishy restaurant could have. I didn't take a picture of the quote on the wall, but it was like this:

"The maid quit on us. Clean up after yourself."

This isn't EXACTLY what it said, but I just thought it was too cute! There was another sign that said:

"If you are grumpy, angry, or have a problem, a $10.00 charge will be added to your order."

I LOVE this. It's perfect.

Anyways... here's a few pictures of the decor inside:

If you look at the menu, you can tell that the food is CHEAP. It was $6.95 for a full cod and fries, and then $1.50 for a drink - I paid LESS than $10.00 for my entire meal... including a cupcake :] Below is the cupcake display, my meal, and Kristin's meal - she HAD to try the Bayou Bites (Jalapeños deep fried). She absolutely LOVED them. Below are some pictures:

I absolutely LOVED the fries that came with the meal. They were perfectly crisp, dipped in an awesome batter, and tasted so fresh. They were amazing.

Overall, Bayou Fish House was a great experience (We're 2 for 2 so far!!). I cannot wait to see what next week's adventure brings us... here's a sneak peak - if you're from the Cincinnati area, you probably know this place :]

EDIT: Giveaway going on at Cindy's blog, Primary Reading Party! She's hit 100 followers (jealous!) and is doing a great giveaway. Stop on by, take a look around her blog, and enter her giveaway!

EDIT 2: Heather at Third Grade Is a "Hoot" has reached 50 followers! To celebrate, she's giving away at $20.00 gift card to Amazon! Enter yourself into the giveaway and check out her blog. Good luck!

EDIT 3: Amanda is having a 300 follower giveaway now! She's moving on up :] Stop on by Teaching Maddeness and enter for some great things!!

EDIT 4: If you can't tell by now... I love giveaways!! There'a bother one going on at Sweet Seconds for reaching 200 followers! Go enter!

EDIT 5: Birthday giveaway going on at The Littlest Scholars! Stop on by and enter for your chance to win a $26.00 Amazon Gift Card!!

Have a good night, y'all!

monday made it: dry erase calendar

Hi guys! It's Monday Made It!! I'm linking up with Tara at 4th Grade Frolics for her Monday Made It linky series for her 4th week of the party (my 2nd week)!

I decided to get creative today and make something with inspiration from Pinterest! I got the idea from here. I made the same thing, but mine is an ombre style dry-erase board with cool blues! I also have this "dirty" looking background to add some texture to the frame.

MATERIALS NEEDED:
16" x 20" frame - I tend to get all my frames from Michaels!
14 total paint chips (I got mine from Lowes - the Olympic kind - I chose to do mine in the ombre style but you can do yours however you want!)

2 pieces of scrapbook paper - 12" x 12"

Scissors
Ruler
Pen
Gluestick
Dry Erase Marker

STEP 1: Here's how I started the project. I began laying out the cards after I cut them to the size I wanted. Sizes will vary for your own projects, but I used about a 2 1/4 inch across and the length was made up by the cards themselves. I cut off the middle lines separating the colors on the paint chips to make them pop rather than have this white edge on them. Continue cutting and laying down until you've got it to where you want it.

 

STEP 2: Once you've laid it out to your satisfaction, begin gluing each square on. This was a length process, and I tend to want EVEYRTHING as even as possible.. which is not the best idea when you're doing this project. It's a lot harder than it looks!

STEP 3: Place it back in the frame and lay the glass back in. I bought the frames where they are front loading because I've used these a few times and I really like them. They're just as easy as backloading frames... just whichever you prefer!

STEP 4: You're finished! Write out whatever month you'd like - I chose to show you an example with July as that's the next month (oh my gosh... already?). I can't find my black dry erase marker so I used red. It doesn't look terrible... but this is just an example! ( YES! I'm going to the Bahamas in 12 days... but who's counting? :] )

I just wanted to include this next photo to show you how easily the marker wipes off. That was erased with one swipe of a paper towel... pretty simple!

Welp, that's all I've got for ya! Make sure to go check out all the great Monday Made Its at Tara's blog! You'll definitely be inspired :]

It's back to homework for me! Going to be a rough 12 days until vacation...

EDIT: Giveaway over at Herding Kats in Kindergarten!! She created one reaaaaally cute clipboard for Tara's Monday Made It linky party, and is now giving that along with other goodies away! Go and visit her :]

EDIT 2: Another giveaway! This time, it's at Tonya's Treats for Teachers! She's hit 200 followers. Make sure to stop on by and leave her some love - she's got some great prizes for whoever wins :]

EDIT 3: There'a another giveaway going on! It was Amber's birthday on the 25th at Adventures of a Third Grade Teacher, so make sure to wish her a happy belated birthday and enter her giveaway!

Have a good night, y'all!




PS. I've also linked this craft up at Miss Nelson's blog, Run! Miss Nelson's Got the Camera. Stop on by and check out all the other posts that have been made, and enter yourself in order to win a $50.00 Erin Condren gift certificate to shop!