Monday Made It - {Book Bin}

YAY! It's time again for Monday Made It with Tara from 4th Grade Frolics.

So, what did I make? Well, I'll show ya!

I found this cute little wicker type basket at Hobby Lobby today and a genius idea popped into my head!

I just needed to find these SUPER cute animal print letters... I just had to have them. Then, I connected two and two together and BAM. It hit me exactly what I wanted the basket above to be.

A BOOK BIN!! I took the letters above and glued them onto the basket (using craft glue) and hoped that they will stick. AND, well they did :)

In my internship last year, the kiddos put all their books in a crate when it was library day. I thought, what an awesome idea to have our OWN class book bin... not just some stinkin' plain crate??

SO, begins "Book Bin."

I seriously love the way it turned out. It's so fun, bright, and just perfect for the purpose.

I also thought if it was too small and started getting TOO heavy with all the books to return to the library, I could use it for my own classroom. When students are finished with their books that they "checkout" of the classroom library, they can place them in the book bin and the person who has the classroom library as a job for the week can use the bin to put all the books back!

GENIUS... yes? I think so! I am sooo happy with the way it turned out.

Monday Made It Week 1 = success!!

I also had to buy this cute little bin for my own library books that I rented with my BRAND NEW LIBRARY CARD!! Yes, I got a library card today so I feel like I'm a REAL resident of Mobile now.

SO, what did YOU make this Monday?? Click the button above to be taken to Tara's post for the Monday Made It for this week and link up.

See y'all tomorrow for the FIRST Teacher Product Tuesday of the summer! 

Super Summer Schedule - Recruiting For Feature Teacher Friday! :)

Hello all! I'm here to tell you about something I plan to do starting JUNE 3rd here on the ol' blog! Summer is my favorite time of the year - and the most relaxing, so I figured I'd get back into blogging regularly! Read below to get a glimpse at my schedule and feel free to join in by using the button below, too! :)

{frame by Ashley Hughes - fonts by Jen Jones}

Monday Made It = y'all remember last year when Tara from 4th Grade Frolics started the FANTASTIC linky for Monday Made It? It kicked my booty into gear to create some things and well, this year, I'm participating again!

Teacher Product Tuesday = on this day, I'm going to feature either one of my new products OR another teacher product that I adore OR some kind of physical product that I think is fantastic for teachers. I have SOOOO many files on my computer and SO much stuff in my spare room that I'd love to showcase for y'all - never know, maybe you'll find a new product you like for your classroom, too :)

Wild Card Wednesday = on Wednesday, I'm going to blog about whatever - this is a WILD CARD post. It could be about Tucker (y'all know you love that boy), about something happening in my personal life, an update on my teaching job situation, etc. Never know.

Technology Thursday = exactly what it says... technology! Y'all know (if you know me) that I adore technology. I think it has so many fantastic features, but it's the USING it that a lot of people have trouble with. So, I'm going to showcase a website, a technology tool, an app, or anything else technology on this day!

Feature Teacher Friday = out of all the things I'm doing throughout the summer, I think this day is going to be my FAVORITE. I want to showcase YOU. Why? I want to feature some of the most influential people in my life on my own blog - I want you to tell us all about you as a person. I also want to learn more about those who I follow since I cannot technically meet you all in person. SO, if you are interested, please fill out **THIS DOCUMENT HERE**. I would LOVE to have as many people as possible :)

*Saturday is a ME day - a day to do my schoolwork, layout, hang out, whatever!*

Summer Reading Sunday = I plan to read as many books as possible this summer. Yes, I'm in school so I have lots of schoolwork to do, but on the days when I have nothing, I want to read read read! So, I plan to showcase a new book each Sunday that I've read that past week. It could be a YA book, a children's book, or an adult reading book. I have SO many on my "To-Read" list on Goodreads that I want to blow through the list.

SO, what do ya say? Wanna give it a go? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this new schedule and what you think about it.

Have a good day, y'all!

Monday Made It & Live Laugh Craft Series!

Hi y'all! Linking up with Tara @ 4th Grade Frolics for her Monday Made It linky!

This week, I was inspired by a pin I have seen floating around Pinterest.

Source: Technology Rocks. Seriously.

So I chose to create my own variation of this sign, but not on paper.

MATERIALS:
12x18 wooden board (mine is from Michaels)
Black acrylic paint
White cardstock
Cricut (or any cutting machine)
5 colors of scrapbook paper
Mod Podge or Xyron sticker maker

I actually turned the "Before you speak" into stickers with my Xyron sticker maker, but then I chose to do the rest in Mod Podge. I've never actually used Mod Podge for a full out project before, so it was a different kind of experience! In the end, it was a super easy project and I plan to put it up by my desk in my classroom. I can see little imperfections throughout the board, BUT I think it gives it character because it's not perfect :)

It's also time to start our Live Laugh Craft series party with my BPIC, Monique @ Uniquely Monique! She's hosting this great linky and I know it'll keep me in shape with my crafting! This time around, it's a planner creation party! Of course, you can go out and purchase your own planners and make it quick, but is it personable? Not always! So, I decided to create my own planner (and some of you have seen it floating around on my TPT store!) but to add more pages to it to fit my current needs. So, below is a description of my planner and some pictures of it! :)


I chose to make my cover with something beachy because I'm a beach baby. Always have been, always will be!

Next are my pages. I left them blank from numbers so that I could reuse this design year after year if I so choose! This is a similar format for all months, I just wanted to show you August! There's really not much going on because school doesn't start for me until September 4th!

Here's a daily view of what's going on for the last week of August! Im going to North Carolina to see babe and I CANNOT wait!!

Finally, I've got two different pages - one is a to do list page and one is a notes page. I'll print out a to-do list and a notes page for each month and use them as necessary. As you can see, I've got a few things on my to-do list... I should probably get on it!!

So, that's my mini planner made to my own personality! I love the color coral, so that's the reasoning for the outline. You can make your planner the way you want... but go check out Moe & her co-host's planner ideas by clicking on the picture above!! :) Next week, they've decided that we are making our own DIY headbands - perfect for fall & Pinterest utilization!

QUESTION: I have 150 craft sticks sitting in my other room. I want to do something with them, but I honestly have NO idea what to do! Any ideas or thoughts? They will be greatly appreciated!

Have a good day, y'all!

Monday Made It: Tie Blankets & Calling All OHIO Bloggers!

Happy Monday! It's Monday Made It time with Tara @ 4th Grade Frolics! Go join up and show us all what you made :)

For this edition of Monday Made It, I decided to make a tie blanket for my future classroom! I have two tie blankets of my own - one that my old roommate from college, freshman year, made for me and one that my little from sorority made for me! I cuddle with the one from my little more than anything else... it's just too soft! Anyway, I decided I wanted to make one for the reading area in my classroom should a child want to cuddle up OR it can be for those future children of my own! :)

So, how do you make a tie blanket? Well, I didn't take step by step pictures this time because it's just TOO easy. The only downside is that your fingers start to hurt after all the cutting!

STEP 1: You lay down one side of the blanket (a sheet of fabric) on a solid, flat area. Then, you place the other side on top of this, as even as possible.

STEP 2: On each corner, cut out a 4x4 inch of fabric out of BOTH pieces of fabric. Basically, from now on, you're cutting through both pieces of fabric at the same exact time.

STEP 3: Once you've cut out your corners, begin on one side by cutting a strip out of BOTH pieces of fabric at once about an inch wide, and about 3-4 inches in length. I eyeballed it all... didn't want to measure because I was too lazy and I think it wouldn't have made the blanket because it's meant to be uneven!

STEP 4: Tie the two pieces together from the bottom & the top layer of fabric. I chose to double knot mine because it would come undone if I only knotted it once.

STEP 5: Repeat step 3 and 4 until you have all the edges of the blanket tied together.

Ta-da! You're all done and now you have a no-sew blanket that's as comfy as ever!

This blanket is monkey/safari themed - it was one of the packaged, pre-cut ones they had at Jo-Ann Fabrics. It came with a green side, I think to bring out the palm trees. I am INCREDIBLY satisfied with it. The pre-cut ones are about 3 feet wide by 4 feet long.

But, I also have two other tie blankets I'm going to make where I bought the fabric from the choices and had it cut for me (at Jo-Ann Fabrics) - my choice fabric blankets are going to be about 4 feet wide by 6 feet long. One will be for my classroom and one will be for home. The ocean one you see with the ocean animals & words will be for the classroom. I chose to do a yellow solid side to bring out the yellow on a few of the characters! The anchor one below that will be for home. I chose to do a blue background because I wanted to make the anchors stand out. I cannot wait to make either of them! :)

So - that's my Monday Made It!

Don't forget to check out my giveaway page where I update it daily with giveaways - who knows... you could be the next winner. I've won FOUR this week! Holy cannoli! 

I hope y'all have a great week and get a lot done!

PS. This is the ONLY day of my SUPER SUMMER SCHEDULE that I've stuck to. Thanks, Tara, for keeping me in line! :)

PSS. Are you an Ohio Blogger??? I've got a few people that have told me they are - now it's your turn to let me know!

Monday Made It & Vistaprint Order

Hi y'all! It's that time again... Monday Made It with Tara @ 4th Grade Frolics!

My first project was inspired by Amanda @ One Extra Degree. She made a BRAINSTORM BOX and I decided that I just absolutely loved the idea. So, I made my own! Mine looks a little different, as it has a closed top and is black with white lettering... but it's a similar idea!

MATERIALS:
Wooden box (Hobby Lobby)
My Cricut machine
White cardstock
Black paint
Paint brush
Xyron sticker maker

TO MAKE:
To make this, I started out by painting it black. It was wood colored, but I wanted something that would stand out! After I let it dry, I cut out the words "brainstorm box" using my Cricut. I used the Makin' The Grade cartridge and I think it turned out great! Then, I put the letters through my Xyron sticker maker to turn the backs into stickers, and stuck them on the box. Tada!




These are the little wood cutouts that I started out the day with... they go with my ocean theme I'll have for my classroom eventually! But then...

I went to Hobby Lobby because I ran out of sticker maker stuff AND I bought 44 more wooden cutouts! I grabbed one of each there and decided that they would all make great story starters or story characters.

Students will be able to use this box when they have finished their work and this box will also be stationed at a writing center. This hopefully will encourage students to be creative in their writing!

My second project was inspired by Kristin @ iTeach 1:1. She made a COMPLIMENT BOX and I decided (again) that I had to make one. Mine (again) looks a little different, as mine is a red painted box with red lettering. I'll be using my box in a similar fashion, though!


MATERIALS:
Wooden box (Hobby Lobby)
My Cricut machine
White cardstock
Red paint
Paint brush
Xyron sticker maker

This box will be used for my students to leave their friends some notes throughout the day. Amanda created a freebie for compliment notes on her site (click the blue link above this picture) so if you'd like it - go pick it up! I plan to have little strips of white paper where students can write their name, who they are giving the compliment to, and the compliment. At the end of the day, we'll read a few of them and the students will all get to take their compliments home! This is just a way to build community in the classroom and to make everyone feel as though they belong (because they DO belong!).

I also created the freebie below, too! These are the comment cards that I'll be using for my Comment Box above!

If you like what you see, you can have it for free! :) Click the picture below to be taken to my TPT store where it's located!

Finally, my Vistaprint order came! I borrowed a lot of different ideas from various people. Those who I took examples from are Tiffany @ The Learning Effect  and Katie @ Dirty Hands and Lesson Plans - there are a few other things I made that I had ideas from through people, but I cannot remember who! So, here's what I got!

This will be my birthday magnet that goes on the board - it's a small car magnet so it's plenty big enough! It's dry erasable, too, or so I've heard - yay!

 This will be used on the board where students' papers go without names. I absolutely love the design :)

These are the business cards I've made for my classroom. The top card is an exit ticket style card. This idea came from Katie. Students will write what they learned in order to move onto the next topic. The happy birthday card is obviously for birthdays. The computer style cards are for my students to put their username and passwords on cards in order to remember them (I will probably use some of these myself!). Finally, the last two are punch cards - the students will punch out their cards when they've done what it says - complete homework 10 times or move up the behavior chart 10 times. The last two cards were inspired by Tiffany!

 I made two stamps - they're both much smaller than I thought, but I like them! One is for a signature and one is for finish for homework. I also created these conference cards off Katie's choices - I absolutely love the style of them and they are very professional if you ask me.

Finally, I created these return address labels for my books - I'll probably order a stamp with my name on it to print on these eventually (since I don't have a classroom yet so I didn't want to put my name on them yet), but I absolutely LOVED the style so I had to get them!

LOOK at how much I saved on this oder - overall, it was a total of $35.88 - I used my Vistaprint Groupon $17.00 for $70.00 worth of products, but I obviously got more! I didn't want to spend $60.00 on shipping, so I went ahead and added at least $25.00 worth of stuff, and came out paying a total of $35.88 + $17.00 (for the Groupon) for a grand total of $52.88 - where I SAVED $237.07. WHOA.

I cannot wait to place my next Vistaprint order... I've joined a group on Facebook for teachers about Vistaprint - click here to be linked to the group! So, I'll have plenty of different ideas by then. But, that's all I've got for ya!

Have a good night, y'all!

Monday Made It & GIVEAWAY!

Happy Monday!! Another Monday Made It with Tara @ 4th Grade Frolics! I took a different route this time and didn't make anything crafty, BUT I tried to make some things in the form of documents! I'm really nervous to show y'all what I made... but you all are so nice so I don't think you'll criticize me too much!

If you like what you see, you can have it for free! :) Click the pictures to be taken to my TPT store where it's located!

Thanks for coming by my blog! If you did pick up the freebies, would you mind e-mailing me or leaving a comment below to tell me what you think?! I absolutely LOVE feedback.


I also had Nikki from Melonheadz Illustrating create a Melonheadz of me!! I'm not kidding... she did a GREAT job at making me look like, well... me! Here's she is! I also changed my signature to include her :)

Way too freakin' cute! THANK YOU, Nikki!!

LAST REMINDER:
My giveaway ends tonight at 12:01 AM EST. Make sure you enter before then!! I am astonished at the amount of advice I have been given and I promise you that I'm taking notes on EVERYTHING everyone said - it's so nice to have such a caring community of people that you've never met face to face with... thank you all SO much!

Have a good day, y'all!