Monday...Enough Said.

Sunday Smiles

Linky Party: Top Ten! (Or Eleven)

The Teaching Theif has begun a linky party (the usual) -- "Top Ten Teacher Must Haves." So here I go:

10. STARBUCKS Coffee Frappuccino. What a genius idea it was to invent a Starbucks in my fridge. My 7:00am - 8:00am is accompanied by this.

9. VERA BRADLEY Villager Tote. No more carrying papers out the door, dropping them, and a few flying away. True story.

8. SHARPIE PENS. Fell in love with these last year. How perfect is it to have a sharpie AND a pen all in one? Pretty perfect.

7. POST-ITS. Great for kid thoughts and for my thoughts! I have them stuck in just about everywhere. They even spill over onto the inside of my apartment cabinets.

6. PEDICURE. Just got mine done on Tuesday...very last minute. Better late than never. Seriously.

5. CAMERA. I try to photograph everything. My freshman year in college, I took 7,959 photos. Not lying. 

4. COKE. Caffeine only affects me when I don't have it. And that is pretty much never.

3. SWEATPANTS. The bigger, the better. Enough said.

2. ANN TAYLOR LOFT 15% off teacher discount. Way to go, Ann Taylor. You are pricey, but good to me at the same time.

1. E-MEALZ Meal-Time Makeover. Without this $5 a month service, Josh and I would be eating repeat meals weekly (and they wouldn't be very well balanced). E-mealz is my dinner-making lifesaver. Not only do I spend $40 or less on my five dinner meals, I don't have to figure out how to make them every night! If you're a working girl with a hungry hubby...check it out. <3

0. (Yes...I am including a zero). SUPPORT. Without my husband's, family's, friend's, and co-worker's support, I would not be able to do the job that I do. Thank you for letting me vent, cry, and laugh with you.

When All You Need is a Hobby Lobby and a Pair of Hands

To continue the last post:

My classroom is finally complete (ask me if this is totally true in about 2 weeks)! I have really enjoyed getting to do more projects to brighten up my room and make it more of a reflection of my kids (and me). Here's what I did:

First I met up with Martha Stewart and her Tissue Paper Pom Poms. And the truth is you can pop these suckers up pretty quick.

All you need to create these paper masterpieces are:

Tissue Paper (not the cheap stuff as it tears easily)
Thin wire
Fingers
Scissors
More fingers

Martha gives a pretty good step-by-step process of how to do this one right. Check out the final product!

I really like how they all came out a little bit differently.

For my next project, I wanted to recreate something I REALLY wanted to buy on Etsy (the price is ridiculous). A Rainbow Drizzle. Wasn't quite sure if I could pull it off.

For this project all you need is:

Canvas (I used a 16x20)

Crayola crayons- 64 pack

Wood glue

Hairdryer (or heat gun)

Coca-Cola in the background is optional.

First, you have to choose what order of colors you would like. I wanted the same rainbow effect seen above, but in the opposite order. 

Next time I would really like to try using only crayons in the same color group (like all reds, all blues, etc). The same Etsy shop has a similar drip that is called a Sunset Drip. Anyway. 

After choosing the color order, all you do is glue, wait 24 hours, and blow dry! Definitely be sure to concentrate the hairdryer towards the bottom of the crayons instead of the top, or your crayons won't melt correctly. You can also use the hairdryer to aim where/how far your melted wax goes. 

Here's how mine turned out:

I would like to thank Martha and this Etsy shop owner for all of their inspiration :)

To end this annoyingly "DIY" blog with a little light heartedness (and truth), here is Taylor Mali on "what teachers make." It just makes me laugh (and tear up a little). Excuse the few moments of language.