First day of school!

Can you believe school has already started? It's crazy, but true. We had a half day on Thursday, and it was great! Crowded, but great. I had 21 out of 22 kids show up- which is my best first day attendance ever. They are all super sweet and I can tell it's going to be a great year!

We didn't have much time for any fun crafts, since half days tend to fly by. We read "Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten" and then drew what we did to get ready. Looks like many of my kids got new shoes. One was even so specific as to say he went to WalMart to get ready. So precious!

While they were working on their pictures, I took a few minutes to get a picture of each using my new frame courtesy of Pinterest. It turned out really cute and I can't wait to use it again on the 100th day of school!

Aren't they precious? We half another half day on Monday and then jump right into full days. It'll be a long and tiring week, but I look forward to getting to know my sweet babies and starting the year off right.

Hoarders: Teacher Edition

Have you seen all those hoarding shows on tv? These are people who collect mountains and rooms full of garbage, but insist that the items have meaning/purpose. These people are CRAZY!! They're like, "I can't throw away that mcdonald's bag from 12 years ago, it has sentimental memories." WTF?

Then the other day I was putting something away in my laundry room/closet when it hit me. I am a teacher hoarder. I collect random things that other people would throw away, but I can use in my classroom. Take a look:

I bet you don't collect empty toilet paper or paper towel rolls. Or old egg cartons.

Or old oatmeal canisters. You would throw them away. Or better yet, you would recycle them. Well, I'm doing my own version of recycling. What am I going to do with this trash? Well...

egg cartons- can be used for sorting, made into caterpillars for our insect unit, or used to hold beads

toilet paper rolls- 2 can be glued together to make "binoculars", 1 can be made into a harmonica, or a small rainstick

oatmeal canisters- used to hold extra crayons, small blocks (legos), possibilities are endless

So yes, I am a teacher hoarder. But, these things have not taken over my house! If they do, I'll let you know and you can come stage an intervention.

p.s. funny story- last year I was in Charleston visiting my friend (and fellow teacher) Hillary. We were out at a bar when I stopped to use the restroom. She asked me why I was laughing when I came out. My response: "you know you're an elementary school teacher when you want to steal the empty toilet paper roll from the bar!"

Here's a pointer

Literally that is! These are an essential tool in the Kindergarten classroom. I use one during my morning meeting to point out the words in our morning message. The kids use it when they lead the class in the "days of the week" song. I only had 1 of these last year, and wished I had more for when kids are reading the room. So when I was at Michael's last week, I decided to get crafty!
Ta da! 3 super cute, super cheap reading pointers! I have a rocket ship, bee and a frog. Each shape was 59 cents and the dowel I used was about $1. So for under $5 I have 3 new pointers. Can't wait to use them!

What's cookin' in the kitchen?

My Kindergarten classroom is lucky enough to have a "home living" center. It has a small refrigerator and sink, and I've gotten a few toy foods, pots, etc. for the kids to play with. They LOVE this center and I love that it helps them expand their imagination and vocabulary.

It's super cute, but a little boring back in the home living corner (doesn't help that it's right next to the bathroom). I decided to make some curtains to jazz it up. You can't see, but to the right of the toy sink is the real classroom sink that needed some curtains to hide the pipes underneath. I got some super cute cloth to make very simple curtains to hide the pipes. Then I set to work on this:

They are curtains to go in the home living center over the "window" (which I'll make out of posterboard or something) that's over the little sink. The ruffle fabric is what I used for the big curtains, so they go together. Plus, they're adorable!! I can't wait to get them in my classroom. Until now, here's a visual to help you see what I'm talking about :

What do you think? Not to toot my own horn, but I'm pretty proud of how they are turning out. And I'm impressed with myself that I figured out how to do the ruffle without my mom's help. Makes me want to do more sewing projects. In a few weeks I can get into my classroom and you better believe these are the first new things going up!

Smarty Pants

Since I have a lot of time on my hands this summer, I decided I wanted to try and be productive this summer. Sure, there are days where I don't change out of my pyjamas and just lounge around the house all day. Then there are days where I am super productive. Today is looking like a mix of the two- part productivity and part laziness/enjoying summer. Today's project of productivity was making a pair of "smarty pants". I got the idea from a blog I saw and knew I had to do it! Here's the how-to tutorial:

1. Start with a pair of small jeans (I got these for $1.50 from Salvation Army).

2. Sew the leg holes shut- make sure to use a jean/heavy duty needle. I also use jean thread so it blends in.

3. Next, use small scissors or a seam ripper to cut the back belt loops free.

4. Sew belt loops closed over a hanger.

5. Print a cute sign and tah-da! Smarty pants!!
These will be filled with Smarties (the candy) and hung in my classroom. When a child does something extra-smart, that means they are a "Smarty Pants" and can get a piece of candy. They turned out super cute!! Can't wait to hang them in my room.

Happy Crafty-days!

This is what my dining room looks like right now:It has been taken over by crafting. I love my house, but I don't really have a good space to keep my craft things out all the time. But since it's the holidays and holidays=crafting, my dining room has been transformed. Having 5 days off from school (dare I say it, I'm bored) has inspired me to do some crafting. Here's what I've been working on:

UK themed ornaments. They need to be glossed and have a ribbon hanger added, but they turned out pretty cute!

Holiday note cards

Close-up of my favorite cards. Maybe you'll get one in the mail!

My holiday decorations are up (yay!), pictures to come soon. What about you? Have the holidays gotten you into a crafty mood? I would love to see what you're working on!