Monday Made It!

Last week was so fun for me, that I'm back again!  

This week was pretty easy.  We have a couple of these HUGE bookcases.  One lives in our office, and one is in our little guy's bedroom.  I was tired of how plain it looked, so went on a Pinterest search.  Pinterest is my best online friend.  Anytime I have an idea, I just search for it, and dozens of ideas come up!  I searched for bookcase decorating and came up with this...

Fabric backed bookshelves!  What an easy and quick fix!  I went with grey polka dotted fabric because 1. it's my favorite decorating color and 2. it's gender neutral.  So the bookcases will be useful no matter what happens with our family in the future! 

It took me a little while to get it all done, but I'm loving how it turned out.  I wasn't sure how I would like it, so rather than glue the fabric straight to the shelves (making it permanent) I glued it to foam board I'd cut to fit the shelves.  Then I just pushed the foam into the shelf and it stayed.  The benefit of this is I can remove the fabric if I ever want to!

Materials Needed 

bookshelf

fabric

spray adhesive

foam board

scissors or an exacto knife

Directions

Measure and cut the foam board to fit the back of your shelves.

Measure and cut the fabric with an extra 1 inch perimeter.

Spray the foam board with the adhesive.

Lay the fabric on the foam board and press down to make it stick.

Fold the edges over.

Then, press your foam board into the shelves.

I wedged the foam board into the shelves and it stayed there - maybe I cut it a little too big?  But it works so that I don't have to adhere it to the shelf.  You may have to, in which case you can just use duct tape on the back...

Sorry I again don't have great pictures.  I didn't think to use this as a post until AFTER I'd completed the project.  Just imagine the shelf as plain white before I started... now it's backed in cute polka dotted fabric.  This would be great in a classroom too!

Lingo

I still am really new to this whole world, but over the last few months I've started picking up on some of the language.  I was confused and overwhelmed at the beginning because I didn't always know what things meant.  So, I figured I'd put together a list of lingo I've learned in hopes that it will help someone else out... I'm sure this has been done by better bloggers than I as well!

BLOG LINGO

Linky Party - an activity that all bloggers can participate in.  You don't have to be invited, you simply have to grab the picture off someone's blog, follow the directions, and post to your blog.  Then head back to the original blog and add your link.  It has been so fun participating in these, and it's brought new readers to my blog!  Some great Linky Parties to check out are: Currently, Monday Made It, 5 for Friday, and Traveling with Ramona.  If you have others, please leave them in the comments.  

INSTAGRAM LINGO

WIDN - stands for "What I'm Doing Now" - this comes up a lot on Instagram.  It simply means, take a photograph, post it, and tag a few other people asking them the same question.

#teachersfollowteachers, #teachersofinstagram, etc - ways to connect to other teachers.  If you add these hashtags (or other ones you create), other teachers will see your post, and maybe want to follow you!  I know I've gotten a lot of my followers from doing just this.

GENERAL LINGO

TpT - Teachers Pay Teachers - where teachers create and sell original curriculum materials.  It's awesome!  http://www.teacherspayteachers.com  Each teacher has a "store" where they post their work.  Check mine out...  http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Mrs-Hart

ToU - Terms of Use.  When you create a product to sell (or giveaway) you should include a Terms of Use page.  I'm including a sample of mine below.  This tells your customers what they are allowed to do with your product.  I created a basic one that I save on my desktop and can just add to each product... I edit the font and background to match the rest of the product, but mostly the language stays the same.

Commercial Fonts/Clip Art - are products you can use in your products to sell.  When you buy clip art and fonts, be sure to read if you can use them commercially - if it doesn't specifically say you can, then don't... you don't want to get into copyright trouble!  Usually you pay a fee for commercial fonts and clip art and you must include credit to the person who created it on a CREDITS page (or something similar). Here's my example... (side note, these are some of my favorite designers!)

Preview File - a short part of your file you upload so potential customers can see a sample of your product.  I didn't do this at the beginning, but as I've gotten to know more about the process, I've learned that it's very important!  Lots of teachers will skip over your product completely if there isn't a preview.  Many teachers post cute previews that have small thumbnails of the entire product.  I'm still learning how to do that... so for now I just upload a page or two.  Beware though... a preview is downloadable and USEABLE.  So if your product is only 1 page, and you upload it as a preview file, you're giving your product away for free.

I hope this is helpful for at least one person who reads this!  Also, if you have other things I should add, let me know.  I KNOW there's a lot of language that I'm still learning!!

5 for Friday!

Happy Friday!!!  During the school year, I do love Fridays.  We have a lot going on in school, and we always try to have some family movie night at home.  During the summer though, it doesn't feel all that much different than any other day of the week.  Sometimes I forget what day of the week it is - which isn't a bad problem to have at all!  If it weren't for my tutoring jobs, I'd go through the whole summer not knowing the date.

Today I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for 5 for Friday!

1.  New Rugs!

I have a weird aversion to buying rugs (and curtains) for my home.  I always love how they look at other people's homes, and my mother is ALWAYS telling me I need curtains and rugs, but I never can make myself buy them.  I don't know why it's so hard for me - everything is returnable and replaceable.  If I brought it home and hated it, I could always return it!  This week though, I decided that our kitchen floor needed a rug to break up all the hardwood.  I spent several days forcing myself to look at lots of stores, and yesterday I found this at Target.  

I loved it.  I think it's a perfect combination of my favorite decorating colors and it goes well with everything I already have in my kitchen.  I ended up getting 2 of them to help fill the space and I'm so glad I did!  (So is my son... I keep finding him lying down on the rugs pressing his face into the soft material.  Maybe that's a sign we need more carpets in our lives?)

2.  "Cheers"

My little guy learned how to "cheers" this week.  Actually he's been doing it for a couple weeks but this week he started saying "deers" when clinking his glass to ours.  It's so stinking cute... I find myself carrying around my water bottle all day so he can cheers me.  

3.  A Giveaway!

I'm joined up with My Carolina's Classroom for a giveaway!  If you want to find out more about what I contributed, head here.  While you're checking it out, be sure to follow my blog - and hers too!  There are a lot of amazing things included in the giveaway, including over $100 worth of TpT products AND a $25 Amazon gift card!

4. Big Brother!!

I've been so busy this week I haven't seen ANY of the episodes!  Luckily, I've also been to busy to keep up with my social media accounts (except for Instagram, so THANK YOU to anyone who watches for not sharing details!) so I have no idea what's been happening.  Once I've posted this blog, I'm hoping to turn it on!  I can clean and unpack while it's playing in the background... I hope!

5.  My New Office!

I don't have any pictures of this, but my husband has been busily trying to get our new office unpacked and organized.  We've never had an office before, and we're both SO excited about it!  The room isn't that big, but we managed to get a huge bookshelf (the UNdecorated one that I'll tell you all about this week on Monday Made It) in there along with our desk.  We're both huge readers, so our shelf is crammed full of books.  My husband was actually devastated that both shelves didn't fit in there... I was secretly glad so I could use the other one in the baby's room and jazz it up!  Anyway, our office will be great once it's done.  I'm excited to have a place to hang my diplomas and to keep all my TpT stuff out of our living room!  It used to take over my life like you can't believe... or actually I you can.  I've seen lots of office/living room pictures on Instagram that look JUST like mine!

Happy Friday everyone!

Last Moving Post... I Promise!

My entire summer has been ruled by our big move.  I'm SO happy that we're in a new home, but also glad that the move is done with!  Moving day was crazy, with all the last minute packing and organizing.  As usual, the last hour before the movers came was spent throwing random stuff into random boxes, that we'll eventually go through later and say "why do we have this?".  Then the movers came, and we were out of the house in less than 2 hours.  So it seems all my extra trips to the new place paid off!

We hired Stairhoppers, and for anyone in the Boston area looking to move, they're a great, affordable moving company.  We've used them several times (I like to move...) and have never had a problem.  They are fast, efficient, and give a discount if you pay in cash!  That is almost incentive enough for me!  They wrapped all the furniture in blankets, and then hauled it out.  Everything made it in one piece, and without a scratch!  They even moved our dressers, FULL OF CLOTHES.  It was amazing, and took quite a bit off of our unpacking list.

Once we arrived at our new home they were again done in less than 2 hours.  And that included taking about 1/2 of our things up to the very hot attic.  I can't say enough great things about Stairhoppers.  :)

Between directing them where to take things, I was also trying to unpack around them.  Even still, after they left, we were left with this... and this shot doesn't even show the bedrooms!  

Because we're gluttons for punishment, (and also because it's a major incentive), we'd invited both our families over for pizza and drinks that night.  So we REALLY had to move fast.  And I'd say, in just a few hours, things looked completely different.  Everything was put away... granted some things were jammed into closets, but we'll get to those eventually...

My favorite part of moving comes after the major unpacking - when I get to reorganize, decorate and shop for new things!  I try not to go crazy, but I always end up with new kitchen decor (rugs, utensil holders, etc) and definitely new curtains and bathroom things.  My poor husband must hate moving JUST because of all the shopping I do afterwards!  We also got a new bed, which is KING sized.  I've never had a king sized bed before, and we've only had it 4 nights... but let me tell you, I will NEVER sleep in a smaller bed again... well, never in my own home.  It's amazing.  My husband keeps joking that he needs a cell phone to call me from the other side.  The extra space is just glorious, especially with a little one who's always in and out.  Anyway, the new bed purchase has added new bedding to my shopping list.  I'm having a very hard time finding what I'm looking for.  I want something grey and white, so that I can add accents of color.  Right now we have a pretty, soft duvet of greens and blues, which is calming... but queen sized.  Plus I'm a little over it.  If I'm going to buy something new, I want a new look as well!  If anyone has any suggestions, I'd be forever grateful... I've looked at Pottery Barn, West Elm, Crate and Barrel, Target, and Bed Bath and Beyond... I might head to TJ Maxx later today.

I keep standing around the house smiling like a fool.  I'm just so thrilled with how it's all turned out - and am SO GLAD to be so close to school.  I can't tell you how that will change my days.  We get out of school at 3:30 and between picking up my guy and commuting, I was home around 5:15.  This year... I can do all that and still be home before 4:00.  Everything will just be so much easier... even our milk man agrees!  He rerouted our delivery, and was here ON MOVING DAY to deliver our order.  
  

So that's what I've been up to the last few days.  My FitBit has been loving me... I haven't taken a single walk, but have completely surpassed my daily goal every day, just with the unpacking!  Well, that and chasing my 1 year old around.  :)  I'm off to do some more organizing and decorating... thank goodness for rainy, thunderstormy days!

A Giveaway!

I'm joining up with Kristin from My Carolina Classroom for a giveaway this week!  She's reached a milestone on Bloglovin so will be giving away a bunch of things!  Head over to her blog to follow her and see when it's live - I'll be sure to post here too!

I'll be giving away my Scoot Through Fall bundle!  It's a bundle of 5 scoot games that you can play all fall - what I love about this bundle is that you can play each game straight up, OR you can take pages from each bundle and mix it around - so your students are jumping around in subject areas!  My class LOVED scooting last year (and really loved all the different words I'd use for "scoot" - hurry, move it, make haste, hustle, etc) and it was an awesome, fun, quick assessment tool.  

This game is perfect for 2nd graders, but could also be used in 1st grade (perhaps towards the end of the year) or in 3rd grade.  None of the games are "fall themed" - I just cover topics I teach in the fall.  (I also have a spring scoot bundle and am working on a winter one too!)

Included in the bundle is a Getting To Know You Scoot, which asks the students questions about themselves.  It's a fun way to get to know them while also teaching them the basics of how to play Scoot!  

Also included is a Addition and Subtraction Scoot, 2 Digit Place Value Scoot, Contractions Scoot, and Noun Scoot.  (Fun side note: this is my first time making a "cover page".  It's very basic, and pretty boring, but I'm starting to figure it out!)

In case you don't know about Scoot...  to play, each student needs a pencil and an answer sheet (included in the bundle).  Before starting, give each student a numbered game card.  When you say "go" they look at their card, figure out the answer, and write it in the matching numbered answer box.  After a certain amount of time, you shout out "scoot!" and everyone gets up and moves to another desk, taking their pencil and answer key with them.  I always start the year out with a practice session (Getting to Know You Scoot!) and we take it very slowly, going over where they should move.  By the end of the year, we're racing through the game and they're loving it - and maybe not even knowing they're learning!

So, enter the giveaway!  I'd love to share this bundle with you!

Monday Made It!

I told you I'd be back for Monday Made It!  It's my first one!  I'm so excited!  I'm linking up with 4th Grade Frolics - come join the fun!  

Over the years, I have collected a TON of direction manuals.  Between my wedding (Kitchen Aid stand mixer, blenders, coffee makers, etc) and my baby (swings, bouncy seats, cribs, etc) we have A LOT of books of directions.  Seriously.  I never kept them in a safe place, and I rarely needed them... but when I needed them, I REALLY needed them!  A silly example: we made grilled cheese on our panini press.  The plates were all greasy and I just couldn't get them clean.  I wanted to put them in the dishwasher... but didn't know if I could.  So I came up with this simple solution... a binder to hold everything.  I love binders.

Materials Needed

3 inch binder

page protectors

tabbed dividers

direction manuals

 I have 2 tabs - one for house manuals, and one for baby manuals.  On the front cover of each manual I write important information (AA batteries, dishwasher is ok, etc) so I don't have to go through the manual for a quick question.  But it's been invaluable to have everything in the same place and all organized.  I keep warranty information, receipts, and other little papers in the divider pages so I can get to them easily.

As you can see... I'm running out of room! I also need to make a cute cover, but since we just moved, my printer isn't hooked up yet. I'll get to it.  I love organizing things, and I love this binder... I know my pictures aren't great, but hopefully you get the idea!

Moving Madness!

Good morning!  

Today is ANOTHER day of moving madness!  We're in the final stages of packing - you know, the ones where you think you're all packed, but then you open a couple random cabinets and realize you're no where close to being done?  We've been lucky because we already have access to our new home.  So over the last few weeks, I've been making trips over with all our breakables - saving me the headache of wrapping them all in tissue paper, packing them carefully, praying the movers don't break them, unpacking, washing and then putting them away.  It's really helped so much, but has been a ton of work!  And it really doesn't feel like I'm making much progress.  Let me tell you - packing with a 1 year old should be an Olympic event.  If I even think about packing a box when he's around, he either desperately needs me somewhere else in the house, or he "helps" by taking everything out of the box and putting is somewhere else (usually over the baby gate into the office!).  But after this weekend, it'll all be over! 

We've also resorted to eating everything we have left in our fridge and pantry... which is making for some crazy meals.  I'm trying to keep the baby's food as healthy as possible, but as the week has wound down and we've run out of his usuals and I've had to be more creative... it's getting trickier and trickier!  I usually try to do lots of fresh foods, but today, he's having frozen meatballs and broccoli, which will also be followed by some applesauce pouches we have leftover.  Because that's about all we have left in our sad freezer.  

Don't mind the paper plate... like I said, all our breakables are at the new place!  I see a HUGE grocery shopping in my very near future!

The move has given me LOTS of ideas and projects to work on, so I'll be back for Monday Made It after the weekend!  PLUS I've been working on my #SLANTbox.  I'm sending a box to the super sweet Courtney from Ramona Recommends (check her out if you don't know her - she has a TON of fun things going on on her blog!) and will be getting a box from Amber at Creative Upper Grades which I am SO excited about!  Amber has been such fun to get to know, and it turns out we have so much in common!  I'm so happy that I stumbled upon the SLANT box - it was a complete accident, and I've really lucked out with my matches (thanks Jamison!)!   I'll be back to blog about the box I send AND the box I get once the month ends.

I've been happily following everyone at the TpT conference in Vegas - living vicariously through your Instagram posts and blog updates.  Maybe next year I'll be able to join y'all!