Poop!

I am on the Mentoring Committee at my school helping new teachers get acclimated to teaching and solving all those pressing new teacher questions.  For our monthly meeting, I am in charge of snack and a treat for them to take home.  This month, for Halloween, I made little bags of "Ghost Poop."  A big shoutout to the source of all my good ideas - Pinterest - for this fabulous idea!

I stamped the little card and stapled it to a jewelry bag full of mini-marshmallows.  In the process, I found out that Attila LOVES marshmallows!  I think they turned our pretty cute myself!

Happy Halloween plus a Day! 

Halloween Wreath

So perhaps part of my posting problem is my recently developed Pinterest problem.  Something about pinning crafty things makes me feel like I have been crafty, when in reality, I've got nothing!  Anyways, I saw these awesome wreaths, found here. I loved the orange one with spider and thought, "I'll just whip myself up one of those."  The blogger said it was time consuming, but I thought that those time expectations don't apply to me.  No, they don't - I should always double them!  Anyways, after cutting 23,290,283 orange circles and bruising my finger tips with straight pins, I think it came out kinda cute!  And, I can use it for UT football season. 

That's a lot of circles!

From afar

Happy Halloween!

I think it turned out pretty cute and a HUGE thanks to my mom who cut the last 100 or so orange felt circles after trimming 2000 Box Tops for Education!

PS - I tried making a spider and it looked like a terrible hairball, so he got the ax!

Happy Howl-o-ween!

I may have been off the blogging grid, but I have been crafting, granted at a much slower pace than usual.  Life at school has been more than a little crazy - anyone have any suggestions for teaching atmospheric convection creating wind?

Anyways, we are getting prepared for Halloween at our house by creating costumes for my two tiny bark-or-treaters!  This year, they (and by they, I mean me) decided they should be super heroes.  I bought a pattern to make them capes from a dog coat pattern, but then I realized that I was out of my mind and there was no way I had time for that.  Instead, I bought children's tees from Walmart in 18 month and 24 month sizes.  I followed this tutorial to make a t-shirt into a cape, sans the Velcro neck strap, because it fit over their head no problem. 

I traced Superman and Batman logos onto a leftover piece of white sheet from my bathmat project (found here) and colored them with marker.  So, they can't go in the wash, but it was finished, so I'm okay with that!  Here is the finished product!

Cape Modeling

Letting those capes flap in the breeze

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's SUPERGUS!

Dodododododo ATTILAMAN!

Our superpower is cheering up our Grandmommie!

I also learned from this little endeavor that snapping pictures of the dogs while posing them is much easier at 11:30 at night when they have already been asleep for a few hours.  There was no fussing or squabbling!

In other exciting news, my Craft Rescue Hero was on ESPN for his Halloween costume at the UT tailgate on Saturday.  Here he is as a UT Lego Man (all homemade - with no help from his crafty wife)

Have a Happy Halloween everyone!

I Love Bathtime!

Dear Attila,
I love when you take a bath and get squeaky clean.  I love when you get out of the tub and you look like a wet rat.

You smell like dog shampoo and you can't figure out where the stinky new smell is coming from.  And, Gus is completely bewildered about what happened to you (he always goes second in the tub).

 You think you taste funny too.

Then, when you snuggle to get dry, the hair behind your head gets crimped and corkscrewy.  I love that.

And the rest of you looks like a Pomeranian. But, I know you are much smarter than that!

Makes me want to sing Hakuna Matata like a little Simba in puberty.  It makes  you look really fabulous.  Just like when you wear your very snappy glo-stick glasses.

You are one snazzy pup and I love you lots!

Love, Your Doggy-Momma

Graduate School Sends Me To Therapy

... Or maybe public school is putting the final nail in my coffin!  I am reading a book for my Ed.S. class on Saturday that is talking about putting in priorities.  I was with them through the first grueling chapter.  Then, I got to chapter 2.  And it became glaringly apparent that these wonderful individuals have never stepped a piggy into a public school during the day.  A scheduled parent conference does NOT count! 

The authors are talking about scheduling tasks and if it isn't scheduled it isn't urgent.  HA!  No one got  a request for a lesson plan at 11:00 (for Friday's lesson) that was due by 3:15 in their time that was tied to their paycheck.  Think closely about merit pay teachers!

I lost a little respect... which is a real bummer since I have another 247 pages to read.  I'll post some pictures tomorrow hopefully :)

Makin' the Guest Room Spiffy

Approximately two years ago when Brad and I started look for fabric for our bedroom, we went to the $7.99 fabric store in Durham, North Carolina.  Their website is here.  Anyways, I don't think we found anything while we were there, except this little brown and blue sample fabric for $2.  It is perfectly matched for our guest bedroom with a chocolate brown comforter and colonial blue walls.  I have had delightful plans for a fancy throw pillow to spruce things up in there.  They have been well-developed over the two years.
The time has come and the plan has been completed.  At first, I was going to make a bolster pillow, the ones that are round and tie like a tootsie roll.  I used my Pillows for Dummies pattern and this dummy messed it up.  I would just like to say that they could make the double up the fabric sign a little more obvious.  I was so busy measuring to make sure the fabric was straight, I missed the part that said, make the pattern twice this size - whoops.  My mother very kindly set me straight after I was just positive the pattern was incorrect. 

Anyways, I ended up trimming it down to make a regular old plain pillow with an envelope back - fancy pants!  It was actually easier to do the envelope back than wrestle the whole thing to sew around the outside. It came out nicely.  The back fabric is from the white sheets from my latch hooked bath mat.  The only thing I had bought (this fiscal year at least, was the $8 pillow on sale at JoAnn's).  And here are the pictures, which is what you all wanted to see I'm sure. 

On the bed straight...

...or at an angle - which reminds me of my darling brother everytime I see a pillow on its point

The front.

The back (and yes, I know it is a little crooked)

And, a picture of my little helpers and their best friends, Mike the Tiger and Zip the Zebra.  Oh boys, you are so spoiled.  Mike is under Attila's booty if you can't find him (and two nylabones are there too).

And here is Attila checking the light near the pillow.  He says 2 thumbs up Mom!  Love those precious faces!

Hide Your Hooters!

Hooter Hiders, Boobie Blankets, Nursing Covers... many names for a fancy blanket with a strap!

Mandy and her ready-to-be-born baby Kinley were on the end of another test-project of a nursing cover!  I used the tutorial from Our Seven Dwarfs.  I did make a few alterations, like increasing the size of the terry cloth corners and making the whole thing a fizz bigger.  And no, I cannot at this time remember how big I made it. (We will blame this on the 6th graders).

Anyways, I loved this fabric - I found it at WalMart of all places (let's here it for Wally World for bringing back the fabric section!) and the terry cloth too!  The D-rings and boning came from JoAnn's.  Without further ado, here is my classroom-next-door-neighbor Catherine modeling the nursing cover!

It has boning in the center so that you can see down to check on the baby but the nosy person next to you in the mall can't see in!  Also, the next strap keeps the baby from pulling down the blanket to reveal a baby-gear malfunction!
The bottom corners are terry cloth squares folded into triangles for double-thickness for baby wiping messes!  They also double as pockets for all kinds of trinkets - like pacifiers and other goodies! 

They look super on classroom desks too! 

It turned out really great and I was super proud of it... I am pondering putting Velcro on the terry cloth to hold the pocket closed instead of gaping... maybe next time!
What do you all think!

Pacifier Clips

I love my friends from graduate school!  We have become very close throughout many ridiculous assignments in our Masters program and now our EdS.  My wonderful graduate-school-addicted friend Mandy is having a sweet baby girl very soon!  (Kinley, we can't wait to meet you!)

I have been working on a few projects for Kinley and Mandy - one of which is passy clips!  I used ribbon and suspender clips with a little bit of Velcro to make these bad boys work!

(Sorry for the bad pictures - I took them at school!)  I made an orange and white striped one for UT and a black, red, and white one.  I was out of pink ribbon which is probably what she needs for all of her outfits!  I think they turned out really great.  The suspender clip is on one side and the other is Velcro to go around the pacifier handle (?).

I had everything in the house except for suspender clips - not bad for project leftovers for less than $1.49!

A Moment of Silence

... for impending greatness!  That's right - tonight is the kickoff (pun intended) of the college football season!  It is the most wonderful time of the year!  I have hung my house-divided wreath (seen here) on the front door and am already pulling out my college tees for Friday at school!
We watched the beginning of the Wisconsin-UNLV game and the Badgers were blowing them out!  Awesome!

Crafts will return tomorrow, but tonight ESPN reigns supreme in this house!

Dish Towel Holder

Where on Earth do you put your dirty dishtowels while you are waiting to wash them?  My washer is downstairs and hamper is upstairs - so I am not hauling them up (plus, then they smell like food...)!

For the past year, they have piled up on my dryer waiting for towel washing day.  It looked like this:

It looks like a train wreck!  So, I saw a drawstring bag with a embroidery hoop holding it open on pinterest.  After a quick trip to the Hobby Lobby, I whipped one up for my own craft room!

So much better!  It holds about 8 towels too!

It hangs from the closet on a ribbon and I even have clearance over the washer lid!

Love it!  What do you think?

Where Have I Been?

Where have I been the last two weeks you ask? 

I have been crazy busy with the first two weeks of school, graduate school, and all of life other gifts.  Oh, and teaching six classes of sixth grade science of little Einstein's... like this one!

That's right - your hypothesis is to "ask your mom"!  All I wanted was any temperature to try baking!  Some of my little babies are a little behind the sixth grade curve ball.  We have spend 4 days on the Scientific Method and this is what I get!  Back to the drawing board - tomorrow is technology evolution - woot woot!

These children haven't kept me from all my crafts - I have made a ton of things to be posted in the next few weeks: passy clips, hooter hiders, a shirt, kitchen towel bag and more!

Tiny Clipboards

One of my 12443662 jobs at school this year is being a part of the mentoring team!  I love helping new teachers get settled and answering all those questions that are lingering (it wasn't that long ago that I was new- sniff, sniff).
So, we decided to make an awesome craft for our new teachers to say welcome and it will be okay!  While Jessica, leadership team boss, and I were scrolling pinterest (surprise) we saw these super cute clipboards.  They are really easy to make, we thought.  Then we found out that Chili's no longer carries coasters - WHAT?!?!? Can you believe it?  Anyways, Jessica got put on making our own coaster duty which was a 4x4 square of cardboard with rounded colors. 
We added a 4x4 square of scrapbook paper on the front with double sided adhesive.  Then, we added a glammed up medium size binder clip.  Some has "scrapbook flowers" and some had a little ribbon hot glued on them.  The binder clip held on a new pack of sticky notes!  They turned out super cute and even the boys were faintly excited about it! 
The really good part - pictures!
 Check them out!

The "Finished" Pile!

Set up for the new teachers - owls, footballs, stripes and houndstooth - oh my!

The Fabulous Mrs. White modeling how the tiny clipboard is to be used!

I just love this cute little thing!  What do you think? 
And PS.... it is 100% recycled products - that's right - A FREE CRAFT!  Hooray!

O-Fish-Ally Back To School

Today was the first day of school and the children were in full force.  I have never been so thankful for a half-day of school.   I am absolutely EXHAUSTED!

But of course, the school year is not complete with out some back to school crafts!  I work with the best team members on a little island in our school - Team Langland Represent!  So, I wanted to make something for our little group that celebrates us and what do teachers want more than school supplies... snacks! 

Goldfish all around!

Nothing says "life is good" like treats in the mail room!

Whole Grain Goldfishes ... so cute!  I just wish I had a fishbowl

Everyone seemed to love them and the best part, there are still some left over for tomorrow!  And, I'll give the nod to pinterest for this fabulous idea!

Meet Frank

School is back in session and while I am excited, I am also mourning the loss of my summer vacation.  I can't believe there will be little faces in my classroom in just a few days. 
If you don't teach, let me let you in on a little secret... we teachers are never satisfied with our classrooms.  Something is always changing and growing in the classroom and we need new goodies to amuse our students.  This year, most of the new things in my room have come from pinterest including my new friend Frank.
Frank's task is to collect answers to my extra credit brain bender of the week.  I think he is just precious. What do you think?

The best part about Frank?  He cost me just $1.67 for the wiggly eyes.  He is a kleenex box wrapped in kraft paper - I used the inside of a roll of wrapping paper.  They don't use tubes any more... cheapskates.  His teeth are made from poster board using a scrapbooking punch and his dots are yard sale dots I colored red.

He says "Give me your extra credit and no one gets hurt!"

Just one new goody for back to school!  Extra credit if you can answer me this:
Jenny has cats and dogs for pets.  All of her pets are cats except for one.  All of her pets are dogs except for one.  How many cats and dogs does Jenny have?  **Remember to think like a 6th grader!**

Dear Joann's

You have broken my heart!  Class canceled - at the last minute! 
I had plans for that shirt... next week!
Anyways, rescheduled for the next two weeks.  In the mean time, I am slaving away at school.  Today, I managed to be at two school meetings at the same time, fairly impressive! 

New project tomorrow - sleep tonight!

Hooray for Today!

Guess what today is???

Sewing class day!  I am going back for another round of fun with Madge!

I am supposed to make the first half of a shirt today.  I will report back tomorrow with notifications of any casualties.  Death by sewing machine - it could take me!

Crayon Wreath with Research Paper Flowers

I have been crafting again and finished a crayon wreath which are all the rage in blog-land.  Mine is going to my classroom to jazz up an empty door.  I keep seeing all these cute flower rosettes to add a little spiff to these wreaths and I'm not going to lie... I can't get mine to look right!  It seemed to easy to be true...  So, after like 12 yards of fabric twirled up and a 1 inch flower, I decided to try a paper flower. 

Now, any flower wouldn't do and I am in the school spirit - going back to teaching next week and starting another round of graduate school soon.  The one thing I am never short of is research articles.  Some are great and some are ... well ... not.  I ended up punching them out with a paper punch and gluing them to a posterboard circle.  I love the way they turned out!  I used buttons to make the insides pop and curled the edges with a pencil. 

My tiny rosette and paper flowers!

Hanging on my craft room door

I really love the way it turned out and the whole thing turned out for less than $5!  Only the crayons and wreath form are new and the crayons were on sale for 25 cents at Kroger - woot woot!

Reusable Lunch Bags

We all love to be green and not just the color!  I saw these fabulous reusable sandwich bags at craft buds and thought they were fabulous, but a bit out of my reach.  However, now that I have been taking sewing lessons and ventured out on pants over my vacation, I was feeling inspired and empowered! 

And, they turned out really cute!  I have two finished and three more half done upstairs.  I love the velcro closure and they wipe out with a wet sponge or rag.  I took mine to school  yesterday with a spoon, napkin, and popcorn bag inside.  (My yogurt won't fit!)  I made one today with some specifications from someone who likes extra-wide rye and pumpernickel bread.  I increased the width to 9" which I think will accommodate Pepperidge Farm. What do you all think?

I love both of the fabrics, but I don't feel like they contrast each other enough to stand out.  Partners that are too close together... hmmm. 
Anyways, I added a letter to the front of the "double-wide" bag.  Never in my life, Mom, have I wished you were Cathy with a K more than when I was using the machine to go around that C. 

Velcro closure

Do you see the monogram?

Close-up

Overall, I am pretty happy with the way they turned out and I am going to finish the others tomorrow.  Also, tomorrow I have my finished Crayon Wreath with research paper flowers!