Stress Reliever

My husband commented to me the other day that I need to make things. I get too bored if I have nothing to do for too long. Crafting is my stress reliever. I am running out of things to make for the upcoming school year and I don't know what to do next...

The first thing I am making is ruffles. Lots and lots of ruffles on my vintage Bernina. The stitch length is as wide as it will go and as I sew, I barely hold onto the thread. It ruffles perfectly! It is also pretty to look at. I have made a ruffle roll out of what I have made so far. It's so pretty! You'll have to come back in a couple weeks to see how I use this in my classroom. This one is simply decor. (They do make great chic streamers also.)

I also made vocabulary cards for both my science units this year. I will laminate them, put a magnet on the back, and have them up on the whiteboard whenever I am teaching about that concept.

More science supplies. One of my units is inherited traits.

Because I have been using a lot of paper lately, I have a lot of larger paper scraps. When the scraps are large, I cut them into rectangles and bring them into my classroom for my students to use for their creations. If I have smaller scraps, I make these awesome bookmarks for my students.

If I just have a bit of paper, I cut it into long strips for regular bookmarks. I want to have a bookmark bin for students this year.

I also redid my calendar. I still love my old calendar, but this one is more visible. The numbers on my last calendar were tricky to see from the back of the classroom.

Monster Bookmarks: A back to school present

Last year, as a first year teacher, I rehearsed and went over the detail of every minute of the first week of school. I had plans, backup plans, and emergency plans. I read books and talked to expert teachers and thought I had considered everything. That is, until the students had their first silent read. A chorus of voices inquired about bookmarks. Bookmarks? Growing up, I had always used a scrap of paper, the flap of the book, or any other nearby object that was flat and small.
With the speed of an ocelot, I grabbed my paper cutter and made mincemeat of some colored paper.
This story has obviously stuck with me and this year, I made them some real bookmarks.

Meet, the monster bookmark.

He's adorable, lovable, and practical. I bought the pattern from the Silhouette Shop here and made a few modifications.

First off, I think that if you make a monster just like the one the picture shows, he just looks depressed.

See what I mean? Sad little depressed monster. I might change my attitude about reading if this unhappy dude was there to greet me every time I grabbed a book.

I also added a dotted line on the folds to make folding easier.

In total, 39 mosters were born today.

36 of those were for my students and 3 were made with some of my nephews in mind. This picture was taken when I had assembled the bodies of all the monsters. 12 pieces of your favorite scrapbook paper can make a lot of cute mosters.

These are three of my favorites. Mmmm. I love paper.

These are just one of the things I am giving to my students in a couple of months, but I am terribly excited about them.