Open House Invitations

In my school district, it is traditional to have a back to school night the day before school starts. I love it. I get to meet my kids and make sure I have all their names down. I get an idea of what their parents are like. I have volunteers sign up to be room parents and help out at class parties.

This year we did not have a traditional back to school night because we had just gotten into our classrooms less than a week prior to that date. Instead we had a launch party. It was fun and nice to see the kids, but it was also awkward. I don't have information on any of the kids, I don't know who my room mom will be, and no volunteers set up.

We will be holding an open house on Tuesday and I thought it would be fun for the kids to make invitations for their families.

Here's what I came up with:

I found the idea on Mr. Printables. They have the cutest ideas on that website. I used their template and turned it into a Silhouette file so that I could easily cut out the houses with my machine. The kids then wrote the information for the open house on the inside of the house and decorated. The houses turned out pretty perfectly (although I secretly like the plain white houses a lot better than decorated houses). They fold down flat and pop open.

You open the house and it's for an open house. How witty.

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.

Library Organization

I have school library jealousy. If I could have my dream library organization, I would go with this scanner on Amazon:

But, who am I kidding? I am not a librarian.

I have also looked into book scanning apps, but I do not want my students touching my phone and up until this year, I have had no other form of scanning.

Last year I had a binder with a checkout page for each student in it. What was wrong with that system? I got bored with it and I was sick of the binder being out on my counter every day.

I cut out a bunch of library pockets and student numbers and promptly laminated them. (If you do not have your own laminator, I would highly recommend purchasing one. They are not expensive at all, I buy laminating sheets with school money to use for these projects, and it's nice having a harder lamination on all my creations. I purchased mine at Target for $20.00 and I used a gift card from one of my students so it really didn't cost me anything.)

My least favorite part about laminating is cutting it all out again at the end. I figure that the extra time I spend now will make it so I don't have to remake my school supplies every year. These pockets will be by my library so that students can easy access them, but they will be on the sides of my bookcases so they are out of the way.

In the pockets, I will have a checkout slip (similar to the ones found on I Love Labels) and two large popsicle sticks with the student number on them. When students check out a book, they simply place their popsicle stick as a placeholder so that my library stays as beautiful as possible. I made the sticks with a clear label containing their student number over a one inch strip of blue or green washi tape.

I also have been painting things with gold paint. I covered magnetic letters with gold spray paint and used regular gold paint to paint an Ikea planter and the top of this paperclip holder.

Linking up:

Woven Paper Baskets

One thing that has been constant throughout my classroom decor since I started teaching is hot air balloons. I use them for my table numbers. Every year they change slightly, but I feel like I almost have them right where I want them. This year I switched out the super cool 3D letters I made out of paper for some super cute glitter numbers I found in the Target dollar section. The other big change this year is the baskets.
I got the idea from this website and got started with brown paper bags, but decided that would be too intense, so I rushed off to the dollar store to grab one of their kraft paper rolls. Unfortunately, there were no plain brown rolls, but I was happy to discover all their kraft rolls are plain on the back.

Each strip was cut 1.5"x14"

I tried folding it in thirds just by eyeing the strip, but I failed miserably. I had to use my cutting mat to help.

 Down to 0.5"

Once I folded 13, I was done and the weaving began.

And I am left with a basket. Put fruit in it. Give your neighbor some cookies in it. Use it as a miniature hot air balloon basket. The options are endless.

It's perfect! 2.5"x2.5"x1.5". I cannot wait to attach them to my balloons and numbers.

Linking up!

End of an Era

On the last day of school, my classroom looked like this:

So boring. So empty. Such a lack of banners and pennants. It's official. I'm done...with my second school. No one dreams of working at three schools in four years (well, maybe they do, but I certainly did not), but an amazing opportunity came up for me to help open a new school just a couple miles away from my last school.

I interviewed for the new school at the end of March. I didn't think much of it. I love my school. I love the culture. I obviously love the patrons. I interviewed as a "why not." Besides, I needed practice interviewing for when my husband drags me away from this beautiful state and somewhere else in a couple of years for our PhD phase.
After interviewing, I realized I really wanted to work for this principal. He is opening up a brand new school which is an amazing opportunity. His vision is aligned with mine. He is energetic and excited and forward thinking. I had to wait about a week to find out the results.
What to do...
Geometry homework?
Crafting?
I did it all. I even did extra housework.

Thirty minutes before school got out that Monday, the new principal dropped by as I was reading Elijah of Buxton to my students. Just like that, he gave me the job.
Such a whirlwind.

Want to see my new classroom as of a month ago?

Looking great, right? Ha. If the school is finished a week before school starts, it will be a miracle.

Now, onto what I've been working on for this fresh, brand new, super clean classroom with stain-free carpet. (Linking up with Monday Made It.)

#1. Magnets.
I seem to have an obsession every year. There have been banner years, clothespin years, and the last several months have been full of decorative magnets.
There has been an amazing scrapbook warehouse sale going on in my area for over six months now. They have adorable embellishments that were perfect to tear the backs off and turn into magnets.

I made...a few the other day. I made over 100 magnets! All of these were made from the darling embellishments I found. The total to make all these magnets was less than $10. I like to buy the small rare earth magnets from Etsy in packs of 50 or 100. They are much stronger and cheaper than the ones from craft stores like Hobby Lobby or Joann's. After putting something on top, they are super cute and easy to pick up.

My favorite ones are made from adhesive badges. When I discovered how much I love them, I went back to find more, but I couldn't find any more. I'll be heading back soon so hopefully more show up.

#2. Brand new alphabet.
I made a cute alphabet out of craft paper and teal cardstock. It was cute, but I was never in love with it. Surprise! More supplies from the warehouse sale. I love the teals that have been in lately. Plus, I was able to get a huge pack of glitter paper (over 100 sheets) for $10. (Can anyone tell how much I love it when this sale rolls around?)

#3. Cubby numbers! When my students pulled off their old cubby numbers, I realized they looked really trashed, but do I really need a reason to make cute labels?

Canoes!

#4. New birthday chart. I love the idea of my birthday chart, but wanted to redo the style.

Linking Up