Shutter + Christmas Cards

A little shutter made its way into our Christmas decor this year! 

 

This faithful little shutter sat un-painted and hidden for the past two years because I couldn't figure out what to do with it.  I even moved it into our new house hoping inspiration would strike one day. A can of red spray paint and glitter blast brought this bland shutter to life. Now it's home to Christmas cards from family and friends. 

We have the perfect spot for the shutter(s) on our landing. I was so excited to keep cards on display showing off cute pictures of family and friends.

Shutter number one is filling up! It's almost time to bust out the second shutter.

Happy Holidays!

Poetry in Science

It's possible! It's true! 

A few weeks ago, prior to starting our Solar System unit, I updated the display on our classroom door to a poem titled, "A Galaxy". 

I found the poem in Douglas Florian's book, "Comets, Stars, the Moon, and Mars" and decided it would be the perfect teaser to our new unit. The best part was watching students turn their heads and read the poem as they enter and exit the classroom.

If you're looking for a new book to add to your classroom collection, I highly recommend this one. I have read a poem daily from its pages to bring a little poetry to our science classroom. 

Source

Source

Comets, Stars, the Moon, & Mars: Space Paintings and Poems by Douglas Florian

Buy it here. 

Peek Into My Library!

This week, I started revamping my classroom for a new school year. I still have loads of work to do, but after three days I was pretty excited about my progress. Now, before I scoot over to Columbia (the greatest city) for the Wittenborn wedding... take a peak at my classroom library!

Here we have the nonfiction shelf. My nonfiction books are separated into categories and/or authors.

This poster is making it's grand debut in my room. How about that for motivation? You're in good company!

Oh, Abe. 

This year, I wanted more of a "nook" feel. I angled the bookshelves a tad and viola!

 I must add, by "I", I mean myself and the lovely Mrs. Musick across the hall moved bookshelves. It took a couple tries! 

We have a nook. 

These little chairs were the best investment. I just bought the red one to add to my collection this year. My kids love them. Plus, the inside is a great place to store stuff. 

Notice the angle? The TIGERS banner is on the end of one shelf that closes the nook. 

Take a few steps back and you now have the supply shelf with an awesome view of Alaska. 

I jumped up on the computer desks (shhh! don't tell) and snapped a photo from above. You can see we have Alaska to our right, clouds straight ahead, and a library that is ready for day one.

Remember these clouds? They are hanging out above the apple tree until we're ready for them!

Happy Friday! Linking up with Lindsay!

Frameworthy!

I've had my screen open to blog tonight for almost 20 minutes. I've just had my eyes glued to the television watching the women's gymnastic finals! Then, they did a little special on my girl Jordyn Wieber.. cue the water works. Sheesh! These Olympians have found the fast track to my heart. When the cameras pan to their families and their reactions after their race or competition, I feel a twinge of excitement as well. I'm practically the adopted sister these Olympians never had... Now, I'm getting ahead of myself. 

This morning, I woke up at the butt-crack of dawn (pardon me, but it was early) and was rip roaring and ready to go! I worked like a busy beaver in my classroom and left around 2:00. Around 2:30, I passed out on the couch like a sleepy cat. Apparently, I'm out of teacher-shape. 

One of the projects I completed today was a fancy way to display student work in the hallway. To start the project, I picked up a package of cheap black frames from Dollar General a few months ago. I spray painted them and coated each frame with a spray glitter to add a touch of sparkle. 

Today, I hot glued cork behind each frame and hot glued the frames to the wall outside my room. After all of that hot glue, I had strings of glue all over me. If I was on Craft Wars, they would have given me the boot. Because, as Tori Spelling often reminds contestants, "the judges hate glue strings." After I cleared away a fraction of the glue strings, I added the heading, "Frameworthy Work!"

I've saved a lot of money on classroom decoration by using my cricut. Instead of buying punch-out letters from the teacher store, I just cut them with my cricut.  

I wish I could apologize for the dinky cell phone picture, but my camera was accessible... it was just outside... in my car. Do you know how hot it is? Yes, it's 103 degrees. I thought for a nano second about walking outside, and decided against it. Quickly.

Now, the outside of my classroom is ready to hang stellar student work. I just need to transform the inside into a classroom again. Tomorrow, I'm back for round two!

Bob the Builder

Fact: I am not a very handy person. Today, Bob the Builder and Handy Manny must have joined forces and given me some of their power. Not only did I assemble a book shelf... I also hung curtain rods. This was a truly memorable day!

Fact #2: I never thought I would ever purchase a peg board and use it ...ever.

Boy was I wrong!

Thanks to Pinterest I've realized that handy men aren't the only ones that get to use peg boards.

Jewelry Storage, Pinterest

For the garage!

Now that's fancy storage!

Water fun for kiddos

Craft Storage

See what I mean? The possibilites are endless! Then, I stumbled upon this photo and was intrigued....

Design Sponge gives a more detailed how-to on their site, which is where my inspiration came from!

So, my next project was underway. I headed to Menards and purchased peg board, paint, and boards. I was so excited about my purchase I even took a photo of it while shopping. (I don't belong in a hardware store)

CHEESE

Before: booooooo

After: ahhhhhhhhh

After a few coats of paint, my peg board was a beautiful green masterpiece! Sadly, my board had to sit around and wait for me to move and get settled.

Finally! Today, with the help of my landlords, my peg board has found its new home in my kitchen. It's a bright splash of green in a white-walled area. Fancy, eh?

thanks to alissa I have a homemade lunch box and apron to display!

view from the living room

my cozy, bright, and crafted kitchen!

Thanks to this project my stereotype of peg boards has been broken. Who knows? Maybe I'll find myself in a hardware store again sometime soon.