Crafting, tutoring, and summer shopping!

I think I have a problem.

A craft supply problem.

Yesterday I went through and cleaned out some stuff from my craft supply stashes and...well...there was A LOT of scrapbook paper in there. Except...I don't scrapbook. I haven't scrapbooked since high school. Which is why it doesn't really make sense for me to have 5 pads of scrapbook paper.

And don't get me started on all of the letter stickers that I found. Holy moly.

Here's the thing, if I walk into say, JoAnn's or Hobby Lobby, I feel an instinctive need to gather craft supplies for a project. Half of the time I don't even have a project in mine, just a rough, "This would be cool to use for something, someday."

Terrible idea.

And to top it off, none of the paper that I've collected will go with my classroom next year. So I guess my kiddos will be making super snazzy thank you notes for random stuff throughout the year.

Like for iPads if our Donors Choose project gets funded-wanna help with that? There's a link on the right.

:)

I was so proud of myself on Monday. I had gathered all of the necessary supplies (and then some, sigh) to make my super awesome teacher toolbox (you know, the one that everyone and their cat has been making lately). AND, I just knew that for once, I was going to be able to join the Monday Made It link up party.

And then, I didn't get it finished. Because I lost misplaced my label for Sharpies.

And come on, you have to have a label for Sharpies.

So I told myself, "Tuesday, I WILL finish it Tuesday." All I have to do is reprint the label.

Except, I only had 2 pieces of the paper that I used for my labels.

And only scraps were left.

So I was going to have to figure out some complicated way of printing perfectly onto that little scrap.

"Too complicated for a Tuesday," I thought.

So I didn't finish it.

To my credit, I did print that label today, but I've decided the labels should probably be laminated before I attach them to my drawers.

And, of course, I don't have a laminator lying around the house. (Though I would happily accept donations toward the "Laura Needs a Laminator Fund")

Seriously though, it's going to knock your socks off. If you're wearing socks. I REALLY want to show it to you (because it looks AWESOME), but I can't show you something that's not done yet!

Sometimes I frustrate myself.

Anywho, I met with my future 2nd grader for the first time today. We worked on handwriting for a bit; she's a lefty with some sloppy handwriting. Our writing goal for the time being is to make her writing worthy of writing a letter to a Disney princess. Have you seen this on Pinterest? Apparently, if kids write letters to Disney characters, they get an autographed picture back from the character. Cool, right?

She wanted to know how I talked to the Princess.

Man, I wish I was good at making stuff up on the fly.

I told her I heard about it online. I should have said that I'm Tinkerbell's BFF.

After we practiced our handwriting for awhile, we went and painted ceramics at a local place.

She painted "Sparkles the Cat." She decided that she will be calling her "Sparkle-icious" instead.
(A shiny gold star to the person who can figure out how to spell Sparkleicious. That just looks silly.)

My sister met up with us and painted a caterpillar.

Me? Oh, come on now-isn't it obvious?

I'm working on a new coffee mug, of course.

Go ahead, get the "duh" out of your system.

The orange part is teeny, tiny masking tape. How cute is that?!

I'll wait.

Because I'm a perfectionist, they both finished and I'm probably not even halfway done.

Hmmm...do you think there's any chance that at 13 year old boy would want to go paint ceramics with me tomorrow? Yeah, probably not.

Here are a couple pictures of my work in progress-hopefully I don't screw it up. I have a tendency to do that with painting projects...

I'll show you the final project when I get it finished and have it fired.

Since I'm not linking up with Made It Monday, I'll link up with the Summer Shopping linky party hosted by Ladybug's Teacher Files!

I'll admit it, at the end of every school year, I say that I don't really need to get anything new for my room, but seriously, who am I kidding?

I L-O-V-E getting new stuff for my classroom.

You've already seen my new chair and my crate seats, and truthfully, I have a lot more stuff on my "to make" list, but I just haven't been horribly motivated recently.

Shopping, however, has been another story.

So without further ado, my recent Summer Shopping finds!

First off, the black body pillow that I have in my reading area attracts lint and fuzz like crazy. Which of course drives me crazy.

Solution: Super cute zebra pillow case (and it's nice and soft!)

Then (because I have a SERIOUS Target addiction), I was wandering through the home decor section and found this awesome thought bubble white board. But here's the kicker-it lights up!!!

I know. Try not to squeal too much.

I'm usually a clearance shopper when it comes to school stuff, but for $15, I couldn't pass it up. And you've all seen that awesome Pinterest idea about using a touch light to remind students that you aren't available while you're working in small groups. How perfect will this be?! I can even add a little message!

Off | On

I'm pretty excited about that one. Obviously.

Then, while I was at JoAnn's (looking for scrapbook paper, sigh), I found these bad boys.

Those Command hooks aren't cheap, but they are oh so very useful.

Get this: Not only were they $1.98 on clearance, but clearance was marked an additional 50% off.

Yup, you did that math right-I got them for a buck each. Naturally, I stocked up.

But I have BIG plans for those little hooks. Big plans, I say.

But that's a topic for another day.

Then I hit Dollar Tree.

Dollar Tree is awesome. Seriously.

I spent $20 and got a TON of stuff for next year. (You know, because everything's $1)

Check it out.

That's 6 stacking bins, 5 locker style bins, 4 fun pens, an expandable file (because I promised Matthew I would keep my receipts for school stuff for my taxes this year), a roll of masking tape, and a pack of foam paint rollers (for another project).

Not bad, right?

Whew. That's a lot. And I just realized that I need to get some math practice together for my former student to work on tomorrow. Bummer.

But I'm planning on taking him geocaching tomorrow. Wish me luck. I've never done it before.

I'm getting sleepy, so I'm going to wrap this up, but don't forget--only a couple more days left to enter my 100 Follower Giveaway!

And at the rate things are going, it looks like I'm going to hit 200 followers before this one ends-which is seriously AMAZING!

I never thought that my little blog would reach 100 followers, so seeing all of this growth the last week has been super awesome-you guys are the best!

You know what, I'll make a deal with you.

Ready?

If I hit 200 followers before the giveaway ends, I'll make myself make one of the projects on my "Future Teachers Pay Teachers Product List" and give it to you guys FOR FREE. Yup, everyone will get it! But that's only if I hit 200 followers before the giveaway is up.

So if you haven't entered the giveaway yet-what are you waiting for?!

And make sure that you get those extra entries by blogging about the giveaway!

Matthew just got back from his late night ice cream cone run, so I should probably go and actually spend some time with him! :)

Adios!