Back to School

Well, another school year has started.  That would explain my absence from blogging the past couple of weeks.  I think my body and mind are finally adjusting to the change in schedule and the chaos that back to school brings.  I'm not enjoying the 5:00 wake up time, but don't have much choice.  I miss staying up late and sleeping until 6:30, then enjoying my cup of coffee before the kiddos wake up.  And, I miss my kids!  As much work as they are, they are a lot of fun too.  I think I might actually enjoy being a stay-at-home mom now.  Never thought those words would come out of my mouth.

Back to School night is tonight at my school.  It is usually uneventful for me because no one typically comes in the library.  This year is going to be different.  Because I'm attempting National Boards this year I suggested incorporating technology sessions for our parents this year.  Big mistake!  We had to rework the schedule for the night which some teachers are happy about, some not so much.  The biggest change is that now I will be presenting to groups of parents about our new grading/communication system of which I really don't have much to do with.  I've played around with it, and know my presentation will go well, but I'm still nervous.

Me and my grand ideas!

Bias Tape Adventure

Yesterday I posted a YouTube video that showed how to make bias tape.  I LOVE YouTube.  I have learned so much by watching videos on it.  I taught myself how to crochet by watching YouTube videos.  I also learned how to etch glass by watching YouTube.  If you ever want to know how to do something, look on YouTube. 

I do have to say that I had to watch the bias tape video several times before I figured out the pinning of the tube.  I thought she kept saying tooth so I thought the fabric should resemble the shape of a tooth.  Those of you who know me should not be surprised by this.  Anyway...when I finally figured out she was saying tube I got it!  Next time I need to watch how I cut it because my bias tape was not the most even in terms of measurement.  It was supposed to be two inches wide and ranged from 2 1/4" to 1 1/2" in places.

I used it on a pillowcase dress for Sydney.  I'll try to get pictures of it tomorrow to post.  If I decide to make another one I will not make it as wide because it kind of looks like she is wearing a paper bag.  Oh well, live and learn.

Making Your Own Bias Tape

I found this great video that shows how to make your own bias tape.  It worked great!

Back to School

This is my last week of summer vacation.  I go back to work on Monday.  This summer seems to have lasted longer than others, yet I'm still not ready to go back.  This school year is looking to be one of the hardest, most work intensive ones yet.  I'm going to work on my National Board Certification.  I'm still not sure why I decided it was necessary to devote 200-300 hours of my life for this, but it looks like I am.  Three other library media specialists in my district are doing it as well as a CA teacher in my building.  So if I'm going to do it, this is the year to do it.  I just have to keep reminding myself that it is only one year of my life.  We will see how I feel in April when it's all over!

In an effort to prepare of back to school I started thinking of what I wanted on my main bulletin board this year for the first day back.  I was trying to think of something new and came across an idea using owls.  Owls are "the hot thing" right now when it comes to decorating.  Pottery Barn Kids is full of them.  I came up with the slogan "Whooo's looking for a new book?" and thought I would use owls for the decoration.  Carson Delossa actually has many owl bulletin board sets, so I loaded all 3 kids up in the mini-van and headed out to US Toy yesterday.  Now, if you've never been to US Toy before you have no idea what taking 3 little kids there is like.  It's full of tons of crafty, teachery stuff as well as every little toy trinket you can think of .  This place is bigger than a football field.  My girls were in heaven.  I did preface the visit by telling them we were not buying anything for them.  The last thing they need is another string of beads or anything else for dress up. 

After walking through the entire store 3 times we found none of the owls we were looking for.  They had some owl stuff, but not what I was wanting.  I did find some cool letters that I can use at some point during the year:

At least I got out of there without spending more than $20.00 which is unheard of for me.  That's one good thing about not being a regular classroom teacher anymore, I save a lot of money on classroom decoration crap!

I decided I could make my own owls using my scrapbook paper so went to searching online for ideas.  I came across this:

Exactly what I was wanting.  After cropping, resizing, etc. on the computer I decided this was way more work than I wanted to spend on a bulletin board.  So...I started searching cricut cartridges online.  I might was well put my cricut to use!  And, I found this:

PERFECT!!!  and only $14.99.  Ordered it online and should have it by next week, just in time!

I think we can call yesterday a success!

Final Craft Room Plans

Here they are:

And here is what the empty space looks like:

Not the best picture, but the it's hard to get around stuff down there right now.



And the Cabinets Have Been Ordered!

We just got back from Home Depot and the craft room cabinets have been ordered and paid for.  They had a great sale going on right now so we saved about $2000.00 which is awesome!  I have really good 3-D pictures of the finished plans that I will upload tomorrow.  I'm so excited!!!!  We still have to figure out countertops, probably Corian or some other solid surface, and floors, probably some sort of wood or wood laminate.  It's hard to believe I'm actually going to get my craft room!

I worked on a pillow case dress for Sydney today.  Casey's lack of taking a nap and my lack of knowing how to make my own bias tape put a stall to that project.  Looking at the directions I found on-line I didn't realize I was going to have to make my own bias tape out of a small scrap of fabric.  This is proving to be a little bit more difficult than I thought it would be.  Hopefully I will have some time tomorrow to figure out how to do it and the dress will be done.  Pictures to follow soon!

I'm Addicted!

There are many things in my life that I am addicted to.  Chocolate (especially dark), almonds, Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory, reading blogs, my kids and Pinterest.  I know that I'm not alone in my addiction!  I love it!  I could spend hours every day just pinning away.  The only down part of Pinterest is that I never seem to have the time to do any of the projects I pin.  Actually, I have the time, just not the resources and the the thought of taking 3 kids ages 6, 4, and 1 to Hobby Lobby, Joanns, Walmart, Home Depot or any store in general to get what I need to complete a project absolutely does not appeal to me.  My brain works better with quiet and quiet simply does not exist in my life right now.  In fact, it's 4:30 and I've just put my 1 year old back down for his nap.  He already "took" one, but I'm not sure he actually slept the hour and a half he was in his crib.  He is crabby!!!  My 6 and 4 year old were just sent to their rooms because all they've done for the past hour is argue about what they want and don't want to play with in the toy room.  Mama's had enough noise!  So, here I sit quietly writing my post of the day and pinning away on Pinterest!  If you haven't tried it, you must.  Maybe you will get addicted like me!