2013 Countdown Begins

2013 is starting to wind down. Where did the year go?? Even though it was action packed, it sure did fly by. In order to make the most of next few weeks, I have set some goals for myself that I want to try to achieve. I love setting goals for myself - it makes me feel so good when I accomplish them!

My goals are nothing mind blowing, just simple tasks that will make for a wonderful rest of the year. What goals would you set for yourself until 2014 comes?

Rivers and Lakes Freebies

Happy Saturday!
Here's a few science freebies for you all! We are wrapping up our Rivers, Lakes, and Oceans unit and I thought I would share some foldables and graphic organizers that I have made.

I wish I had pictures of these in action, but trust me they are worth a free download. ;) 

Erosion Foldable
River Systems Foldable
River Stages Chart
Rivers and Lakes Quiz

Enjoy and leave some love if you download!

First Picture Sneak Peek

From our wedding on Saturday! Only one picture, but hopefully more to come. I can't wait to share with you all some of the details from the big day. Lots of crafting projects tutorials up ahead... :) I hope everyone is having a wonderful week and ready for the downswing towards the weekend! I know I am!

Wedding and What Not

We are married!! I have been completely MIA from the blog due to wedding planning. I don't have any pictures from the big day YET, however, I do have pictures from our wedding staycation. We are planning a honeymoon in a few weeks over Thanksgiving break, but we wanted to spend one night away relaxing after the wedding chaos.

The Saguaro Hotel in Scottsdale, AZ is such a fun, trendy place. We enjoyed every minute of our mini getaway. If you are ever in the area, I recommend staying there. It has so many fun colors and just exudes cheerfulness and joy. A wonderful way to start forever!

Supply Tubs

I made these supply tubs for my classroom. I was sick of students accidentally putting my supplies in their backpacks. I had to make sure that if they borrowed my stuff they were held accountable for putting back what they used.  I bought these nifty stack and carry tubs from Target for around $8 a piece.  I love the two compartments and helps keep everything organized and in its place.

I cut out vinyl numbers using my Silhouette Cameo and stuck them onto each bin. Now each row in my classroom has its own bin to use.

I assigned a manager to each bin to ensure that each student in their row, put their supplies back in the bin.  I attached stickable dry erase sheets to each bin so the managers can write their names on them. Because I have three classes rotate through my room, this is very helpful so we know who the managers are in each class.

The mangers get the bins whenever we do anything involving colors, scissors, or glue (which is pretty much everyday). I have already noticed a huge improvement and hopefully this year, I will end the year with more than six scissors. :)

Bar Cart

I have been wanting a vintage bar cart for FOREVER.  My obsession began while watching Mad Men...
And then my obsession grew even more when my sister and I went to a vintage bar shop called The Hour in Alexandria, VA...

So I decided it was time to finally indulge in this obsession. Never being one who likes to pay full price for anything, I headed to Craiglist. After a short search, I found this gem for $40. It had rust stains, a loose wheel, and needed lots of love.

I took the cart apart and then lightly sanded the shelves. I then wiped it clean with a damp paper towel and spray painted it with Rust-Oleum primer. After the primer dried, I spray painted it with a cheery yellow color (Rust-Oleum Marigold).

I absolutely love the results! My sister and her husband gave me the blue tray as a surprise gift from The Hour store mentioned previously.  It makes the bar cart so beautiful and, honestly, the pictures don't do it justice. I just need to get some more fun vintage bar accessories and better glass and then my bar cart will be complete!

 

Home Updates

We are in the middle of some major home updates right now. You would think that back to school and wedding planning would be enough to do, but apparently we just really like to pile things on our plate.
Here's a sneak peak of a few things we've been up to.

I'll be posting about what we have been doing and our progress as we complete them! New(er) house, new life, we are happier than ever before. :)

Ticket Out the Door Poster

My name is Heather and I am a Pinterest addict.

Whew, that felt good to get it out. I found this genius idea on Pinterest and had to recreate it for my classroom.

First of all, I have to give thanks to my Silhouette Cameo machine, without it I would not have been able to complete this project. It saves me so much time and frustration.

I love it and it is going to be a great launch/closure. Not to mention, it will be super easy to tell which students did not do it. This could serve so many purposes, but here's a few I have thought of...

Can you think of any other ideas to use this for? It's just fantastic!

 Don't forget to link up with Tara's Monday Made It!

Appreciation

I try to find time to be thankful for the little things in life. I think appreciation is what keeps people happy and knowing that this is a stressful time for myself and other teachers going back to work, I just don't think there could be a better time to do this!

MUSIC: I love music. I can't play an instrument, I can't sing, but I constantly have music on when I am home. My latest music craze has been The Black Keys. I know, they are not a new band in the least bit, I'm just a little slow on jumping on the band wagon.

BLOODY MARYS: This is considered a vegetable, right? George loves them and I've always been only so so about them. We recently purchased a basil infused vodka and now I am a Bloody Mary believer!

DATE DAYS: Even though you have been with someone for 6 years, doesn't mean you still shouldn't have date days. We love to go to antique stores to search for records. We also ended the night with making vegetable dumplings together. I love spending time with George and appreciate that he makes time for me in our busy, hectic lives. <3

FAMILY:  Nothing compares. :)

 

What are you appreciative for? :)

White Deer Head - Fake Out

I have been pining over these white animal heads for a while now. Am I a hunter? No. Do I enjoy taxidermy? No, not particularly. So why do I like these? I have no idea, but I am totally in love. The only issue was that I loved this one, but I didn't want to spend $99 on it. Call me cheap, but spending almost $100 on a fake deer head trend wasn't something I was interested in doing.

I saw this really good idea on a blog and for the life of me I can not remember where it was from! If you know, please comment below so I can give them credit.

I went onto Ebay and searched for deer heads until this one came up. When it came in the mail, needless to say it was an exciting day indeed. 

  

 Luckily, the head and the antlers separate, so it makes it so much easier to spray paint, especially if you paint it two toned like I did. 

I used a white spray paint (no primer needed, but lots of coats!) as well as an antique gold spray paint for the antlers. This ended up being a last minute addition because I happened to have the gold spray paint, but I love the effect. The gold isn't too glitzy or tacky looking, but makes it a little different than all the rest I've seen. All in all the project cost me less than half what it would have been already done.  This one is cool too, but I am not even going to pretend like I know how to DIY that!

Would this be something you would ever do?

Don't forget to link up with Monday Made-It so I can steal your ideas too and not give you credit for it, just kidding!!! ;)

Busy, busy, busy

My summer vacation is almost over!  I've been listening to a lot of Beach Boys in order to rebel against the inevitable and prolong the summer feeling for as long as possible.

Here's a glimpse into some stuff that I have been doing around the house before school starts... I'll post some DIY's later when things aren't so nutso.

 

My sister had a beautiful baby named Jackson on July 16th and he is absolutely perfect in every way. I took way too many pictures of him, it was ridiculous to go through my camera. He's just the sweetest thing and my sister and her husband are wonderful parents. It was so sad to leave!

 These pictures just make my heart gush. Thanks for letting me be a proud Auntie and post a bazillion pictures! :)

Just a Few Things

Greetings!
I've been hanging out in Washington D.C. here, waiting for my nephew to grace the world with his presence! My sister is a day past her due date and we are all participating in a waiting game.  Tick tock tick tock...

Car seat waiting...

I've loved being here and being able to spend this wonderful time with my sister and her husband. So lucky to be a teacher right now and to be able to have the summers off.  While I've been here staying at my sister's house, I'm loving all of the little personal touches she has put in to her home. I thought I would share some of my favorites. :)

1. Riley - pirate dachshund, my puppy soul mate

2. My Bed - My sister's husband upcycled this old bed frame from his grandmother's house. How cute is it? I'm totally in love with it. I wonder if it will fit in my suitcase...

3. Their Backyard - Being from Phoenix, I'm drooling over this backyard.  Who would've known how much you could miss green grass?

4.  Nursery Love - I adore little sunny nooks. Isn't this one precious? If I were my nephew, I would want to cuddle on up. Maybe once I post this picture, he will want to come play and join us.

5. A Few Special Details - There are a few other small randoms including a cute dachshund print, adorable light fixtures, and sunny light windows with green plants (jealous of her green thumb).

Speaking of my sister, we have decided to start a blog together! It's still super new, but we are having so much fun with it. Check it out and let us know what you think! It's called Two Flew the Nest and you will see that we are fresh from cyber world. I can't wait for you all to see it. <3

Hopefully the next time I see you, we will have some baby pictures to share. :) Have a great day!