My Oh My! Monday Made It--July 22

It's that time again! I am linking up with 4th Grade Frolics for Monday Made It and I have quite a few! Look in this post for a clue as to what tomorrow's Tutorial Tuesday will be!

#1:

I made my own bulletin boards. My walls were in desperate need of some bulletin boards. I came across a pin on Pinterest that led back to this lovely blog post: Going Nutty With Miss Squirrels. It showed me how to make my own bulletin board for a pretty decent price. Here are my transformations so far (they still need borders)

Before                                                      After

Before                                                      After

Before                                                      After

Before                                                      After

I am very happy with how they turned out!

#2:

I made a portable word wall. I found this idea on a previous Monday Made It by Run! Miss Nelsons Got the Camera!

I haven't put it up yet, but I am thinking it will go along the bottom of one of my new bulletin boards. There is a set of cards for each letter. They all contain 50 index cards to write the words on.

#3:

I printed, laminated, and cut out my new bookmarks to go along with my classroom theme!

#4:

I made my new testing sign for my robot theme!

#5:

I made my new genre posters! I am loving how these turned out! I can't wait to put them up!

And finally #6:

I finally got around to printing, laminating, and cutting my new borders for my bulletin board that will be out in the hallway to welcome my new third graders!

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On another note I reached over 200 followers so I have something planned. First of all, all items in my TPT store is on sale 20% off! Head on over to Emily's Teaching Goodies to pick up some great deals! The second part I will be making the announcement about Tuesday during my weekly Tutorial Tuesdays! Make sure to check back for that announcement and to see how to make something new this week!

Now head on over to 4th Grade Frolics for some more Monday Made Its!

Pencils Pencils Pencils! Oh My I Am in Teacher Heaven!!

For awhile now I have been drooling over the lovely pencil sharpener from Classroom Friendly Supplies. I debated back and forth on buying the pencil sharpener. It was hard because I just didn't know how I would feel about a crank pencil sharpener (I normally despise them). I didn't understand how a crank sharpener could be the best sharpener for me. Everyone seemed to be ranting and raving about it, but what was so special? Oh boy was I wrong.

I got the wonderful opportunity of trying out this lovely sharpener for free! It arrived in all of its glory yesterday and I couldn't wait to try it out. I opened it up and admired it!

It was fabulous!

I went to find my pencil stash which consisted of these two piles:

My amazing 9 packs of Ticonderoga pencils and 285 of those pencils that I have a love hate relationship with. You know those pencils that are so cute and all of the kiddos love, but NEVER sharpen well and become more of a hassle to have in the classroom? Yeah I had that many of those bad boys. Bringing my total of pencils to 501 pencils needing sharpened! It was time to get started. 

First I had to figure out how to use it. Fortunately I had read some other reviews and had learned how to use it so it wasn't too difficult. I got busy sharpening and instantly fell in love. The points were amazingly sharp, it was super quick, and all of my pencils sharpened without a problem. Yes even those pencils that I have the love hate relationship with sharpened.

Now being as it is summer I didn't have any of my students to test it out so that will have to wait another month, but I am sure they will love it equally as much!

So are you wondering if I sharpened ALL 501 pencils? Yep, I sure did. I just couldn't stop until they all had that amazing point!

Look at all of those shavings!

Here they are all nice and sharpened! AHHHH what a beautiful sight!

And look at those points! Aren't they great? I have never seen pencils so sharp!

Now it's your turn! Go buy this sharpener! It is worth it! I will be purchasing another because it is so great!

And for surviving my post I have a freebie for you! It is great especially if you own this sharpener or plan to own this sharpener. I made my own how-to chart for using this sharpener. I am posting it to my TPT store and until Monday night it will be free! So grab it quick before I put a price on it! Enjoy!

Classroom Friendly Pencil Sharpener How-To

If you are interested in purchasing this sharpener head on over to Classroom Friendly Supplies.

It Came! My Pencil Sharpener is Finally Here!

So I took another load to school today and almost all of my stuff is there now; I can't believe how much I moved in just two trips! After organizing my things in my classroom I went to check the mail and there it was! My pencil sharpener has finally arrived! I am going to be testing it out as soon as this post is finished!

Here is a picture of it:

Oh and did I mention that I am only 5 followers away from 200? When did that happen? It seems like just yesterday I got 100 followers! Anyways, once I get to 200 followers I have a surprise in store for you all. And the best part is everyone wins!

Okay now I am off to test out that lovely pencil sharpener (and if it is as great as I hear I will be sharpening hundreds of pencils)! Afterwards I am going to enjoy some yummy chili on top of cornbread! Yum! I can't wait!

I Did It! I Finally Gave In! It's Sooo Early Though!

Yes, it's true; I finally gave in and went to my classroom. I had been putting it off, but I finally had to give in. The hubby's lil brother is coming to stay the night with us tomorrow night. If you've been reading my posts lately you saw a few days ago what my guest bed looks like. It was not pretty. Because of having our wonderful overnight guest I decided I had to get stuff out of my house. Today I took a trip to my classroom with two big bags full of stuff. I didn't want to be out in the heat too much so I only took as much as I could carry on one trip. It put a dent in my stash of stuff. I plan on making another trip tomorrow to get some more stuff outta here. The rest of it will just have to be moved to the floor so the poor boy can have a place to sleep.

I do have to say during this whole process 31 has come to the rescue...I have the large utility tote (okay I actually have three and am thinking I need a third...can you tell how much I love these bags? They are perfect to use when coaching track...okay back to the bag)...it looks like this except is says Coach Wells and doesn't have the volleyball on it.

This bag can hold SOOO much in it! I used it today and had it loaded down with so much stuff. I almost couldn't carry it because of the weight. When I got to my classroom with all of my stuff and started unpacking it, I couldn't believe how much I was able to bring. I will definitely be packing this thing full again tomorrow!

I cannot get enough of 31 products...good thing is I put them on my Christmas list and tend to get what I want that is 31 related because my sister works with a 31 rep so she and my grandma both order what's on my list for me...I love it! That may not happen this year because I'm thinking there may be too many items on my list...I am growing addicted to this stuff!

Okay I will stop ranting and raving about 31 products now!

On to some really cool news (even though I can't give too many details yet)! My hubby has the possibility of getting a promotion. He took the leap of faith and applied for it today so I am crossing my fingers that he gets it! It would be a great opportunity for our family! Fingers crossed!!

What Am I Loving This Wednesday? Oh Me, Oh My, These Are Some Great Things!

I am so excited as I am writing today's What I am Loving Wednesday post. I have some great items this week that I am so excited about.

I am linking up with Covered In Glitter and Glue for this amazing linky that I am falling in L-O-V-E with!

So here are my things that I am loving this week:

#1: My Frixion Erasable Pens

They FINALLY came in! I love them so much! These are the ones I am keeping. It came with four others, but they were boring colors (which means the hubby got them...hehe)

I am loving using these in both of my planners.

Speaking of planners that brings me to #2 and #3: My Teaching Planner and My Home Planner

These are both excellent in keeping me organized lately and it has gotten even better now that I have my new pens!

#4: My Dry-Erase Pouches

I came across this lovely Groupon deal a few weeks back. I got twenty of these for only $10; now that is a deal! And they are great! I am loving the bright colors. I will be making several inserts for these throughout the year!

#5: New Products on TPT

I have been creating away now that it is crunch time. Tonight I posted several new items to my store. I am so happy to finally have my checklist of items to make completed. I am sure I will come up with many more ideas still, but it feels great to know I have done so much lately!

#6:

I am loving the fact that I have the Classroom Friendly pencil sharpener showing up at my doorstep any day now. I can't wait to test it out and let you all know my opinion on it. This whole getting free stuff to do a review on is awesome...what teacher doesn't love free stuff?

So there you have it! This is what I am loving on this lovely Wednesday. Head on over to Covered in Glitter and Glue to see what others are loving!

Tutorial Tuesday #3 (Plus a Bonus Tutorial!)

Welcome to this week's edition of Tutorial Tuesdays. I had planned a great one for this week, but didn't get around to it due to the car issues. It will be for next week now. I plan on making this great item this weekend and taking pictures every step of the way. It is a good one!

This week I have TWO tutorials. They are a little short and if you read my Monday Made It, you know what they are.

Let's start with my magnets. These are the magnets to go along with my magnetic boards that I featured on Tutorial Tuesdays last week.

Here is what you need:
~A printout of what you want on your magnets
~Laminator and laminating sheets
~Scissors
~Magnetic paper

I used these (they are 5 in x 8 in):

I created my document using Powerpoint. I changed the page layout to be 5x8 and added a table with 5 columns and 4 rows. Then I added my details to the magnets. I made sure my table had a visible border.

After they were finished I printed them out.

I put each sheet in a laminating pouch and they were ready to be laminated; so I ran them through my laminator.

After they came out of the laminator I cut around the outside edge.

This left me with the perfect size for my magnetic paper.

Now it was time to attach them to the magnetic paper. Simply peel off the protective cover leaving the sticky side exposed. Carefully place your paper on the sticky side.

Now it is time to cut. First you need to trim the edges to get rid of all exposed magnetic paper. Then I cut mine all in strips first. 

After all of the strips were cut, I cut each individual magnet.

Here is what the final product looked like!

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Now for my second bonus tutorial. I bring to you the tutorial for how to make the "I Have a Bright Idea..." Post-It Holder:

Supplies needed:

~Dollar store stand-up plastic picture frame

~Scrapbook paper for background (I use lightbulbs)

~Lightbulb sticky notes (found at Dollar Spot at Target)

~Sharpie

~Scissors

~Tape

~Hot glue gun

Here are most of my supplies (I forgot about the scissors and tape):

First pull out the insert from the picture frame. Put it on the back side of your scrapbook paper.

Use your Sharpie to outline the edge of the insert. It will look like this:

Take your scissors and cut out this rectangle and you end up with this:

Slip your paper inside of the frame like this (I used a little bit of tape on the back to prevent it from slipping out):

Write the phrase "I have a bright idea..." on one side of the picture frame:

Use your hot glue gun to attach your lightbulb sticky notes:

And there you have it!

I hope you enjoyed your tutorials this week! Come back for more next week!

Monday Made It--It's Crunch Time

Wow, summer sure is flying by! I go back in four and a half weeks and one of those weeks I will be on vacation. That means I have three and a half weeks of work time. Time to get down to business (as you will see in this edition of Monday Made It)

First I want to say that today is an awesome day! It's my hubby's birthday (and bummer for him he has to work tonight). Anyways this morning I checked my email and I had two fabulous emails awaiting me.

One telling me that I get to do a review on the infamous pencil sharpener from Classroom Friendly Supplies (OMG I could not be more excited!) So be looking for my review in about a week.

I have several packages of my favorite Ticonderoga pencils (AHHHHH Teacher Heaven) that are waiting to be sharpened, but I keep putting off because the sound of my electric pencil sharpener gives me a headache. Looks like I am waiting to sharpen these bad boys.

I also have a box full of these adorable pencils (mostly holiday related) that I was determined I would get sharpened successfully this summer. Maybe that will actually happen now that I am getting this lovely sharpener.

Needless to say I will be doing a lot of sharpening during my review of this product.

And the other email? Oh that was a goody too. It was a $25 gift card for Erin Condren's website. I won it from Lori at Second Grade Serenade. Thank you so much Lori. I can't wait to use it (right now I'm trying to decide what to buy with it since I already made my teacher planner for the year and as you will see later in this post I also made my own life planner).

And to top it all off? My hubby's car is finally fixed and thanks to his dad it only cost us $40 instead of $500. That is excellent!

Now without further ado, I bring to you my extremely packed edition of Monday Made It (I have been VERY busy!):

1-- Magnets for lunch choice board and other things

I love how they turned out; they will be featured tomorrow 

(along with another MMI) for my Tutorial Tuesdays. 

Check back tomorrow to see how to make them.

2-- Bright Idea Post-It Holder

This is the other item that will be featured in Tutorial Tuesdays tomorrow.

I bought all of those lovely lightbulb sticky notes knowing

 I could come up with some great ideas.

I had this lovely lightbulb scrapbook paper and then...

I had a lightbulb moment.

So I created this lovely item.

3--Chalkboard sign

This sign I painted with chalkboard paint 

(you have to trust me on this one since I don't have chalk at home)

I plan on using it for a project at the beginning of the year

4-- More pointers

I created a few more pointers for my collection

5-- 28 Shared Writing Journals

Tara's shared writing journals inspired me to create my own.

I kept coming up with ideas and ended up with 28 of them.

I simply printed out the covers and attached them on to my notebooks.

6-- Name Tags and Labels

I created these name tags and labels featuring my robots and gears.

I used the avery labels for name tags that tear apart.

7--CAFE signs and posters

I finally printed, laminated, and cut these out

8--Whole Brain Posters

I also printed, laminated, and cut these out this week

9--Birthday Chart

I printed, laminated, and cut these out.

I was getting ready to assemble my chart when I changed my mind.

I am going to make a bulletin board out of these instead of making my chart like originally planned.

10--Welcome Banner

I printed, laminated, and cut out the pieces to my welcome banner.

Now I have to find some cute ribbon to attach the pieces together with.

11--Calendar Pieces

I printed, laminated, and cut all of my calendar pieces as well.

As you can tell, I did a lot of printing, laminating, and cutting recently (thank goodness for my paper cutter; it really sped things up). Most of my items can be found at my TPT store: Emily's Teaching Goodies

12--My Life Organizer

I created my life organizer and then simply printed it out and assembled it in order.

I took it on one of my many trips to Office Max and had it bound.

I am in love with it!

Now head on over to 4th Grade Frolics to check out Tara's Monday Made It and all of the other MMI's.