Pinterest Finds

Now I realize you could just find me on Pinterest, but I thought I might talk/write/communicate the recent things I have found. Some are work/school related and others are I-want-make-that.

Let's start with...

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 I think this is such an easy way to end a lesson. I sometimes use the 3-2-1 strategy (write 3 things you learned, 2 questions, and 1 confusion), but it is nice to have a variety. Plus, with my job now, I have to constantly find and model different strategies for teachers. I think I can do this and make a set of laminated ones. That way I can put notes on them before the lesson and as students/teachers complete them they can post them or share with a friend. Then I would probably have them transfer the post-its to their journals.

This one did not have a link. Sad, but still super cute. The teacher gave each student a post-it to draw their self-portrait on and then bordered the stationary paper with the notes before copying. FUN! You could update the drawings every few months, but how cute and easy is that. Great first day/week activity.

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My oldest will be turning 10 in a few months, and he wants a Percy Jackson party. I have found a few things online, but not alot. If you have any ideas, I am open. I am thinking about blue food, some matching of the god with powers and the painting of the "camp" beads. Other than that...

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Bacon Ranch Mac and Cheese. YUM! Bacon. Need I say more?

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I think these awesome, cute, green, Calvin Klein heels speak for themselves. And they are clearly saying, "Yes, Jaime. I would look great with your first day of school outfit." I am still looking at them, but buying them is becoming a more frequent thought.

Admittedly, I am on Pinterest alot, but I am kind of a grinch when it comes to pinning things. I have to REALLY like it. I don't know why.

What have you pinned lately?

Obsessed...possibly

I might be obsessed.

I used the Renfrew top pattern last week to make two tops; One was a traditional top made of a stripped knit. The other was an upcycle from an old college tee.

Now. I have made TWO more. Both from old t-shirts. See:

Yes. I realize I need to iron my seams around the top of the shoulders. I hate ironing.

I used a shirt from church to see if I could keep the original neckline. And...I can! Yay! Made it so easy to put it together. Never mind the bulk around the tummy. I had tucked the extra length under because I was deciding whether I needed it shorter. Lesson: Do alterations before you decide to post to the world. (Also, I am too lazy...so the shortening will probably never happen.)

My husband asked, "Why did you cut off your head?" Answer: I didn't want to show my face. I mean do you smile, look at your feet, or point at an invisible something? Awkward...

This one I may or may not have stolen from my little brother. He left it at my mom's house. I found it. I asked my mom if I could have it before I took it. She said yes. So if he should blame anyone, he should blame himself for leaving it and my mom for not guarding his clothes more carefully.

I had to use another shirt for the red facing because I didn't have enough green, and I wanted the whole word to show. It would have been really sad to sport, "Nexico" or "Exico".

I will also admit to having a shirt from the thift store in the wash that will soon be my next victim. Plus, I have decided that from now on when ordering shirts from school, I will order two sizes up so I can redo them. After all...I want to be cute.

Coolest Thing Ever...Until the Next Coolest Thing Ever

While waiting for the summer break to end, I still follow other teaching blogs, pin teaching items on Pinterest, and read professional development books. I know. I am a nerd. But that is okay. Know why? There are plenty of you. Just. Like. Me.

I found the coolest thing ever the other day. It is the Booksource Classroom Organizer. This FREE website lets you upload the titles of your classroom library, import your class list, and keep track of the books you check out to your students. I know, right!

I am not in the classroom currently, but I signed up for an account anyway. Then promptly started to load the books in my personal professional development library. Many times I will loan a book to a colleague, and then months later I have to send out the if-you-borrowed-this-book-email to the staff. Don't get me wrong. I have no problem letting someone else read my books, I just want to be able to find them. Plus, what a cool way to model this tool for my teachers.

Check it out. Coolest. Thing. Ever.

My Renfrew Top and an Upcycle

Along with all the things I do during the summer break, I always find time to sew. Mainly for myself because I am lazy, and I don't want to fit garments to other people. It is hard.

If you follow sewing blogs, I need only say Renfrew top. I <3 this top. It only took me about two weeks (okay two days) to decide to buy this pattern. You have to know two things about me: I have never bought a pattern 1) at full price--love me a $1 sale--or 2) from an independent designer. I bit the bullet and bought this pattern. The reviews where so good, and the pictures of completed tops online were too hard to resist.

Once I received said pattern in the mail, I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to find the "right" fabric to make my first top. Should it be a pirate print or a stripe like many of the flickr photos show...decisions, decisions. I found a great gray and white strip for $5 a yard and history was made. I present my first Renfrew top.

You can't see it, but yes. Those stripes are perfectly matched all the way down both sides. Yay!

So...it got me thinking. Knit. Let me clarify. Cute knit is expensive. This pattern was perfect so what can I use to make more...I give you the regular t-shirt:

I, like many of you, have a plethora of "regular" t-shirts. This one I really don't even know where I got it considering I never went to Virginia Tech. I have no less that 10 college t-shirts in my drawer, and I attended only one of them. (I like to wear college shirts at school on Fridays so the students can see a variety of places they can go when they graduate.)

I cut that sucker up using the Renfrew pattern and...

I know. I look AWESOME.

Next time (Yes. There will be a next time. I have a drawer full of "fabric" ready for an upcycle.) I will cut the neck line a little higher in the front because I didn't have enough shirt let to make the neckband. Other than that, I kept the original hems and extended the pattern at the bottom two inches since I wasn't cutting the bottom band. 

What have you upcycled lately?

Let the Waiting Begin

**Disclaimer: I wrote this post MONTHS ago when I thought about starting this blog. However, it never got posted because Blogger was being "difficult". As a reread it, I am not truely excited about this initial post, but eh--gotta start somewhere.

Begin Original Post (Let's start at the very beginning...even if it is really bad...)


As a teacher, funny stuff happens. Kids. It's what they do. It's what I do when I react to them. Like the time I forgot a kid in the portable building (classroom) during lunch. Yep. I sat down at lunch and realized I had asked this one kid to sit off to the side for time out and not move until I asked him. Well, he followed directions, even when the whole class left for lunch. Oh, to get that first year back. Or the time an other teacher tried to put her infected toe on the lunch table for us to inspect. (Yeah. That actually happened. So. gross.) Rumor had it that same teacher tried to tuck another adult's thong back into their shorts...Anyway.

My friend and I were going to write this book about all the things that happened to us at school while "waiting for the break". Talk to any teacher, and they can tell you how many days until the next break. Don't get me wrong. I love my job! But the breaks are nice. Most of the time, when I am on break, I am waiting for the break to end so I can get back to work. But I digress. As I thought more about it, I realized it is about juggling all the things outside of school, too. So here I am ready-ish to start writing about all that happens while waiting for the break. This should be interesting...