Monday Made It...on Tuesday

I am linking up with 4th Grade Frolics for Monday Made It...on Tuesday.

If I knew how, I'd add one of those

cute little embarrassed emoticons...

Is it still a freebie if I don't sell stuff? Anyway, here is a little pennant that I have made for 

back to school...I plan on 

having the kids each finish one and then I'll hang 

them/string them on our hallway bulletin board. I am
sincerely hoping that they are done in time for Meet the Teacher.

I've also been working on pennants/banners/bunting in a green, blue, purple

colour scheme to use as headings for my bulletin boards. The letters are on chevron

backgrounds and I've included polka dots for fillers.

I don't go back to school for 5 more incredibly lazy weeks. When do you head back?

  

Step 3: Shared Journals Success Criteria & MONDAY MADE IT

I absolutely LOVE Monday Made It with Tara from 4th Grade Frolics. I am so making one of those mini pocket chart stands. Or, more accurately, hubster is making one for me...he just doesn't know yet!





As I watch the Olympics, I am busy finishing up my Shared Journals. I'll be printing up each piece and putting it together soon. These will be glued to the back inside cover of the journals.

I am a member of Proteacher (which I love). I "found" a link for an option with Vista Print that allows you to purchase materials with FREE shipping. You have to spend $1 in order to qualify.
Here is what I created...it's just a few of the many, many items that you can make. I think my grand total was $13 because I paid extra for pictures that I uploaded for the t-shirt and cap.
Yup, you can get your FREE items shipped for FREE if you spend $1. I ship them to our nearby border outlet since I am in Canada.

This lawn sign will be hung in my classroom. It won't actually include the little stand :) I googled quotes for teachers/kids and found some great ideas.

This banner will be on the bulletin board outside my classroom door for the first month of school...maybe more.

This is the message on my pen. It coordinates with my banner and sign. {love}

Here are the cute sticky notes that I purchased. I added the message. I am thinking it will be cute for my class store.

I made lots more but didn't want to bore you. Other items that you can get for FREE include; hat, note paper, t-shirt, photo book, business cards (I am using as reading strategy bookmarks), address labels (I am using as contact info for parents), tote bag, mug, small stamp, and more...

So, so excited!

Okay-just one more.

My MUG...lol...for school. LOVE.

Monday Made It and Last Chance for Giveaway!

I am linking up for Monday Made It with two projects. I love Monday Made It! Thanks again, Tara, for the wonderful chance to share ideas and get inspired. My first MMI is a recipe, not really a project. But divine.The second is a little, really easy and effective calming-down device.


The heat here has been unbearable. REALLY hot. Imagine, then, my shock when my kids asked me to make banana bread last night. Banana bread??!  Being the sucker great mom that I am, I did make them a couple of loaves. However, I waited until 10 pm when it was a lot cooler. :)

I completely forgot to take pictures as I went along, but took these when I was ready to put them in the oven:

You can see my "recipe book" aka laptop in the background and some of the ingredients I used. I also added chocolate chips...lots of chocolate chips.

I mixed the squashed bananas, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, baking soda and margarine together in a mixing bowl. I then added the flour and chocolate chips and stirred just enough to mix the ingredients and moisten the flour. 

Into the oven for 50 minutes at 350 degrees.

Out comes D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S-N-E-S-S. Ooey gooey yuminess.

So good, in fact, that my nine year old son took a piece before I could take a picture :)

{click HERE for the recipe}

I made TWO loaves and they lasted until breakfast. Yup. They ARE that great. We ate them with a little butter, cheese and tea. Perfect snack/breakfast.

My second Monday Made It is a project I've been wanting to do for a while. It's a RELAX bottle/ MIND JAR.  I first saw it on Pinterest and was immediately intrigued. What a fantastic idea for those kids who might need a little quiet time. 

First, you need a container with lid (I chose plastic), glitter glue, glitter, water, and super glue. That's it.

To the HOT water add the glitter glue (2 tablespoons) and the glitter. Mix it up really well. I used a little wire whisk. I also used boiling water and figured out how much I'd need by filling the little bottle up ALMOST all the way and then pouring this water back into the measuring cup.

Pour this mixture into the bottle that you have chosen. See how the glitter has already settled to the bottom? Use super glue or hot glue to glue the cap on.

The purpose of the RELAX bottle is to give kids a chance to calm down if they are having a difficult time. Kids watch the glitter settle and as they do, they slowly start to calm down.On average it takes about 5 minutes for the glitter to make its way to the bottom of the bottle.

Last year I had some difficult behaviours in my class, and could have really used this bottle. I am very excited to try it out with the kids. Maybe I'll get Logan to test it next time he needs some quiet time...

Ahhhhh...watching the serene blue glitter slowly descend is making me feel so peaceful. {smiles} I am going to add ribbon to the lid to decorate it up and perhaps the word RELAX on the side. What do you think?

REMINDER:  The giveaway that I am hosting ends tomorrow at midnight. Don't forget to enter!

Monday Made It and Giveaway Announcement

This is my first Monday Made It and I am linking up with Tara from 4th Grade Frolics. I have things to share with everyone...
My first project is a Thumbprint Flower Pot.
The first time I made this was for a wonderful volunteer that I had. She ran the Roots of Empathy program for my class and was ah-mazing. I had so many compliments on it that I made a second one today with my own kids and nephews as a gift for my mom for her 60th birthday. It's a pretty easy craft, although (not gonna lie) it can be time consuming to make all the little bugs.
Materials:

• terra cotta plant pot with tray
• blue and green acrylic paint
• stamp ink
• fine tipped Sharpie
• varnish
• flowers of your choice

Steps:

1. Paint entire terra cotta pot and tray blue. Paint about halfway down the inside, too. Let dry and then paint again.

2. Using green paint, paint pointer fingers green and have kids lay their finger along bottom of pot with tip of finger pointing toward the top of the pot. This will be the grass so you will need to have many fingers along the bottom edge of the pot (it also looks great if they are different heights).

3. One at a time, kids stamp their thumb into their choice of colour and press gently onto blue "sky" part of pot. Staggering the thumbprints looks the best-don't forget to have prints on each "side" of the pot.

4. Add the kids names and bug details to the thumbprints with a fine-tip Sharpie marker. Use Ed Emberley's books as a guide {he's incredible}.

             

                                            

5. Stand back and appreciate all of your hardwork and skill! Yahoo! Now shellac the pot. Let dry and shellac again!

It's done! I planted flowers in the ones I gave my volunteer and my mom but you can use this pot to hold pens, pencils, rulers, signs, etc...so fun!

I am thinking ahead to Christmas presents to make with the kids and am thinking small terra white pot, brown thumbprints, red mini pompoms would = extremely cute reindeer pencil holder or fill with candies? So cute and so many possibilities!

My second Monday Made It is a little set of level book bin letters, book labels and a reading log. I am trying to revamp my library and have made these little signs using the *free*polka dot border set from GRAPHICS FROM THE POND. The font is Elephants in Cherry Trees from Kevin and Amanda. 

I colour coordinated my book labels by using red borders for fiction, blue borders for nonfiction, and yellow borders for magazines. The reading log is what I have been using for the last two years with my grade 2/3s and it works really well for the little guys. I am hoping that by coordinating the colours they'll have an easier time determining genre when colouring in the code. 

{click to get Level Labels A-S}

{click to get Book Bin Labels}

{click to get Reading Log}

Whew! I hope that someone gets some inspiration from my Monday Made Its...what a great way to share and show. Thanks, Tara, for a wonderful idea.

ps Here are a couple of really awful pictures (eeeekkk) of our other Monday Made It project...painting the kitchen. It's taken 3 years to agree on a colour, but Pyramid Gold now graces the walls of our kitchen. Honestly, this was NOT a colour that we had contemplated or talked about or researched on Behr's site (yup I am a regular on that site). I walked in the paint store, saw the sample and decided THIS is the colour we need. Hubster loves it, I love it, all is good.

*****I HAVE {ALMOST} REACHED 200 FOLLOWERS...PLEASE CHECK BACK TOMORROW FOR GIVEAWAY DETAILS YOU WON'T WANT TO MISS!!**********