Things I Love October Edition

Black Crackle Polish, pretty much over any nail polish, but definitely over these China Glaze Neon colors!

Theses are a teeny bit chipped, I forgot to take a picture before school and very rarely do my manicures stay chipless for a day!

Chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting! I made these lovelies on Friday night...they were utterly delicious! Sadly many were, well, tossed for lack of a better word, due to soggy tops and sliding frosting. I definitely prefer a non-soggy cupcake! I think I may have been a bit hasty and frosted a wee bit too soon!

My newest -thus most favorite - purse! It is rose gold and sparkly - and it came with an adorable wristlet! I am so smitten with it!

My new Madden Girl boots to replace my boots from last year that only made it one season. (I have a bad habit of tapping my heels when I am sitting - which is detrimental to my shoes!) 

My adorable Sam & Libby Zees! I have four pairs of these darling shoes now! The first three I was able to snag for $19.99 apiece. However the last pair sadly cost me $29.99! I could not find a better deal and I could not risk missing out on these black leopard print flats!

I hope you are all staying safe if you are in Sandy's path!

Simple (and Cheap!) Writing Notebooks

We go through notebooks at a rapid rate in my classroom! I work in the Computer Lab for Intervention in Grades 1-5. I usually have about 15 students per grade in the room for each Intervention Block. We tend to switch groups every 6-8 weeks, but oftentimes sooner based on student needs.  In the past I have felt that the very moment I made up a notebook for a student was when they either moved or switched groups! I decided to find a cheaper, easier and less wasteful way to give my class their own personalized Writing Notebooks that will not go to waste when their time in Computer Lab is up. 

I have piles of scrapbook paper that I have either bought or been given over the years. Now there are lots of crafty things that I love to do, but scrapbooking has just never become one of them! I think I lack the patience one needs to do all that cutting and gluing! I decided to round up all my paper and use it for the notebooks.

These are my first graders notebooks. I used five pieces of paper and one scrapbook piece for the cover.  (I let them choose their own covers and I never bother with a back cover, they work just as well without one.) For my older students I do the same thing - but with eight to ten pieces small lined paper stapled on the long side.

I used these notebooks all last year and my students adored them! They loved personalizing their own books and I loved how they actually filled up the whole book! (I always find half filled notebooks annoying - it is such a waste of paper!) Some students preferred to add new pieces to the same book and some wanted to take their notebook home to their family as soon as it was filled. They were actually such a hit that I gave a fresh notebook to all my Intervention kiddos at the end of the year and they were thrilled!  I think I will end up running out of scrapbook paper soon but I know that I can get a great deal on one of those giant packs when that time finally comes!

What are some money saving tricks you use to supply your classrooms needs?

R Controlled Vowel Games

I always feel so bad early readers who are just beginning to gain confidence with decoding when they come to one of the dreaded R Controlled Words!! The reader follows all the rules, but it just does not make sense - no matter how they sound it out! I wanted to create a game that would help them to see, and memorize, the various combinations of letters that make up each R Controlled sound.

There are seven gameboards included in this set:

2 "are" boards (ex: yarn, jar, charm, tarp..)

2 "or" boards (ex: short, cord, fork, torch...)

2 "er" boards (ex: blur, skirt, fern, stir..)

and 1 "air" board (ex: pair, mare, bear, fair...) 

I also included a grayscale version for each board. I like to send these copies home with my students for extra practice.

This set is available in my Tpt shop!

Thanks for stopping by!

September and October's Best Nail Designs

I have gone a little nail art crazy lately. Some have come out amazing and some have been a bit disastrous - such as the time I spent an hour striping my nails only to have them chip to smithereens the next day! Then I got these amazing new brushes and my manicures have become so much easier to do! I thought I would share some of my better designs with you (never the mishaps, those photos are destroyed promptly! The above photo is just a multicolored teal glitter design with Milani that I used over a Nicole by OPI Iceberg Lotus (I cannot find a link for it, I bought it at Target ages ago.)

Next is my polka dots created with my much adored dotting tool. I used Sally Hansen's Pronto Purple for the base color, China Glaze's Platinum Silver and Sally Hansen's Blizzard Blue for the dots.

Here is my attempt at zebra print with those amazing new brushes I got. I was loving how fast and easy this design was, but I think I would mix-up the stripe sizes next time to make it a bit more detailed.  I used Sally Hansen White On and Black Out for this manicure.

Lastly we have my favorite - and my student's favorite this week too! Well except for my first graders who informed me that it was not an owl! I loved looking at it all week though! I used Essie's Go Overboard for the owl's body, Sally Hansen's White On for the chest/stomach area, Milani's Gold Dust for the beak and eyes (Black Out for the pupils) and the dots and other nails are Rimmel's Wild Orchid. I absolutely adored that color and it went on so smooth and solidly with just one coat! I will definitely try more of the Lasting Finish Pro line!

I think I may attempt plaid again this week but I will be sticking with my new brushes rather than the striping tape, that was a bit to much work for such sad results!

Happy weekend (and manicures) everyone!

Classroom Reveal (aka -Finally Finished!!)

I have been back in school for a month, but I just finally finished my room!