If I Wasn't On A Budget...Dresses & Winners

I adore dresses and these are the ones I have been coveting lately!! Click the dress names for links!

1.  Ellen Tracy - Sleeveless Pleather Tweed Sheath
2.  Trina Turk - The Birds Dress
3.  Calvin Klein - Sleeveless Faux Leather Trim

4.  Belted Houndstooth Dress
5.  Evan Picone - Cap Sleeve Printed Faux Wrap
6. Anne Klein - Short Sleeve Printed Sheath


Next up I have the Sight Word of the Day Pack Winners!! 

I will be sending the file off to you lovely ladies today!

Now, back to the fashion!

If I could choose any two I think it would be numbers 3 and 4. Though I do adore number 6 too! Which two (or more!) would you choose? Let me know in the comments below!

Nail Art - Feather Manicure and Last Day of BTS Sale!

I finally mustered up enough bravery to try a feather manicure before I went on vacation a few weeks ago! I bought these feathers from Michaels:

I chose a tiny striped and polka dot feather to start with. I knew I was only going to do one nail on each hand since it was my first attempt!

Here we have my left and right hands!

For this manicure I used: (Click the name for links!)
Maybelline Color Show - Canary Cool
OPI - Mauve-Lous Memories

I like the way the pink compliments the brown in the feathers a lot!

Now for the feathering. I painted my nails and let them dry completely. Then I applied a clear topcoat and placed my feather on top. Next came the tricky part, trimming off the excess feather. This is incredibly difficult to do to yourself, especially if you are a right-handed person cutting left hand!!

I could not get my feathers trimmed as close to my nails as I preferred them to be, at least not with scissors. I attempted to use nail clippers but was a bit scared about wrecking my manicure. The feathers were just too soft and fluffy to cut!

I gave up temporarily and applied a topcoat. That made the bit of feathers at the tip of my nail harder, so I was able to cut and file them away later.

Overall I love how they looked, but I think next time I will cut my feathers to nail size before I start. Even if it means that they will be a bit small for my nail, I think it will be better than having all that excess!!

Don't forget tonight is the last night of TpT's Back to School Sale! My entire shop is 28% off when you use the promo code: BTS13

Tomorrow I will be picking a winner for the Pre-Primer Sight Word of the Day giveaway! Click here if you would like to enter!

 Have a great night!

Sight Word of the Day Pre-Primer Set

All sight word poster sets have been updated with a new look - click here to see more!

I love using the Word of the Day with my 2nd - 5th graders. It is a great way to build vocabulary and explore new words! I wanted to incorporate a daily word challenge into my first graders routine too, but I decided sight words would fit their needs the best!

This set has all 40 of the pre-primer words with context sentences. The sight word is green in each sentence to allow students to isolate the word in each sentence.

Each day I will choose a new sight word to hang underneath the display sign. I like to use these words in the opening when my students are settling into Intervention.

I wanted to include a challenge portion as well to increase sight word exposure. There are two ways to complete this challenge. The first is the whole group tally chart. I am going to laminate these two charts and hang them next to the daily sight word.

Each day I will write the new word on the line. I think I will velcro a dry erase marker on the wall, so it will be easy to access when they find a word. Each time the students find the word they may add a mark to the tally chart. During the closing we will count up how many words they found!

If a whole group chart does not work well for your students, I also included individual tally books. These books are 41 pages including the cover and measure 3.8 x 5 inches. Each word has its own page so students can conduct their own search. I wanted to make it small for several reasons; it will not be in the way on their desks, and it will fit easily into book bags or bins!

We send our Intervention groups back to their classroom teachers with a bag that has books we have been reading together. This tally book is small enough for them to carry in the bag as well, and then they can continue the search throughout the day!

I think this increased exposure to these words will help to familiarize my students with these tricky sight words!

This set is available in my TpT shop!

Digraph Games with Short Vowels

Digraphs are always a tricky thing for my little ones, especially when they appear at the end of the words! Then there is the dreaded ch and sh confusion! I wanted to isolate individual digraphs in this set, allowing my students to focus on the sound each digraph makes.
This set has 7 game boards:

The 1st game board has ch beginning words: (ex: chip, chat and chunk.)

The 2nd game board has sh beginning words: (ex: shred, shack and shop.)

The 3rd game board has th beginnings: (ex: thing, thrill and thud.)

The 4th game board has wh beginnings: (ex: when, whiz and whack.)

The 5th game board has ch endings: (ex: lunch, switch and match.)

The 6th game board has sh endings: (ex: hush, dish and flash.)

The 7th game board has th endings: (ex: path, moth and filth.)
I included a score sheet and a sample score sheet that can be placed in the center to help students understand how to fill it in. I give my students 1 point for each word they use correctly in a sentence. This helps me to quickly see if they are understanding the words they are decoding.

Gray scale copies of all the game boards, rules of play, and score sheets are included as well!

This set is available in my TpT shop!

Nail Art - Needle Drag

Needle drag is one technique I have wanted to try for awhile, but I was never really sure how to go about it. Then I saw this photo on a nail website (click here to see her picture) and I was amazed at how easy it looked!

First you paint your base color and let it dry all the way. Then you choose your swirl colors. I went with a purple base then coral and green for my swirls. All the names and links will be at the end of this post!

After my purple was dry I place two big dots of each color on my nail, then I got my "needle."

I guess you could use a real needle, but I like this brush because of its long handle. You can't really tell from the picture but it has a long, skinny metal tip and no bristles. So basically a really long needle with a less pokey tip!

Then you drag the needle through the two drops of color until you get a pattern you like! I did have to add a bit extra polish on some of the nails if I didn't like how the pattern was going.

I kind of wish that I added a darker color into the mix - or maybe I should have swirled those three colors on a white basecoat. I think it may have helped it to pop a bit more!

I was surprised by how many days it lasted without chipping too! I was afraid the heavier layers might chip easily, but with the Insta-Dry and a topcoat it lasted for a long time!

For this manicure I used:
Rimmel Lasting Finish - Wild Orchid
Sally Hansen Insta Dri - Snappy Sorbet
Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure - Grass Slipper 

What's on your nails this week?

I Finally Made One... A Teacher Toolbox!

I am linking up with Tara for Monday Made It!

It has happened. I finally succumbed to making a teacher toolbox! I love looking at how lovely everyone's always turn out, but I always held back. Mostly because I hate spray painting (I am truly awful at it!) and also because I had these:

*Please note that all links are Amazon Affiliate links. Thanks for your support!

These are actually the tissue boxes my students used, but I cannot find the picture of the ones I have on my desk!! 

I love the all the colors and patterns they have, and they work great for the kids - mostly because each one holds one item. (Highlighters, pencils, markers...) I have 6 on my desk and they are stuffed to the brim! One has all my post-its and white outs, one has markers, sharpies, crayons and colored pencils, one has pens and pencils and so forth!

It is definitely not conducive to finding something quickly in a time crunch! (And aren't we always in a time crunch on school days?)

I figured I would try to bring my love for brights into my toolbox, so I went with multicolored labels.

Here is my new toolbox!

Sadly I have nothing to put in it yet, as I left all my supplies at school. I was sorely tempted to buy some new things at Walmart this week, but I am really trying to stick to my budget! Plus I have more than enough supplies awaiting me at school! 

Now I am headed over to check out Tara's blog to see what everyone else has been up to creating this past week!

Updated Games - Blends Games / R Controlled Vowels

I have been updating a lot of the games in my shop this summer. In the beginning I used a lot of digital backgrounds and some fonts that I am not really a fan of now. I want to keep everything a bit cleaner and easier to read - so I decided to give my best sellers a facelift!

First up is the Blends Games with Short Vowels!

This set has 4 game boards: R blends, L blends, S blends and 3 letter S blends with short vowels. All the words are the same, but I added some pirate clip art and simplified the color schemes and backgrounds to make it easier to read. 

This set is available in my TpT shop.

Next up is the Blends Games with Long Vowels.

This set has 3 game boards: R blends, L blends and S blends with long vowels. All the words are the same on this set too, but I added some dinosaur clip art and simplified the scheme a bit.
This set is available in my TpT shop!

Lastly we have the R Controlled Vowel Games!

This set has 7 game boards: 2 "are", 2 "or", 2 "er" and 1 "air" board. I added some ocean clip art to this set and neatened up the layout.
This set is available in my TpT shop!

If you have purchased these sets in the past don't forget to download the updated versions!

Happy Sunday!

Nail Art - Galaxy Nails

I tried galaxy nails out last year when I was just getting back into doing my own nail art. I had gone through a year long nail sticker phase, but they were really starting to take a toll on my nail strength. Sadly I did not take a picture of the first set of galaxy nails I tried, mostly since I wasn't posting them on my blog, pinterest or beautylish back then!!

For this manicure I used: (Click the colors for links!)
Maybelline Color Show - Onyx Rush for my base.

For the nebula I used:
Maybelline Color Show - Pacific Blues
China Glaze - For Audrey
Zoya - Charisma
Rimmel Lasting Finish - Wild Orchid

Stars:
Confetti - Iridescent Glitter (sorry there's no link, I bought it at CVS a few years back.)

I used cosmetic sponges to dab on the colors of the nebula. I like to cut them into little triangles - they are a lot easier to work with that way!

I started with one color at a time, dabbing it onto the sponge and then onto each nail. Then I use to the next color, and so on. I like to change the angles and thickness of the colors to make each nail different.

Putting the nail polish directly onto the sponge works the best. If it goes on too heavy or dark, just keep dabbing it until you get a shade that you like!

My right hand was heavier on the pinks and purples - my left was more bluish. I really like how For Audrey pops on my some of my nails!

I love how fast and easy galaxy nails are! They can get a bit messy too - sponging your nails can always be a bit disastrous. But they are much easier to clean up, especially compared with the time I tried water marbling!!

Today is the last day to leave a comment for my Thematic Reading Log Giveaway! Hop on over if you would like a chance to win!

Thanks for stopping by!

Reading Logs

We have to keep track of the books our students read in my school for our Million Words Campaign. In Intervention we tend to read a lot of books and I needed a way to keep it organized for each student.

I created an easy to use log to help my students keep track. My school track words/pages read for the older students and counts only the amount of books read for the younger grades, so I wanted to offer 2 different options for different grade levels. Each month features thematic clipart that ties into that month!

The first version features 20 lines, with spaces for:

• date
• title
• author

The second version features 20 lines, with spaces for:

• date
• title
• author
• pages

If you are interested in a closer look, please click here!

Revitalizing Tarnished Jewelry

I'm linking up with Tara for Monday Made It, though mine is more of a Monday Revitalized It! This is a necklace I made about five years ago with a butterfly pendant and some invisible wire. I love how simple it is, so I have worn it a lot over the years.

That has led to some icky coppery effect which I am not loving at all lately. I tried cleaning it, but since it is just a cheap metal nothing was working. I decided to use something I have ample amounts of...nail polish!

I used Essie No Place Like Chrome for all of my silver pieces. I tried a few others, but this had the best coverage and shine!

It looks as if it is brand new again!

Next up were two of my favorite pairs of earrings. The stars were a gift I received about 10 years ago and the birds were made by me.

I used Zoya Ziv on the gold part of the stars and then the No Place Like Chrome on the top layer.

I used a regular nail polish brush to paint all of these pieces. I found it was best to put on a heavy layer, then wipe the brush clean. Once it was clean I would spread the thick coat out along the piece until it was finely covered, just enough so the etchings were not filled in.

I am thrilled to have all of my favorite pieces freshened up! I must say it is nice to know that nail polish can serve extra purposes too! It actually has me wondering what else I can decorate with it...but I'll save that for another time!

Now I am off to check out Tara's blog to see what everyone else was up to this past week!

Have a great Monday!!

Nail Art - Waterfall Nails

I first saw Waterfall nails on Pinterest (click to see the pics) and I was smitten! I loved the the way you could layer colors over colors in little delicate lines! In my opinion one can never have enough color on their nails! So I hopped on over to The Nailasaurus to check out her tutorial!

I had everything I needed, including the proper long, skinny brush. Alas, I am not good at delicate lines, so my attempt is a bit more heavy handed!!

I always end up with blobs on my brush which results in my thick lines. I do love the color combo though!
I can definitely see myself trying this technique again, there are just so many colors that would look great together. Perhaps I will even achieve a skinny(ish) line eventually!

For this manicure I used: (click for a link to each polish!)
Zoya - Charisma
Sally Hansen Complete Salon - Grass Slipper
China Glaze - Platinum Silver
Maybelline Color Show - Pacific Blues

What's on your nails lately? Have any of you tried textured polish yet? I am intrigued by it, but I also like a smooth nail. I think I would hate the feel of it after one day!! Let me know what is on your nails and toes in the comments below!!