Perpetual Calendar

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I wanted to make a fun perpetual calendar to use in my classroom.  I was going to make the whole thing - frame and all, but then I found this chalkboard one ready to go at my local Hobby Lobby.  I glued magnets to it and also to the back of my dates.  I didn't think ahead, however, and when I moved my dates for the next month, I found that my positive and negative sides of my magnets didn't match up.  This is why you see some of them are not straight.  I haven't taken the time yet to fix it.  The dates I made on my Cricut with mostly Plantin Schoolbook and Potpourri.  The month heading at the top, I got in a set from my local teacher store.

Cupcake Update!

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We have been back to school for 2 weeks now, and I have actually already celebrated THREE birthdays in my room...WOW!! Here is the update to my cupcakes that I made earlier in the summer.  The banner was from a discount store.  I made them larger than the ones you can find at teacher stores because I wanted my students to be able to see them from across the room.  I used the month abbreviations and ordered them according to our school year.  I have a poster next to them with the full month names displayed in order of January-December.  I like to refer to these for a different way to display the date. 

Wild for AR

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Wow!  Getting back into the swing of things is fun, but crazy! I found this cute border from TREND at the local teacher supply store.  I HAD to have it!  I thought it would be perfect to complement my Mini Monsters cart.  The cute green monster is acutally the astronaunt that I modified on my Gypsy!   This display is above my door in my classroom.  It is going to be my motivator for AR or accelerated reader - a program where students read on their own levels to earn points which we turn into prizes!  My door frame is metal, so I put their names on magnets that travel around my door as they reach different goals.  The kids LOVE it! 

T-shirt Using my Cricut & Gypsy!!

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Peace - Love - Bears Spirit Shirt! I get tired of the same old T-shirts all year long, so I decided to make my own. (I'm also making a few for my co-workers)  I've seen this theme before, but not quite like this. I do not own a cart with a peace sign, so I used my Gypsy to morph & weld together shapes from Plantin School book:  2 circles & 3 rectangles.For the bear paw, I used 5 circles.  I've read many blogs & the Cricut message board about cutting fabric and put all of the tips together.  I tried to find Steam a  Seam 2, but couldn't.  Since I am impatient, I found some fusing at a quilt store called "Soft Fuse."  If you can find a stiffer fusing I think it would be better.  Another important part was that this fusing has a paper backing.  This way, you can iron it on the back of you fabric before you cut it. It gives the fabric more body and also helps it cut easier. Before you iron it on, make sure that your fabric is ironed first. I also found that using heavy starch helped the fabric to cut better and have less frays.  After you iron on your fusing, take off the paper backing and stick it to your mat, fusing side down.  **VIP** Make sure that you use a BRAND new needle and mat. My settings on my Cricut were Blade 5, Pressure Max, Speed Low, and multicut 4.  The zebra print material gave me the most trouble, but after the heavy starch, it cut like a dream!  I ironed on the designs and then zig zagged around them in pink thread with my sewing machine.  I had read on the internet that you could use typing paper behind your design to keep the stitching from bunching up the shirt.  I did this on the shirt pictured, but for the rest, I am going to get some interfacing.  It is cheap and I think will give the shirt more structure!

Back-To-School Treats

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I love to give my new students a little something special the first time they meet me.  Before the first day of school, our elementary has a "Meet the Teacher" day where students and their parents can drop off supplies, meet teachers, and tour the school.  In Texas, we can only have treats at school 3 days out of the year.  Well, our "Meet the Teacher" day falls before the start of school. I took advantage of this by giving them Blow Pop suckers! I have made lolli covers the old fashioned way before...cutting them out by hand & using computer images to decorate them. Well, Emma at My Creative Time had a fantastic tutorial for using your Gypsy to create lollipop covers.  Check it out here!  Using our school colors and mascot, I designed my own!!  I used Doodlecharms for the sweet little bear, Plantin Schoolbook for the lolli cover itself, embossed it with my Cuddlebug Argyle folder, and I printed the sentiment on my computer.  I think it will add a little sweetness to my classroom for that special day :)

Pencil Tins

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I currently have plastic bins in my class for students to switch out their pencils.  They switch pencils out daily. This cuts down on interruptions in class, and I am able to sharpen the pencils,  which helps preserve my electric pencil sharpener.  Currently my bins are pretty plain. Well, Wendy at Cricut Your Classroom has inspired me to upgrade!  I LOVE how she recycled Crystal Light containers to make hers.  I unfortunately did not have any containers to recycle, but I found these cute tins at JoAnn's for 40% off!  That's still economical...right?  I used Gypsy my  to manipulate the pencil from Potpourri.  The bear (our mascot again) and apple are from Doodlecharms.  The font is Makin' the Grade.  I made the tins coordinate, but not look too closely alike.  I find that if they do not look different enough, my second graders, in a hurry, often mix up the two!  I also coated it with Modge Podge to add some durability to it.  Well this is definitely an upgrade to our daily routine.

Smells like Team Spirit!!

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Hello Kitty holds a special place in my heart...she is just so cute!  Well, having 2 boys at home, I enjoy using her to decorate my classroom.  Our district colors are green and gold, so you see what inspired her clothes and accessories.  Since our mascot is a bear, I thought I could use the teddy bear with Hello Kitty as a poster topper.  I also put our school letters on her cheerleading outfit.  I used American Crafts Slick Writers to draw stitching around her clothes.  Also, I used my Cuttlebug embossing folders to give texture to her bow, pom poms, and outfit!

Birthday Cupcakes

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These cutie little cupcakes are going to be apart of my new classroom birthday display.  I used the cupcake from the Create a Critter cart and with my Gypsy, hid the face.  I tried to make them resemble the theme of each month. I am going to laminate them for durability.  I will type out each child's name and birthday on the computer, then cut it out and adhere it to the proper cupcake.  For instance, September might have 3 student's names and birthdays on them, depending on my class roll.  I thought this was a cute way to display our class birthdays!

Howdy!

Pin It Now! I am a second grade teacher in a fantastic Texas town. I have another blog that I have used this summer to categorize my everyday creations . I decided to make this blog to help catalogue my crafts and ideas for my classroom. I have found so many inspiring ideas on other people's blogs, and I hope to find the same inspiration in other teacher's blogs.