Thriller Thursday- A Rootin’ Tootin’ Classroom!

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Today’s post will double as a “Thriller Thursday Theme” and my classroom reveal!  And what is my classroom theme this year? Western! This is the second year in a row that I’ve done the western thing. Before that I didn’t have a theme-theme, I just used a color scheme. But when I moved from 4th grade to 2nd grade in a new school I decided to go all out. And that’s exactly what I did. Maybe a little too far actually! I chose western because as a child I loved horses (I still love them, just not obsessed like I was at 8), I also like patriotic colors, and I already had a few things that could work. Then when I announced my theme, western related items came out of the woodworks. My mother-in-law scavenged around in her parents barn for goodies, my mother went antiquing for more goodies, and of course I might have bought a few things too! So here it is! My western room:

The Back Wall

I made the bandana bunting by cutting bandanas in half and hot glueing the top edge to laundry rope.

Here are a few facts about my classroom library and listening center:

  • The blue bins I got a Fred’s on sale! I bought them a couple of years ago and they are holding up great.
  • The turning rack I bought at a Borders that was going out of business.
  • The headphones are hanging on a planter box. I also put the current book they are listening to  in the box along with the ipod or cassette player.

The Side Wall

The cabinets are bare now, but they will be covered with anchor charts before too long! I hang them using the clothes pins at the top.

Please ignore the pottery barn sticker that is still on the flower pot. I just can’t seem to get it off  am too lazy to get it off.

The Other Side Wall

This is my accelerated reading board and writing board. For the  ”Riding Across the AR Trail” board, I put numbers at the bottom for our monthly goal. Then the covered wagons move west toward their goal. How’s that for a little westward expansion lesson embedded in my incentive board? Currently on my writing board is a paper entitled, “Introducing Your Teacher” from my 2011-2012 class.

Hands down, my most favorite thing in my classroom is my super improvers board. It is new to the room, as this will be my first year implementing Whole Brain Teaching (super excited about that one). A (very) close second are the denim and bandana curtains I sewed this summer with my new sewing machine I got for my birthday! I also really like the “Howdy Partner” pillow in the rocking chair that I got at a thrift store. And of course I love my rocking chair that it sits in, that came from my dear sister-in-law (who also teaches 2nd) for christmas a few years ago. Basically, I just love my room! I guess that’s a good thing since I live work here!

I love how the white cards are sticking out from the cowboy hats. They remind me of little bandanas! That wasn’t planned, just a bonus! The cowboy hats (eventually, I’ll put the students’ names on them) are glued onto clothes pins. That way I can change the color cards easily.  And to hold the stickers for the SIW, I used a pocket from an old pair of my husband’s jeans.

This is my objectives board and classroom jobs board. I will assign the jobs by writing their names on the sheriff badges.

The Front Wall

Yes, that is horse wallpaper border around my desk/guided reading area. I first thought it was a bit over-the-top, but now I kind of like it. It makes it feel homey! Also you probably can’t see it too well, but I made the calendar month label. Here’s a close-up of the labels. They are available in red here at my TPT store for FREE!

That’s it! That’s my western classroom! This time last year I didn’t even have a job yet, and now I have my room essentially done! It feels good.

Now for the promised linky party:

Our First Ever Linky Party!

Classroom Theme Linky Party

Here are the rules:

    • Please post your classroom theme, old or new. It doesn’t have to be a theme-theme, it can be a color scheme too.
    • Please become a follower of our blog!
    • Please put our button on your blog post (or at least leave a link).
    • When you link up, in the “name” field put the name of your theme (ex: western). That way people will be able to browse through the themes. It would also be a great idea to use a picture of your room for the thumbnail!
    • Be sure to check out the other links and leave a comment for them too!
2 busy brunettes

One more thing, to be able to view and/or add a link you will have to click the button below. It will take you to a new page to view the links (this is because we use wordpress.com and not the other blog hosts out there).

Thanks and enjoy!



Thriller Thursday: Everyone’s a Happy Camper in This Room!

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Today I’m back with another great classroom theme: Camping!

Because I’ve only been teaching for 5 years and haven’t used an overall decorating theme every year, I’ve run out of pictures to show you of my own classroom…….So, I had to draw upon other resources, some of the best I know: my friends! All of the wonderful pictures you’ll see today are from my good friend Brenna.  She decorated her room in a Camping theme a few years back, and I couldn’t resist showing you some of her ideas!

Here is the entrance to her room: Very inviting for kids! I can imagine they were pumped to go to class every day! I really like the props she placed outside the door to make it more “real-life.”

Here are some bulletin boards and displays in the room: motivational reading display, chart for “tracking” student behavior, star student or “camper” of the week, and a camping themed display for vocabulary words from read alouds.

Here is my favorite (and I’m sure the kids’ favorite) part of the whole room: the classroom library! Brenna set up this special area of her classroom to feel just like you are outside enjoying a book among nature! She included a fuzzy green rug, a grassy background on the wall, (just like mine!) a homemade (classroom-safe) campfire, a kid-sized tent and little camping chairs! Those touches really make it special for a kid to enjoy a few good books!

   

Here are a few more campy ideas for you to enjoy:

  • Busy Beavers at Work! (bulletin board for student work)
  • Look Whooooo’s……. (in our room; behaving; here today!) (with owls of course!)
  • We’re Happy Campers in Mrs. ______’s room!
  • We’re nuts about ______!
  • Are you “stumped?” (Anchor charts posted in a binder or on wall.)
  • Fired up for ________!
  • Hike into _______.
  • Spotlight on Great Work! ( display including flashlights!)
  • include a couple small Christmas trees in corners of the room
  • light up the artificial campfire from below with a strand of Christmas lights
  • use strands of outdoor lights/lanterns to decorate the room/bulletin boards

Thanks for stopping by today! Click here to visit Brenna’s blog for more great teaching ideas! You won’t regret it! This girl is awesome!

Also, don’t forget to come back to us next Thursday, our last Thriller Thursday with my sister’s current room theme! AND, if you want to share one of your own classroom themes, link up with us next week so we can all take a peek at your wonderful creations!

Enjoy your oh-so-precious summer days!

Thriller Thursday- Where the Wild Classrooms Are!

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Today’s Thriller Thursday Theme is going to be WILD!

Hopefully after you read this post and see the pictures from jungle/zoo themed classrooms, you’ll have some “GRReat” ideas!

I chose this theme for my 1st grade classroom for two reasons…#1 They had recently painted the giraffe in the hallway right above my door. #2 I really like my friend Jessi’s theme for her classroom: “Wild about Reading.” Then when I changed rooms and grades (to 2nd grade), I kept the jungle theme. So here are some pictures from those two classrooms that I hope “LEAF” you feeling inspired!

Class Entrance

The Ceiling

I twisted green butcher paper to make vines and stapled leaves and tissue paper flowers on them. Then I adorned them with rubber snakes and furry monkeys!

Bulletin Board Displays

Vocabulary Display: “On A Safari for Words”

Student Work Display: “Great Work Spotted!”

One of my favorite bulletin board borders was the leafy border I made with leftover artificial leaves from my wedding. You can see it in the two pictures below. To make it, I just hot-glued the leaves around the butcher paper.

Student of the Week Display: “King of the Wild Things”

I mentioned above that I got the inspiration for my classroom after seeing my friend Jessi’s room. We went to grad school together and I just loved her classroom theme. Here are a few pics from her room.

Here are some more zoo/safari/jungle inspired sayings for your classroom:

  • Roaring  Readers! (or fill in the blank) decorated with any animal that roars
  • We’re Wild about ___________!
  • Climbing to Excellence!  (or fill in the blank) decorated with monkeys
  • Behavior chart: Zoo Warning! Wild Behavior is NOT allowed!

Thanks for “hangin’ around” our blog! (Get it? Hanging like a monkey?)

Don’t forget, we’ll be hosting a linky party for you to share your own classroom themes in two weeks!

Thriller Thursday- It’s a Pirate’s Room For Me!

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It’s the first post of our Thriller Thursday series and we’re kickin’ it off pirate style!

Ahoy maties!

Today I’m going to show you a 4th grade classroom that I decorated several years ago for another teacher. I know, decorating someone elses room while they are away on vacation?? Unheard of! But that’s just the kind of person I am. I LOVE decorating classrooms and I like to help people too! She was extremely grateful and even gave me a gift card in return! Yay! Bonus! Honestly, just decorating the room was payment enough, because it was so much fun!

“Treasured Work” Bulletin Board: For this display I used gold pipe cleaners for the title. The bottom is a treasure chest filled with butcher paper. I hot glued the coins, jewels, and mardi gras beads on top.

We’re Hooked on Reading: This display was made with butcher paper, packaging paper, cardboard and aluminum foil. I made the hook by cutting out the shape in cardboard and wrapping it in aluminum foil. “We’re Hooked on Reading” was written in a silver sharpie.

Catch of the Day Bulletin Board: This board is where the teacher posted her standards. The background is fabric.

Code of Conduct Display: This chart is where the teacher posted her rules. I think it would be neat if the class determined the code of conduct together and then signed it at the bottom to pledge their allegiance. This display is also made out of packaging paper. The pirate is made out of white butcher paper. To make this scallywag I printed out a clip art of a pirate I liked. I projected him on the wall and traced him onto my white butcher paper. Then I painted him with acrylics. After I painted him, I went back over the lines with a permanent poster marker to really make his features stand out. Then I laminated him. He was too big to fit in the laminator, so I had to fold him in half, laminate him, and cut the lamination seam to unfold him again.

Book of the Month Display: I also traced, painted, outlined, and laminated him on white butcher paper.

Student Work Display: “Shiver me timbers! Look what they’ve been learning in Mr(s). _________________’s room!”

These lovely pirate flags hung from the ceiling.  There were 3 different designs, and there were about 5 of each hanging above the students’ desks. They are felt squares with white acrylic paint. To make these I bought 81/2 x 11 stencil sheets from Hobby Lobby. I printed out my images and traced each one onto a stencil. Then using an exacto knife I cut the stencil out. Then I used a foam brush to pat on the white paint. The paint went through to the other side, which was kind of neat to get an image on both sides, but you’ll want to have an old rag underneath so that you don’t paint the surface you are working on.

Another display you could do is a jobs board. I’m thinking a pirate crew would be cool. Here are some of a pirate ship’s crew members-gone-classroom:

  • Captain- runs teacher’s errands
  • Quartermaster- Hands out papers and materials used in class.
  • Cabin Boy- Cleans the white board and desk
  • Carpenter- Take chairs off of desks in the morning, help rearrange furniture when needed
  • Helmsman- Line Leader
  • Cook- Take the lunch count for the day, Get the teacher tea, take dirty cups back to cafeteria
  • Gunner- Pencil Sharpener
  • Boatswain- Help keep the class in order by picking up anything that’s out of place and put it in it’s right place
  • Surgeon- Accompany students who aren’t feeling good to the office or nurse
  • Sea Artist- Door Holder

Alright landlubbers! That’s all for today! Check back next Thursday for our next Thriller Thursday Theme!

P.S. That last picture, FYI, was me dressed as a dead pirate for a musical in college!

“Goin’ to the Chapel (or Camp) and We’re Gunna Get Married…”

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5 years ago today, I married my best friend, Jesse. Since my sister posted about her special day, here are some pictures and details about mine…

All photos are from our great friends at Ruple Photography.

The Venue:

Well, as you can see from these first few pictures, our wedding took place in a not so common venue: at a camp: Camp Caudle. It is actually the first place I ever set eyes on Jesse. And what better place to get married than the place you first met your spouse!? Jesse attended here as a young pre-teen in his youth group every summer up to the present, now bringing kids from the youth group he works with. When we met, I was attending camp as a counselor and he as a camper! When he began college where I was, we had a close friendship and later began dating: all the while, attending Camp Caudle together with his home church for retreats, spring break trips, and summer sessions.  It is a very special place that we call another “home,” at least for part of the year, and we were more than happy to find out that we could celebrate our wedding day there……for free!!!

The Ceremony:

Our ceremony was pretty short and sweet, for a number of reasons. First, we knew that the wedding party and guests would not be too crazy about being outside in the summer heat for an extended period of time. Second, we had decided on a few meaningful elements that we wanted to include, making for a quick ceremony.  Also, our ceremony was probably cut a little shorter than even we had planned, because wind and rain began to threaten our big event!

Here are some meaningful things we included in our ceremony:

  • The wedding party and I walked down the ailse(s) to One Voice by Brandy. I picked these lyrics out when I was in high school. You can click here to read them.
  •  Opening prayer by my dad & closing prayer by his grandfather
  • The circle shape of the chairs and stage in the middle was “stolen” from a friend of mine. I loved the idea of all of your friends and family surrounding you and supporting you.  During the opening prayer our wedding party actually stood around the perimeter of the stage.
  • We sang 3 or 4 short praise songs with everyone; words were included on the programs
  • Jesse & I had written our own vows to each other
  • Our ordained minister was his preacher from years of growing up as a teen (and at camp!)
  • A white tent served as a “lobby or entry-way” into the ceremony where guests signed in and viewed pictures of our parents and grandparents’ weddings. The tent was also helpful to shield me from Jesse until I walked down the aisle.
  • Best Man: his brother, Maid of Honor: my sister :)

Like I said before, the rain started to threaten our big day, but It didn’t do too much harm. Here are some pictures as proof that we just went with the flow:

The Reception:

Our reception took place at camp as well, just up the hill from the ceremony site.  Camp Caudle has a big amphitheater that serves as a perfect place for gathering for sermons, worship, basketball games and talent shows.  We opted to use the court area as the space for eating. (If it had rained out our ceremony, we would have used it for that as well.)

Here are some details about our reception:

  • The food served at our wedding was from a local “mom and pop” diner. There was corn, beans, barbecue, potato salad, coleslaw, sweet tea, and kool-aid. We are southern kids through and through.
  • Jesse LOVES spiderman, so his groom’s cake was tailored to him of course.
  • Guests were encouraged to leave us notes of advice or scriptures that we still treasure today and read from time to time.
  • We smashed each other with cake, and needless to say, Jesse got me good!: classic Jesse move. You know I had to get him back!
  • All flower arrangements incorporated (artificial) hydrangeas, which are my favorite. Growing up, my pa-paw used to have hydrangea bushes at his house. We still have the same artificial flowers around our house today as decoration!

 Our wedding day was definitely one of a kind. Friends and family were SUPER helpful in planning, preparing, and executing my DIY dream wedding. The rain just added to the uniqueness of the event. It fit in perfectly with the “theme” that was written on our programs: “Love knows no bounds.” We got through the rain together, which is what marriage is all about.  I must say, I will never forget our special day. It was one of those moments you will treasure for life. God has blessed the two of us since the beginning, and the chapter of our wedding was no exception.

It’s a Busy Brunette Summer!

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I hope you are enjoying your summer as much as these brunettes are. We’ve enjoyed it so much, we haven’t even taken the time to post!

What have we been up to? Well I, Julia, have been scrapbooking, preparing for a class that I’m teaching this summer on digital scrapbooking with photoshop elements, sewing curtains for my bookshelves in my classroom, going to family reunions and various other trips, and making small craft projects.

I also have been working ahead for the upcoming school year. I’ve collected 30 or so poems to correlate with my spelling units. Each Tuesday we’ll read a poem and highlight the words that contain our spelling pattern. Then we’ll add those words to our spelling notebook. When I was collecting these poems there were several patterns that I just could not find poems for! For these poems I wrote my own. I’m sharing them with you to download in case you are on a poetry hunt too. They are available here at my teacherspayteachers store.

There are 11 poems, each containing it’s own word family. Each poem includes 7-15 of the pattern words.

Word Families:

  1. Short Vowels with –ck and –ea- (ex. duck, feathers)
  2. Beginning Consonant Blends: sp, st, sw, sn, sm, sc, sk, rt, tw
  3. Final Consonant Blends: -st, -nd, -mp, -sp, -nt, -lt, -ld, -lf, -pt, -sk
  4. Consonant digraphs: ph, gh
  5. Sounds of y: y as /e/, y as /i/
  6. Long O: oa, oe
  7. Long O: ough, ow
  8. Long U: ui, ue
  9. Plurals: -y, -f (ex. story -> stories, scarf -> scarves)
  10. Soft c and g
  11. 11. Endings: -sion, cian

I mentioned I’ve been scrapbooking. Here are some digital layouts I’ve made so far.


Credits: kit: Peppermint Creative Miss Mint Ten Pin; alpha: getaway alpha by chelle’s creations


Credits: Slam Dunk Kit by Chelle’s Creations


Credits: template: Simply Tiffany Studios 52 Templates #33; kit: Spontaneity by Twelve by Twelve Designs; football alpha, element, and paper: Tailgate mini kit by Wishing Well Creations; football circle element: Attitude Kit by Golden Girls; Balloon: One More Year Mini Kit by A+ Designs;


Credits: Tagboard Animals, Papers, Alpha, Ric Rac, and Flower: March of the Animals Blog Train at StuffToScrap.com by Adriana’s Cafe, B2N2 Scraps, Scrappin’ Serenity, and Sweet Maple; Palm Tree: Polka Dot Bikini by Jessica Edwards; String: Picnic In The Park Blog Train by Trixie Scraps Designs; Flowers: Deca Designs, Bela Gypsy (from Red, White, and Blue and Are We There Yet Kits) and Cora’s Creations (Countdown 2010 Kit); Green Paper: Polar Opposites Blog Train by My Life and Scraps; Brown Giraffe Paper: Giraffity Mini Kit by Bella Gypsy


Florida: Template: Template #246 by Yin Designs, Kit: Summertime by Jessica Edwards, Alpha: Spring is my Thing by Connie Prince


Camping: Kit: The Great Outdoors by Weeds and Wildflowers; Template: Template #72 by Mandagirl Templates; Paper: landscape background by friendlyscrap


Credits: kit: America: Heartland by Sweet Shoppe Designs and Julie Billingsley


Credits: Slam Dunk Kit by Chelle’s Creations

I also made a good friend of mine a sticker to go on a bucket. She’s using it to hold drinks at an ice cream social she’s hosting. I thought it turned out really cute!


I used my cricut, sure cuts a lot, the method described here, and the font, peggy.

Alright, that’s enough of an update on the past month. Now we’ll tell you what your can expect next month.

That’s right we are going to share a classroom theme every Thursday in July to get you pumped about the upcoming school year. Check back to see which themes will be featured! On the last day, the 26th, we will host a linky party for you to post your own classroom theme. It can be an old post, or a new one, as long as it’s about your classroom theme! Get excited! It’s going to be fun!

Thanks for stopping by!

When I Said, “I Do.”

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Today 4 years ago I married my soul mate!

I was just telling Joshua the other day how I feel like we are better matched than I thought we were when I married him. It’s a blessing to share life with him!

In honor of that special day, I’d like to share some of our wedding pictures (All photography by Allison Jansen)

The First Look

In order to take pictures before the wedding (and maybe because we knew we wouldn’t be able to wait!), we chose to see each other before the ceremony. I’m glad we did. We had a very special moment, just the two of us.

Before the Ceremony

We got married at Quail Creek Resort in Hartselle, Alabama.

This is one of my favorite pictures from our wedding. Joshua had just finished walking his mom down the aisle and started tearing up. So his brother-in-law gathered the groomsmen and my dad in for a prayer before the ceremony.

The Ceremony

I wanted the ceremony to be really special. And it certainly was. We were prayed over by our families, prayed for by my uncle, Joshua’s youth minister, and Joshua’s dad.

Also, his dad was our officiate. I can’t imagine anyone else doing it! It was very personal. He talked about Joshua growing up and about mine and Joshua’s relationship. He even got teary-eyed!

During the ceremony, Joshua presented me with his purity ring he had worn since his youth, we lit unity candles, exchanged the same vows my parents wrote and vowed 28 years before, and exchanged rings. Taking about an hour, I’d say we tied the knot pretty good!

Did I mention we washed each other’s feet too?

This was something I had never seen done, but I wanted to incorporate it after hearing the song, “Greatest Lover of All Time” by Eric and Leslie Ludy. We washed each others feet to this song to tell each other, “I’m going to love you like Christ loves you.”

The Greatest Lover of All Time

Princely honor set aside
As He washed the feet of His humble bride
Pouring out His breath and blood
As a sacrifice for the one he loved

And this love that spills out everything
Is the love I pledge to you
Like the One who gave it all for me
I will give my life for you

All I have, all I am
I give to you in covenant
Like broken bread and poured-out wine
I’ll love you like
The greatest Lover of all time

Heroic love that led a King
to choose the road of suffering
Selflessness that just begins
Where human understanding ends

And this love that takes the lowest place
Is the love that I now choose
Like the One who gave His life away
I will give my life for you

His love gave without holding back
So I will love you like that
His love paid the ultimate price
So I will lay down my life

It wouldn’t be a complete post about our wedding if I didn’t include this picture. This is my in-laws family Bible. My parents-in-law along with Joshua’s sister and her husband took this same picture on their wedding day. Up until today I always thought it was turned to 1 Corinthians 13. But after closer examination I realized that it’s actually on Ephesians 6! Either way, it still is symbolic of our marriage being built around the Word.

The Reception

The grooms table was all about hunting- from pictures of us with frogs and pheasants, to chocolate deer. We also had fortune cookies because the night that Joshua proposed we had a Chinese take-out picnic. That night my fortune cookie, read “Pleasures await you by the water” and it just so happened that Joshua proposed by a lake! I think Joshua’s said something like, “Being frugal would be wise,” which I guess is applicable since he had bought the ring! Anyway, our fortune cookies read,

“Good friends deserve good fortune! May it come your way!”
“Wishing you good fortune in life, from the new husband and wife.”
“Thanks for blessing us today, good fortune will surely come your way!”
“May your night be as sweet as this cookie!”
“We’re so ‘fortune-ate’ to have you in our lives.”
“The love that Joshua and Julia share is worth a fortune… cookie!”

The best thing about our wedding, so I’m told time after time, was this punch! I wouldn’t know because I didn’t get any (what was I thinking?), but anytime I mention something about our wedding around one of our guests, it seams like they always mention this punch. So here’s the recipe, if you’re interested!

Coffee Punch

1 cup water
3 cups sugar
¼ cup instant coffee granules
1 gallon milk
½ gallon vanilla ice cream, softened
½ gallon chocolate ice cream, softened

Bring water to a boil in a saucepan.  Add sugar and coffee.  Reduce heat and simmer, stirring constantly until sugar and coffee dissolve. Remove and cool.
Combine milk and coffee mixture in punch bowl.  Just before serving, stir ice cream into bowl.  Serve immediately. Makes 7 quarts.

The First Dance

We danced to “We are Man and Wife” by Michelle Featherstone.

The 2 busy brunettes!

Forget the shoes!

Thanks for stopping by!

An Anniversary Gift to ‘Tree’sure

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It’s roughly a week until mine and Joshua’s fourth anniversary. Knowing me, you probably think I’m about to post the gift I’m giving him this year. Wrong! We opted out of gifts this year and took a trip instead. We traveled to the river city of San Antonio last week. Time is what’s most precious to us right now (him being in anesthesia school) so a trip seemed most appropriate.. especially when our breaks overlapped! That never happens! Actually back in March or so when I asked Josh if we could go somewhere during our summer break he said, “Yeah, I think we could do something that day.” Day!? Luckily it ended up being about 6 days.

We had a wonderful time in San Antonio riding bikes, visiting the historic missions, walking the romantic river walk, and riding the river taxis. It’s a place I’d definitely recommend to visit!

Beautiful river walk. Now that I’m home, I wish I’d taken more pictures of it! We ate at the cafe pictured, Casa Rio.

Cute Mexican papel picado bunting over El Mercado

Isn’t this a beautiful bike ride?

Stopping for a pic a Mission Concepción

Want to know how to get a picture of the Alamo with no people in it? Shout, “FREE ICE CREAM THAT WAY!” Ok, that’d probably do the trick (It was HOT), but actually we took this picture a little before 8:00 am. NO ONE was out there! That might be because it doesn’t open until 9, but there was no one anywhere on the streets. (That’s my kind of bike ride if you ask me! The less objects/people to hit, the better!)

Lovely extended arm picture in front of the Alamo doors. No way we were paying for the professional one they took!

Ok, so I totally didn’t intend for this to be a post about our trip to San Antonio. I guess I got carried away. I just loved it so much!

I actually want to share with you what I gave Joshua last year:

Since we had been married “tree” years I went with a gift that had three parts and had to do with trees. I know, I know, the traditional wedding anniversary gift for three years is leather. Does anyone actually go by that? Anyway, since Joshua was about to start school, I also went with a wallet friendly gift (In fact, I found these tiles in the teacher’s lounge at school!).

These were just plain white tiles that, like I said, I found in the teacher’s lounge. To make them personal, I decorated them using paint pins. (The poem I found online.. not my own!) To make it water and heat-resistant, I used pour-on. During this step, some of the marker smeared. One brand held true, and one didn’t, and I wish I could remember which was which! So if you’d like to do something like this, just test it out on a scrap piece. However, pour-on has proved to be a very effective product. We’ve been using the coasters on our night stand and the trivet (of course) in the kitchen and they’ve held up magnificently.

In order to protect the surfaces these would be used on, I adhered strips of cork on the back.

Along with the coasters and trivet, I also made a time capsule to keep little mementos in.

Again, I used a paint pin to decorate this tin. I did not, however, salvage this tin from the teacher’s lounge! Nope. I got it at Hobby Lobby.

Joshua actually loves this. Before we left for San Antonio he said, “Maybe we can buy something to put in our tin!” I said, “It doesn’t work like that. You can’t buy something to be special. Something becomes special through events.”

So what’s in our tin?

Well, let’s see. If you care to know, there is:

  • a beaver stuffed animal Joshua bought me when we were first dating to commemorate an inside joke from our first date
  • The clicker from the car where we had our first kiss. (awww!)
  • a rose from my wedding bouquet.
  • the wedding rice that we picked out of our hair.
  • a shell from our honeymoon.
  • a paint chip that I used to pick the color for the backing of our built-in bookshelves. It made the cut because after about 3 days I decided I didn’t like the color and we redid it! So it stands for Joshua’s patience with me!

Wow.. I think everyone that reads this needs to share something personal about themselves, because I feel like I just got really intimate with you guys!

What’s your favorite anniversary gift?

Oh, and just because I’m curious:

 

I’m linking up at:
Days of Chalk and Chocolate  the Grant Life  The Shabby Nest    http://www.findingfabulousblog.com/  sshbutton  Chic on a Shoestring Decorating    Whipperberry  

Spa Party

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What smells like feet, looks like a zen garden, and sounds like giggling girls? Spa night! Ok, it didn’t really smell like feet, just nail polish and the sentsy scent luna that we had going.

A friend and I decided to throw the girls at our church a spa party the night before their prom. We had a good time playing with face masks, foot scrubs, and nail polish!

 

If you are interested in throwing your own spa party, here are the labels, invites, and signs I used. Just click the picture to download.. they’re free!

Happy summer! (for those teacher like me who just got out of school. Hooray!)

Oh, The Parties You’ll Throw!

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It’s the first post in May and it’s already the 15th? Oops! I guess you can call me busy. Oh yeah.. you already do- 2busybrunettes! (yeah, yeah. Stop rolling your eyes!) Well, let’s see… what have I been busy with? Well there was that baby shower at school I helped host last Thursday, the spa night I threw for our teen girls at church Friday night, my husbands and niece’s birthday celebration this weekend, and wrapping up the year at school. It may not sound like a lot, but just imagine bringing all the right things to the right places at the right times. You know how it is getting yourself out of the house without leaving anything behind! And please don’t imagine the way my house looks after getting ready for all those events!

So what is today’s post about?

The baby shower! And if you couldn’t tell already, the theme was Dr. Seuss. What better theme for a teacher’s baby shower?

Here’s some close-ups of the tables.

  
  
 

Those centerpieces are just butcher paper from the school. I painted Dr. Seuss-like shapes on the paper (trees from The Lorax, bowl from The Cat in the Hat, balloon from Oh, The Places You’ll Go) and cut them out. Then I used library books to create some height, and I borrowed those cute lil characters from other teachers. Oh, and did you know that you can’t find Dr. Seuss party stuff anywhere!? It’s true! At least I couldn’t! So I added to the Dr. Seuss theme by altering the wooden baby blocks (scroll down for more info). I also wrapped the plasticware in napkins and twisted pipe cleaners around them. That was lots of fun! I didn’t have to worry about how they looked, because after all, it’s a Dr. Seuss theme.. and how can you mess up Seuss?

Here are some more shower pictures!

  

  

How about those cakes? Well, this being a creativity blog and all, you might think I made them. Think again! The edible cake was from Wal-Mart!! The topper is one of the Christmas ornaments I use on my classroom tree. The diaper cake was made by another teacher at our school. But, she did share with me how she made it, so if you’re interested, here’s the scoop. (Oh yeah, just in case it’s hard to tell from the picture, those are blue table cloths with red and white striped wrapping paper down the center. Like I said, I had to get creative to do Seuss.)

Dr. Seuss Diaper Cake:

1. Start by gathering 3 containers in varying sizes- one for each tier (Large for the bottom, medium for the middle, and small for the top).
2. Roll up the diapers and place around the containers. Use an elastic band to hold them in place.
3. Wrap ribbon around the diapers and glue in place.
4. Cover three cake boards (one for the base, 2 for tiers) in coordinating fabric.
5. Glue the containers to the cake boards.
6. Decorate your cake with a book, rattle, stuffed animal, etc. (This cake has bulletin board cut outs popping out from behind- ordered from the internet).

*To get your decorations to stay in place on the top tier, cut out slits in the top container to stuff the goodies into.

Now for those adorable wooden baby  blocks that were tumbling down the books.. I did make those! So if you’re interested in those, here’s the lowdown.

  1. I used Island Blue (Anita’s Acrylic), Citron Green (American Acrylic), and Orange (Anita’s Acrylic) paint.
  2. I found that sanding the blocks helped the paint go on better.. go figure!
  3. Paint your blocks! FYI: I didn’t paint all the blocks. I left some red and some yellow.
  4. Finding a cheap Dr. Seuss book (yard sale? thrift store?) trace the pictures you would like to use on your blocks.
  5. Cut out the pictures!
  6. Paint a thin layer of modge podge over the block. I did this on one of the sides of the block with the picture. I left the number side and the letter side alone.
  7. Place your Dr. Seuss picture over the picture on the block.  I just turned my picture the same direction as theirs. Let dry.
  8. If you are like me, you will have some edges that are sticking out from the block. Cut those off. Then put another coat of modge podge over the picture.

For my blocks, I typed (using the font, “Mail Ray Stuff”) up Dr. Seuss words (green, eggs, ham, pop, hop, fox, socks, cat, hat, etc.) and printed them on bright blue paper. Then I followed steps 7 & 8 with the words. They looked great without them though. (Ok, I lied. My husband followed steps 7 & 8 for the words! Did I tell you I have the best husband ever? I was getting everything else ready for the shower and he volunteered his precious time. I love him!)

There you go! That’s the Dr. Seuss shower. And in a year, you can be sure I’ll be posting a Dr. Seuss first birthday party. I’ve already been asked to do the decorations!

Oh, the parties you’ll throw!

P.S. Remember that post about removing the labels from containers to reuse them for an Earth Day craft? Well here’s my kiddo’s repurposed creations.

Aren’t they cute? They had a blast making them. We had aliens, monsters, bug holders, clocks, Nerf gun bullet holders, lightning bug catchers, butterflies, and much more!