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May 28, 2016

Father’s Day Craft Update!


Father’s Day is coming up! Do you have your class make a gift for their dads? I do! I have been making these trophies for many many year! I have exciting news to share with you! I have finally figured out how to make these so much easier! Check it out!



See those WHITE cups? The ones that come 10 in a pack at Walmart for just 97 cents? Buy them instead of the styrofoam cups! The extra few dollars spent will save you so much time wrapping the styrofoam cups in masking tape. I like the way the color of the gold on the white cups better too. It is the same paint on both! This is the easier way friends!
See....


I hot glued the cups together and then painted with a foam brush. This is 2 coats. I might have my kiddos do 3. The prep time has been cut down so much! My hubby was so happy because I always recruit him to help with the masking tape. He was thrilled at my find! You can probably find the cups at any party supply store. Guess what? You could even buy a pack of GOLD cups if you wanted! There wouldn’t be anything for the children to do in order to make this for their Dad. I want them to paint so I kept with the white.

Below is the original post that I wrote back in 2014 on how to assemble this great gift! I still have gold paint in the picture from two years ago! 


Hello friends! Do you have a Father's Day gift in mind for your kiddies to make for their dad? Father's Day this year is June 15th! Why not have the children in your class present their dad with a trophy for being a #1 DAD or WORLD'S GREATEST DAD? 

Below are the steps to make this awesome gift! I got the idea from my nephew's daycare and have been using it ever since (he is now 8). I think I have mastered the steps in this project to be the most efficient. You do however, need time! You cannot expect to get this done in one day! So gather up your supplies and start early!



I prefer the styrofoam cups that are smooth, and do not have ridges from top to bottom. The masking tape lays flatter on this kind of cup.

It is important to use short strips of tape to cover the cups. You would think you could just wrap the cups like you would wrap an ace bandage around a sprain. It does not work! You will get tons of bumps and lumps! The goal is to get the tape to lay smooth. Use short strips! Depending on the age, students may be able to do this part themselves or with guidance.
I have been making these for quite a number of years. Just last year I decided that I needed to find a better way to make the base for the trophy. Foam? Too expensive. A box? Good, but where to get 17? Make them of course! So I taught myself how to fold them via good old origami! Faster and easier for me anyway. I know some reading this may think I am crazy but really it is easy! You may also want to have your children (depending on age) do this part themselves. I tried to show some pics of the steps but I think it is safer to watch this youtube video on how to do it!
I use card stock. I have not tried construction paper yet. It may work. You need to make sure you use a 12x12 square to start. If you do decide on the card stock you will need something hard to smooth down the edges to make them tight (if not, the box will pop open at the seems). I used a plastic knife. 

Steps for an alternative way to make a base. I like the boxes better. You may prefer this technique.






Just one more step!


I am going to wrap them in a sheet of tissue paper gathered at the top and tied with a ribbon! I hope you found this useful and maybe inspired you to try something new this year :)

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May 3, 2016

MAY - Pinterest Pick 3



Welcome to my favorite way to start each month - Pinterest Pick 3! 



The minute I saw this on Pinterest, I sent it to my sister in Washington state because I knew she would try it with her class. Of course she fell in love immediately and caught the itch. You know that itch? The one that has you grabbing your keys to get to Michaels ASAP so you can try a Pinterest pin? Yup, that’s the itch!! And my sister caught it...just like me! I am happy to report that she cooked hers in the oven and reported NO terrible smell at all. We were really worried about the fumes. The original post says you could also cook them in a toaster oven! A reader reported that he cooked them down on the barbecue! I am all over that! I will be making these with my crafty daughters very soon!




Need a cute treat for the end of the year party? How about that summer barbecue that is coming soon? Then pin this adorable treat! How cute! I have actually seen those mini ice cream cones at Walmart last year but I think it was closer to summer time. I  will have to keep my eye out for them. The small ones use a regular marshmallow. The regular sized ice cream cones need the jumbo marshmallows. Perfect for the marshmallow lover!






I had to throw in a Mother’s Day craft idea! I feel like I switch things up every year. I wish I had a standard gift to give but I constantly find new and cute things to make on pinterest! Here is an adorable thumb print necklace from Lory at Lory’s Second Grade Skills. She includes the super cute poem on her site as a free download. The clay that she used needs to be baked. I am wondering if I can use the Crayola air dry modeling clay because I don’t want to carry these delicate beauties back and forth to school to bake them. I have made necklaces with the air dry clay before and they came out great so I am going to try it this year. I love the metallic paint that she used. I found out that it comes in....metallic pink...squeal. I’m off to Michael’s to gather up these simple supplies! 

Check out more fabulous Pinterest finds below!

An InLinkz Link-up


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April 7, 2016

Earth Day Bulletin Board and FREEBIE




Happy soon to be Earth Day everyone! My first graders have already completed their Earth Day bulletin board! I know, I know, it is not perfect because I had an odd number of students the day we made these and not enough bulletin board! The kiddos still love to find their work EVERY TIME they walk past it!

So, we wrote a letter to Earth and made a promise to do something that would help it. How did I get my littles brains thinking about this? We used the books below to trigger ideas. They did remember a lot of pieces of recycling from kindergarten. They did point out the orange recycle bin we have in our classroom for plastic and glass. They were on it! They had lots of ideas to share! I like the Scholastic books below. If you have to pick just one, use the one in the bottom left hand corner - Why Should I Recycle? 


Would you like to have your class make a promise to the Earth? Then go and grab this freebie! Please be kind and leave feedback :) I love to read it!

Happy Earth Day everyone! Thank you to the wonderfully talented Krista Wallden for the adorable clipart!



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April 3, 2016

April Pick 3


Welcome to April’s Pick 3! How adorable is this month’s graphic?!? Click on each picture to link to the original poster of these great April finds!

How cool is this great idea? Have you seen it yet? It is kind of all over Facebook so I had some trouble finding the original poster. I do know that is came from a gardening website. Great way to be biodegradable during April, our Earth Day month! 


Look at this little guy popping out of his egg! This is from www.kidsoup.com. So cute and looks easy enough for any primary classroom!


From www.craftymorning.com, these bluebird triplets are here to say “Happy Spring”! You know I love things in 3s so these cuties caught my eye right away! And I love the shade of blue tissue paper used!

Check out the rest of the great finds by other awesome bloggers by clicking on the links below!
See you next month!


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March 3, 2016

March Pinterest Pick 3






Welcome to another great month of fun Pinterest finds! With Easter coming early this year on March 27th I had to put a holiday find in! First up, this great idea for an Easter basket! An adult, teenager, just about anyone would get excited over this candy basket! So much more useful than an actual basket for someone who might have many. They sell these boxes of candy at the Dollar Tree and Walmart. I would use hot glue to be sure it was solid. Don’t forget about the box you would need on the bottom so nothing falls out! $5 and you are done!




CLICK FOR ORIGINAL LINK

These little bunnies are just so stinkin’ cute! I love them! If I were to have my students make them, I would take out the feet prints for the paws. I might just do the face and ears! Love it!





Love this idea for a quick and easy St. Patrick’s Day treat! Really cheerful, fun, bright, and happy! Delicious!

Check out other great March ideas below! See you next month for April’s pick 3 :)


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February 5, 2016

Currently February!

Hello friends! I’ve linked up with Farley at


to share my favorite kind of blogpost - CURRENTLY!
You can head over to Farley’s blog by clicking the pic above. There you will find tons of great bloggers who also linked up for this monthly treat! 



So I figure most readers would want to know what school bag I just bought. Here it is! LeSportSac. Don’t ask me if it is a good bag for school. I don’t know. I just wanted it. It was an impulse buy (and it was on sale and what else do you do on a snow day but buy stuff online, obsess that you have too much to do, and play in the snow with your kiddos)?

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February 3, 2016

February Pick 3



It’s time for my favorite link up! February’s Pinterest Pick 3. Check out the great finds I found! Clicking on each picture will lead you to the original site!


http://www.meetthedubiens.com/2014/02/valentine-i-chews-you.html

How adorable are these gum ball machines? They are so stinkin’ cute. Sadly, I don’t think I could make them! I do not know where to get that round bottle from for the top. My sister who lives on the west coast said they are easy to get. On the east coast, not so much. I think this little project would cost me a lot of money to make for a class of 18. That is A LOT of gum balls! I could make them for my own girls but I don’t let them chew gum. I still think they are precious to look at!




Um, hello, yes, please! I want to eat you up! Cincyshopper has this cool dip paired with chocolate graham crackers! Just 4 ingredients! I can handle that! Marshmallow creme (is that the same as marshmallow fluff? hmmm), cream cheese, cool whip, and cherry pie filling. 






Totally making these for my sweet firsties this year! I just have to find those single packs! Super cute and easy! Thank you My Name is Snickerdoodle!

Check out all the great February ideas linked up below. See you next month for the March link up!






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January 3, 2016

January Pick 3




                            

I love this borax snowflake! I wanted to make them as a holiday ornament but ran out of time. There is no reason why this wouldn’t make an awesome science experiment for January! Simple steps with exciting results! Click on the pic to take to you the original post with directions!





Yes! Let’s make snow! We see snow in New York but some readers might be in a warmer snowless climate (lucky you)! Two ingredients for fake snow? Sign me up!




How cute are these from Coffee Cups and Crayons? I actually have my dice stored in these same containers from the Dollar Tree! I hope I can find them again! What a great treat!

Haha, all of my Pinterest finds this month are snow themed! I guess I am excited for the white flakes to get here! 

Check out the links below for other great ideas for the month of January!
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