Monday Made It - Spray Paint Edition

I mentioned last Friday that not only am I setting up my first classroom, but I am moving into a new apartment this Saturday! Eeek!

This Monday Made it is "Apartment Edition...Starring Spray Paint!" I have seen some awesome re-do's for the classroom with just a can of spray paint. I have a few classroom projects too but those aren't quite as done as these are.

1) I bought this gold framed mirror for $7 - I knew it had some greater potential :)

And...the finished product!

2) I also gave this tray a little makeover - it was printed before and just didn't quite match what I had in mind for my living room :)

Here's what it looks like after a spray paint facelift and a piece of scrapbook paper!

3) Okay, okay...this doesn't count as a "made it" but I'm going to call it a "Monday Found It"...because sometimes for me half the battle is making a decision...especially when it comes to something as important as fabric ;)

Even though I am teaching middle school, I want to add some homey touches to my room...for both the students and myself! I found this fabric at Hobby Lobby - perfect for a neon and black room :)

Eventually (I hope) I will be making curtains and I'll share the finished product then. There are some "no-sew" curtains out there that look very easy :)
Look at this one! All you need is a hot glue gun!

I am off to pack, pack, pack, browse TpT and Pinterest for hours on end, and pack some more!

Monday Made It 8/3

I am having so much fun creating products;  I decided to make another version of  my middle school genre posters! I realize that the neon theme is not for everyone, so I made a simple black & white version to coordinate with any classroom. So, here's my first Monday Made It...

Click on the picture to view these on TpT

Now, does laminating count as "making" something? I hope so :)

Last night my Mom and I both worked in her classroom - she was setting up for summer school and I was laminating up a storm.

So shiny! So beautiful! So durable!

I'll link to the products I laminated tomorrow..."What I Laminated Tuesday"?! I could start a linky ;) just kidding...mostly...

I will tell you now that I laminated some first week-or-so of school things...getting to know you cards and classroom set up stuff.

My first week activities are starting to come together in my mind...actually I started putting together a PowerPoint slide to organize my thoughts because I can't trust my mind to remember all my ideas :)

OH! Happy Back to School TpT shopping! I had fun putting products in my cart today. I can't say for certain that I will buy everything in my cart, but it's there...just in case...

I do the same thing when I shop online for clothes and such...put things in my cart for safekeeping :) this way I can sleep on my ideas before I purchase! Though, I need to snatch up these great deals by August 5th! Want to see what I have so far? Okay!

I will let you know what I end up buying!

What are you getting during the BTS Sale? Any products that could be used for 7th Grade ELA? :)

Monday Made It: Teacher Toolbox

I finally have a teacher toolbox...I think this means I am a real teacher now ;)

I was so inspired to make my own toolbox after reading Tessa Maguire's (Tales from Outside the Classroom) post yesterday. I loved that her {free!} labels are editable in Powerpoint, and most of all...super cute black and white chevron! If you click on the link, you can read her post and download her labels from TpT.

I found this little beauty at Walmart for $13. I really liked the smaller size for the "essentials" - yes, "treats" and "flair pens" seem like essentials to me!

I edited the slides in Powerpoint, then copy+pasted them into a new document so I could just print off my two slides and not the whole thing.
The awesome thing about editing these labels is that you can make your text any color.
I chose just to do black and keep it simple...but I used two of my favorite KG fonts (Eyes Wide Open for the small labels and Always A Good Time for the big ones)

After printing, I laminated the labels as one whole sheet, cut them out, and attached them to the inside of the cubbies with scotch tape!

Speaking of laminating (Ha - I've probably said that more often than the average person), this article "20 Things That Happen When Your Mom is a Teacher" made me smile, not only because:

1) My mom is a first-grade teacher (hi Mom! My mom was my first blog reader and I am going to help her make one of her own soon)
2) #9 of this article: "Laminating is one of her passions (… and probably one of yours as well)" is SO TRUE.
I can safely say that laminating is one of my hobbies.

I will leave you with one more picture of my toolbox. I can't stop staring at it.

I am linking up with Monday Made It over at 4th Grade Frolics!

Anyone else whose parent is a teacher and therefore inherited a deep love of laminating?

Monday Made It - Classroom Sign

Hello, blog world! I figured that there's no better way to start this teaching blog adventure than to jump right in :) so, why not start my first EVER post with a Monday Made It?

I'm beginning my very first teaching job (feeling incredibly excited/overwhelmed) as a 7th Grade Language Arts teacher. That should be an adventure in itself because I am about the same height, if not less, than most middle schoolers. Wish me luck ;)
But really -  I feel so fortunate to be able to teach what I LOVE. #ELAforthewin

I've been SO inspired by teaching blogs over the past few years, as well as TpT products. And by inspired, I also mean they have nearly saved my life a few times...

Last minute lesson plan ideas? Thank you, blog world.
Oh my goodness I have only been a long-term sub for two weeks and now I have to lead parent teacher conferences? That happened. Thank you, inspiration from teachers who know what they're doing.

In fact, I was inspired by a TpT product that I used in my interview example lesson - and I got the job!
So, it's about time I start interacting with (instead of stalker-following) and contributing back to the teaching community.

I made a sign for my 7th Grade classroom - made in PowerPoint and printed through Shutterfly (I took advantage of a free 8x10 print email offer!).

Yes, it was tempting to keep the picture as-is...

Once I received that lovely orange envelope full of hope and beauty, I put the print in a dollar store frame. Though the prints were free, shipping was about $3...plus $1 for the frame...$4 total is not too shabby!

Because I love you (and I want you to like me!), I am including the link for a free download of these posters. It is the very first product on my brand new Middle of Lit TpT store. I made them in lots of pretty colors, assuming you are like me and want everything to match.

I would LOVE to hear if you download it!

I linking up with Monday Made It! Woohooo!