Is It Cheating to Use One Post for 2 Linkies?

...I hope not!  This isn't the first time I've joined up with two linkies in one post.

First up is Five for Friday
                  
                  

1.  Granddaughters 1,2,3!

 Isabella at the fair. She loves horses, but wasn't quite sure about this draft horse!

 Olivia - Criss-Cross-Applesauce!

 Amelia - a little snuggle bunny!

2.  Sarah and I recently went to a workshop where we met Harry Kindergarten!  We were so excited to hear his presentation, and were not disappointed.  He is a fun and energetic speaker.  And, judging by the pictures and movie clips of his classroom, he must be a wonderful teacher!  

 3.  Yay!  I got my new cabinet!  I plan to use this beauty for Daily 5 activities.  Not sure why there are those random orange bins.  But what the heck, I am thrilled that we were able to get new cabinets!

4.  Some of my favorite tools:

 My tried and true Fiskars cutter.  I've had this for years, and it has seen lots of use.  I can't imagine life without it!  From scrapbooks, school projects, and 4-H posters, this baby has done it all!

 Cricut Love.  It may not be the latest model, but I love, love, love my Cricut!

 This is a nifty little tool that puts sticky onto the backs of things.  It's great for little pieces cut out by my Cricut - place them into the front, turn the handle, and POOF!  out the back comes your pieces all nice and sticky-backed ready to affix onto your project.  So very cool.

Wah-Hoo!  I have a laminater!  Thanks to the lovely teachers who purchased items from my Teachers pay Teachers store, I was able to buy My. Very. Own. Laminater!  I am really excited to be able to laminate game pieces, etc. at home.  These cute little birdies are going to help cute up my classroom.

5.  Gabrielle's friend got married last weekend, and she was one of the bridesmaids.  Doesn't she look beautiful?

Next up is August Currently

I have all the Glee soundtracks, and have never missed an episode.  I am saddened by the death of Cory Monteith.  What a shame such a talented young man died such a senseless death.

I am absolutely LOVING the fact that I have three darling granddaughters!  In a few years all three girls will be old enough to have a slumber party at Mimi & Papa's house.  Isabella has spent a few nights at our house already and we had lots of fun, so I can just imagine the fun to come!

I always get this melancholy feeling this time of year.  I really, really, really like summer vacation.  I really, really, really like being a teacher, too.  It's this transition time that is tricky.  So, I guess I need to make the most of the remaining time I have when I'm not at school getting ready for the new year.

Speaking, of which - I have so much to do at school!  My room is in pretty good shape as far as furniture placement goes.  I'm going to spend a couple hours at school tomorrow and Monday.

Back to school needs: 1. New outfit - check!  I have a cute new leopard print pencil skirt and taupe top
                                  2. Cute, organized room - getting there
                                  3. A good book - I like to purchase a new hardcover book to read at the start of the
                                      new year.  A trip to Barnes & Noble is in my near future!

Your turn to link up with Oh Boy 4th Grade  and share your current status.

                                                   

Gobble Gobble!

 We made these cute turkeys yesterday.

It was quite an undertaking, but my Kinders cut out all of these circles and glued them on in the correct order!  My high school helper spent several days tracing the five circles needed for each of my eighteen kiddos.  (You may be wondering how do you have middle & high school student volunteers?  Our school is a little, country school with K - 12 in the same building.  On a side note, we may be small in size, but our student achievement is great!)  I made the cute letters with my Cricut "Speaking of Fall" cartridge.  

Our cute Thanksgiving bulletin board.

Several years ago a student gave me this wooden basket wall hanging.  It came with some schoolish clip-ons.  I later found out that it was made by a local crafter who sells the baskets and additional clip-ons at the various festivals in our area.  I was happy to find this cute turkey when I visited the "Scarecrow Festival" last year.  I have found that I am able to personalize this basket by simply sticking seasonal items to wooden clothespins with poster sticky *stuff*.

Only One Week to Go!

A week from today school really, truly starts!  We teachers go back for meetings and such next Monday & Tuesday, and the kids come on Wednesday.  (I wonder if they would be surprised to learn that teachers are just as anxious about the first day of school as they are.)

I have been going into my classroom now and then to work on bulletin boards.  Today I snapped a few pictures of my newly decorated boards. 

My main bulletin boards - I guess you could call this the "Focus Wall."  I covered all of the boards with light blue fabric and used Poppin Patterns flower border around each.  The middle board is decorated with some flowers from the Poppin' Patterns line.  I made the sun and sign with my beloved Cricut.

I am using a Garden Theme for my classroom - our leader will be the Worker Bee! (Words on both signs are from the "Nursery Rhyme" cartridge, and the cute little bee is from "Create a Critter" cartridge.) 

I used my "Fabulous Finds" cartridge to make these cute Stations signs & "Simply Charmed" to make the flowers.  I spent hours assembling the flowers!

I found the cute felt pots on clearance at Michael's.  To hold up the sticks, I stuck them into upside down clay pots.

I bought this shredded paper to cover the clay pots, but am somewhat afraid of the potential mess...  What do you think?  Should I risk a shreddy mess in order to cover up the pots?  

 

 I hung these cute lanterns in the corner - I love how they look!  The pink poster is last year's picture "I-Chart."  Once my new crop of Kinders builds some stamina and are able to work independently, I'll make a new poster with pictures of them.

This board features a flower theme (plus a tree that has been there for several years - I like it too much to take down!).  I'll take pictures of my 18 new cuties on the first day of school to "plant" into my flower box.  These pictures stay up all year.

It's Time for the County Fair!

The county fair has been a big part of my family's life for over a decade.  My daughters were all in 4-H for many years.  I was in 4-H as a child, and am still involved in it as a project superintendent.  I oversee two projects: "Consumer Clothing" (my daughter Sarah and I are co-superintendents), and  "Decorations."  Even though it has been several years since my youngest graduated out of 4-H I like to remain a part of it because it is such a great organization.  (Pardon me while I step up onto my soapbox...  4-H is not just for country kids!  In addition to all the animal projects, 4-Hers can make crafts, sew, bake, research veterinary sciences, make posters about music, create Lego sculptures, and much, much more!  I greatly encourage anyone who has school aged children to look into 4-H.  My girls learned so much, gained confidence, and earned trips and money for college through 4-H.)

Needless to say, I love the fair!  I am anxiously awaiting my granddaughter's 4-H experience!  But, in the meantime, I am happy to enter my own creations in the "Open Class" division.  This year I entered five items, and was very pleased that each one earned a ribbon!

Yay!  I got a blue ribbon!  The children's wear division is pretty competitive. I sewed this on an oldy moldy sewing machine from 1969.  I didn't know how I would do, knowing that there are some very talented sewers who have sergers.

 My 1969 Singer Touch & Sew machine.  My 1980 something machine quit in the early 1990s & my mom gave me her old machine.  (I'm glad that she kept it!)  I've had it tuned up several times & it still runs well.  (It's one of the last models to have all metal parts & is quite heavy.)  My daughter Sarah learned to sew on this machine, and when her machine (one that I bought second hand from a home ec teacher) conked out, she scoured ebay to find the same model!  Now we both sew on vintage machines!  :) 

Third place for a matching doll dress.

I made this twisted bead bracelet.  Sometime between the time I checked it in and judging, someone untwisted it (maybe it was dropped & they thought they were being helpful??).

Oh well, it did get a ribbon & I can always retwist it once I get it home.

I made this scrapbook page with Isabella swinging & Robert Louis Stevenson's poem "The Swing."  I took the pictures with my phone!  I used my trusty Cricut (Playtime cartridge) to make the backing for the photos & some of the embellishments.

 Third place in the "Family" division!

Santa posed with pets at our nearby feed store!  (Macie on left & Chrissy on right.)  I used my Cricut (Winter Frolic cartridge) to create all of the embellishments for this spread.

Fourth place in the "Other" category.

I Love My Cricut!

Last summer my wonderful husband was looking through a Menard's sale paper and asked me if I'd ever heard of a Cricut cutting machine.  We have one at school, so of course I replied that it is a very cool thing that does very cool stuff.  To my surprise, he came home with one for me!  It has been love ever since...  :)

Here are a few of the nifty things I have made for my classroom.  I snapped these as I was packing up for the summer - there are more that I didn't come accross as I was cleaning.  I am thinking of doing a camping theme for my back to school classroom, so I think this will be my next purchase.

The very first picture I did. 

This hangs above the monthly menu.

I made the snow by tearing and layering white paper.

Two little Valentine's Day posters.

St. Patrick's Day

This is from our scuba diver bulletin board.

This is from our dinosaur bulletin board.

I made this as a gift card holder for my daughter & son in law's anniversary.  (No special reason for the pirates...)

 I didn't glue the treasure chest all the way down so I could slip the gift card into it.