Classroom Decorations

 

One of my favorite things about having a classroom is changing and adding decorations on a whim.

The school theme is Snoopy.

 I enlarged a Snoopy and Woodstock on my home computer and made a poster board decoration for our classroom wall. They sit right inside our door. I know that you can go buy almost any decoration you can imagine, but we are a small school. We are located at a church so you can imagine our budget is tight. If I spent all my money buying decorations, well, there would be no point in working.

I am a self professed craft junkie. I have all kinds of craft materials in my house. I have a ton of 12x12 scrapbook paper so making paper decorations is cheap!!

I guess you could say decorating my classroom falls right in line with my love for party decorating!!

Check out my Snoopy fun below:

Thanksgiving

Ready for Christmas: see the paper lights?



Ready for February

Heart garland

3d layered  heart

Valentine's Day Snoopy with 3D hearts.

Being a "teacher"

I am a teacher in a preschool program. The children in my class are 4 at the beginning of September. Most of them turn 5 before the school year is over. This means most of them can begin kindergarten next year.  (So I will not see them again.)

I was a substitute last year and in no way prepared to be a teacher this year. I thought I knew what it was to be a teacher...yeah, no clue!!

I LOVE my children! I see them only two days a week (some three) and still feel so attached to them. I can see the children that need more from me, the ones that seek my approval, the ones that seek my attention, and the ones that seek my love.

I have a business degree in college, but studied child psychology in my electives. I was raised by a psychology major so I have my fair share of "shrink" think. Even with all this, I was not prepared for how much I would fall in love with my children.

I am a mother of three!! I have my own kids at home. I am not lacking in children to feel "motherly" toward. Yet, there is a love that blossoms from seeing your class children learn, experience and grow.

I have children in my class who's names I know from being a substitute in their class last year. I had a few days to get to know them, but this year to really meet them. Now, I know their smiles, I know what makes them laugh and what makes them sad.

So to every first time mom who worries about their kids and the preschool teachers, please know...we LOVE your kids. I look forward to the days I work and hearing all they have done while away. My kids override all the frustration I may feel at the "system" or the limitations. My kids are why I gladly go to work and why being exhausted is worth it.

My own family knows all about your kids, they have head their names and know who is "naughty or nice."  My "naughty" kids make me try harder and my "nice" kids make the day easier.

I could not have imagined how emotionally exhausting my days can be, yet how rewarding. I know public school teachers have it harder than I do, and I know that the love of their kids is what keeps them going!!

Say "thank you" to your child's teachers...they deserve it!!

Nylon Bags and Gymnastics

My 7 year old is on pre-team gymnastics. What exactly is "pre-team"? Well, at the gym we are at, it means a day less of practice as team and also a little less expensive. She is technically a Level 2 gymnast.

She LOVES gymnastics. When she was 3, we began with ballet. She danced until this past year when she decided to give gymnastics her full attention.

The gym tries very hard to maintain the cost of the pre-team low. (Which I appreciate very much.) Because of this, they do not have a team bag. At our first meet, all the girls had their own bags to put their shoes and sweats in while they competed.

For some reason this drove me nuts. I decided to take it upon myself to buy the girls bags. The most inexpensive option is nylon, drawstring bags. The problem with this kind of bag is getting decorations to stick.

After looking EVERYWHERE online for information (and finding very little) I decided to experiment. I only needed nine bags and received twelve.

Online you can find a special kind of vinyl for nylon, but it requires a professional iron press. I just couldn't see how I was going to use it at home. I tried regular iron-on vinyl: no go. Then I picked up some fabric paints: the color was not bright and did not stand out. Lastly, I tried out my paint pen. Winner!!

I was able to use a silver, oil based paint to draw the team name on the bags. I then tried to layer a second color (fabric paint) on top to get the look I wanted. The fabric paint came off so I used a second oil based paint for the top layer. This worked perfectly!!

SO if you buy nylon bags, use oil paint pens!! I found mine at Michael's by the paint, not by the fabric paints. (Don't forget to use your coupon.)

The paint pens I used.

The finished bag.

Thanks for checking out my post!!

Thrift Store Monday

There is a local thrift store I started visiting when my daughter had dance class on Mondays. This specific location has a great sale on Mondays. One of their color tags is half off and another is 99 cents. That's right...99 cents!!

I go through the store, looking at the departments I am interested in with blinders to these two colors only. I pick up dress pants, jeans and purses. I go through the kids jeans and sweaters knowing that at 99 cents, it won't even hurt my feeling when they rip through the knees or stain them.

I have never been the kind of person to obsess over brands. I do not need to spend $100 on a pair of jeans to feel good about myself. I hope to impart the same thing to my kids. They always look clean, coordinated and taken care of. If you like what my kids are wearing just ask me where I got it. It might surprise you to know how little I paid for it.

Now I have a purse I picked up for 99 cents that is a blank canvas which has my fingers itching.

One of my all time FAVORITE movies is My Neighbor Totoro. I am thinking of drawing Totoro on this bag...it is white so I see a literal canvas when I look at it. I may find myself adding some more images from my favorite Ghibli films. Howl's Moving Castle, Ponyo, Castle in the Sky, Kiki's Delivery Service, Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke and My Neighbor Totoro are movies that make my heart sing. Each of these I have watched multiple times and my kids love as well. So if you have never seen one, please do.

These is the purse I picked up. I have some fabric markers I need to brake in!! Can't wait to show you the final results.

My blank canvas

Has a few stains, but they won't be in the way.

My Personal 2016 Challenge

I am making myself accountable for a challenge this year. I am going to do a post a week this year. If I have time or tons of inspiration, well then, it may be more.

I am going to stick with what I know and then try to branch out to things that interest me.

I will be face painting more this year...sharing some inspiration, some personal ideas, and even some failures.

I am still obsessed with 18 inch doll stuff. (More than my 7 year old.) Keep an eye out for those random things I can find that work for dolls or those things I can make.

I started working in a preschool program this fall. I love making things with my 4-5 year olds. I am always on the look our for crafts ideas for them. I then have my 4 year old and 7 year old try them out. If my kids like something, I will have to share.

Let 2016 begin!! I can't wait to see what all it has in store!!!

Happy New Year

Snowflakes 2

Once I got started with the Peanut's snowflakes, I couldn't stop. I was trying very hard to come up with a Linus, but couldn't make it work. So for now I will share Sally and Lucy.

These where so much fun, I may have to see how I can finish the whole gang!!

Snowflakes

Right after graduating high school, I attended a junior college. I was fortunate enough to get a job in the testing center, proctoring exams for the online classes. The set up of the room was such that it had two doors. The space between the doors became my own personal canvas.

In the spring I would cut out flowers and butterflies to put up. The butterflies where such a hit that they would get taken by people walking by. I can't even explain how odd I found it that someone would steal a paper decoration off our wall.

In the winter time, I would make snowflakes. These where my favorite. While one butterfly would take me a long time, snowflakes could be cranked out quickly. I made so many that they ended up decorating more than just my little section of wall. I think this was where my love of decorating for parties comes from.

This year I began a job as a preschool teacher. I have really enjoyed having a classroom to decorate, but since we didn't have a chance to really put a personal touch on our room before class started...it has been a slow process.

The theme for the school this year is Snoopy (or Peanuts). I printed off a Snoopy and Woodstock to enlarge and make for our wall. Now I use them to "decorate." For Halloween I dressed them up. Now for Christmas, I have made them costumes to change things up.

What does this have to do with snowflakes you ask? Well, I was cutting some snowflakes for our classroom when I got an idea: Can I make Peanuts snowflakes? You tell me...

 Thanks for stopping by!! Sorry I haven't had posts lately, I have been really busy.