Random

This is Spencer.  He used to be my sister Jessica's dog, but now he's ours!  He's such a sweet boy.  And maybe a little sassy, too.  Check out those crossed paws.

Speaking of sassy, Aaron snapped this picture of me on the way to church Sunday.  I still can't believe I have only ONE chin after all these years.  It catches me off guard when I see a photo of myself.  I wonder if I'll ever get used to the way I look now?

I went today to see what kind of progress has been made on the construction in our building.  My classroom is almost complete.  They just need to put a few more ceiling tiles in place.  I am going to buy paint tomorrow.  I'm not sure photos can do the scene justice, but I'll try:

I'm not sure the colors are right in these photos.  The walls are sunshine yellow, orchid purple, teal and Pepto pink.  When I first saw my room, the lights were off and in the dim lighting, I though the colors were pretty cool.  After going back and actually seeing them with the lights on, I realized that: a) I don't care for the color combo at all - in fact, I have a very unsettled feeling when I'm in there; and b) the walls are really dirty and marked up.  I think I'm going to paint all four walls a serene shade of blue and if that goes well, I might add a lime green stripe.

Having all brand new ceiling tiles already makes the place look clean and fresh.  Once I get everything painted, I hope it's a relaxing, welcoming place for my kiddos.

In other news, I did spot a teacher's desk in the hallway with my room number on it, so I will at least have a desk.  Not sure what else will be there.  I plan to write a before/after post once I get all moved in and settled in my new classroom!

Fun with the Cricut

Pressly bought me the Cricut Expression for Christmas in 2008, along with Make The Cut software so I could cut a variety of fonts not available through Provo Craft / Cricut and manipulate the layout on my computer before cutting.  My very first project was to make layered folder labels for my next semester of school.  As you might imagine, I was the envy of all my School of Education peeps.  Yes, we are a crafty (and covetous) bunch.  :)

I've made a number of other things, including some great layered letter cutouts for my student teaching mentor.  And now I'm using it to create for my very own classroom!  I'm so excited to be able to choose different fonts and cut them in any color combo I choose, instead of being relegated to whatever is available at the teacher supply stores.

The layered letter process is a multi-step one that involves choosing a font, laying out the design with the computer software to get the best use of each 12"x12" sheet of paper, choosing the paper(s), cutting, then gluing the layers together.

Sometimes too much choice is not necessarily a good thing.  I started pulling paper out of my stash and realized I might have a small addiction. 

Okay, let's be real.  I'm not ashamed to admit that I love paper.  Lots and lots of paper.  In different textures, colors, weights, and patterns.  Love.  

So of course, I got the paper out first and fondled it...erm...studied my choices...

Then I actually powered on the Cricut and opened my handy dandy software.

First up - for the bulletin board outside my classroom:

 (No, my bulletin board does not look like 18" floor tiles.  That's on my floor because I can't get into my classroom to work for another week or so.)

First, I laid out the letters using my software, then chose papers, mounted them on the cutting mats, and started the cutting:

This software is really cool because it shows you what it's cutting as it cuts!  Too bad Provo Craft (the company who makes the Cricut) sued Make The Cut and they can no longer sell their software for the Cricut platform.

After cutting four separate sheets, everything was ready to assemble:

The mat you see standing up is an example of what I have after I pull off all the excess paper.  I then have to carefully remove each letter from the mat.

I applied adhesive to the backs of the smaller top layer pieces, then applied them to the fatter bottom layer:

I use Elmer's no-wrinkle rubber cement because if I get sloppy, I can rub off the excess after it dries.  Plus, no wrinkles.  

(The letters, not necessarily me.)

And, then, like cooking-show majick, the final product:

 I also made letters for my read around kiosk:

 See the two "&" signs?  That's because they will be mounted in a circle and the phrase will never end.  "Look around and read and look around and read and..."  Get it?  I need to laminate these before I attach them to the kiosk; I'll post a picture of that once it's done.

I also plan to make letters for my Word Wall and my Academic Vocabulary wall, but I need to find out whether I have time to paint my room first.  The walls are currently purple, yellow, blue and pink.  I'd like to change the color scheme, so whether I have time to paint will dictate the colors of those letters.

Next up? Buckets of Fun...

Gettin' Crafty

As I've been preparing for my first year teaching, I've had a great time crafting several things for my classroom.  I saw someone else's idea for a round "kiosk" where the teacher and students could post real-life examples of things we read every day.  I loved the idea, but there were no instructions on the website for constructing one.  I noodled on it for a while, then thought I needed to find some aluminum sheet I could fashion into a tube.  I asked Pressly's advice, and he suggested any kind of metal would probably end up being way too heavy.  I told him I needed a tube at least 18" in diameter and 4 feet long.  He suggested the round cardboard forms used for pouring concrete pillars.  That sounded like a great idea!

I did what anyone who lives in the boondocks does:  I searched online for it.  I did find some, but I also found that anything larger than a 12" diameter was really too expensive.  One day a few weeks later we were at Home Depot where they carry 12".  After looking at them I decided that was plenty big.  We bought one, then I headed to Hobby Lobby for paint, ribbon, a roll of cork board, and "some kind of circular wood" for the top.

After gathering up all my supplies, they sat for a week or so as I considered how the project would best be achieved.  I finally started by priming and painting the tube.  That part went pretty well, so I painted the round wood plate I bought for the topper.  Another success!

Then I decided it was time to break out the 3M permanent spray adhesive and attach the cork board.  Uh.  Not such a success.  I ended up getting the cork on crooked.  Did I mention the adhesive was permanent?  Yeah.  Thankfully it was only off by 1/4" or so, and I easily used my high-temp glue gun to cover the crooked line with a ribbon border.  Only the ribbon was also crooked.  WAY, WAY crooked. 

So I pulled out a measuring tape and a red marker and measured off a straight line all the way around.  Then I went back to Hobby Lobby and bought some fabric and some more ribbon.  This time I slowed down and made sure to attach the fabric in a straight line around the top of the cork board, and viola!  Success!  I then used my handy-dandy high temp glue gun to attach the top.  Now I just need to buy a 5 gallon bucket and a bag of playground sand to create a weighted base and it's all ready!  I'm super excited about the possibilities.

 Next up?  Fun with the Cricut...