AboutStoreFavorite LinksHomeFavorite Blogs

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Pinterest---AGAIN?

Okay, so you all know my thoughts on Pinterest. If you don't please click HERE to find out just how I feel about the site.  We have a love/hate relationship.

Let me just tell you how I feel about pinterest today.....do your remember the cute little clipboard that I just had to do?  You know the ones-----the ones that are duct taped all cutesy with a ribbon and such?  I had it on the link that I mentioned above.  WELL, today while we were out "browsing", we came across this one at Office Max.


My daughter said, "Look, Mom!  You didn't have to waste all your time trying to make one...and it's only 5 bucks!" UGH!  She got me there! LOL Truth of the matter is, after I bought the duct tape, and the clipboards.....the one above is cheaper!!  Being crafty isn't cheap!  I can say I made one, and look...I even added a ribbon *yep, extra cost there too*  BUT---it is kinda cute.  Here it is all finished.

 I have come to realize that this is what Pinterest (And being at home this summer) has done to me.  It has made me wish I was crafty.  I am JEALOUS of those that have the skills.  Truly, and honestly....JEALOUS!! 

Pinterest has also made me poor---yes, I blame Pinterest (okay, and those silly teachers for blogging about stuff that they find in the Target Dollar Spot, or Dollar Tree, or a Teacher Store----why on EARTH do they do that?)  I mean--LOOK what it did to me!!

Yes friends, in that picture there are 4 rolls of duct tape (you can't see the one on top of the green).  How many rolls of duct tape does one girl need?  There's 2 rolls of zebra ribbon and a hot pink zebra flowery thingy....I don't even know what the flowery thing is---I just saw it at Hobby Lobby and thought I HAD to have it.  And what on EARTH is my obsession with zebra lately?  I need an intervention I think!!  The Sprinkles are my vision of Denise's shakers.  I wanted to redo my sand word shaker (the sand was heavy for some of my kiddos) to review sight words.  I have our Kindergarten treasure's words in it.  Students can shake to find their cupcake word.

Now where were we?  Ohh yes, teachers blogging about and pinning their great finds onto pinterest---Geesh, look where that got me---the Target Dollar Spot, and Dollar Tree!! (However, I need to go back to Dollar Tree now because my sweet friend Hadar from Miss Kindergarten posted about foam dice, and I just HAVE to see if my store has them---see what I mean...Look what those creative teachers do to me!)

So above we have foam shapes, foam sheets, and foam dice (All from Dollar Tree, well except 2 foam Dice, they were "prizes" from the Arcade at Disney--I cashed the tickets in for myself, I'm a great mom!) The little boxes are also from the Dollar Tree.  They are to hold dice during workstations to prevent loud noises and them rolling around all over the place (thank you Pinterest).  The flyswatters are for a game for sight words (Big Lots for 50 cents a piece). The bowl and scoops, you may have seen before---but some teacher thought they would put a spin on Scrabble Scoop...geesh!!    Ohhh, and I found these at Target too.  They are cute little circle magnet holder thingys (I have great vocabulary in the summer).  I thought they would make a good center for something attached to a cookie sheet.  I'm still working on that.
The black clutches are in hopes of organizing some Scoot cards/task cards.  I also use recipe boxes for them too.  There's lots of uses for them, and they were 88 cents at Walmart.  (The picture isn't the greatest.  The sun's shining in---the plus side, dust isn't showing.  Hubby cleaned for me while I baked yesterday.  I trained him right!)


Moving on---I have found a bunch of new book ideas from Pinterest.  I first checked them out from our library (so glad that we can check out books from all across the state too--as mine doesn't always have the books I want).  After doing that, I KNEW I had to have some books.   Skippy Jon Jones books are from Kohl's (and a great cause). Some book are from Goodwill/Salvation Army, some are from Amazon, some from Barnes and Noble, but I just had to get them.  Sad thing is, I have a few more that I forget I wanted.  I will put those on a wish list. 


After I took this picture, I said.."Wait, Where's" and I stopped....and thought...I'm just like this in the classroom too.  I know EVERY single book I have--whether it's a baggy book reader, teacher resource book, or a picture book.  Coworkers will ask me if I have such and such, and usually I do...AND know where it is within 5 seconds...am I pathetic?  Don't answer that!! ;)  Anyways....I realized that not all of them where there...so I had to snap this picture too.


I am glad I came across these books.  I love children's books.  I will admit, when we go to a bookstore, you can find me in the kid's section (and not always looking for my own kiddos...I look for me too). I also LOVE yard sales just for that reason....love finding books to add to my classroom library.  Our local library has a Friends and Family sale.  I can get books for about 20 cents--and I'm talking well taken care of HARDBACK Books.

But, a girl can't go shopping without stopping at a teacher store (or two) right?  Lakeshore was having a pretty decent sale, and my main reason going was to get these:

I wanted them to hold Madison and Connor's (my kiddos) art work and things they wanted to keep.  My little ole box is getting full and this was actually perfect.  It was only $10 in the store, but it's $20 online.  But.....I was there....I hated to not look around.  :)
Several dollars later, I got these goodies.  I HAVE to have smelly stickers.  They make me my firsties happy!  I love the Trend monkeys, and I needed a new calendar for my calendar board, so that worked out perfect.  I LOVE the big long name tags that have the hundreds chart, shapes, alphabet, etc. on them.  The only downfall is I wish it went to 120, but no worries.  I bought a couple interactive games last year, and thought I'd get one for math for this year.  The Plan book was free (if you spent so much), and if you send a little text, you get a nice little shopping bag too.  So, not a bad little trip at Lakeshore, AND it was all on sale!!!  YAY!! ;)

Now see, the bad thing is, well not bad for me....bad for hubby who was shopping with me---there are TWO teacher stores in my big ole city!!  Soo----yep....I had to go!!  I still like to look at teacher resource books.  Yes, I make stuff, and I buy stuff on TpT, but I still have a thing for Mailbox books.  I like LOOKING at the book first though...so I don't always buy online from Mailbox. 

I've had my eye on a new Science book from Mailbox. It looked perfect for the time that I have (mind you we have a crazy schedule) and low and behold, the teacher store had it!!  
Hmmm, it looks like a Math book, smelly stickers and a few dice made their way home with me too.  I'm not sure how that happened.  

Now back to those silly teacher blogs and how they have to talk about all these great finds and great tools that help them out.  See, look what they did to me!!  Yeah people, a laminator!!  I'm uber excited about this though.  It will save me some time when I feel I'm in a rush.  I usually laminate on Monday mornings for my centers that week, but if I'm out for meetings, or sick babies at home, I don't have time (and people, I NEED my beauty sleep).  This will sooooo help out with that.  I am glad for this purchase--made possible by the great people at Neilsen TV Ratings.  Yep, they pay you to fill out a TV guide book for a week, so I did---(it was work too) and I treated myself! 

Do you see that little stand it's sitting on?  OHH YEAH!!  I finally got me a little rolling cart.  I LOVE IT!!  It's perfect for storing my books for reading groups and currently holding some of the stuff from above (it makes it look like I didn't "overshop" that way). 

So, thank you again pinterest, and fabulous teacher blogs.  I have some great new ideas....a few bucks poor-er.  How many more days before school starts?  I have to get back to work so I quit spending money! :)

*And now, a shameless plug for my TpT store----
I've made a few new things. If you're following me on FB, maybe you are one of the ones who won one of these products.  If you're not following me on FB, you may want too.  I do more giveaways on there ;)

First up:

ABC's and 123's--Centers for You and Me.  I made these to help transition my kiddos into center time.  Last year, I had forgotten what students know at the beginning of first grade.  Mind you, I had been out of the loop for 3 years teaching 2nd.  I am so excited to use these with my kiddos.  I LOVE the Wild about Numbers game.  You can click the picture to get more information from TpT on these centers.  

I also wanted a Back to School Activity my students could do on the first day (first week), and be successful at it.  Here is First Grader, First Grader.


After making this, I had a few friends say I should do a Kindergarten version.  So I gave it a go.  Here's Kindergartner, Kindergartner.


Finally, we have Goody Goody Gumdrops.  This is a medial sound game.  GREAT for my Treasures Friends. 

One more thing---I took the 1st grade Common Core Math Standards and stuck them into into this file.  I wanted something at my fingertips to help with planning.  I don't think my district has given me just my grade level (or if they have, I have no idea where they ended up).  You can click the picture below to grab yours from Google Docs.  

Told you I need an intervention....zebra stripes again!

So what do you guys think about all these great things you're finding on Pinterest and Teacher blogs? 

20 comments:

  1. I went to Michael's today and bought the same rolling cart. And, I bought that laminator at Walmart yesterday! And, you know I love those back to school emergent readers!

    Ѽ Lori
    Teaching With Love and Laughter
    luvyorkies@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love my little laminator! And how cute are those centers?! Looks like you've been a busy little bee!

    Gladys
    teachinginhighheels.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your post made me laugh. I feel the same way sometimes. I've been in big trouble with my new husband (we've been married just a little over a month) about spending money. I keep saying I'm going to do better but I saw the same post from Hadar so I'm thinking the Dollar Tree is calling my name. I tried to make a duck tape clipboard but I didn't really like it. It had all these ridges in it. So I used scrapbook paper and liked it better.
    I got on Amazon today and ordered a few books. Probably should've told my hubby about that. Whoops.
    Ms. Kerri and her Krazy Kindergarten

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hilarious! Yes, Pinterest is dangerous and addicting--it should come with warning labels! :). I know myself and I am not crafty AT ALL, but still have ideas saved that I'm going to try to make. I know it won't be pretty! :)

    NotJustChild'sPlay

    ReplyDelete
  5. Soooo true....also a Pintrest addict.... I need intervention!

    ReplyDelete
  6. OH MY WORD YOU CRAZY LADY!!!! And I definitely am to blame for you going BACK to the Dollar Tree!!! hahahah! And I just realized you have a zebra print blog background. Interventionnnnn....

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm also a little sad that there weren't any "nailed it" posts! Those were my favorite!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love your rolling cart!! And yes, Pinterest does cost a lot of money!! Trying to make all those goodies, lol.
    ❤Teri
    A Cupcake for the Teacher

    ReplyDelete
  9. You're so right. Being crafty and creative can at times be pricey, but at least it's fun. :)
    ❀ Tammy
    Forever in First

    ReplyDelete
  10. I know exactly what you mean... I was on a family vacation and HAD to stop in Target because they might have had things in the Dollar Spot that the Target by my house didn't have... and of course they did and of course I bought a ton of stuff... I'll be posting about it later this week on my blog! (Glad I'm not the only one!)

    Stephanie
    MaMa Goose’s Kindergarten

    ReplyDelete
  11. Your blog cracked me up this morning! I love looking at everybody else's finds...but then I MUST have them too...and boy to I get grouchy if my stores don't have the exact same thing that I see on someone else's blog! :)
    By the way...I've tried to do that whole crayon melting idea in those shaped ice cube trays by setting them outside...it's day 3 and my crayons still haven't melted completely.
    Geesh!

    A Pirates Life for Us

    ReplyDelete
  12. You are a hoot! I love it that you keep it real and speak for all of us a "little challenged" in the creativity department! I already have a long list of things that I am dying to get out to buy for my classroom. The thing is, I'm dreading the looks and comments Mr. Hubs will have when he sees the bags! Hee, Hee! Oh well, he knows this happens every year!
    Thanks for sharing all of your great finds!

    Karen
    anappleadayinfirstgrade.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  13. I love my laminator! Also if you decide to start a support group 12 step program for teacher blog/pinterest shopping I will help out and become a charter member with you. I (are you ready) hit Lakeshore, Target, Staples and Joann's in one day and spent way too much money. My sister was visiting, and she freaked out. I ignore her ....LOL....So what if I have to build a storage room just for my school stuff.....LOL....Glad I am not alone!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Sooo funny and sooo true! I'm glad I'm getting ready to go back to work, I couldn't afford being off any longer! I really have enjoyed crafting this summer, my mom always did a lot of crafting so it brought back good memories. :)

    Kelly @ I'm Not Your Grandpa, I'm Your Teacher

    ReplyDelete
  15. You're too funny!! I agree, Pinterest does suck you in. I should get a laminator. Where do you find them? How did you get the Neilsen gig?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I bought mine from Wal-mart, but you can get them from Target, Hobby Lobby, Amazon, etc. It was like $28 and laminating pouches are 50 to a pack for around $14. (I believe those are cheaper on Amazon.) The Neilsen ratings, I have just been contacted every year for the past several.....it's a pain to do it, but it did buy my laminator! :)

      Delete
  16. Amazing product thanks for sharing with us It is very informative. If you need any type of boxes, you can visit the link.
    Branding Cupcake boxes
    custom Cake boxes

    ReplyDelete
  17. Enjoyed reading the article above , really explains everything in detail, the article is very interesting and effective. Thank you and good luck in the upcoming articles. Also check my website for craft box ideas.
    Why custom Kraft boxes are much popular in business?

    ReplyDelete

First Grade and Fabulous

Total Pageviews