My Flock

I'm surrounded by birds!  Here are a couple of my family's feathered friends.

Chester and Lagos (Macaws)

photo by Misty Lingnau

Lagos

photo by Misty Lingnau

Oakley (Spectacled Owl)

photo by Misty Lingnau

Beaker (Senegal Parrot)

photo by Joel Sartore

Pili (Cockatiel Parrot)

All of our parrots are rescues and the owl is used by my husband for education purposes.  Pili spends much of her time in my first grade classroom.  

Student Writing Prompt Pictures

A few weeks ago I was picking up a prescription at my local pharmacy and was given a free calendar.  I have no use for another calendar but I hung onto it because the pictures were so pretty.  I knew the different landscapes would make interesting writing prompts for my first grade friends with writer's block.  This week they are learning about using descriptive words in their writing and these are sure to ignite their creativity! 

I cut apart the calendar and glued the pictures onto the top half of large pieces of construction paper.  Then I glued writing paper to the bottom half of the construction paper.  I wrote directions at the bottom of each and laminated.  These beauties will go in my writing center.  

My students will be so excited to write with dry-erase markers and because they are laminated they will wipe clean to be used over and over again.

How do you inspire your young students or your own kids to write more? 

Sight Word Chant Sticks!

Today I'd like to share a fun craft I whipped up for my classroom.  Every day my first graders and I spend ten minutes focusing on high frequency words on our word wall.  The kids are expected to know 200 high frequency words by the end of first grade.  

Let me be honest.  Word wall time is not my favorite time of the day.  I am desperately in need of some new ideas.  

Imagine my delight when I stumbled upon these babies on Pinterest!

Word Wall Chants Sticks!

Growing Kinders typed a collection of chants and is sharing the PDF.  {{THANK YOU!!}}  You can download it by visiting her page.


Here are my sticks:

The sticks fit perfectly in a Crystal Light container.  


Word wall time will never be the same.  :)

Class of 2030

Happy New Year Everybody!

2012 is going to be a very exciting year - in just a few weeks my sister is having her first baby, which means I get my first niece or nephew! I'm so pumped. She and her husband want the gender to be a surprise - for everyone including themselves, so I'm getting busy making gender-neutral baby crafts! I don't know how they can stand the suspense ...

Last night I made this sweet little onesie. It was so simple: a onesie, sharpies, a ruler and a button (for tracing).


I had seen this idea several months ago on Pinterest from a blog called La-Dee-Da Creations. I personalized it by adding the last name (don't know the first yet!) and DOB (it's a scheduled C-section so the date is a pretty safe bet). I freehanded the writing, which was nerve-wracking, but I think it turned out pretty nice.

According to La-Dee-Da, the sharpie ink will not run in the wash but will fade over time. If it fades before the baby outgrows newborn-sized onesies, I will just trace over the original markings.

Can you believe a baby born today will graduate from high school in 2030?!

Happy Crafting!
Amanda

Front Hall Inspiration

My last post revealed my Front Hall makeover.  Now I'd like to share my sources of inspiration.  Aren't they pretty?

HGTV Dream Home 2012

Apartment Therapy

Real Simple

Martha Stewart

Front Hall Reveal!

I have been hard at work creating a functional front hall.  Our house doesn't have a mudroom, although we really need one.  The weather in Oklahoma changes frequently and it's nice to have appropriate outerwear on hand.  A week ago we had snow flurries and yesterday it was almost 70 degrees!


Last month I showed you how I created a place for our hats here.


Yesterday I finished the hallway!  Here's a reminder of the before.

And here it is now!

Entry Coat Hooks

We have ten double hooks for coats, jackets, bags, lunch boxes, and scarves!  The basket is for the kids' shoes and boots.  The big shoe rack moved into the coat closet for adult shoes.

Each of the girls has their own designated hook with their picture hanging above.  Now when I say, "hang up your coat" they know exactly where it goes.  And when I say, "put your shoes away" the shoes will end up in the basket.  Unlike the lonely tennis shoe in the picture.  I really don't know where the other one was taken off and abandoned or "put away."  

Mod Podge Coat Hook Pictures

I also relocated the art displays from this post.  They came down when I painted the kitchen and needed a new home.  A boring wall went from this:

To this:

Clothespin Art Display

The girls have already started displaying their work!  Above the art display is a photo I just love displayed in a clip frame from Hobby Lobby.

This photo was taken when Lil' Bean was a newborn.  My mom and my grandma were in town when we had a photo shoot with Misty Lingnau, a local photographer.  

Did you also notice my new boot tray?

River Rock Boot Tray

I came across this idea a while back (more on that later).  I found a plain boot tray at Garden Ridge for $3.99 and took rocks from our back yard landscaping.  

An old night stand got a fresh paint of coat and now holds gloves, mittens, and hats, and a place for keys and sunglasses.

My guard dog, Riley, is on duty.  Good dog.

I just love how functional my hallway is now!  Here's a quick comparison.

Don't you just love happy endings?

Elf on the Shelf Day 6 and 5

Day 6

Elf barely escaped the dog...

Day 5

Elf on the Shelf Basketball Fan Idea

Lets go Bulldogs!