Showing posts with label summer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label summer. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

#TPTVegas15

I am back from #TPTVegas15, and wow! What a week! I had so much fun taking in the sights and sounds (and foods! LOL) of Vegas, and especially enjoyed two amazing days of TPT Awesomeness. I have had a hard time finding the motivation to blog, create, or do anything related to school or TPT, so this was just the motivation I needed to turn on my computer and get to work! I have lots of fun products in the works, so stay tuned for those in the coming weeks... but for now, enjoy some of my highlights from Vegas.  Also, if you aren't following me on Instagram and Twitter, please do! I shared many photos and quotes from the conference last week, and even tried out a new twitter app called "periscope" -- I am still a little camera shy with periscope, but I plan on using it more as I become more comfortable with it.  Anyway, enough of my rambling... here's my week in pictures! *disclaimer: these photos are in no particular order... enjoy :)

Tuesday Night - Michel Jackson: One -  AMAZING. Go See it. You will NOT be disappointed. Here's a preview video below... seriously, I could watch it all day.  The dancing is simply incredible.


Brunch with many amazing TPT'ers at Grand Luxe

I shared this photo on Instagram last week... to me, this is what the TPT community is all about. Anna from Simply Skilled in Second was SO EXCITED to meet the lovely Lory Evans... apparently she was too shy to say hi last year... I snapped this photo at just the right time. TPT has blessed us all so much, and we have made countless friends thanks to it!
a few of us getting ready to zipline across the Rio Hotel Towers - 51 stories high! (Umm, did I mention my fear of heights? Yeah... oops!)

Lory is taking in every minute of the zipline... meanwhile I was wondering where the handles were to hold on for dear life! LOL!! And no, this is not photoshopped... that's really us, ziplining across Vegas!

go noodle photo booth at the teacher/blogger meet-up - so fun (well, the photo booth part was fun, anyway)!
Lory, Brynn, and me in the TPT photo booth.

Some of my favorite foods from the week... See the milkshake at the bottom... I might have had THREE of them that night #sorrynotsorry - couldn't let that amazingness go to waste. If you're looking for a good place to eat, hit up B&B Burgers at the Venetian and get a Nutella milkshake... I'm not kidding, it's THAT good. The 3 pictures on the far right are from a new restaurant at the Venetian called Yardbird. The Belgium Waffle was from brunch at the Grand Luxe

I met so many wonderful people this week -- Top: Dee Dee Wills, Deanna Jump, Alyssha S.; Middle: Jen Jones (Hello Literacy); Laura; Krista; Bottom Row: Lory, Emily, me, Jenny, Heidi (Emily and Heidi are a team of sisters who blog at Second Story Window... love them!!)

TPT Paul, TPT Amy, Rachel Lynette, Jen Jones, Kayla Delzer (Top Dog Teaching)

Top left - Meredith Scott Lynn - anyone recognize her? Lory and I were both starstruck, but for totally different reasons!; Shelley Gray, Farley (Aka the queen of currently!); middle row: Jessica (Second Grade Nest); Stephanie (falling into first); Cierra (Adventures of room 129); Tamara (Mrs. Russell's room) and a lovely photo bomb from Breanda (Primary Inspired); Bottom: Blair Turner, Ashleigh (Ashleigh Education Journey); Amanda (Mrs. Richardson's Class)

And now, I'm home from Vegas and having withdrawls, so we had a little mini-meet-up yesterday while my car was being serviced. Lory played shuttle driver so I didn't have to sit at the car dealership all by myself all morning. Don't you love how she tells us to pull funny faces, then smiles? Yeah, me too :) HAHA! But, we had a great time chatting and can't wait for #TPTVegas16

thanks for the fun morning and yummy treats!








Thursday, June 11, 2015

5 tips for a Relaxing Summer

Hi friends, WOW, I have sure been MIA from my blog lately... but if you follow me on facebook, you've already heard my exciting news... I will be working in a new position next year! BUT, I will get to that later... today I am blogging over at the Elementary Grapevine, where I'm sharing 5 tips for a Relaxing Summer... heaven knows we teachers need a break and need to relax, so I promise to fill you in on all the latest and greatest happenings soon... but for now, go check out my post over at the grapevine and enjoy your summer break... you've earned it! XOXO 

Click on the picture to read my tips

Monday, June 9, 2014

DIY Flip-flop Wreath Tutorial

Friday was my first official day of summer, and I can honestly say I thought it would never arrive! This has been the longest year ever, and I am so happy to finally have a break. I start two weeks of classes today, so I promised myself I wouldn't even THINK about anything school related this weekend.... So please forgive me for posting something that has nothing to do with teaching :)

My friend and I have a craft group and try to make something each month.... But the last few months we've been slackers and haven't done anything... Anyway, the other day she saw a cute wreath that she wanted to make, so we went to Walmart Saturday night and set out on a crafting adventure! I decided to take pictures as we made these because I couldn't find a lot of tutorials on Pinterest.

Forgive me in advance, I don't really care about fancy photography, so all my photos were snapped with my iPhone. That's just how I roll ;)

basic supplies: flip flops, 14" foam circle
Okay here we go....
Supplies needed:
* 4-6 pairs of colorful flip-flops (we found ours for 98 cents each at Walmart!)
*14" foam circle (I used a foam rectangle board and cut out 3 circles so I could make some for some family members) just kinda depends on what you can find in your local craft store -- I would suggest a FLAT one instead of a round one so that the flip flops will glue on better.
* large flower (Walmart didn't have a great selection.... Try Michael's or Hobby Lobby for really cute ones!)
* ribbon to hang it (Walmart craft section or floral section)
* hot glue gun

You will want to get your circle first, then spread out the flip flops to get an idea of how many you need ** make sure you buy the SAME SIZE flip flops. Also keep in mind that depending on the size of circle you get, you will need more or less flip-flops than I used. **

Step 1: spread all the flip flops out the way that you want them to be on the wreath. Play around with it as much as you want right now (as you can see, I overlapped mine just slightly).
Step 2: glue the flip flops together (I did left over right for each pair of flip flops)
Step 3: once the hot glue has dried, lay the flip flops out again to make sure they fully cover the wreath. I've included a few pictures to show you how I layered them. I also used a sharpie to mark where each set of flip flops sat on the wreath (this way I could take them off and glue one pair at a time and be able to put them back in the right spot) -- your flower will cover the middle of the circle, so don't worry about the marker lines.
Step 4: glue each pair of flip flops onto the wreath; you will find a natural "over/under" layout that occurs as you put each pair on the wreath -- just slide them in carefully and make sure to use plenty of glue.  Let the wreath dry for a few minutes after gluing each pair of flip flops onto it.
Step 5: glue your flower into the center of the wreath (you can also add small flowers around the wreath for accents if you wish). You can also add more glue around the edges of the flip flops at this time if necessary to make sure they are glued on extra well.

Step 6: this was definitely a "winging it" step.... Since we were using a foam board, and not an actual wreath, there wasn't a way to hang it.... We just poked two holes with a small screw driver :) here's a picture of the back-side of the wreath so you can see how we tied the ribbon. You could also glue the ribbon, but I felt like a hole in the back worked better. 

Ta-da. There you have it. A fun, summery wreath, for about $10-12. If you make one, I would love for you to share a photo on my facebook page. Thanks for stopping by!