Glitter, Poinsettias, Panettone, and Santas

Well in getting into the holiday season I had several projects planned with my kids for the last week before winter break. Now when I was kid in school these projects got me so excited for the holiday to come. I have now realized that this is not the case for all students. For our last day before break I had a whole array of festive fun planned but was surprised to find that my students were not walking in the door as happy as I was predicting. I found that our day of projects reminded some of my students that they were leaving school for 2 weeks, something that is actually bad if your home environment is not what you would wish for. And for others, it reminded them that they would have to spend another Christmas without their parents. So, after coming to this realization I decided to push on realizing that this might be one of the few positive holiday memories they might have this year. And for the most part I think we succeeded.

Just a few more

Tis' the Season

So I haven't been blogging lately, mostly due to some serious stress in the classroom. Now I have been rejuvenated by some time off and feeling like sharing a few of my holiday decorations. I will also keep up with the projects we finish over the next week and a half. I'd like to start with my holiday stars/snowflakes that I made for my home this year. This is normally a project I do with my students, but seeing as how my kids are only 7, I figured maybe I would skip it this year.  I decided since I was making them for my home that I would use some Christmas scrapbook paper instead of my usual blue construction paper to help them fit the holiday decor. I think they turned out really fun and hope to make a few for my mom soon. Hope you enjoy the decorations, and seeing as how I am pretty much out of room in my house, I think I will be done decorating for the year, but I make no promises.

   

Titanic

After reading our selection on the Titanic we made these pretty cool ripped art projects to go along with the story summaries we wrote. Even Mike got in on the fun by making one of my examples. His is the one on top, way more fun, and I think turned out amazing! I'm excited to see the kids on Monday when they come in and see their work hanging up, the love whenever I change the "window work".

Fall is in Room 9

Getting crafty, and all primary-ery

Zucchini Bread Recipe

Mom's Zucchini Bread

Ingredients

3 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

3 teaspoons ground cinnamon (I would use more)

3 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

2 1/4 cups white sugar

3 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups grated zucchini

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

1. Grease and flour two 8 X 4 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in bowl.

3. Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.

4. Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove break from pan, and completely cool.

recipe found: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Moms-Zucchini-Bread/Detail.aspx

What's Going on in Room 9 Right Now

Fall is here, and I'm trying to be craftier with my kids. This week we have several projects going on that I'm pretty excited about. The only bummer is I get to spend some quality evening time making up the examples! So, here are my welcome to fall activities. Also, I wanted to share my ice cream club for addition facts that I am doing with my 2nd graders. They are so into their timed tests, and it is really working on getting those little facts in their heads! When they pass all of their facts tests, yes, they are so lucky as to get to eat some ice cream with me!

Zucchini Bread

Well, this was my first attempt at some from scratch baking in a while, like, quite a while. And, I had never made zucchini bread, or any kind of bread for that fact, before. With all this being said, I was pretty happy with the results. I also realized that there needs to be baking instructions for "dummies". I mean, I need directions that give me specifics. For example, I want the recipe to tell me that it is ok when my bread batter/dough/whatever gets so thick that it is making my hand held mixer produce a faint odor of burning motor! Also, I need the exact amount that should be placed in each loaf pan. Since it didn't tell me, I felt like I didn't have enough, which resulted in a 5 lb loaf of zucchini bread! Now I'm thinking about pumpkin bread...

The Big Bang Theory

So we are a completely obsessed house when it comes to the "Big Bang Theory". Seriously, if you are not watching this show, you are missing out. Well, in one of my favorite episodes, Sheldon needs to return his Star Wars sheets to Pottery Barn because they are far too stimulating for sleep. Well, today I purchased a set of these sheets for my husband, and he loved them. When I was at the store the very nice clerk said "well, I don't know how old he is, but we do have matching pajamas". I kindly let her know they were for my husband, and I don't think they would fit a 28 year old. They laughed.

Blood Tapers

Here they are and I love how they turned out. They took me about 5 minutes to do. All you need are plain white tapers and 1 red taper. Use a lighter to melt off the red wax and drip over the white taper. Easy smeeshy.

Spooky Table Runner

Well, it seems like even a shopping trip with mom gets us all crafty these days. We see something, and then we are determined to make it ourselves. Pottery Barn Kids had the most adorable table runner, but we figured we could make it for a fraction of the cost. So here is my table runner. It cost me less than $4 to make and it was pretty fun to do. It also goes with my decor much better than the $25 version.

craft time...

This last weekend I finally got to try out some of the halloween craft projects I have been wanting to do. A couple of years ago I fell in love with the paper flower poms that Martha came out with. There is a picture of the green ones my loving mother made for one of my bridal showers. LOVE THEM! Now I found that Martha did sell the black & silver poms for Halloween, but it must have been previous years. So, I decided that I could make them, with the help of my mom, out of black tissue paper. By the way, the best place to find black is at a party store. Target, no, dollar store, no, party city, YES! They were a bit of a fuss to get down the complete technique, but after some fun and floral wire I was able to make 5 poms in various sizes for about $4. If I would have bought the Martha pack at Michael's we would be talking more like $25. So, I am super excited with the project.

I also found I had some small odd sizes pieces left over when I cut down the square tissue paper to a rectangle (a totally necessary step in order to make the sphere shape, trust me, I tried). I tried using these scraps to make mini flowers and to my surprise it totally worked. The next day I bought a small foam floral sphere and stuck in the paper flowers into it using some floral dowels. I used some dried red flowers and leftover ribbon from my wedding rehearsal bouquet, and wa-lah, I think I have one pretty rocking decoration. Have fun checking out the evidence! Next step: blood candles & maybe more poms.

Oh, and thanks to my loving husband, more crafts will be tried soon. He brought me home an awesome halloween magazine last night. I'm so thankful he is ok with this whole mad early decorating.

Our Own "Giving Tree"

So a few years ago I was given the idea by a friend and co-worker at Bel Air that stuck with me. She had gone to her son's back to school night and told me about a "Giving Tree" the teacher had made and attached different classroom supplies onto the branches. I decided to try this out this year. After reading the story to the kids they cut out "hand leaves" and then I wrote on them different supplies such as hand sanitizer, clorox wipes, kleenex, etc. At back to school night I invited parents to take a leaf off the tree if they would like to donate to the class. It has been a huge success. I am now pretty well stocked on the necessities!

Now it was time to transition the giving tree. We are using the tree as a way to give compliments to fellow classmates. Again, we practiced cutting (which is going slowly!) and then each student was invited to write a compliment to a classmate, and then write one for themselves. Here is the final product, I think it worked great. I would like to change out the compliments every week or so to keep up positive morale among them. Here are also a few extra pictures of the room finally coming together.

It's Never Too Early...

Here are some pictures of the house so far. I will add more as we get closer to Halloween. Next week I am going to attempt to make my blood tapers, we will see how that goes. I'll give you some before and afters. Enjoy, I went for a very gothic chic look this year and I'm really happy with how it is all coming together.

Halloween Inspirations

Seeing as Halloween is my favorite holiday, and that I cannot plan my wedding every year, 

I find that planning my Halloween party starts very early.  This years party will have a few adjustments, more food and less Everclear!  Here are some of my current inspirations for decorating, and Martha Stewart is the master of my kind of All Hallows Eve!  

Party planning=my one domestic talent!

Today I am determined to find the black & silver pom poms.  I had green ones at one of my bridal showers and they pretty much turned into my favorite thing!  

I will also be trying to create the "blood candles".  Now that Illuminations is out of business, and they were the only place I had ever seen them, it will be craft time for sure.  And last but not least, I will be turning my wedding candy buffet into a halloween version, which makes me giddy.  I obsessed over planning my candy buffet, and then when it came down to it at the wedding, I was so busy having fun, I completely forgot to actually visit it.  So, here is the one thing I have left of my candy bar from the wedding.  And I can't wait to make a halloween version!  Thanks to Sarah of Sarah Maren Photography for capturing all of my favorites from our wedding!  

                             

New Favorite

The last couple of weeks have been crazy. Teaching a 2/3 combo is something I never envisioned for myself. I have been challenged everyday by my kiddos. I'm always trying to figure out what they already know, what they are capable of, and where we need to go. After several days of tears after work (I have the makeup stains on my pillow as proof) I am starting to feel a little bit better about the situation.

So, the one thing that I have learned in the past 2 weeks, my kids loved "The Giving Tree". We listened to the story before Back to School Night and made our own giving tree for our room. When families came to BTSN, all 6 of them, they were able to take a leaf off the tree. Each leaf was made by a student by outlining their hand and cutting it out, which was CHALLENGING! Each leaf had a classroom supply they could donate. This is something I will do for years to come...even in my beloved 6th grade!

If you haven't read this story, or heard it in a while, I recommend this book for all ages.

Almost there

Here it is, slowly but surely getting there.