Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Hurricane Irene

We survived Hurricane Irene over this past weekend.  We lost around 8 trees, 1 shutter, a pool gate, and our vegtable garden.  We were very fortunate considering some of the damage we saw around our community.  We had no electricity for about three days, no cable, no internet but we survived!!  Yes I survived without having my Cricut!! :)

Our Bradford Pear tree leaning-we are hoping that it will survive.  We were able to straighten it and tie it down. 
We lost 1 shutter (top left window) not too bad considering a neighbor of ours lost half her roof and most of her shutters.
This is our pool gate that took it on the chin. 
This tree landed in the middle of our street.  Everyone came together to cut it down and clear the road.
This was a very large and old tree that suffered damage from the hurricane.  Trees like this are found everywhere around St. Mary's County, Maryland.  Very sad to see these trees lost :(
As we traveled around the county on Sunday we saw nothing but trees lying on top of electric lines.  Over 100,000 people lost power from this storm.  Over the past few days we've heard the sound of chainsaws and children playing outside.  We survived Hurricane Irene!!

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Lunch Choice buckets using Crystal Light Containers!!



Here's a super quick and fun recycling project for your classroom.  I love to reuse things-mainly because they are FREE!!  Teachers love FREE things to use in the classroom LOL.  I took three Crystal Light containers and wrapped them in scrapbooking paper.  I used this really cute flag paper I found at AC Moore.  Our theme this year is UNITED WE STAND...UNITED WE LEARN so I thought this paper would fit in nicely.  I welded the letters on my Gypsy using the Mickey Font cartridge (my favorite to use!!) and glued the letters on to a white piece of paper.  I plan on using magnetic tape so that I can just stick the containers to my chalkboard!  I used foam sticks and wrote the students names on them so when they come into the classroom in the morning they can chose their lunch selection.  Pretty simple, pretty easy, pretty cost effective= my kind of project!!  I have quite a bit to show you but I am desperately trying to get my classroom together.  My new kiddos will be here on Wednesday and there is still so much to do!!!  Have a super week!!! 

Monday, August 15, 2011

We have a winner for the Queen of my Craftroom Back to School Blog Hop!!!



Happy Monday everyone!!  Doing all of that laundry yesterday made me completely forget to choose a winner from the blog hop last week!!!!  Random.org chose......................

          Tina said...


Super cute ideas! Love the papers! I have a weakness for pinwheels! I would love to get these as a first grade teacher. :) TFS
Tina


Congratulations Tina!!  You just won an I-Rock tool!!!!!  Please send me your mailing information to my email address at:  wendypendarvis@msn.com.  I look forward to hearing from you.  THANK YOU everyone for participating in the hop.  I know it was a lot of fun for me!!!  Now it is off to the dungeon to make some creative things for my classroom.  I am starting to get pretty excited about my new kiddos this year!!!  They start next Wednesday so I better get busy!!!!!

**Please send in any ideas or pictures that you have for your own classroom.  Other teachers would love to read about them!!!  Have a super great week everyone!!! 

Sunday, August 14, 2011

What a magical and wonderful vacation!!






Whewww!!!!  We had one of the best vacations ever this past week.  We actually arrived home around midnight last night.  Our return flight ran about an hour and a half late but we made it!!  This picture was taken on our last day of our vacation.  We had brunch at the Chef Mickey restaurant which is located in the Contemporary Resort.  We got to meet Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Pluto, and Goofy!!  It has been seven years since our last trip to Walt Disney World in Florida and boy did we miss it!

Things are settling in and the laundry has begun!!!!!!!  Reality has hit and it is now time to gear it up and get into "going back to school" mode!  By this time I usually have my classroom up and running and have purchased backpacks and school clothes for my boys-I have a lot of catching up to do!!!

Stay tuned later this week for some back to school projects I am making for my classroom.  I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!!   

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Queen of my Craftrooms Back to School Blog Hop Day #2




Welcome to day #2 in the Queen of my Craftrooms Back to School Blog Hop!

Today I wanted to share with you a super easy organizational tool for teachers to use with their students in the first few weeks of school.  A new group of students brings forth a learning curve.  During the first few weeks of school, a teacher must memorize names, get to know their students but most of all-keep them safe at all times.  Dismissal can be challenging to say the least so I created some school bus and car backpack tags to help organize the end of the day challenges.



Here are the materials used for the project:

Locker Talk cartridge-bus on page 70 cut at 3 1/2 inches, car on page 58 cut at 3 inches
Yellow, black, red, and white cardstock
black gel pen
ribbon
two way glue pen (which I recommend using on the older Cricut cartridges-the layering can be tricky)
1/2 inch hole punch


**Tip:  I would recommend laminating the dismissal tags so they last a little longer.  You can always write the bus number on top of the lamination if a student rides more than one bus.  You can also place magnets on the back of each tag and stick them on the chalkboard-I would recommend writing the students name on the front/back of the tag.

Don't forget to leave a comment here stating what you remember as a child when you came back to school to start a new year for a second chance to win an I-Rock tool set.  Also leave comments on each blog in the hop line in order to win additional prizes-see Michelle's blog for more info!!   

Here is the line up:

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Queen of my Craftrooms Back To School Blog Hop Day #1!!!!


Welcome to the Queen of my Craftrooms Back to School Blog Hop!!  If you are just stopping by here first, please make sure you start at the beginning of the blog at:

What a great way to welcome students back to school with a pencil and a goodie bag full of erasers to start the year off right!  This year I wanted to welcome my students back to school with something different than the usual candy goodie bags.  I think I will hand these out during Open House.  This gift set was super fast and easy to create-perfect on a teacher's budget!!





Here are the materials used for this project:
Enjoy the Seasons Imagine Cricut Cartridge-apple/worm cut at 3 inches
DCWV Makin' the Grade paper pack
circle and scallop punch by Stampin' Up
Welcome stamp-2006 Stampin' Up set
Back to School stamp/A+ Student stamp-My Creative Time "My Teacher Rocks" stamp set
pack of pencils and erasers found at the dollar store
Pop-Dots
Blue Ribbon

**Make sure you leave a comment stating what you enjoyed the most about coming back to school when you were younger and also become a follower in order to have the chance to win an I-Rock tool set.  The winner will be chosen on August 15th.  Good luck everyone and I hope you enjoy the hop!!

**Don't forget to stop by tomorrow for a second chance to win!!!

Here is the blog line up:
Wendy http://cricutyourclassroom.com -YOU ARE HERE :)

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Back to School Blog Hop!!!!!!!!!!!!


Join in on the fun this weekend for a very exciting Back to School Blog Hop!!!!!!!!!  It's that time of the year again.....purchasing school supplies, school clothes, backpacks, etc.  Hop on the school bus to creativity and fun!!  Hope to see you there :)

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Creating Keepsakes Convention-Part II

Here is a super quick video of our experience at the CKC convention in Valley Forge, PA.  We were totally exhausted but had the time of our lives.  This is my third year attending the convention and each year I learn something new whether it is a new technique in a class, or getting to know my friends even more.

A great time was had by all.  If you ever have the chance to attend a scrapbooking event with your peeps-you truly should go!!!!!!!!  I look at it this way, it is much cheaper than therapy LOL :)

Monday, August 1, 2011

CKC Convention-Part 1

Me, Kelli, Wendy B. and Carol aT the Friday night Crop wearing our lime green scrappin' shirts!!  We were exhausted but had a fantastic time!  I think we got only 5 hours of sleep Thursday evening :)
Here is one of the display boards posted in the Lobby of the convention center.  There were quite a few of them!
Wendy B. showing off her fantastic Mosaic Moments scrapbook page.  She took a class that morning and scrapped away that night at the crop.  These are pictures of her daughter and classmates who took a field trip to New York.  I really love how her page turned out!!!
Here's Kelli working hard on her project!!!  She worked on quite a few things at the crop.
Here's Carol getting out her Tim Holtz scissors!  I love those scissors-I think I am going to get myself a pair!!!  She worked on a beautiful Tattered Angels album using Graphic 45 paper.
This is a horrible picture of me...I was totally exhausted!  I completed a two page layout with photos that were taken on a family mini vacation to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA.  I used a lot of rub ons and really liked them! 
This was the most important guest at the Friday night crop!!!!!  Wendy B. picked up some pretzel and peanut M&Ms!!!!!!!!!!!!!  They kept us awake LOL!!!

Stay tuned for Part II tomorrow-I actually have video coverage :).  If you ever have an opportunity to attend a scrapbooking convention with your peeps....you should go!!  This is my third year and I love going every time.  We encountered several road bumps throughout the trip but we didn't let them spoil the fun.  What a way to spend a weekend....shopping, taking several classes, cropping with the gang, and most of all........PILLOW FIGHTS!!!!!!!!!!!