Back to School 2014

It's back to school time and I am super excited again this year with my teacher teams! I am also super excited with the decorations I just ordered from Just Artifacts I ordered the big paper lanterns in pink, purple and black patterns. I can't wait for them to arrive!! I ordered these....

Plus I ordered a solid color of each....so a total of 9 lanterns. I am lucky that I am allowed to hang things from my ceiling. :) I plan this year to just have a color theme, rather than an animal or character as I have done in other years. 

It has been a crazy few months for me with lots of time needed for family needs. I hope things settle down and I can get back to blogging more regularly. I have had some computer problems again so I am back to my ancient and slow computer. I can't really make or draw on it because when I do too much it freezes and shuts down. Once I really investigate computers I will replace the "good" one.

So this year I will re-do my room using the above colors. I think I will do black backgrounds on all my bulletin boards and use the colors for border. I want to keep it clean, bright and organized this year!!

I did a LOT of throwing away at the end of last year so hopefully this year my set up will be quick. Last time I was at the school my floors were being waxed so I couldn't get in to set up but hopefully later this week I can go in and take some before/after pictures. I love the before and after pictures dont you?

I have a few back to school boards on Pinterest that might be helpful with your planning and organizing. I also have as a brand new COLLABORATIVE board called "Elementary Doors and Bulletin Boards". The "rules" are simple....just pin elementary bulletin boards and decorated classroom doors. :) If you would like to pin to my collaborative board it's super easy!!

1. Follow me on Pinterest.

2. Send me your email/pinterest user name.

3. I will add you and you can begin pinning. 

Joy of Kindergarten

I have a few packets which might help you with your beginning of the year planning. There is a sale right now on Teachers Pay Teachers using the code BTS14. This will give you an extra percentage off. TPT Sales are a great time to stock up on products you will need throughout the year.

September Kindergarten Common Core Homework

I like to go through my "wishlist" and try to purchase some of the items I have saved. I also use the sale as a time to check out new teachers to TPT. I know some prefer to buy from only teachers with a particular amount of followers but I have seen great products from newer teachers as well.

I will be back soon to share my other new craft project and before and after pictures of my classroom. Enjoy the rest of your summer!!!

Back to School in Pictures, September Freebie & Twitter Linky Party

Well I finally got my camera situation figured out and moved everything from my phone to my computer....yeah me!! My classroom finally came together nicely. I like the overall layout and look for this year. I had added a table, but I may end up taking it out because it sucks up so much floor space. With my current numbers I may be ok with only having 3. Here is a before and after of my classroom.

I also took a few photos of some cute things I saw in my building. One of the new K teachers made a Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Tree in her classroom that is super cute. Guess what holds up the paper leaves? It's an old umbrella...can you say GENUIS!!!

I had to include the picture of the adorable dice chairs, aren't they cute? Now that I have my camera I will be taking lots more pictures. I saw so many cute things I want to share as I walked around my building.

In case you missed my previous post, my September Kindergarten Homework Pack is finished and available  in my TPT store. It includes 4 weekly sets of homework, a reading log to color each week, and a monthly chart to color at home as the kiddo's finish their activities each day. September Kindergarten Homework

I made a simple set of September Calendar Numbers with an 'Apple' theme. Please grab a copy and enjoy!
Apple Calendar Numbers
Do you use Twitter? To be totally honest I feel a bit 'Twitter Illiterate". One of my goals is to really figure it out and use it more frequently to share information and pictures with others. Jennifer from Simply Kinder is having a Twitter linky party on her blog.

You can link up with your Twitter Account and join in the fun! You don't have to have your own blog, just a Twitter account. Link up and join in the fun! And then you can teach me how to use it better, lol.
I hope you are having a lovely weekend!! 

Back to School Decorating: Tissue Paper Poms

I know everyone is getting into back to school mode, and some teachers start back to work at the beginning of August. I went to my school yesterday to get everything arranged and take pictures but they had not waxed my floors yet...boooo. It will be about 2 more weeks they think.
I have a project to share with you in case you have not finished decorating your class. I love those tissue paper poms. I forgot to take pictures of the poms I made but they turned out just like this.

I was shopping at the craft store and saw kits to make them but 'Whoa, hold the hot sauce' were they expensive or what? I couldn't imagine they were that hard to make so I went about searching the internet and found an awesome how-to video on You Tube. The gal that created it bought her supplies at Michael's but I found tissue paper that worked great from the Dollar Tree. I have read directions that call for 8 pieces of tissue paper, but if you want nice full poms try making them with 12 sheets. make sure you have sharp scissors so that you get an even cut at both ends of your folded tissue paper before you 'fan' it out. I had one hanging over each of my tables last year and they look super cute! I made new poms for this year to match my color scheme of my classroom. Here is a helpful video if you want to try it yourself.

Happy Crafting!
Nancy