Where Mommy Works

Dear Liddy,

This is where mommy works.  You know that I go to my school while you go to your school.  You also know that I can't stay at your school and (as much fun as it would be) you can't stay at my school.  Maybe we can visit each other sometimes, but that's about it.  So, until you are older and we need to decide where you will go for high school, this is where mommy is when she is working.  Speaking of which, mommy has been working too much lately!  I don't like it and I hope it doesn't last long enough for you to remember that, but this has been a 30 hour week and it is just Wednesday.  I have my big state evaluation tomorrow (TN has a new structure for that right now. Hug a teacher if you see one soon, we are all working very hard right now) and my entries into our biggest art contest are also due on Thursday. So I am trying to stay focused on the positive aspects of my job.

The best thing is I get to work HERE, in an art room; surrounded by weird stuff, and student work, and the smells of freshly sharpened pencils, and the occasional mistake, and a few bothersome ants, and two really great coworkers.  There are papers in piles on my desk, but they are organized into baskets that help me remember (eventually) where to put them.  There are papers to be graded on my desk too.  Most years I am able to get those taken care of during school time.  Not this year, or last year, but most years!

I am finally getting to a place that I am not embarrassed by my classroom.  I am one of those all or nothing organizers.  If i can notice patterns in usage than I can sometimes create an organizational system that works.  If I am new to a setting or overwhelmed bother stuff, then there is no organizational system and stuff goes everywhere.  Over the years I have come to favor a flower pot for storing a class set of assorted paint brushes.  I have to teach the kids to put them in brushy side up (and then I have to fuss at them when I they get it wrong) but this doesn't topple over, it holds a lot, and it collects all the yucky brush water in the dish at the bottom.

We use dishes as a paint pallet, so somewhere I got the idea that a dish drainer (also with a pan to catch drips) would be perfect for keeping the dishes and water cups that get cleaned and reused each day.)  The sponges are still a bit of a problem.  They have there own container, but seem to get left laying around a lot..... probably a sign that I need to look for a better way to organize them.  Then there are those paper towels!  Our school sometimes changes if we get them on a roll or as the folded and cut napkin style of paper towels.  I used to use a paper towel dispenser, but 150 kids using it each day, broke them too quickly so I gave up. 

My shelves are working pretty well.  I made the effort to label a bunch of clear plastic shoe boxes and that helped a LOT.  It bothers me that some boxes still don't have labels, so I need to work on that.  Not everything fits right in a shoe box, so that needs some attention.

I LOVE that I have a skeleton in my room.  He used to be in my closet, so for a while I had a skeleton in my closet!  I reference him when we study the proportions of the body.  Plus he is creepy and cool.  I really like that he is up high on the counter.  The skeleton got a lot more abuse when he lived on the floor and the kids could reach him.  I also LOVE the mannequin.  I happened by a store that was going out of business and they were selling them for $50 cash.  I grabbed 3 (one for each art teacher at work) and BARELY got them in my car.  I wish I had more cash and a bigger car.  I hate that I didn't get one for my own use at home!

This is my new TV.  I am very grateful for it's arrival this week.  I have had a broken TV with rainbow colors on ever channel since we moved into the new building 3.5 years ago, the summer I had Lydia.  Those sock creatures were left behind student work.  They make me smile, especially the little stripped guy's pose!  It also makes me smile that my students can watch an art movie and I don't have to explain what colors everything should be!

Finally here is a glimpse at some classwork.  I need to take these paintings down and put up the ones that relate to my observation tomorrow.  OK time to get back to work, oh wait, I'm already there!

Good Stuff in the Mail!

I am SWAMPED right now!  I should be putting away all the Halloween stuff, or doing laundry.  I can't even THINK about crafting right now.  I am deep in the midst of the new TN state teacher evaluations.  Arg!  I love what I do, but this feels like a LOT of paperwork, just to be told that I "meet expectations."  Anyways, while I start on page 10 of the longest lesson plan I have ever written, enjoy some of the fun stuff that has arrived in my mailbox lately.

These "Name Bubbles" make me SO happy!  As soon as the weather turned cold here, Lydia started wearing layers to school.....and shedding layers at school....and loosing layers at school!  She arrives in one building and moves to another and gets picked up in after school care back in the first building.  She doesn't know where she left her stuff, and her teachers don't know which clothing items are hers, until NOW!

I could have just written her name on her tags, but I either give away or sell her clothing at some point and writing on it just seems messy.  Plus those tags are SMALL, so getting a name that anyone can read is tough.  Enter "Name Bubbles"!  I found them online and they claim to be laundry proof, but able to be removed if needed.

  

They have a TON of different shapes, sizes, and designs.  They even have a foot shaped sticker set to go inside shoes.  I picked out the small square tags, because I just need help keeping up with sweaters for now.  Once you choose your shape and size you can customize the colors an sometimes add a symbol.  They also make dishwasher safe tags for bottles, pacifiers, etc.  

I waited to post anything until I had washed her labels a few times.  Of course I did not wait to read the directions before I washed her labels, so I have one that did not get the suggested 24 hour wait time before washing the first time.  ALL of the labels, including the ones that got washed too quickly, have stayed on through numerous washings. The best thing is that ALL of her sweaters have found their way to her backpack since getting the name bubbles!   

As an added bonus, we ordered right before Halloween and were sent a free gift of pumpkin face stickers. Thanks, Name Bubbles!  You made both myself AND my pumpkin's smile!

A Simple Surprise!

Lydia's former daycare provider hosted a little Halloween get together for all her former students last Friday.  I wanted to do something nice to thank her for all that she does for her kids. I found this card showing a spooky house and decided to personalize it in a special way.

I used a craft knife.... OK I was in a hurry and I used a kitchen knife but I am a trained professional, do not attempt this at home, use a craft knife....and cut a doorway into the house on the card.

Behind the door, I glued a special surprise.

It's one of Lydia's school pictures!

It is scary how much she has grown since Nancy saw her this summer, but I think she really liked her surprise!

Happy Halloween!

Saturday, we had pictures taken at JC Penney's.  I had neglected to call about it in advance and was happy that they could squeeze us in.  I am THRILLED with the results.  I am also EXHAUSTED from all of our Halloween activities, so I am not even going to try to come up with information about each picture.  Information on making the Cinderella dress can be found here.  Information on making the step sister dresses can be found here. I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I do!

My Completed Costume

Well,  I finished all our family costumes late Thursday night.  Friday, Lydia had 3 costume events to attend, one at 9 am, one at 3pm, and one at 6pm. Thankfully she got a nap in the middle (I would have liked one too!) I was in my costume (and super high teal heals) from 8 am until 9pm.  Fortunately, my costume (and my feet) held up well because today I will be in costume from 2pm until whenever a Zombie Prom finishes.  What I never thought about was how Lydia's dress would look after en entire day of candy eating, apple bobbing, and pumpkin painting. That is important, because the first Halloween event for today is that we are scheduled to have pictures taken.  Next year I will have to plan that better.... and as long as I am planning for next year, someone remind me that Zombie Prom would be a FANTASTIC Witches Brew theme!

Anyway, now that I think I have gotten all the stains out of Lydia's dress, it is time to show off mine! My costume, as usual, was part of a package deal with my sister's costume. I started our costume creations, as usual, at the thrift store. I found a polka dot dress that I thought would work for Jen and then worked on finding coordinating colors. The general idea was to do a mismatched gaudy version of Cinderella's step sisters in orange pinks with hits of lime green and red to make it funky. I bought the dress for Jen for $10, a green sweater for me for a couple of dollars, and a polka dot shirt the same colors as the dress.  I bought several sheets and drapes in the right colors, but ended up not needing them.  I had a green sweater already at home for Jen, so that was my initial idea; green sweaters and funky orange skirts. 

I did some work on my skirt last week.   It started out as a curtain panel and a shirt. I cut the top (arms and neck part) off of the shirt and used the tube as the under skirt. Then I sewed elastic into the curtain so it made a long skirt. I used safety pins to scrunch up the skirt and later decided to add a ruffle to the bottom edge. For some reason (maybe because there wasn't much to make) I just couldn't get going and waited until I had less than a day to finish it.  So I drew a plan for the costumes, starting with the parts I had and adding details to make the drawings look good.  Pretty soon I knew what I needed to do and I set out to add some ruffles and final touches to our outfits.  I was happy that, in plan at least, the costumes referenced each other without completely matching 

I finished both costumes at about 11pm, WAY passed my bedtime, but I am SO glad I added those last few details.  Here is a picture of my skirt. I was able to wear the tank top and the waist band that were originally intended for the circus wedding.  They even inspired the use of the red and white fabric for the ruffle, and I am SO happy with them. In the meantime, a good friend borrowed the ringleader jacket and Lydia's top hat for her costume and she ROCKED them! (I think I have just about costumed the entire 37918 zip code!)

Here is a good shot of my makeup and the edge of my teal tank.  I sewed some of the red strip to the top of it as well.  I did my make up extra heavy (super fun!), added a mole, and piled my hair on top of my head and I was ready for an entire day if being Cinderella's "ugly" step sister.

This picture was taken at the end of a really long, really rainy day, so everything felt a little flat. It does show Jennifer's costume.  I just hiked up her skirt with a safety pin and sewed ruffles onto her slip.  She added a sweater and I pinned on teal sleeves that I cut off an old dress.   You can see the professional pictures with Lydia, Jennifer, and myself in them by clicking here.  You can see prior Halloween photo shoots here, here, and here.

Here is a picture of myself with PJ.  This may be our only Halloween photo as he is preparing for a big car show and may not be able to join us for our photos.  I hate my knees.  Just a thought.  I might have to get new knees before our pictures on Saturday.  Just a thought.

Decorations at Witches Brew 2011

Here are just a few of the decorations that we set upfor Witches Brew, our annual Halloween Party!

We have always put up the spooky silhouettes, but this year they were a part of the glowing black light room.  The jointed glow in the dark skeleton was a splurge at $40 from Target.  PJ added a little black paint to accentuate the eyes, etc.  We intended to place the skeleton on the trapeze (if you are new to the blog.. yep.. I have a trapeze in my living room.  You can read about it here!) but liked it SO much under the black lights, we didn't bother.

You can see the new family room (black light area) occupied with actual party goers in the picture above.

The fireplace always gets some smaller trinkets.  We also put a vintage horror film on the TV with the sound turned down. This year it was Frankenstein.

Speaking of Frank, I found this doll at a thrift store and I think he is the perfect partner for the pumpkin gal.

This guy is new too.  He is also thrifted and fit well on the horse sculpture that lives on our mantle.  I HATE his sweater, bu didn't have time to make him anything more appropriate.  Next year he will get a wardrobe overhaul.  Maybe something like a Jack Skeleton suit.

I have been keeping my eyes open for apothocary style containers at thrift stores.  This year I used them to display plastic Halloween toys.  I use these jars as decorative features for lots of parties, so I pick up good looking containers whenever I find them for a good price.

Our china hutch became the black cat area this year.

The new addition includes a small room off one side that will probably become an office at some point.  For the party we themed it as a fortune telling room.  It had black plastic like the rest of the new addition, but we added glow in the dark spider webs and a small table.

PJ actually made the table so that he could rig it with a glowing crystal ball (a round light fixture from the hardware store with a green light bulb.  We through some playing cards and a magic 8 ball around for added fun.

I found the "Beware" sign last year at a thrift store.  We made custome name tags for the first ever witches brew.  One says "Hello, my HUMAN name is..." and the other says "Hello, my WITCH name is...."

I made a little shrine on an end table with a book about the show Wicked and a few Halloween trinkets.

PJ made tombstones out of plywood scraps from the new addition.

These were MUCH more impressive at night.  They each have a glow stick inside them so they looked like aliens floating in the air by our front door (they are connected to the dog run cable!)

PJ added caution tape at the edge of our property.

Once again, I did my "freak show family" pictures where I swapped out our real pictures for carnival folks off the internet.  I haven't made replacements for all of my family pictures, so this year i wised up and marked the backs of the frames to make it easier next year.

I LOVE the wolf boy and I tell everyone that he is from PJs side of the family!

Finally, we made vampire pumpkins with inspiration from Pinterest (more on our Halloween Pin-spiration here.)

Halloween Pin-spiration

This Halloween was my first post Pinterest holiday.  I have been pinning ideas to pin boards for months and this was my first chance to make several of the ideas I have seen.  I can't take credit for the original idea on any of these (I will try to note original sources where possible), just the execution.  However, I am proud that I actually made something that I pinned! (original graphic found here.)

So, first I saw these Martha Stewart pumpkins on Pinterest.

And I found THESE for $1 at the thrift store.

And I GREW two little pumpkins in my GARDEN this summer (I deserve some extra credit for GROWING my own decorations!)

I pulled all that together to make THESE:

I didn't even bother to hollow them out!  I just carved a hole for the mouth and made the eyes so that they didn't go all the way through.

PJ made several larger, more evil looking pumpkins.

These looked SO good I just HAD to try them.  Salty and sweet are my FAVORITE flavor combination! (Originally from this blog.)

I looked but could not find the square pretzels they originally used.

I started with regular small twists and it still worked out fine.

Unwrapping all those Hugs was a PAIN, but SO worth the trouble!

Of course, I didn't read ANY of the directions, so I just shoved them in a warm oven for a few minutes and then squished them with the candy corn.

I quickly decided that these were unacceptable, ate all the evidence, lowered the temperature, and perfected my technique.

I wanted the oven just warm enough to melt the chocolate, so I turned my 350 oven OFF after it warmed up and then was perfect.  Then I pushed straight down on the point of the Hug and it smushed down to a nice circle.  I even tried to position the corn so the stripes went diagonally because I have OCD tendencies and it bothered me if they weren't perpendicular!

Finally, I was inspired by these table legs on Bubble Gum and Duct Tape.  Actually I am inspired by SO much on that site, it's probably good I didn't look for the directions prior to today! Time to start planning for next year's party!  I didn't notice until today that she cut out the bottom of the show, or maybe it is a fake shoe? SO SMART!  I found a pair of $3 shoes at goodwill and just slid them under the front 2 legs of my table, making the table a little uneven, but no one noticed!  Here is my version.

There are already SO many more ideas that I want to try, but didn't have time for.  Next year, same weekend, same time, stop by to see what new inspirations come to life for my Halloween party.