My happy family

What a happy family! How cute that Grey Dog is standing with Sophie, and Blackie is with Alex? I love playing outside with them. They are soooo cute! We've found a buyer for #1, but Puppy #2 (Black Dog) is still waiting for a home!

What's the Matter?

Third Grade made an awesome bulletin board for their "I wonder" projects, so Second Grade decided we needed to rock ours out, too. We decided to let our kids ask questions about the three basic forms of matter, which is our Science Unit Study at the moment. Are we creative, or what?!? :-D I love this board! It's perfect for this time of year. My class asked questions about liquids... some were really clever.

We all have dreams bulletin board

I decided that until I get enough velcro to make all of my Magic Tree House books, I'll use my "kids" as bulletin board decorations. This one is for February, outside my door. My favorite part of the whole thing is the incredibly cute border I got for a dollar at the Carson Dellosa Warehouse Sale in Greensboro last year.

My class

To motivate my students to read their Magic Tree House books regularly (and so I would know which book each student is reading) I created paper dolls for each child. Once I figure out a cute background, I'll post them, along with a piece of velcro to show the book (which I've already printed out miniature covers of each book, 2x2.5. The dolls are just a little less than 3 and a half inches tall, and they turned out pretty cute (especially the girls... can't do too much with my boys!) 

I've had everything done except the shoes for a couple of weeks now, but I figured I would finally finish them tonight because I left my paperwork on my desk that I needed to finish! Oh well. 

Not crafty but I'm posting it anyway!

My dog, Sophie, had puppies on Christmas Eve and they're 5 weeks old now. Since we'll only have them for a couple more weeks, I went ahead and took their pictures today to post in for-sale ads. We (me and the pups) had a blast! It was hard to narrow down just a few favorites.

Ugh!

Here is a picture of my craftroom after completing several projects without considering cleaning between the two. Oh well... I have no shame! (And it's clean now!)

Minnie Birthday Invites

A dear friend of mine asked me to make invitations to her daughter's first birthday party. (Coincidentally, this is the sister of the friend whose daughter's invites I made in September for her first birthday!) Miss Caroline loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on Playhouse Disney and requested Minnie on the front. I had to do a little investigating to figure out what color dress she wears now (not the typical red with white polka-dots I was expecting) and it took FOREVER to design, but I think they turned out cute. I included little mickey mouse ears vinyl stickers on the envelopes and the inside of the cards. Love them! Sorry the pictures aren't great.

Flip Album Books

Someone on the Cricut messageboard had a wonderful tutorial on making these flipbook things using 3 sheets of 12x12 cardstock. Once the book is assembled you just decorate it, add ribbon, and you're done! I made a couple as Christmas presents for the other 2nd grade teachers at work, then my mom actually paid me to make a couple for her (Why do I feel like a decent crafter all of a sudden?!? :-D) Anyway, they were for the mom of two boys who are into competitive 4-wheeling... an activity I know absolutely nothing about.  Here are a ton of pictures from both books.

Doghouse

We have this special thing at school where kids earn "caught being good" tickets and they're all put in a box and every Friday a name is drawn to be "Bulldog of the Week." Well, the box in the office was kind of out-dated lame so I created a new one over Christmas break. (Yes, it has been a MONTH since I posted last). I started out with a photograph box, then made walls and the roof using thick chipboard. I cut strips of red cardstock and inked them to make the siding, and used sandpaper for the roof. My wonderful cricut cut out the "BULLDOGS" label. I love the font on Car Decals! The project is something like 7x13, x12 inches tall. LOVE IT! I ended up adding some scrollwork around the top to hide the hot-glue gun marks (from attaching the roof) but forgot to take a picture afterward.

Crayons!!

My mom bought me a Crayola Crayon Maker for Christmas, which is supposed to melt bits of old crayon into new ones. I was so excited to try it out! Well, it didn't quite end up being as amazing as I was hoping (After a trip to Walmart for 60 watt candelabra bulbs) but as I was waiting 30 minutes to make 4 tiny crayons I decided to play around with the wax and try out a few things with it.

So first, let's get it straight that I am NOT a baker. I don't cook (although I am getting better). When I went to a pampered chef party a couple of months ago I didn't know what half the items were for. I did see a double boiler, though, and my first thought was "ooooh crayons!!" So I bought it. And yesterday I FINALLY got to try it out. I tore off the paper on old crayons (after sorting them into basic color groups) and melted them in the pot. Then I poured the wax into 3" soap molds. They turned out awesome... but flippin' huge. So I decided to try baking, as mentioned on the Greenbean's Crafterole.

1. I chopped up the crayons into pea-sized bits (yep... pampered chef food chopper and cutting board)

2. I put the tiny pieces in a tiny muffin tin (yep... first use for that pampered chef item, also!) and baked at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Then I let them cool for a few, then put them on the back porch to cool even more (It was beyond freezing outside!) 

3. When Channing brought them in, we popped them out of the pan. and Ta-Da... the perfect size crayon for little hands at church. (And I'm just dying to draw grass with that green... remember how long it used to take when you were little and trying to color the landscape?!? Not anymore!)

Snowflake Cupcakes

Here are some adorable chocolate cupcakes I made to take to church for my favorite kids/teenagers after their Christmas play Wednesday night. They did a FABULOUS job. I was so proud! I used Winter Lace for the fondant/gumpaste cuts, and sugar pearls. The kids loved them!

Circle Stocking Swap

Here is my box of goodies I received from CallieJean on the Circle Board. How fun!

A Package from Kymberlee!

Kymberlee sent me a package in the mail, which I received this morning! (I love substitute mail-man days- the mail runs about 5 hours earlier.) She got me the long cuttlebug mats along with ALL 3 quilling kits, the 3 new seasonal cartridges (I have been eyeing Gingerbread since the moment I saw it), an iRock (the machine that I never knew I needed but I doubt I'll be able to live without now), and some pajamas and fuzzy socks. She also sent a little zipper pull with a puppy on it :-). She's such an awesome friends- I'm off to go play!