DIY Class Rug

Ever since having my own classroom became a reality I have been drooling over super adorable rugs to give it that cozy "home away from home" feeling. Unfortunately, my just out of college budget along with my husbands still attending Physical Therapy school budget meant that those dreams would still remain entrapped in my pillow...

So I did what any right minded female would do and hit up Pinterest. I had seen many pins and blog posts before about painting a rug, but I was never sure of how it would turn out so I passed them by. However, after finding a bland $24 rug at Lowe's images started flooding back into my mind....

I don't have an exact link to where I got the tutorial from because to be honest I looked up about a million (possible slight exaggeration). All you have to do is search DIY rug and you will have all the resources you need.

I picked up some spray fabric paint and Scotch fabric protector from Hobby Lobby (I already had painters tape) and was on my way. Now, because I'm anal retentive I had to make a sketch to scale of the width of the tape I used (about 2") before I created my designed on my rug. I highly recommend this step because it saves the time of pulling up tape a gazzillion times over.
*hint* It is no exaggeration when said that painters tape will have a hard time sticking to the rug. Just put it down best you can and spray the paint directly above appointed area.

I had a blast making this, and I plan on making another one for my desk area (this one is for the library), and updating the one I have in my craft room already!!!

So many possibilities! I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did.

Until Next Time,

Olivia

Books, books, books, books... Oh! More books

Do you ever have that feeling that as you are digging a hole the dirt is falling right back down so you're getting nowhere? Yah. That's how I feel about my classroom at the moment.

I am so fortunate to have great teacher mentors in my life, and one provided me with her entire library (over 2500 books!) which is absolutely fabulous and a true God send (before I had maybe 10 books to fill this reading teachers shelves). The only problem I am having is organizing all of these books :/ It is what I have been doing all week and it still looks like a mess.

But it will get there. As will the rest of the classroom, and I'm sure it will look much better with eager third graders in it.

That's all I have for tonight (because I haven't been doing much of anything else lol). I do have a couple posts of some things I have made for my room that will be up shortly.

Until next time,

Olivia

Celebrations of Terror

Drum Roll Please...................

I received a call around 8:30 pm a couple weeks ago informing me that I am an official 3rd Grade Literacy teacher!!! YAY

And I can honestly say that the nightmares started that night.

"Oh my goodness, what have I gotten myself into....!"

"I am responsible for the education of 50 students....!!"

"What if I can't reach them....!!!"

"What if I miss out on what they really need to know....!!!!"

AAAAHHHH

Needless to say I am secretly terrified (though not so secret at this point) Lol. Don't get me wrong. I know with all my heart this is what I am meant to do.  I have never felt so comfortable as I have with my students in a classroom. It's just a little  a LOT nerve racking for it to be MY classroom this time.

God has blessed me so much to have the opportunity to work with such an amazing group of teachers.  I know they will be my support lifeline throughout this year.  

Walking into my classroom for the first time this is what I saw:

Now, being a person who thrives on organization this slightly overwhelms me, but I have been working on it and will hopefully have some finished pictures soon enough.  Even my wonderful husband has been up there helping me =-)!

Until Next Time

Olivia

The Great Pinterest Hunt!

Have you heard of it? There is a scavenger hunt going on on Pinterest! Pretty cool huh? It is sponsored by The ScrapBox and you can find all the details at IHeartOrganizing.  Go check it out and join in on the fun!

Olivia

Splish Splash

I spent almost 7 weeks staying with my Grandmother in Louisiana earlier this summer.  The great part about it is that I was able to see my family for more than just two days (the last time I was able to do that was when I lived there in jr. high and early high school).  My Granny shares a lot of land with my cousin (and her family), and they both live across the street from my aunt.  


They all live right down the street from the first house that I have ever lived in *the house my father built*.  The same people live in it now who bought it from us when we moved away to Memphis, TN all those years ago.  It was almost a surreal feeling to drive past it every day.


Anyways *exiting off Memory Lane*, I had some fun times with all my little cousins, and I was able to scrapbook a few of those while I was there. *There are more to come now that I am home too*


This particular layout is my first shot at making  a two page layout:

After a series of extremely hot day the kiddos were getting a little stir crazy, so out came the slip and slide!

I added some stitching and journaling after the pictures were taken, just to add some spice.  The accents and pattern paper are from  Imaginisce Animal Crackers collection.  The ribbon is some I had in my stash (I'm not positive where it is from).   

In other news, I am trying to decide on a theme for my classroom.  I really kind of want to go with a travel/adventure theme; however, I want it to focus on world travel not just the USA, and I don't want the emphasis to be on transportation (which is what almost every thing I look at for this theme focuses on).  So, I am trying my hand in making my own cutesy classroom theme printables that you see all over the teacher blogs and websites.  We shall see how this turns out.  If you have any suggestions that would help with any aspect of this I would love to hear it (through email, comment, whatever).


I believe that is all I have for you now (mostly because watching Rachel Ray while I am typing this is making me hungry).


Until Next Time:
Olivia

Hello Darlin'. Nice to see yah.

*singing* It's been a long tiiiiiiime*


=-)
It really has been a long time.  Close to a year in fact. Honestly, it made me sad looking at my last post. One: because it was portraying the loss and grief of my family from when we lost my niece Evie. Two: because of how long it has truly been.  


I obviously took a break from blogging and social media in general (except Pinterest, but that really doesn't count right?).  I focused mostly on my family and finishing school. Speaking of which I can proudly say that I am an official college graduate and certified teacher!!!! Yay!

*I will hopefully have exciting career news to share in a couple of weeks.*

My husband and I just arrived home from spending about 7 weeks with family, most of which being in Louisiana.  I was able to visit while he went to work every day, but we really had an amazing time. (Though I have never been happier than I was the night I reunited with my own bed!) We had a blast taking my young cousins to zoos, water parks, aquariums, and simply hanging out at the house; and me be me I of course documented all of it with photographs.

I have several crafty things that I have lined up to share (some of which being scrapbook pages made from all of the Louisiana adventures). But for now I will leave you with one of my favorite pins from Pinterest that I  keep going back to every day and will end up on my wall in some shape/fashion...

                                   

Until Next Time

Olivia