Stool makeover!

This is something else that I have seen on Pinterest and have been wanting to do.  I finally got to this, also this summer. 

 

I don't sit often while teaching, but I do use this quite often during spelling pre-tests and spelling tests, etc. 

 

This is what the sad looking stool looked like before...

 

 

The lake is by far the prettiest thing in this picture.  It was pretty awful looking.... but it had served the purpose.  So now it looks like this...

 

 

So, now it is pretty while serving its purpose instead.  :-) 

 

The polka dot fabric is actually a bandana from Hobby Lobby that I had left over from the curtains I made. 

 

In case you were wondering about my curtains I made, here they are. 

 

 

 

I folded over bandanas and stitched them so they slid onto curtain rods.  I love them!  They were fairly expensive to do.  To buy enough for my four wide windows, it was about $30.  As I mentioned before, I bought them from the Hobby Lobby website.  This is the second year I have used them and I am not even close to being sick of them.  I still love them just as much as the first day they were up. 



Toolbox makeover!

I had my husband buy one of these for me at Lowe's when I saw it on Pinterest.  I had been wanting to do a makeover for awhile.  I finally got to it.  :-) 

 

This is what it looked like before...

 

 

 

I put duct tape on the outside part, and added polka dot shipping/packing tape to the fronts of drawers.  I got that at Target.  It is clear with black polka dots.  I used my new label maker to make the labels for the drawers.  Here are some pictures of what it looks like now.  :-)  

 

 

It is in front of the window in my classroom so the light comes through.  I love it!! 

 



Student mailbox revamp with binder clips!

I needed to do something about my mailboxes.  My parents bought them for me about 8 years ago and they were looking a little... haggared.  There had been lots of layers of labels.  I saw an idea on Pinterest and adapted it to what I wanted to do (and had time for).  

I had been wanting to get a label maker for quite a while now, so this was the perfect time to get one.  They are about $20 at Wal-mart.  

 I made labels to go on the front of binder clips.  On the top of the binder clips, I added some polka dot Smash tape to each. This is the tape I used...

 This is what the labeled binder clips looked like...

I was happy with how they came out.  I then took the plastic parts off the mailbox and covered them with purple duct tape.  I slid them back on, then put the binder clips on and it looked so much better!  Fairly simple fix!  

 

Great student teacher present!

I did not make this for a student teacher, although it would be a great gift for a student teacher or someone that is going to be a teacher.  

I had a wonderful Ed. Tech. last year who is taking classes to become an elementary teacher.  This is what I did for her.  :-)  

 In the top picture you can see what I made to include the best.  I covered a clipboard in duct tape.  I had a ribbon hanging from the metal part at the top with her name on it.  Part of her duties last year included carrying around a clipboard, so I wanted her to have a cute one! :-)  

My classroom is a polka dot theme, so before school started I had made one for myself.  Here are pictures of how it came out...

She loved her basket of goodies and her new clipboard.  What teacher (or teacher in the making) doesn't love school supplies??? :-) 

Christmas presents for students!

Last year, I had 32 different students, so I wanted to do some that wasn't too expensive (about $14).  This is what I came up with...

 I bought the candy cane looking crazy straws at the Dollar Tree (I think there were 6 in a package) and boxes of hot chocolate at Wal-mart.  I cut out around the Christmas labels (while still on their backing) and punched a hole in it.  I also carefully punched a whole in the hot chocolate packet.  If you do this, be very careful not to puncture the packet.  I then used ribbon to tie it all together.  They really liked them.  It didn't take too long and it didn't cost too much.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This year, I only have 17 students, so I did something that cost a bit more (about $23).  The weather had been bad and I had a lot going on, so I had one night to buy everything and put it together, along with everything else that had to get done.  I got everything at Wal-mart.  I got boxes of hot chocolate, small Christmas jigsaw puzzles, sliding picture puzzles, yo-yos, and bags to put them in.  This year's group LOVES puzzles!!  I wrote on the bags in Sharpie before filling them.  They were excited to get a "bag of goodies"!  :-)  

4th grade pen pals from the other side of the country!

Below where this picture is taken, are pictures of all of my students' pen pals.  

We began having pen pals from California very close to the start of the school year.  My students are LOVING it!  What a great thing to get to know more about another place, different people, and learn the value of handwritten letters.  They get SO excited every time we get something in the mail from them.  Last Monday, we received a box from them containing a fleece scarf from each of their pen pals.  The students made them for the friends in Maine in hopes to keep them warm during our very cold Maine winter.  They cut the fleece into a scarf size strip then cut slits on the end and tied knots in them.  This is a picture Mrs. Gomez took of the fleece before her students made them... 

 There were all kinds of fun designs; camo, pink camo, black with brightly colored peace signs, butterflies, flowers, and others.  

We wanted to send them some "snow" from Maine, so we sent them some foam snowflake ornaments.  The students each added a design in glue and then we added glitter to them.  The students added their pen pal's name, their name and the year.  

I can't wait to see what the rest of the school year has in store for us!  Maybe we will continue our classes being pen pals after this year as well! :-) 

Towel rack makeover!

We were given my grandfather's old chrome towel rack, it is decades old and had seen better days.  The rubber feet on the bottom were all cracked and ready to fall off and the towel rack itself had some rust spots on it.  I wanted to see how it would look redone and it was well worth the try.  My husband took off the feet and used a wire brush on it to get the surface rust off.  We used Rustoleum metal primer spray paint first.  Then we used this:  

This is the same spray paint we used on the doorknobs and hinges.  It came out great.  We bought black rubber feet at the hardware store.  The whole makeover cost a few dollars.  Here's the result:

 We love it!

Easy FREE deal this week at Rite Aid!

The easiest deal this week at Rite Aid is 2 Reach Toothbrushes for FREE.  They are normally $4.99 if I remember right.  They are on sale for $2.99.  You will get a $2 +up reward for each.  The limit per Wellness card is 2.  There are $1/1 Manual Reach Toothbrush coupons on coupons.com.  Print two and use them to get 2 free toothbrushes this week.  This sale ends Saturday night (7/20). 

 

*You will have to pay out of pocket $4 plus tax, but then you will have two $2 ($4) +up rewards to use starting the morning after you buy these for the next two weeks.  Be sure to use your +up rewards within your two week window.  On the bottom of you receipt you will see the dates your rewards are available, and when they expire.  You do not need to have your receipt to use your rewards.  Your card holds the information and they will be automatically deducted next time you go.  

A couponing example with the breakdown :-)

This is an example couponing at Target yesterday. 

 

 

I got all of this for LESS THAN A DOLLAR before tax.  Here goes...

 

• I had a FREE coupon up to $9.99 for the Dove Body Wash received in the mail.  It was only $5.04 but it took off the entire $9.99.  So that almost $5 was used toward other things in this picture. 
• Windex Touch Up- $3.49 with $1/1 MQ. (from coupons.com)  (Not that great of a deal but I needed it. I love this stuff.) =$2.49
• Loreal Total Repair 5 12.6oz shampoo- $3.99 then used a $2/1 MQ and $1/1 TQ. = $0.99
• 2 Pantene (one shampoo and one conditioner)- $3.49 each then used BOGO FREE coupon (up to $4.99 it took the whole amount), then used a $3/2 TQ catalina.  =Free with a $1.01 overage 
• 2 Campbell's Go Soup- $2.49 then used $1/1 MQ (campbells.com) and a $1/1 TQ.  = $0.49 each
• Always Pantiliners- $0.94 and used a $1/1 MQ  =Free with a $0.06 overage. 
• 4 travel size Loreal shampoo- $0.97 each then used 4 $1/1 MQ =Free with a $0.03 overage for each.  (COUPON NOW EXPIRED as of 7/13/13)
• Vlasic Relish- $0.89 then used a $1/1 MQ from vlasic.com =Free with $0.11 overage. 
• I also bought a bottle of water to drink on my way home.  It was $1.49 + a $0.05 deposit. 

 

**All MQ (manufacture coupons) are from the newspaper unless otherwise noted.  All TQ (Target coupons) are from target.com unless otherwise noted.

**At Target "overage" can be used toward other purchases.  Be sure you buy enough to still be over zero with counting the overage. :-)   

 

Hope the breakdown helped! 

 

So... all of this for less than a dollar... :-) 





FREE is the best! :-)

So, my husband and I went on a few shopping trips this week to Target and Rite Aid and we ended up getting all of this for free...

 

 

 

$112 worth for FREE! :-) 

 

If I do say so myself, I think we're getting pretty good at this coupon thing! :-)  It's all about matching to sales and stacking coupons!

 

We also got some more things at very discounted prices.  :-)  I don't mean to brag, but it is just so much fun! 

 

**I got overage on a lot of these items, a little on some, but a lot on others, especially the Dove body wash (almost $5) and the Playtex (almost $4).  So, that overage paid for more items than are in the picture as well.  :-)

 

**EDIT-- I just realized while looking at my receipt that the Campbell's Go Soup wasn't free.  It was at one point, but the price went back up to $2.49, so they were $0.49 each after coupons. 



Hats!

I have been relaxing, trying to feel a little better.  Usually while I watch TV, I crochet.  
So... while I was laying low tonight, I made some baby hats.  :-) Here they are!

 

 



Our NEW Bathroom!! :-)

We LOVE how it came out!!  :-)  We got a lot of the décor  (including the curved shower curtain rod, towel, shower curtain, rug, trash can, tissue box cover, soap dispensers, etc.) as wedding presents (thanks to our teacher friends, my aunt and uncle, and our sister-in-law and niece) from our registry at Bed, Bath, and Beyond.  We put down red oak hardwood floor and subway tile from Lowe's.  We updated the knobs and handles as well.  The showerhead, faucets, all towel rods, toilet handle, toilet paper dispenser, etc. were all Pegasus brand (in oil-rubbed bronze) from Lowe's. All trim (crown molding, baseboard, shoe kick, door trim, corner trim between the tile and sheetrock, etc.) also came from Lowe's. 

 

Yesterday I scrubbed the sink, toilet and shower/tub.  They had all been sitting through a construction zone as the bathroom was being worked on and they were pretty dirty from that.  It took a lot of elbow grease, but they all look great! 

 

I still haven't put anything up on the walls,

but I will be soon.

We are beyond happy with the results...

here are the pictures! 

 

 

 

 

 

Please let me know what you think! :-)



Bathroom update

Super happy to report that our bathroom is DONE!  I will be posting pictures tomorrow.  I love it! :-)  

Super productive!

Between working in my classroom for part of the day and working around the house... I was going strong for 14 hours.  I had lunch with one of my teacher friends and made dinner for my husband and his brother, but besides that I was a super worker.  At school I cleaned out my filing cabinets.  My goal tomorrow or Friday there is to organize my papers into more specific files and organize my closets too. :-)  More to come.  I am very much looking forward to a very productive summer!  Yard sales tomorrow morning with Emily! :-) YAY!

Another Rite Aid Haul! :-)

We did another trip... well, a couple, on the same day.  We got this little bit Saturday night as a money maker.  I paid $0.38 then they paid me $1.50 for coupons that were being difficult instead of making me wait for them to work...AND there was a $3 +ups reward on it.  :-)  YAY!  So these items were MORE than FREE...

 

 

 

THEN... we went on Sunday and got all of this...

 

 

So that means that we got all of THIS...

 

 

 

$278 worth

for $21! 
It seems to be our lucky amount lately!

This haul included...

8 Olay body washes
4 Dove Men's body washes
1 Loreal Total Repair Shampoo
1 Garnier Fructis Shampoo
1 Pantene Shampoo
1 Pantene Styler
3 Simple wipes
1 Simple facial scrub
1 Simple revitalizing eye roll on
2 Cover Girl eye shadow
2 Almay concealers
4 Excedrin extra strength and migraine
2 Old Spice deodorants w/ travel size body washes
2 Boxes of Tampax Radiant tampons
4 Dawn dish soaps
4 cans Chef Boyardee Ravioli
2 Kellogg's Crunchy Nut cereal
2 Kellogg's Raisin Bran cereal
10 Knorr sides (rice and pasta)
1 2 liter Diet Pepsi
6 Suave body washes
2 Smucker's strawberry preserves

Not so bad, huh?  :-)
 

 







Rite Aid Haul :-)

First of all... we got all of this for FREE today...

 

 

 

Those items are included in the next picture as well... but we got EVERYTHING in the picture below for
 $21! :-)  YAY!!!!  :-)

 

 

 

In all it included...

 

2 Arizona Ice Teas

10 Finesse Shampoo and Conditioners

3 Dove body washes

50 Bic and Gillette razors

2 deodorants

4 Aveeno lotions

2 Reach Flosses

1 bottle (300ct.) St. Joseph Aspirin

 

$187 worth of goods...

ALL FOR $21!!

 

 

P.S.  All of the things in the picture below ($56 worth of goods) added up to ONLY $7 after BOGOs, coupons, and +UP rewards!  :-)

 



 

 

New Chair and Rug for My Craft Room!

I love my new chair and rug for my Craft Room.  I ordered the chair from Walmart.  It's a Better Homes & Garden's chair.  The rug is from RugsUSA.com.  I had a Groupon for RugsUSA and got this rug, a huge rug for my classroom and two small reading rugs all for $90... the price of JUST this rug.  I was pretty happy about that!  :-)