Back to School Bulletin Board Fun!

I’ve told you before just how much I love bulletin board day at the little MDO I work at. LOVE. IT! I grew up helping my mom get her school ready for the first day (she was an administrative assistant) and some teachers would PAY me to do their bulletin boards for them! So now I’m just living the dream…

As we geared up for the Fall semester we did our best Pinterest-ing, went crazy with the scissors, and got our hallways and doors ready for a bunch of classy kiddos. Enjoy and PLEASE share!

This is our big bulletin board in the hallway. We write the name of EVERY student in our program on this board. The older ones LOVE finding their names (and it keeps them quiet while waiting for the bathroom)

8 Christmas Bulletin Boards

December will be here soon. With that comes winter and Christmas and all kinds of bright and cheery. As a preschool teacher, I love to create an environment where my kiddos can see and feel the excitement of the season! What better way to do that than creating colorful bulletin boards?!

Eldon’s First Birthday Party

It’s true. Just a few posts back I was showing his nursery. Now I’m showing his first birthday. That, my friends, is just kind of how this first year has gone.

I blinked.

Baby E’s Nursery

I guess now that six months have rolled by.  Now that we have made this little man a part of our forever.  Now that we’re beyond the days of infant reflux, begging for smiles, and long daytime naps.

I might as well share his nursery.

Keep in mind that themed baby nurseries with matching bedding, curtains, changing table, wall decals, bumpers, rug, artwork, lamps, etc… give me hives.  It looks awesome in your baby’s nursery!  But I don’t want it in mine.  So if you’re hunting ideas to anti-theme your baby’s room, you’ve come to the right place.  I want a room my boy can grow into.

Kitchen Makeover: Transformation

Now, where were we?  Planned, prepped, primed… and now painted!

Kitchen Makeover: Preparation

I don’t know about you, but about 75% of my project planning happens in my head.

The other 25% is spent getting ideas or deciding on final touches… either at Lowe’s, on Pinterest, or who knows where.

So it makes sense that my husband (and others) might think I’m procrastinating… when in fact, I’ve been stewing over things in my head for days, or weeks, or even months.  Getting things placed just right.  Making decisions.  Eliminating options.

It’s true that most of my preparation for a project goes unseen.

Which I guess is why it’s SO exciting when the rubber hits the road and I get to start putting things down on paper, if you will.

Kitchen Makeover: Inspiration

Change is inevitable.

Sometimes it comes in slow, gentle waves.  And other times it hits suddenly with the weight of a hurricane that blows through your life and leaves it forever transformed.

I’m not sure what I would call our move.  Unexpected.  Exciting.  Exhausting.  Expensive.

Whatever it was, I recall spending hours deep in thought.  Carefully mapping out my vision for our new home.  And yes… it was a home.  A four-bedroom, 1940’s-built house with one bathroom, no closets, and a kitchen that desperately needed some TLC if I was going to spend the next few years washing dishes in it…

By hand.

So, as with any renovation it began with a little inspiration. 

Diamonds in my Kitchen

It’s funny, the things that we hold onto from yesterday.

For some, it is an antique wash basin or an old dining room table- maybe thrifted or bought at a collectibles store and worth a “fortune”.  For others it is old farm implements, propped up by the mailbox.  And then there are those items that, to the naked eye, might mean nothing… but to you they mean the world.

To you they embody a bygone day.  A childhood of memories.  A love that spans generations.

For me, it is an old flat carpenters pencil sitting on a shelf in my bedroom.  Because I don’t ever remember seeing my Grandpa without one behind his ear.

And for my guest blogger Debbie, it was a simple, 9×13 baking dish.

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

It’s true.  I went MIA over the past week.  I wish I could say it’s because my husband and I stole away on a romantic, kidless, long-weekend.  But actually, it’s just because I was crazy busy all day Friday taking care of other peoples’ kids (so they could go out) and then we spent the weekend at my Mother-in-Law’s.

We call it our vacation home.

DIY Felt Valentine’s Day Streamers

Valentine’s Day is coming!  I love Valentine’s Day.  I love the candy.  I love the colors. I love the meaning. And I love how you can make it either really complicated… or really sweet and simple. I definitely fall someplace in the middle.

Today I want to share a craft you can do to add a little pop of color and fun to your Valentine’s decorations (if you even HAVE Valentine’s Day decorations).  And if you don’t, then this will be the perfect thing for you.