Feeling Lazy = Free Fonts

I have been feeling lazy with a capital L-A-Z-Y. So very lazy! It's a combination of lack of sleep, cold weather, and night classes. I still haven't been in the school work mood yet. I just want to get into the classroom and do more hands on learning. Hopefully next week it will happen!

As much as I have no motivation to do anything, I couldn't disappoint you all without a freebie this week. I was stuck with what to create as I didn't have any good clip art for the week so I went to my default freebie: fonts. 

Here are two free fonts. I didn't even realize but I was clearly stuck on the letter F with my font names. Just give simple credit by using a link to my blog or my blog button in the credits if you use. Hope you enjoy! 

Click on the picture to download.

Click HERE and HERE and HERE if you missed my previous free fonts!

I'm linking up for another fabulous edition of Manic Monday by Classroom Freebies! Hope you find many more fabulous freebies!

Once again it's Freebie Friday by TBA!

I hope to make it back this week to post at least once! I already owe you my Shopping Sunday picture update that I will have to post next Sunday! I am thinking Wednesday is my best bet as a date to post because I usually can manage Wordless Wednesday's. Hopefully this will get easier in time to manage both!

Stay tuned later in the week for a giveaway! I am going to offer either a $10 Starbucks gift card or some nail polish as a prize for a guessing giveaway. Let me know in the comments what you would prefer as a prize! Or maybe I will do winner's pick! Decisions, decisions! 

A Pencil Sharpener That Will Make You The Envy Of The School

I am so very excited! My very own world's greatest pencil sharpener came in the mail this week! I was so excited to open the box and see the amazing goodness! 

(Please ignore the terrible quality photos - my camera lens won't open so I had to take phone pics)

I quickly took it out of the box and couldn't wait to get sharpening!

I was a bit perplexed as this isn't your ordinary pencil sharpener. You have to squeeze the handles and pull the sharpener out while at the same time putting the pencil in the hole. Then as you sharpen, the pencil will slide in towards the base until it is perfectly sharpened. I thought it was going to be a waste and eat up a huge chuck of pencil but it knows just exactly the right length it has to sharpen to perfection without being wasteful.  I had to watch the video on the website to learn all this because it was a foreign concept to me. The video cleared up any confusions and I was ready to go!

Here's the pencils before:

Here the pencils after:

See the amazingly pointy tips! I always use mechanical pencils because I only like pencils that have the pointiest tips. After using this sharpener I won't be needing my mechanical pencils again! Now I can put all those penny pencils I got at Staples thus summer to good use. This takes the cake for best sharpener ever!

If you don't already own one, you're crazy! Pencil sharpening is often a torturous process in the classroom that teachers dread. With this sharpener, you will thoroughly enjoy sharpening! It is so much quieter than the others too! Hurry on over and grab one today for a steal of only $24.95 with free shipping! It comes in four colors that are sure to match your classroom scheme. What are you waiting for? Perfectly sharpened pencils await!

Wordless Wednesday (not so wordless)

Not going to lie this is probably the only post I will manage this week. Being back in school mode is kicking my butt! I don't know how you people manage teaching, grad school, and blogging! It's crazy!

(Eric Carle alphabet canvas from Target that I puffy heart)

(Mustache lollipop Valentine holders for my mustache loving friends)

It's absolutely FREEZING back at school! Walking across campus in -17 degrees with extreme wind chill is not my idea of fun! However, it does make for some pretty cool icicles!

Shake It Up Valentine Style! {Freebie}

As most of you know, I love going shopping each weekend and buying ordinary items and turning them into teaching related games and activities. Today, I am going to show you the result of an activity inspired by one of my shopping trips. 

I'm offering it up as a freebie for you all. I think it is my favorite yet! It was so much fun to make and I just love showing it in picture slides! For the activity, you can use the pieces that I used or substitute your own. Click on any of the images to download a free PDF version of this activity!  

A super fun activity called...

This activity is perfect for Valentine's day and is sure to be a fan favorite in the classroom!

Here's what you do:

I cannot wait to use this activity in the classroom as Valentine's Day nears. I know the kiddos are going to have so much fun shaking and guessing the number inside. I hope you have fun in your classroom playing too! 

I'm linking up for...

Freebielicious' Fabulicious Freebies on the First

 

Manic Monday at Classroom Freebies

and Freebie Friday at Teaching Blog Addict

Then, Rachael is having a fun game related linky party at Classroom Game Nook. Go check it out!

Shopping Sunday and Giveaway Shoutout

For my last weekend before school starts, I spent Saturday doing nothing other than shopping! I am a big retail therapy shopper! I am so lucky to be majoring in a career where you can basically buy any item and turn it into a teaching resource! 

This weekend, I hit up three stores: Lakeshore, Dollar Tree and Walmart. I skipped Target for the week because I spent about $40 in the dollar spot alone last week and I think I am on Target's most wanted list.

Lakeshore was having their science fair yesterday. It was a big hit! There were lots of littles there having so much fun learning about science through interactive hands on activities. I went straight for the free IWB/computer game. 

I got the $20 science fair game for only 29 cents. It was such a steal! I actually was able to go with a friend and pick up a second copy too. I bought some clearance train cars with numbers on them to use with counters. They didn't have the entire set but it didn't bother to me for only 29 cents!

Next, I hit up the dollar store. The dollar store has really improved with their selection of holiday items. There are so many great products that easily lend themselves to be used in the classroom. I picked up some items for Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, and Mardi Gras. 

Scratch and sniff stickers

Self-inflating balloons

Table scatter

Heart shaped boxes

 Mini St. Patrick's hats

Plastic clover dish

Tulip doilies

Mardi Gras plastic coins

I have big plans for each of these items that I can't wait to share with you soon! I will break them down into individual posts when I get to use them in the classroom!

Finally, I hit up Walmart for the last of their Christmas clearance items. I was hoping for some more snowflakes but I didn't see any. Instead, I grabbed an adorable Christmas tree container that I see many uses for! 

My favorite steals were these stickers for 10 cents, as well as adorable treat bags for 10 cents that I cannot wait to use next year for student gifts when student teaching. 

Overall, it was a very fun and successful last shopping trip! I can't wait for it all to get marked down on post-holiday clearance so I can buy even more! 

And if you are looking to do more shopping, check out Christi from Mrs. Fultz's Corner's bloggy birthday giveaway! 

 She's giving away $25 gift cards to Target and $50 gift cards to TPT! Even better, if you are looking for a blog design, Christi is giving $5 off her one of a kind pre-made blog templates which are beyond adorable! You won't want to miss out!

My New Custom Blog Design!

I am head over heels in love! With my new blog design of course! 

After being in the blogging world for a few months now, I decided I really love blogging. I wanted to make it blogger official with a custom blog design that represents me and my blog!

I knew just the person to contact for the job! Christi from Mrs. Fultz's Corner 

who also happens to be one of the most fabulous blog makers in town and has a blog design company Design by Christi!

Christi was so unbelievably fabulous to work with! Every e-mail I received with little previews of my blog was like opening a present at Christmas! She knew just what I wanted! It was like she could see the vision in my head and brought it to life right before my eyes! She is willing to make even the tiniest of changes until your blog is absolutely perfect for you. I could talk all day about how great of an experience I had working with her! 

I just love how my design turned out! She took it from this:

To all this!
She was able to pull together my favorite colors, patterns and love for nail polish into a seamless design. Don't you just love it too? 

One of my favorite parts are the social media buttons. I love being able to connect with bloggers outside of the blog. Be sure to stay in touch with me through any of my social media platforms on the right! I'd love to hear from you!  

If you are in need of a custom blog design, go with Christi! She will be willing to help you out with all your blogging needs in a short period of time. Thanks so much for the design Christi! You are the best!

The Mitten Activity

I happened to be in a pre-k classroom this week where they had read The Mitten that morning. I recalled a very fun activity from What The Teacher Wants and Under The Alphabet Tree where they wrote and drew different animals inside the mitten. You can see their activities HERE and HERE. I had always wanted to do that activity, but I didn't have the materials. Thinking on the spot, I created an activity inspired by those two lovely ladies. I had the kids draw their favorite animal from the story on a piece of blank white paper and write what animal they drew. 

I then turned it into this: 

I think it turned out pretty cute for an on the spot creation! I just love kid art! They had lots of fun with the activity! Next year I hope to do something similar but that is more thought out so it can be "cute-ified".