Liebster Award! What! What!

Well folks, great news! The Gemini Teacher has nominated little ol' me for my first award! How cool is that? It's called the Liebster Award! I think it's a great little way to introduce myself to other newbies and share other newbies!

The Liebster Award is given to up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers. So, what is a Liebster?  The meaning: Liebster is German and means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome. Isn't that sweet? Blogging is about building a community and it's a great way to connect with other bloggers and help spread the word about newer bloggers/blogs.

Liebster Award Rules:
1. Link back to the blog that nominated you (check)
2. Nominate 5-11 blogs with fewer than 200 followers (working on that)
3. Answer the questions posted for you by your nominator (check)
4. Share 11 random facts about yourself (check)
5. Create 11 questions for your nominees (check)
6. Contact your nominees and let them know you nominated them (work in progress)

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So here are my questions posed by Denay! :)

1. Favorite subject or topic to teach?
I love love love teaching math. I was the world's WORST math student, but now I think I enjoy teaching it because I know how hard it can be for those kids that just don't get it on the first try!

2. What are two things in which you would say you are skilled?
Photography & Emergency escapes!

3. What is a weird habit you have?
I enjoy speaking "Whale"... LOL! Hello Finding Nemo!

4. What is the most adventurous thing you have done?
Pursued my private pilot's license? Sky diving? Eloping in Vegas? I'm all about adventures!

5. Who is your longest friend and why?
Rebekah Wolfe. . . We're both crazy and know how to keep good secrets.

6. Do you have any "catch phrases" that you always say?
"True Story" 

7. What do you consider a challenge as a blogger?
Writing daily ... or even frequently! I have two babies, a dog, a husband, a job... where in the world do people find the time to blog daily? 

8. What are 3 adjectives you'd use to describe yourself?
Creative. Loving (sorta). Sassy!

9. Best piece of advice given and/or received?
"Be yourself."

10. What do you remember from your very first day as a teacher?
I was so nervous I had sweaty pits... LOL Hey, I'm all about honesty! I was nervous, constantly checking my handwritten schedule, scared to death I would forget to take the kids to lunch... oh boy. That was fun!

11. Do you have a bucket list? One thing on it?
I want to enter (and win) a watermelon eating contest!

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Eleven Random Facts About Me

• I love sushi. I wish I could eat it daily.
• I'm scared to death I'm going to be a terrible K teacher next year. Like I have nightmares - scared. 
• I have a fish (that was given as a party favor) called Senior Fiesta Pants
• I love love love having my hair brushed. 
• I wish I knew how to sharpen a knife. 
• I would love to become a professional photographer after learning to better my skills
• I really like getting greeting cards.
• I'm not really sure how life existed before Pinterest
• I hate coffee.
• I do not like to drive as a passenger, with anyone. ever.
• I think my kids are cuter than anyone else's. yep, i said it. :p

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Nominees

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Monday Made It!

I'm linking up with Tara over at 4th Grade Frolics and all the fellow Monday Made It'ers (haha) to share something I've made recently! Okay, so it wasn't exactly this Monday so don't call the blog police on me, k?

I made this little chair and table for my littles at home, but certainly wouldn't be opposed to making another one for my classroom. {shhh... don't tell the husband I might be planning another project!}

So I'm sure plenty of you have the trouble that your little ones need a place in your living room, of course, to have some snacks, color, play, etc. It's there little space of fun within the fun. For a good month or two we seriously had a giant kids picnic table in our living room. Courtesy of "Grandma". Gee, thanks, mom. For those of you without kids  - hang tight, it's still a cool little table for your classroom too!

Well, something needed to be done... I searched for some inexpensive kids tables and found Ikea had a little wood one, Latt. (Click on picture below for the link to the table at Ikea) $19.99. Why not?!

Then I realize, AFTER putting it together that I wasn't really excited about having a bunch of toothpick looking wood in my living room. It didn't match anything! Clearly, it was better than my last nightmare... but still wasn't what I needed. 

Off to Home Depot I went. I picked up some spray paint that matched some nearby {chevron} baskets I hide store the kid's toys in. 

 (color: Seaside)

Oh look! This is what happens when someone can't make her mind up about the table and chairs BEFORE she put them together. Okay, so I'm a little indecisive sometimes? Aren't we all? Whatever! Hand over that little allen wrench thing already!

Next was the spray painting! I LOVE spray painting! 

It's SO quick, easy, and um... a little messy...

So here again, my indecisiveness gets the best of me. I like to call it trial and error. I painted the seats of the chairs with leftover chalkboard paint to match the top of the table, as planned. Well, then I realized how much of a pain having chalk on the kid's butts everyday would be! So guess who had to take these things apart again? YEP! This gal!

I ended up finding "laminated fabric" at Hobby Lobby {sigh...} in chevron! Perfection! I used a simple spray adhesive to attach the fabric onto the seats and put everything back together AGAIN!

All in all, I can say I absolutely love this table and chairs for my littles. The laminated fabric seats are perfect for easy cleaning! He's already spilled a few things and they clean up so easily! 

That's my latest little project - I think if I have time before going back to school I would like to make one for a cute listening center area? Where could you use something like this in your classroom?

First Linky! Super School Shopping Saturday!

I've mentioned previously that I'm new at this "blog" thing, but not-so-new at the following of them. Well, as I've been super busy with my two littles and desperately trying to figure out what I need for my new grade, I may or may not have been slacking at this writing thing. {whoops!}

Well, to make up for it, I have joined my first Linky Party! What a better Linky Party than one that shows off my latest shopping finds?! Shopping? Sharing? I'm so in!

Make sure to stop by and check out what these sweet gals have found. I was so excited to come across some superhero love! Jayme from Smart Kids created a really cute superhero writing prompts available in her TPT store... maybe she will find some of my finds useful for that unit? ;)

SO folks, without further delay, these are my SUPER School Shopping Saturday share:

First, my only stop today was at Michael's Craft Store. Lord help me! I thought it was a safe place to venture without being tempted to spend MORE money on my classroom. Should have been safe - there's no office supplies around and I'm set with my list of about a hundred "craft projects"...  Ladies, gents... I was wrong! Super wrong. ;)

I found all of these rewards, incentive cards, stickers....  for $1. Yes, uno!

Next up, again... a $1.00 explosion:
Wooden Hall Passes... We don't even USE hall passes for our bathrooms but seriously, these are adorable, and one dollar. Could I really say no? OBVIOUSLY not. Check out those Super Student paper masks! Adorbs! Oh, and since I just recently read {somewhere} how useful those long pointers are... well, ya'll know I had to get one of those too!

And the last of my loot: two ornate photo frames for my desk. I had some photos taken by Ella Lu Photography for my Husband's Father's Day gift back in May and just love them! I guess I need just one more for one of all of us together. . . Hmmm guess that means another trip to Michael's tomorrow?

I hope you enjoyed checking out my $1.00 finds. I can't wait to find more classroom loot that I just can't live without!

Any last minute suggestions on things I absolutely can't live without in Kinder? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Enjoy your weekend!

Chevron Table Signs

Hello! Hello!

This week has been a busy one! I enjoyed the holiday with friends and family, poolside! Can't beat that!

So one of the million things I accomplished for the classroom this week are these cute little chevron table signs! It all started when I was shopping in Ikea for a cheap rug for our family room.... Preferably one that wouldn't make me shed tears when my two year old or 6 month old gets {insert some random gross bodily fluid here} on it!

I came across these little 4x6 plastic frames (see far lower right) that were such a steal: $0.99! Uh, hello!? Come to momma!

I came home and quickly (you know those 45min of silence you get when you somehow orchestrate two babies to nap at the same time?) and whipped up some signs. Overall, I am pleased with how they turned out!

I hope to use these nifty little signs on the tables for my kinders. I think it allows the opportunity to review their colors, and be easy on my eyes. Okay, so what do you think? I'd love to hear your ideas? Could you use them in your classroom for anything? As I mentioned previously, I've never taught kindergarten so I'm just kinda making this up as I go along!

If you'd like a copy of the file to print for your classroom, I'm happy to share. Grab your free copy below. :)

ChevronTableSigns_JustAPinchOfSalter

Hope to share a BIG project I've been working on with you soon. If you follow me on Instagram, you got a sneak peek today!

Have a great weekend ya'll!

Welcome!

Okay! So here I am, finally a moment to sit down and start this blog thing! After teaching third grade for a couple of years now, I’m headed to….  Kindergarten!

What?

K?

Que?

You what?!

Yes, folks… I am going to Kindergarten! I love change and obviously love a challenge – so why not? I must be honest and say how thrilled I am to have this opportunity!

I’m new to the blogging action, but certainly not new to reading these precious gems! They’ve been the heart of my teaching existence since the beginning. I search for inspiration, read about folks having some of the same experiences, it's such a nice way to collaborate with folks outside of the classroom. I’m hoping to find the time between being a mom, wife, graduate student and teacher to keep up with this! Personally, I hate when I really get into a blog and the blogger takes a vacation or just up and abandons ship!

My theme this year is “Salter’s Super Smarties” and will be little super heroes! I am so excited to start creating my first kinder classroom and share ideas of my own (and those I come across as I’m blog-hopping).

Thanks for joining me on this journey – Hang on, it could be a bumpy one! ;)