Monday Made It- Back to School

Hey there!  We are finally linking up with Tara for Monday Made it!!  It's definitely been a while!

We had open house/ meet the teacher day today and so we had a few things that we made that went with that!

First off, I'd like to share a treat that I gave to my students today.  The idea originated from this pin:

Click the picture to go to the original post.

I was really excited that she gave directions on how to cut everything out because I just hadn't even thought about using my Cricut, but it was perfect for this!

Here is my owl with gummy worms treat bag!  On the back (which I of course forgot to take a picture of) it has a label that I printed that says "4th grade is a hoot!  I am so glad that you are in my class!"

So, I used my Cricut to cut a scallop that was 4 inches.  Then, I used some black sticky vinyl and cut the black circles 1 inch in width.  Then, I cut the white paper circles at a 1 and 1/4 inch width.  The nose is a triangle that is 1 inch in width.

Squirrel

Two years ago when I was on maternity leave with my youngest son, I had a tendency to watch the Home Shopping Network.  This was not a good idea.  Sitting at home all day with a tiny baby apparently made me think I needed all of Rachael Ray's pots and pans and many other things.  A while back Diane from Fifth in the Middle blogged about her sticker maker.  For some reason, it sounded familiar, but I didn't really put much thought into it.  Then, I looked for one at Joann's before school got out and saw a very small one that looks like an X by Xyron.  Again, it looked familiar.  I thought I might have one.  Well, over the summer I was moving some things around on my craft table and saw a box and wondered what was in it.  I opened it.  It was a little sticker maker shaped like an X!  Score!!  Christmas in July!!!  Wohoo!!  Moral of the story- sometimes crazy maternity leave shopping sprees on the Home Shopping Network can be a very handy thing!

Back to the craft.

After two years of sitting in the box, I decided to figure out how to use this sticker maker because I thought it would be pretty handy to just peel and stick the eyes and nose of the owl.  Man.  This sticker maker is sooooo easy.  You literally just drop it into that open part at the top and pull the tape at the bottom and you have a "sticker" (there's sticky residue on the back, like a label).  Done.  So, all I had to do was peel and stick.  It made me very happy since I had to make 28 of them!

Now, I put gummy worms in the bag because last year when I made these, I thought I was being so clever because birds eat worms.  I made these cute little bags and set them out.  One of my teammates came in and said they looked cute.  She asked why worms?  I said because birds eat worms.  She said, "Owls don't.  They eat mice."  I stopped in the middle of what I was doing and was mortified.  Then, because every now and then I can be quick on my feet, I said, "Then we will pretend they are snakes since owls eat snakes, right?"  She laughed and said yes!  This year, before I made the treats she came in and asked if I was giving out gummy snakes again this year and I said yes!  She laughed and said it's a shame I can't find gummy mice.  I think I'm good with the worms/snakes.  I'm not sure why it's ok to eat gummy worms. Gummy mice sounds ewwwwww to me.  :O)  

Ok, enough about owls and gummy snakes and the Home Shopping Network...

Here is what we gave as "homework" for them to have for the first week- to fill a paper bag with up to 5 things that they want to share about themselves to us as an introduction the first week.  I have done scrapbook pages for the last few years but I didn't think they'd have enough time since they met us on Monday and then had to have this by Wednesday.  My bag is called "Owl About Me" and Stacia's is "An All About Me Crab Bag" (instead of grab bag) because her theme is ocean.  We got this idea from another teacher years ago and just changed it to match our theme.  Stacia's treat was goldfish since her theme is oceans!  The note says "Welcome to Mrs. ______'s ocean of learning!  Come swim along with us!  It will be a great year!"  (She made that up.  Just like I made up the gummy worms snakes.  I think hers was a tad more successful.)  ;O)

When we went to IKEA after the Atlanta Blogger Meet Up we bought these really cute frames with a stand for less than a dollar each.  They were perfect for leaving out on the table and giving directions to parents so that when we were caught up in conversation, they could just read the directions and get started on filling out forms.  My signs of course have owls (pic on the left) and Stacia's are ocean themed (pic on the right).

Last, but not least, I made my teammates a little gift.  I had some left over daisy tops from our Atlanta Blogger Meet Up and some left over straws.   So, I used those, went to Walmart and got some mugs with a handle (only $1.00 each!) and filled them with lifesavers.  I made a little note that says, "It's a lifesaver having you on my team!"  I know it's a little cheesy, but I had tons of leftover lifesavers from my daughter's birthday party last week and I figured, why not?

Phew!  I think I've talked your ear off!  That's what happens when I've been gone so long from blogging!  I have so much I want to tell you!  :O)

I hope you have a wonderful week!!  :O)
Amanda