Well, well, well, it has been awhile! Some great things are happening 'round here, let me share the awesomeness.

1. Cardinals continue their postseason! We are 2 - 0 in the NLCS as we head out to LA to hopefully sweep the Dodgers. Chris and I went to Game 2 on Saturday with my mom and dad.

Something you should know about my parents and sporting events - they only like good seats or seats that come with extras. So we sat in the outfield with a primo view of everything with an all-you-can-eat buffet and free beer through the 8th inning. All inclusive + a Cardinal victory = AWESOME!






Of course I had to get my nails in the Cardinal's spirit.



My youngest sister turned 21. And we had the a seriously amazing Sunday funday birthday party complete with a party bus, a trip to Fast Eddie's, and topped off with Taco Bell.



While school has been keeping me busy, I have found some time to whip up some wreaths for mi familia...

I really can't believe it is mid-October. I worked on swapping out my summer and fall wardrobe today but I fear I won't be wrapped up in any cozy sweaters for a couple more weeks. It was still in the 80s this past week.

Well I'm off to get ready for the work week. Here's hoping it's a quick one!

Gotta love a three day weekend!

We did a little bit of everything this weekend: Friday night in, Saturday at the lake, Sunday dinner at my parents, and Monday spent grocery shopping and enjoying an extra day off.

I even found some time to get my craft on.


This wreath was surprisingly easy to make. I just pulled loops of burlap through the rungs of a wire wreath form and scrunched them together. Side note: When did wreath making become so expensive? If there wouldn't have been some great coups at Micheal's today, this puppy would have cost almost $40, sheesh! Sometimes it might be more economical to buy one off Etsy.

I can't wait to plant some mums which will really make our outdoors look more autumn like. I may have burned my sweet cinnamon pumpkin candle whilst crafting today - definitely wishing for some cooler temperatures and falling leaves. And bonfires. Just everything fall.

And now to look forward to a four day work week, a Friday night Cardinal's game with one of my best gals and her man, and my first ever gender reveal party. Can't wait to see what our friends, Joel and Natalie, are going to have!

Have a wonderful week!

All online classwork and no play, make Sara a dull girl.

I've been "reading and reflecting" since Friday, churning out almost 35 pages of written material so I can finish my +15 by July 31st.

Only one more class.

I took the day off today and visited my classroom. I put the finishing touches on my teacher toolbox for this year.



You may remember back in May when I instagrammed my steal from another teacher's giveaway pile. I knew I could gussy it up a little bit.

All it needed was a good wipe down and I was ready to decorate.

I decided on Washi Tape.

I know I am super late on the Washi Tape fad but I might be slightly obsessed. It was so easy to use - I just tore off pieces and slapped them the clear plastic drawers.

And with the addition of my sweet new label maker (which there may have been a little too much playing with over the weekend. I know...such a nerd!) I just typed out my labels and stuck 'em on.

Amazing what some spray paint and tape can do.

Imagine my astonishment this morning when I looked at the calendar and saw that tomorrow is July.

What?!

I may have had a mini-meltdown before breakfast, "But I haven't even been to the pool yet! School practically starts tomorrow!"

When I finally calmed down I remembered that the Fourth of July is coming up and I should probably decorate.

After browsing Pinterest for ideas and saying 'Merica for a half hour I decided to get all patriotic with a simple chevron flag design. Is the chevron craze over yet? Hope not, cuz I'm still digging it!



I didn't want to spend all afternoon creating something so using supplies I had on hand - red,white, and blue scrapbook paper, scissors, a ruler, tape, and a spare frame I put this together.

The easiest way for me to cut the zig zag shape was following this tutorial from A Simple Kind of Life. I didn't think I would need instructions on such an easy task but sometimes my brain likes to make simple things difficult. In about 10 minutes I had my lines drawn and ready to cut.

Then I just arranged the chevron strips of paper in lines that resembled Old Glory, taped them down, and there you go!

Anyone else have a lady love for Sabrina Soto? I could watch the High Low Project all day long!

I debated on whether or not to add stars but figured that would have to be cut pretty small and wouldn't make much of an impact.

So in about 25 minutes of drawing and cutting I have a simple, patriotic frame to add to my tiny window ledge.

Did you decorate for Independence Day? I love celebrating the Fourth with a good BBQ and watching fireworks. Hopefully we will head to the river front this year to see some pretty ones!

This weekend went far too fast. I think as the weather gets nicer, time, especially during the weekend feels like it moves quicker.

Chris and I went to Buffalo Wild Wings Friday night after work to watch the Cards and Blues play and enjoy a lovely gift card treat from Easter. Gotta love practically free dinners.

Saturday was glorious. All inclusive suite at the Cardinal's game.



Now don't get me wrong, free drinks and food, private bathrooms, and enough flat screens to sink a ship is fantastic, but sitting in the fancy seats just doesn't feel like you're at the game. Get me out there with the regular people who cheer, LOUDLY. And actually look like they're enjoying the game instead of making a business deal.


Eh. It was still a lot of fun with my sister, her boyfriend, and Chris.

I spent a good part of the weekend paying for my procrastination, cranking out about 10 pages worth of online classwork that is due tomorrow. Luckily I can still BS my way through "read and reflect" assignments and finished everything up about 6pm tonight. I'm going to try and take four online classes this summer so I can move over on the salary schedule. It is going to take much more commitment than I displayed for the one class I had over two months to complete. Yikes.

Finished up the weekend a pedicure and a little crafting. Finally finished a Cardinal's wreath for my mom that I started over spring break.


How was your weekend? Was it jam packed with activities or did you take a more leisurely approach? I'm hoping for a rather easy week at work. Have a great week!

January is turning out to be pretty rough on me. While I'm not exactly flu sick, I have the achiest body ever. I stayed home Monday and could barely get out of bed. All week, just dragging myself around feeling permanently hit by a truck. Here's hoping that I start feeling better soon. In the Good, Bad, and Ugly of this past weekend....it definitely makes the bad and ugly list.

Onto the Good, because there is so much good even when feeling crappy.

Since I logged so much couch time this week, I was slightly productive, reading Gone Girl in two days. If you haven't picked this book up yet, I highly recommend it. Sooo good.

Gone Girl

I watched season 1 of Girls over winter break and have been looking forward to season 2, which started tonight.

How was your weekend? Did you watch Girls or the Golden Globes where it won a few awards? I think Tina Fey and Amy Poehler have done an awesome job so far - I have been laughing out loud a little too hard at some of their jokes. Ha!

This week at work we are getting into the Halloween spirit by "spooking" each other. One person gets a candy treat for another person and secretly leaves it from them at their desk then the person who received the candy has to then spook another person (got it?).

I've been getting the itch to get crafty (as I so often do in the months of October - December) so I headed to the Dollar Tree to whip up these quick and easy treats seen on ...wait for it... Pinterest (where else?)


 The supplies needed you can see in the pic below. Some googly eyes, chocolate bars, and white crepe paper.


Simply wrap the crepe paper around the chocolate bar, secure with tape or glue. Then glue on the googly eyes...I used glue dots because I thought hot glue might melt the chocolate and we don't want that!

And ta-da! That's it!

My sister who is student teaching in Springfield made mummies and bats for her 1st graders. Too cute!



How was your weekend? Get any crafting done?

I'm currently biting my nails watching the Cardinals play game 6 and it's not looking pretty. We just need to get it together!
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I've been feeling the urge to be crafty - but not the all day, spend hours on something crafty. I just needed a quick fix. And since school is right around the corner (le sigh) I made something quick and easy that solves a big problem for my teacher desk.

I have too many supplies that I like to keep on my desk (wish I had a picture) I'm totally one of those people who if they put something in a drawer it never sees the light of day again. So my pens, pencils, scissors, etc. need to remain within eyesight. My desk currently has about 3 pencil cups along with a plastic caddy thing that holds remotes, hall passes, and other paraphernalia. So I needed something to wrangle it all together and be pretty at the same time.

Ta-Da!


I love it. A fun pop of color while being totally functional. How do you make it you ask?

1. Buy a lazy Susan (why is Susan so lazy?) I got mine 10% off at the Container Store for $14.36. Probably could have gone a cheaper route but I was really stuck on having at least six buckets on my turntable and this was the first I could find that was big enough...13" if you're wondering.

2. Buy some metal buckets from the Dollar Spot at Target. $7 total.

3. Slap some scrapbook paper on it. I used some tape to hold it down, nothing fancy.


4. Arrange your buckets.


5. Fill and enjoy!


I can't wait to take this to school to fill with more goodies like post-its, paper clips,  and what not. Not bad for $20 bucks and a couple minutes of time.

Have you done any quicky crafting lately? Tell me about it!

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Paper is one of my favorite things to work with when crafting - easy and affordable. As I was browsing Pinterest this past week I noticed a trend of paper flowers making their way on to my boards. Check these out...

{Via}

 These are "Martha" poms attached with floral tape to Dollar Store stems...can you believe that? They look so believable! I may have already started crafting a few poms so I can create my own arrangement.

{Via}

I love these flowers from Tatertots and Jello made with a Silhouette (but can be replicated without one). Learning how to make these are on my summer to-do list....which begins in just 15 days!

{Via}

Although not flowers these paper medallions caught my eye. I immediately saw them gracing the walls of my craft room.

Like what you see? You can follow me on Pinterest and see more good stuff on the daily.

Pin anything good lately? Link up with The Vintage Apple and leave me a comment so I can check them out!

This week at school we've been on this crazy schedule, some classes are an hour, some classes are a half hour so to make things less hectic my students have been working on a mapping activity that allows me to sit at my desk while they come to me to get their work checked (it's awesome). It also allows me to seriously multitask- like I'm talking grade papers, check student work, and still keep an eye on everyone. As I was sitting multitasking, I noticed that I could use a few more magnets in my classroom and from that point on the conversation in my head went like this:

"I need more magnets to hang up no name papers. But they need to be cute magnets. Yeah, more cute magnets. But I don't want to buy any. What can I make them out of?  I need clips. I need magnets. Cute, clip magnets. Clips...clips...clips....magnet...magnets...magnets. Clips...Clothespins? Scrapbook paper? Modge Podge? Done!"

And with about 5 minutes of time, I solved my not enough magnets problem with a super easy craft.


I quickly gathered my supplies:

• Clothespins
• Adhesive magnet tape
• Pretty scrapbook paper
• Double sided tape (I used my Scotch ATG gun)
• Modge Podge
• Paper cutter

I measured my clothespin and used my paper cutter to cut a piece of paper to size. And then used the tape gun to run a line of tape down the back of the paper.



Then I slapped a thin coat of Modge Podge on them to give 'em a little shine and adhere the paper to the clothespin a little better. Add a strip of magnetic tape to the back and you're finished!


Ta-da! Here they are in action, holding up my many important documents in my classroom. Even my students complimented my craftiness today. I'm surprised they even noticed! And best of all, it was totally free because I already had all the items on hand.

I love being able to knock out small projects...so often I take on something that takes a few days or is labor intensive. Quick and easy projects make me feel relaxed and happy.

So have you been doing any easy crafting lately? Or are you in the middle of a big project? Share a little in the comments so I can check it out!

P.S. I'm linking up with Home Stories A to Z for her Tutorials and Tips Link Party.