Another Countdown

For the past 2 weeks, I have come home each day and flipped a number on my school coundown (I'm now down to 51 days!)... This has become something that I REALLY look forward to... Yes, it reminds me that summer is almost here and I will once again have the time to do all the things I enjoy... But more than that, it reminds me that I've made it this far... I started at 176 days and am now down to 51... I feel accomplished, I feel productive... And for those of you who know me well, you know that those two words probably describe me and what I strive for best.

So now I've made another countdown (51 is still a lot of days, I needed a quicker ending point)... The countdown shown below is counting the days until Spring Break (yay!!!)... I  used my super cute new font from Lettering Delights, PC Garden... I think I might actually take this one to school... I know my kids are all counting down the days, too... I had several students walk into my classroom today and say "Ms. Deslatte, I counted the days we have left until Spring Br--" and I very enthusiastically interupt them and say "15!"... But now the day is over and we have only 14 days until Spring Break... Happy crafting, all!

School Countdown

So after having a bit of a rough week at work (doesn't it always seem like a rough week?), I decided to make a countdown... a countdown until summer! I threw this one together in less than 5 minutes, just something to remind myself "you're almost done!" I really can't wait to sleep in until the sun comes up, exercise on a more than monthly basis, cook one meal at a time, run errands in daylight, and read something other than a science textbook! Wow! That sounds so good I may not go back in September! Eh, who am I kidding, I'll be bored and back in my classroom getting ready by July. The joys of teaching.

To make the countdown, I printed out a paper that said, "Days Left". Then I printed pages with 2 each of numbers 0-9. I layered those numbers, whole punched, and clipped them in binder rings. I also used a red file folder as a stand... like I said, I put this together in less than 5 minutes! But hey, it works! Happy crafting!

Composition Book

So today is one of my good friend's birthday... Happy Birthday, Heather! She just got married last November so it's still really fun to put her new name on everything. Below is her birthday present... I used a store-bought composition book then glued some patterned paper on the cover along with her name... three black buttons and a pink ribbon later... viola! She runs a preschool, so I figure she'd be able to find a good use for it. Happy crafting all!

Bookmark

I was experimenting over the weekend and somehow ended up with this bookmark. It's double sided - patterned fabric on one side and brown grosgrain ribbon on the other. I stitched an outline of the beige flowers in the fabric with beige string (super suttle). I then sewed the fabric and ribbon together... Of course, I only pinned one side as I passed the bookmark through the sewing machine and ended up attempting to pin the other side while it was still attached. Don't try that at home! So my new bookmark has already been put to work, holding my place in the book I started over winter break and haven't picked up since... Oh how I can't wait for summer! Happy crafting!