Summer Bucket List Linky

This linky is all about what teachers want to *get done* over summer. It seems like everyday I'm adding something to that "I'll do that when Summer Break starts..." list. Here are some of my top to-do's?

1. Wedding planning

Hopefully one summer mode kicks in I'll have more time to get down to the details of my Fall wedding. My wedding Pin board has been put on the back burner for too long!


2. Go on vacation... we are heading to the beach 4th of July weekend for a little fun & relaxation.

3. Classroom updates

There are some things I've been dying to get done in my classroom. I'm that teacher who, with 3 days left in the school year, is already doing some mad planning for next year!

4. Pick out things for our new house

It should be done by October (fingers crossed), so we need to be doing a lot of shopping and planning over the summer.

5. Complete the Whole 30+ Challenge

I have really been wanting to try the Paleo lifestyle... my eating and energy level lately has been not so good. Hopefully the start of Summer will re-energize. Which brings me to...



6. Get into an exercise routine. My after-school gym trips have been not-so-frequent as of late. I have good intentions, but after a long day sometimes it just ain't happenin'.

Wedding arms?

DIY chair re-upholstery and chair- back pockets for the classroom

I recently got a sewing machine and FINALLY got around to some projects I've been dying to do today! 

My first project was a re-do for my dining room chairs. We've decided to wait on getting a new dining room set for our new house, so these babies needed a little fixing up. This adorbs chevron fabric came from Hobby Lobby (20% off sale this weekend!)

What you need:

• 1 1/2 yards of duck or home decor fabric (I covered 4 chairs). Measure the area to be covered & add 5 inches to the length & to the width to see how much you will need.
• pliers
• staple gun
• staples

First, I ripped off the old fabric with pliers. 

Then, I placed the cut-out fabric face down and placed the seat face-down on top of it.

Using a staple gun, I stretched the fabric around and stapled away. So simple!

Another thing that I've been wanting to do is make chair-back pockets for my students next year. The ones from teacher stores are so expensive, and not as cute. Plus, I just wanted an excuse to try out my new sewing machine. This project turned out to be so quick and simple! 

I also picked up some gray chevron fabric (regular cotton this time) at Hobby Lobby and just got a yard to see if I could make two out of it. All of the tutorials I've seen online call for so much fabric! After measuring the back of a chair and cutting the fabric, I decided I would have to use a different fabric for the front pocket if I wanted to fit two pockets from 1 yard of fabric. Lucky me, I had some leftovers from the chair seat project!!!

First, I folded the fabric in half (I wanted it doubled) and cut the width about 18 inches for each pocket. Then, I ironed the fabric and sewed up all the sides to make them back-to-back. One side was folded, so I didn't have to sew that side. 

Then, I folded back about 3 inches from the top and sewed the sides so that it would hang on a chair. 

Next, I cut out a rectangle of the other fabric and pinned it onto the bottom front of my creation. Finally, I sewed the 2 sides and bottom to create a pocket. 

 Love it!!! 

I am so pumped for my firsties to use these for their books next year!!!

Puppy Love

Sadie Belle is here & she's all kinds of cute!

End of School Year Memory Book

Happy Testing to us this week! As school winds down for the year, I am always looking for activities to engage students who are mentally "on summer break" already. I created this Memory Book on TPT that can be customized for your grade level. Click HERE to check it out!

Welcome Sadie & Ballin' on a Budget (classroom-style)

So this is what B said to his mom on Mother's Day..."Brittany's gonna be a mom too". He failed to mention the puppy mom part. But it's TRUE....Sadie Mae will be ready to come home in 5 short days :)

Like any new mom, I figure I better be prepared...

Wait, I have to put this together???

We are ready to welcome the princess!

On a different note, I will be switching from teaching 3rd to 1st grade next year, which means a whole new classroom (aka opportunity to buy lots of stuff for my new kiddos!)

Since I am always ballin' on a budget, I decided to hit up the Dollar Tree first. They have some awesome teacher finds y'all: 

I am planning to decorate in lime green, tealish blue, and black and white (I'm thinkin' lots of chalkboard paint).  The zebra alphabet border has cute green polka dot at the top. I also scored some lined dry-erase boards and magnetic letters for word work, a post-it/ paperclip organizer for my desk, birthday certificates, and these adorable nametags and sentence strips (I laminated & used them for desk nametags this year, or could use them for word wall words under the alphabet letters). 

Also, this is off-topic but how cute is this meal planner from the Target Dollar spot?

I have an obsession with children's books, and love finding them for a good deal. All of these came from various yard sales last weekend. Love it! I'm planning to organize my library in 3 levels by Lexile next year, so already getting a head start.

Love the Dr. Seuss collection I scored for 10 cents each!

Also got this awesome tote to carry them all in for $3.

Where do you bargain hunt?

Happenings Lately

Last weekend, I was reunited with some college besties for the derby. Despite the rain, it was 10 kinds of fun. My girl Kitty hostessed a brunch and we had plenty of mimosas, photo ops and people watching goin on'. Loving my Marley Lilly hat!

KY Derby Love 

So I kind of have an obsession with long dresses lately. I bought this along with 2 more hi-low dresses at Target this weekend.

Decided to cuten-up the furniture I bought recently at a garage sale and actually put it to use before I refinish it for our future home. It actually turned out quite nice.

Mother's Day 2013

We spent this Mother's Day at a brunch with B's family. 

Blake and his Mimi.

My future mother-in-law.