Polka Dot tutorial

Nicole and I got inspired by Creation Corner and created some amazing crafts for the baby shower we put together for Kristine.


Nicole and I are big fans of peppy and cheep - so we found fabric at Walmart and you can also use a coupon at your favorite craft store to get the foam wreath. The polka dots are made out of nice thick scrapbook paper. It is important to note that this wreath is really built for indoor use.

Here is a Polka Dot wreath that we made as decor (and turned it into a gift)




1. Get a foam wreath at your favorite craft store.
2. Get some scrap fabric of your choosing.
3. Cut the end of the fabric and tear the fabric into strips.
4. Wrap the wreath with the fabric. (we chose to use two alternating fabrics.
5. Hot glue the fabric to the wreath.












In the mean time get out some scissors (or in my case the Cricut) - you might also want a cat to come and hang out with you. Meg loves to craft. And cut out lots of circles out.






Then what you do is glue the circle to the wreath. We chose to make it 3D. And did that by using our old school elementary knowledge of folding paper to make pop-ups.






Here is a side view.








Here is the wreath half way done. As you can see you can place the dots all over the place.








Here it is all done! We took a piece of fabric and made a loop to glue to the back in order to hang it up. It went over very well. And it took no time to make.

this will make up for my lack of blogging

there has been a lot going on in the last two weeks.
Here is an update -

Baby Shower for Kristine (of blog stalking fame)
MS Walk to support Cuirstaun!
Week of impass with the school district - now we have something to vote on soon! (YEY)
Awesome Haircut
Dinner with friends for pre birthday fun
Breakfast at pancake house to continue birthday weekend
Plant a tree!
Birthday tomorrow

fun times let me tell you!!!!

And now for some pictures!

Cleaning and Crafting

I can't talk about the crafting - that will come later (with pictures and even a tutorial!)

The cleaning is a slow process, I'm not a very quick cleaner. I stop, I check blogs, I play with the cat.

I will be vacuuming the stairs in a moment.

Tomorrow I will be participating in the MS walk - a dear friend of mine was diagnosed with MS this past October. A bunch of my friends and I will be rocking our walking - 3K!

I can't wait to show off my craft skills. And I'll be sure to take pictures of the shower on Sunday!

It's going to be a great way to end spring break.

Spring break Blues

Trust me I'm happy to have two weeks off. REALLY HAPPY

but last week on Tuesday I started feeling under the weather. Then I was very sick - for the next three days. So Saturday I went out with Gramma and then went to our friends for dinner and game night. We had a blast!

but I am still sick (this is day 7 of not feeling well) and it has put a major damper on my plans of cleaning and grading papers.

Saturday I am going to participate in the MS Walk and then Sunday I am throwing a baby shower for Kristine (of Blog stalking fame).

This is the list of things I would like to get done over the next few days.

Clean the:
-base boards
-windows
-kitchen
-bathrooms
-family room

-Craft projects that shall not be named until after the shower.
I'll be posting pictures soon.

-Shopping for food items for the shower

-Grade a total of 30 papers (one class set) - research papers take a long time to grade.

I think I can do it - and I'll have help from the Hubby.

I'll keep you updated on my progress!

100

100 things about me for my 100^th post.

This is in no particular order – they are just random facts – the numbers just help me keep track of when to stop.

1. I love the antiques road show. Hi KCET I’m so thankful for you! I love to play the game ‘keep or sell’ and I’m really good at guessing how much stuff is going to cost.
2. Anthony Bordein is my secret boyfriend, I don’t know what it is about this chain smoking chef – but I have a total crush on him. (I have many secret boy friends) The secret is that they'll never be my boyfriend.
   
3. I like watching shows that make me say “Are you kidding me?” - The TLC show I didn’t know I was pregnant is one of them. Really Lady a baby fell down your pant leg and you didn’t know what was going on? Are you kidding me!
4. I can look into a see’s candy box and know which ones are my favorite candies. When I was a little girl, on my birthday, my mom would take me to South Coast Plaza and I would pick out a half a pound all for my very own self. Dark Chocolate. Has to be Dark Chocolate
5. I love A&E’s Intervention – It amazes me how people give up their lives for drugs/alcohol. I feel bad for the families but always feel amazed when the person goes off to rehab.
6. I’ve known I wanted to be a teacher since the 5^th grade. It’s because I have had amazing teachers.
7. Speaking of teachers I can name almost all of mine. Good, Bad, and Ugly.
8. I had a cat growing up called Silverbelle – She was my cat. Period. She would sleep on my pillow at night. She was amazing and would sit on my shoulder like a parrot. She was freakishly quiet would never meow. I think that Meg the cat tries to tell me secrets that Silverbelle whispers to her.
9. I met my husband in 1998 – and it was a family joke that we would get married someday. In 2004 the joke came true.
10. I love to cook but I hate to clean the kitchen.
11. I only applied to one university when I was a senior in high school. Thank you Northern Arizona University for allowing me to attend your wonderful school.
12. I have 3 best friends currently. I have only had 8 best friends in my life. I always try to clarify which best friend I am talking about – but that I also have three best friends, so no one feels left out or slighted.
13. The first time I left the country I was not with my family. I took a sister city trip to Japan when I was in the 8^th grade.
14. I have spent way more time in Australia than I have in Mexico. (I live aprox an hour and a half from the boarder. And have only been there once for about 5 hours.)
15. I used to think keeping in contact with teachers was weird. Now that I’m a teacher I’m glad that some of my students still want me to be a mentor.
16. I was picked on a lot during my middle school years. I know it’s supposed to ‘make you stronger’ – I think it just made me more willing to cry in public.
17. For being an English teacher – I’m a really bad reader. I can not tell you how many times I have started and stopped books, I can think of three right now that are half way done just waiting for me to find them and think they are interesting.
18. If I could I would be on the Golden Girls. I adore that show – partly because I grew up watching it every time I went over to my Grandmothers house. Now I watch it and understand so much more – and it’s a little spicy!
19. Gummy Bears are amazing. Enough said.
20. New York City is somewhere I could go every year. The last time I was there was 1999, and sometimes I worry that I won’t recognize it without the twin towers.
21. My bathroom drawers are filled with beautiful fantastic makeup. I don’t wear it very often.
22. The crockpot is a fantastic invention. I wish I cooked with it more often.
23. I have been at a wedding where there was a burrito shaped grooms cake and a RoboCop ice sculpture.
24. They will always be Samoa’s in my house. This caramel delight nonsense is out of control.
25. Disneyland is the happiest place on earth. For reals – not for fakes. We went there for our honeymoon.
26. I love to take pictures.
27. Crafting is like a physical release of tension. Scrapbooking is my craft of choice.
28. I would be a stand up comedian or comedy actress if I thought I could make it.
29. Growing up I watched Sesame Street – and now I think I’m going to try and get a hold of the 80’s versions for my future kids. Cookie monster is for cookies – not vegetables.
30. My life is a musical. I openly sing in front of people. I sing to my students when they complain. Don’t cry for me Argentina the truth is I never left you!
31. I call my students – My Kids – I’m sure this has caused confusion on multiple occasions.
32. My husband is a Star Wars fan – therefore I’m a Star Wars fan.
33. I was afraid of the oven for many many years. I am still very cautious when I have to deal with it.
34. I would wear a T-shirt and Jeans every day of my life if I could.
35. I have only had two boyfriends.
36. I check to see if the blogs I follow are updated a couple of times a day. It’s a bit obsessive.
37. RED KITCHEN!
38. I love opals – diamonds are fantastic too – but there is something amazing about an opal.
39. I have been dying my hair for over 14 years.
40. When I have kids I look forward to serving breakfast for dinner. Those are some of my best memories from childhood – Thanks Mom!
41. My ultimate goal is to be teacher of the year – Brendon jokes that even if we won the lottery I would keep teaching until I won.
42. The busier I am the happier I am.
43. I was a Resident Assistant for two years in college. Those were some of the best years of my life. I lived in an all female hall – l.o.v.e.d. it!
44. Documentaries are one of my favorite genres of film.
45. Fahrenheit 451 is one of my favorite books of all time. I cry every time Granger talks about his grandfather. Sometimes it startles my kids that I will cry in front of them.
46. I swam for 3 years in high school – I wish I still did.
47. High heals hurt my feet – but if they didn’t I would wear them every day. – I’m 5’11”
48. I have a lot of wonderful jewelry. I would rather save up and get the real stuff rather than get ‘costume jewelry’
49. I have mixed feelings about going to my 10 year reunion. There were a lot of people who were mean to me in high school – why would I want to run into those people again.
50. I’m very pale – I had a student ask me once if I had a skin problem. Nope – just pale.
51. I hate to have my toes done. It creeps me out – nail files are awful.
52. People watching should be an Olympic sport and I would win the gold.
53. When I watch the real Olympics I cry whenever someone is crying on the gold podium – it really doesn’t matter what country they are from.
54. Airports make me feel very awkward. It comes from the fact that hubby and I had to travel and leave each other for months at a time for our entire courtship.
55. I love to garden. It calms me – I hate to pull weeds.
56. Young Adult Lit is one of my favorite genres of literature.
57. I didn’t eat bananas in college, the texture weirded me out.
58. My mom and I don’t think we look like each other – so when someone points it out to us we both say ‘really’. Our voices are very similar – in college I used to call myself and leave a message so I would remember things, I would hear myself and think my mom had called.
59. I think there should be better drug education in schools. “Don’t do drugs” comes out of my mouth so often that kids have deemed it a ‘parsons-ism’.
60. I love teaching the research paper. I know my teacher friends think I’m mental – but it’s always something that makes the kids feel so accomplished when they finish it.
61. It takes me way too long to get papers graded and back to my students.
62. If it were up to me I would eat dessert after every meal.
63. I have my mom’s triple chocolate cake recipe memorized – the secret is sour cream.
64. I hate runny eggs.
65. Post-its make my heart flutter.
66. One of my most favorite memories from school is getting a new box of 64 color crayola crayons. I am very particular about my brand of crayons – rose art isn’t worth it.
67. The Barefoot Contessa is one of my favorite shows on food network. My best friend Casey and I love her because we think she might be drunk most of the time.
68. When my sister-in-law Natasha and I get together we are baking maniacs. When she stayed with us this summer for 6 weeks we baked ourselves into oblivion.
69. I never know what to eat for lunch when I’m on vacation from work. It makes me very uneasy.
70. I’m not fun when I’m sick. All I want to do is drink hot tea and watch tv on the couch.
71. I am terrified of failure. When I was 15 I took the drivers permit test and failed – a friend of mine was there and he told others that I hadn’t passed – so I waited over a year to go take the test again. So that meant that I was almost 18 before I got my license.
72. I love big hair.
73. I will stop and watch fireworks like a little kid. When I was growing up my dad got his pyrotechnics license and so we would watch the 4^th of July fireworks from way closer than other people – the louder they were the better.
74. I love that my hubby has an accent. Even if it is slowly fading away. He still says jumper and not sweatshirt so that’s good.
75. I have never seen my dad without his mustache.
76. In-and-Out – Animal Style – nothing better.
77. Root beer is my very favorite soda.
78. I hate 3D movies – they make my head hurt.
79. I truly enjoy driving, I would drive by myself for the 8 hours it would take to get to NAU and I loved it.
80. Thin Mints need to be kept in the freezer.
81. One of my dreams is to go to beauty school. I would love to cut hair for a living.
82. I cut my own hair in college. Looking at the pictures – I was doing an okay job.
83. I love Martha Stewart – Growing up I would do many a craft inspired by what she taught me.
84. I would love to have dinner with Dr. Maya Angelou.
85. I watch Oprah – even though my friends think I’m nuts.
86. My students joke (and so do many of my friends) that I couldn’t talk without my hands.
87. I would like to learn sign language.
88. I studied Spanish for two and a half years in high school and a year in college. I’m left with – Donde esta el baño, y – Mi gato es muy guapo y - Me llamo Kelly.
89. My grandmother is from Panama and speaks beautiful Spanish – sadly you saw the extent of mine.
90. Sourdough bread is my very favorite bread – unless it’s an egg salad sandwich, then it has to be whole wheat. Mmmmmmm
91. I wish I was a dancer.
92. Every time I see a ladybug I think of my cousin who passed away.
93. I like to write in my books, this causes problems when I check them out from the library, so I try not to sit near pens.
94. I don’t tell my students my real age until after they graduate.
95. I would like to sing the national anthem at a pep rally some day.
96. When I was in high school I carried a metal lunch box every day. Fraggle Rock – it now sits on top of my fridge along with my Pigs in Space lunchbox.
97. I wish I was as clever and witty as my husband. And I’m pretty clever – so that’s saying something.
98. I love the ocean but hate dealing with the sand.
99. I could sit and watch the tiger exhibit at the wild animal park for years and years.
100. If I won the lottery I would travel around the world for a few years. I would love to be able to say that I’ve been on every continent.

There you have it – it took me a couple of days to put this together. It’s surprisingly harder than I thought to put 100 things about myself down on paper – well not really paper but you get the idea.

I hope you enjoyed – and a big thanks to Everyday Reading for the inspiration.