Monday Made It!

Guess what??? I just got the best pre-first year of teaching gift from my parents- a brand new Cricut Expression 2!!!!!!! My package arrived in the mail yesterday afternoon, and I have been playing with it ever since. I am starting to think I just need to stay home and craft all day long rather than working :) I'm not sure how teachers find time for everything... including creating lesson plans, preparing materials, family, blogging, and oh yeah sleep.

This last week has been a blast! My dad's side of the family came to visit from Texas to celebrate my grandmother's 80th b-day. We had a great time visiting, eating, playing games, crafting, and more eating! One of the best parts of the week was getting to spend a lot of time with my aunt, who was a teacher for several years and now is an assistant principal. I picked her brain for classroom ideas and advice! She was the one that nudged my parents to purchase the Cricut for me and then taught me how to use it. I feel so blessed that I have someone close in my life that I can seek teaching advice from!
I have two projects to share with you this week for 4th Grade Frolics' Monday Made It linky party! Can you believe the summer is quickly coming to an end?!?! I'm sure glad Tara put together this linky party, so all us teachers could tackle our to-do lists.

Classroom Project #1:
After fiddling with the Cricut and figuring out how to size images, my aunt helped me create a set of apples for my September calendar. I was amazed at how quickly this project was put together! I am working on getting a cartridge that has a good font for the numbers.

Fun Apples for my calendar

Does anyone have any other must-make classroom decorations or materials using the Cricut?

Classroom Project #2:
For my second project, I decided to make a set of little spacers for the kindies to use as they write. I have seen these all over pinterest, so I wanted to make set! These could also be used as trackers to help kids keep focused while reading. I love how these turned out with very little effort! All you need is tacky glue, colored craft sticks (popsicle sticks), and wiggly eyes. I plan to make another set with the larger colored sticks as well!

Gathered Supplies

Finished Product!!!

Thanks for stopping by! Time to go play some more with my Cricut while watching the Olympics!