Chalkboard Frame FREEBIE and a Giveaway

I got my chalkboard labels done for my pantry!

I cut the frames from chalkboard vinyl using my Silhouette Cameo.

The I used  a 1 mm chalk pen which worked wonderfully!!! Much clearer than regular chalk and won't smudge! It is simple to erase with a wet cloth so I can change the names as needed.

I uploaded my Silhouette Studio file for this chalkboard frame to Google Docs for those that can use it.

Would you like to win some FREE sticker paper for your Silhouette?
I will be giving away a package of clear sticker paper

and a package of white sticker paper.

Enter via Rafflecopter below July 15-18. Silhouette is asking you to sign up for the Educator Discount (free) but once you do you can earn more easy entry opportunities.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Gettin' Organized

Have you noticed I am not blogging much? Actually I have barely been on the computer at all. I needed a brain break from all things teaching. Instead I have been reorganizing my house. I know, doesn't sound like a relaxing summer but it was sorely needed and it actually makes me feel good.

You see, I am one of those people who really feel unsettled in a messy environment. I mean literally, I feel agitated. Then, a sense of calm comes over me when I walk in an area and it is clean and organized. Anyone with me or are you saying FREAK in your head? I often get comments that my classroom is kept very tidy and organized and the secret is I need it to be to function.

When I lived alone and even early on in our marriage my house was kept the same way. Everything had a home and it always got back there. There is no such thing as a junk drawer and piles were the enemy.

I would say things started to go downhill when I went back to work 6 years ago. My husband and two sons do not have my clean gene. In fact, they subscribe more to the hoarder lifestyle. And as I let my focus get drawn back into teaching, blogging, and TpT I started losing the battle.

After a particularly stressful year, I decided I need to re-evaluate how I was spending my time. I realized that the home chaos was really getting to me and that this was something I could do something about.

One of the problems is that we didn't have a good home for some items so they just got thrown into our extra bedroom closet. Messy and hard to find things.
Project #1: Extra Bedroom
Solution: I bought shelving and we turned this closet into storage since we never hang clothes in it anyway. Sorry for the poor quality phone pics.

Unfortunately I didn't take before pictures and I am not quite done filling the shelves but it feels good to have a place I CAN put things in an organized way.

Project # 2 THE PANTRY
The pantry was getting completely out of control so I bought 24 baskets at the Dollar Tree and sorted everything into like items. I also purged a lot. It was scary how many things were actually expired.

before

after

I ordered some chalkboard vinyl and plan to cut some cute labels with my Silhouette.

Project #3 The YARD
We have been terribly neglecting our pruning. Our yard looks like a jungle. Here is what we cut down on Sunday and we still are only about a third of the way done!

The boys and I are tackling their rooms today. Time for a MAJOR PURGE!  I am scared at what I might find. :-)

Giveaway Winner

Congrats to Tiffany Johnson on winning the $50 gift card to shop at MPM School Supplies!

 But not to worry, everyone wins because followers of my blog can get 10% off your entire purchase at MPM School Supplies! Just click {here} and you will automatically get the discount applied to your cart!

$50 MPM Gift Card Giveaway!

I just got back from a Vegas trip with some girlfriends. I love my family but getting some girl time was just what I needed! We saw the Cirque Du Soleil show KA which was amazing. The stage rotated all the way up 90 degrees so there were some awesome scenes with rock climbing, etc that were incredible.

I was dragged back to reality first thing this morning when I got a call from my husband that he had been in an accident on his  way to work. He is fine thank goodness but we are waiting to hear if the car is totaled. :-(

On to the giveaway! How would you like $50 to shop online for classroom items?  You may remember I blogged about my great experience shopping with MPM School Supplies last year. Well, this year YOU could be the lucky shopper! They have classroom decorations, art supplies, manipulatives, and so much more!

Just enter via Rafflecopter below for your chance to win!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
I have been thinking about buying this teacher compass. Do you think it might work with a marker on paper instead of chalk on a chalkboard? I make circle maps all the time and let's just say they aren't very pretty. What would you order?

Relaxation and Revision

I love summer! I feel so relaxed and still have time to get things done. 

I worked on revising my Daily Editing Word Problems for a few hours today. I have posted about my oral language/word problem combo before and how much I think this daily practice has helped my students. {Use the topics list on the side bar to go read those old posts if you like.}

 Anyway, I am working on aligning this packet to the Common Core. This means no more coins which makes me a little sad.  If you are not moving to the Common Core yet and have thought about purchasing this you might want to go buy this original version now before I update it. That way you can have the original AND the Common Core version once it is revised.

 I am also working on some formatting changes suggested by current users:
1. All the questions for the week will be on the same page.
2. Each question strip is shorter to better fit in smaller notebooks.

If you have used my Daily Editing and have any other suggestions I am open to hearing them. You can comment below or email me at jenn@finallyinfirst.com.