Summer projects!!

On the second last day of school, this AWESOME parent stopped by my room and said she had something for me, and could she just grab it quickly from her car...

I know this parent pretty well, after having taught both of her lovely daughters.  This Mom and I have lots in common, especially a love of all things crafty!  

She came in with this GIANT box, as well as a zippered case and a bag BURSTING with crafty things that she was getting rid of!!!

JACKPOT!!!

I brought it home to sort through and organize over the summer.  After moving classrooms, I have enough sorting and organizing in my room waiting for me.  But of course I couldn't wait...nope, I busted into this baby on the FIRST day of my summer break.  You should have seen the mess I made!  Stuff everywhere!

Anyway, what a goldmine of stuff.  

Stickers, stamps, fancy-edged scissors, and beautiful paper.  

Just looking through it all inspired me.

For the last 9 years, I have had two jobs - teaching Kindergarten half-time and teaching Music half-time.  As you can imagine, I have had to split my time, my energy, my focus, my resources, and yes, even my creativity between these two positions.  

Now, as I am one summer away from only doing one job (full time Kindergarten!), I find myself thinking of all the possibilities...

How will I organize and set up my classroom???

What will my classroom theme be?

What are some things I have wanted to try but have not had the time, energy, or resources for?

Etc....

One thing I have wanted to freshen up for a few years now are the letter signs for my Word Wall.  

For 9 years I have been using hand-me-down signs that were passed on to me with the classroom when I first started at this school.  The signs had been part of one large letter banner that was cut apart...somewhat crookedly, I might add.

They have served their purpose, and there is nothing *wrong* with them.

But, I really like the pennant look and for the last couple summers thought about making my own set of pennant-style letter signs for my word wall.  It just never happened.

This box of crafty goodies contained literally the perfect amount of paper in literally the perfect colours for me to make my signs.  I was feeling pretty tired and wanted a lazy day anyway, so I turned on some netflix, got my paper cutter and lap desk, and got started.

I used the fancy-edged scissors on some of the accent pieces, and stuck everything together using the glue tape dispensers that were also in the box!

If I find the right size of letter stickers I will use those for the actual letters.  Otherwise, I will just write them by hand with a nice fat black marker. 

After laying some out on the floor to show a sampling of the colour selection, my darling cat Gretchen Lightning decided she would like to play with one.

She was having so much fun getting in my way that she called her darling sister, 

Molly Marshmallow over to join the fun.

I will be sure to take some photos when they are completed and hanging in my classroom!