Tis the Season....to DIY and Decorate for Christmas

 I’m baaaccckkkk! It’s been far too long since I last blogged and I couldn’t let it reach December before I posted again. So, here I am! I’ve been a busy little bee this holiday season. It’s crazy to think Halloween and Thanksgiving are both over. But, that’s music to my ears because that means Christmastime is here! I will admit that Christmas has been on my mind for a while now. I watched Elf in September! Can you blame me though? The movie is great!
 

With Thanksgiving over (the food coma too!), my family and I have been gung ho about Christmas. Yesterday was the tree hunt and the hauling down of the decorations from the attic. Today is the fun part! We get to decorate the inside of house and the tree. Thanks to Pinterest, I was able to create some new decorations for the inside of the house. Check out my no sew sock snowman below!

 

 

HERE IS WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

• Children's white socks: I purchased size 6-8 1/2 socks from the Dollar Tree
• White rice: a 5lb bag is plenty to make 6 snowmen. I got my bag of rice from Wal-Mart for less than $3
• 3/8" buttons: Michael's craft store (40% off for Black Friday weekend!)
• Colored string and ribbon pack: Michael's craft store (40% off for Black Friday weekend!)
• 9mm Jingle Bells: Michael's craft store (40% off for Black Friday weekend!)
• Bows: 10 pack holiday colored bows (40% off for Black Friday weekend!)
• Googly eyes: Dollar Tree
• Toothpicks: Dollar Tree
• Sharpies: orange and black
• Rubber bands: thin rubber bands work
• Tacky glue or hot glue gun

***You can use whatever you would like to decorate your snowman. These items are just what I used***

 

 

To make your snowman, simply pour a little less than a cup of rice into the sock. Wrap a rubber band around the sock to section off the base of the snowman. Repeat the previous step but use less rice so the middle section is a bit smaller than the base section. Again, do the same for the head of the snowman.  

 

With the remaining part of the sock (the pleated part), fold it up and over the snowman's head. Lift the bottom part back up to create the look of the hat. Look at the picture above for a closer look.

 

 

Use Tacky Glue or a hot glue gun to hold the sections of the snowman in place. I simply put the glue in between the sections and let it dry.

 

Now for the fun part: Decorating your snowman!

 

 

Glue the googly eyes, the bow (or ribbon), and the buttons to the snowman. Use black sharpie to make a mouth. Color the end of a toothpick orange and poke it through the sock. Do not break the toothpick to shorten it because the end will not be able to poke through the sock.

 

For the hat, I strung jingle bells on this colored string and tied it around the front so the bow can be seen. Put a dab of glue over the knot to seal it.

 

Ta-da! Your snowman is done! See how easy that was?! After you are ready to make your snowman family like I did. ;-) My little family (Mom, me, sister, brother, Dad) is now sitting on the mantel in the living rom.

  

Email me @meetmissparker.gmail.com with any questions about making snowmen of your own!

 

CHRISTMAS AT THE PARKER HOUSE 

 

While I was busy making snowmen for the inside of the house, my dad has been working even harder on getting the outside of the house ready for Santa. Take a look at the pictures below of the CRAZY holiday fun that happens each year at the Parker house!

 

The North Pole comes to little Rhode Island. My dad does an amazing job with his display! He has done it since before I was born. Each year it gets bigger and bigger! We are at the point now that Santa's workshop has made it to my lawn. I can't imagine what it will be in years to come! I love it all though! ;-)

 

Welcome to the inside of Santa's Workshop! Santa greets you at the end of the hallway in the chair that my dad built this year! (He is very proud of it!) <3

Here's a peek into the elves' toy shop! I love the tools on the wooden bench!

  Elf Quarters: Where Jingle, Hermie, Jangle, and Jolly sleep in their teeny tiny elf beds! ;-)

One of the reindeer peeking through the window!

Nutcracker standing by Santa!

Santa's (hard) bed! I will have to stuff some pillows under that blanket to make it a bit more comfy for Santa.

And of course, a Christmas tree!
Just when you thought the North Pole might be enough, there's more! Take a look at the outside part of our Xmas display!

This tree is my favorite! It looks so pretty decorated and covered in snow! <3 

My parents have always gone all out for Christmas. Even to the point that they dress as Santa and Mrs. Claus......

<3

My mom might kill me for posting that picture, so I guess I can sneak in a "normal" pic of my amazing parents!  

Thanks everyone for stopping by! Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and a safe Black Friday! Now, time for me to do some more shopping! ;-)

 

FINAL FALL FREEBIE!

Hey everyone! We are down to the final fall freebie! Where did October go?! I really can't believe how quickly the fall is flying by! I have no complaints though! I have enjoyed my fall so far! Between a few mini vacations, creating new tpt products, shopping, subbing, and lazy movie nights, I have loved this fall. Before we know it, it will be Christmas! Yikes I know! I can't even think about the cost of that just yet.

Before I share about my latest freebie, I want to take a second to thank Crystal and Marie from Once Upon A Classroom: The Tale of Two Teachers. Each  and every Friday in October they have been kind enough to organize this fun blog hop! I am thrilled to be a part of the fun and I look forward to more hops in the future! From talking with Crystal, it seems she already has a new idea up her sleeve! Be sure to check back for an update! ;-)

 

 

Ok, so without making you all wait any longer, here is the new freebie for this week! This game is really fun for the kids and it is a great way to practice new sight words while reinforcing old words. Having used this game in intervention groups, I am certain your kiddos will love the game. All you need to do is cut out the words and print the game board and viola! After grabbing yourself a copy of this freebie, head over to Ideas By Jivey for another freebie! (How fun is this, right?!)

 

 

Click HERE for your free copy! Enjoy! ;-)

 

 

Thanks everyone for stopping by!

Friday FREEBIE

Hey everyone! Back to back blogging days! I know, not the typical me right?! Well, between the new FB page, Instagram, TpT creating, DIY projects and whatnot, I have been having trouble balancing it all! I truly do not understand how the moms out there do it all. I am busy without kids! I give all of you moms credit for being able to balance the motherhood chaos with all of the social media and teaching stuff!

 

Even though I have been super busy, I definitely couldn't pass up the opportunity to take part in this fun blog hop put on by Marie and Crystal from Once Upon A Classroom: The Tale of Two Teachers. Each Friday in October they are hosting a blog hop in which different bloggers share a FREEBIE!

 

Due to the fact that my ancient laptop from who knows when couldn't connect to the Internet when I was in Dallas, I wasn't able to join in on the fun last week. But, now that I am back, I am thrilled to be able to share this week's FREEBIE! Check it out below!

 

Guess My Number is a game which is played similarly to Guess Who, however, instead of guessing a person you are guessing numbers. There are a variety of number sheets included and they fit perfectly into the new Guess Who playing boards. Don't have the Guess Who game? No worries! Laminate the playing sheets and have your students use dry erase markers to cross out the numbers.

 

Included in this freebie are a variety of sheets with numbers up to 100 and game directions. Based on my experiences with my students playing this game in summer school, I know your students will enjoy it too! After grabbing yourself a copy of this freebie, head over to Owl Always Love 2nd Grade for another freebie!

 

Thanks everyone for stopping by! Be sure to swing by again next week for another freebie! ;-)

Back To Reality & Subbing Discovery!

        BACK TO REALITY         

          Happy Thursday everyone! I hope you all are surviving your week! Tomorrow is Friday and we all have a long weekend ahead! I absolutely LOVE long weekends! That extra day makes all the difference! It is one more day to do laundry, sleep in (perks of not having kids yet), organize, create, do DIY projects, shop, and whatever else! I am so looking forward to getting things done! One thing I could care less about doing, though, is unpacking! Ugh, it is the worst! I got home from Dallas the other day and STILL haven’t touched my suitcase. My motivation to unpack is, well, at a ZERO! Either way, I had SO much fun visiting Texas for the first time! Check out some of my pictures below!

 

I am the WORST on airplanes! I cannot stand the turbulence, take-off, landing, any of it! Scares me to death! Despite my anxiety, I was able to snap this awesome pic quickly! 

 

I took this picture when at a red light in downtown Dallas. Despite the busy streets, I somehow caught a second when the street didn't have any cars. Add a few edits and filters with my phone apps, and ta-da! It reminds me of an album cover. Maybe a musician will find this pic, buy it off me, and that's how I will make my millions! Hehe!

 

MEXICAN FOOD WAS TO DIE FOR! I still cannot get over how yummy the Mexican food was there! My cousin and I went to this place called Taco Diner and I LOVED it! I tried queso for the first time. It is AMAZING! I must have eaten 3 baskets of chips and queso myself! Whoops! ;-)

 

While in Dallas, I was able to meet the lovely Ashley from Flying High in First Grade! She was so sweet! She drove over to the other side of Dallas to meet me for lunch and a little shopping (my fav!). I cannot wait to catch up with her again someday in the future!

 

Ashley told me about this cupcake place they have called Sprinkles. If you are ever in the area, you have to have one of their cupcakes! Oh my goodness, delicious!

My cousin took me to the Texas State Fair and I got to meet Big Tex! Everything really is bigger in Texas! ;-)

You can't go to a fair without eating fried food! Well, that is what I told myself after I ate this entire funnel cake to myself! I am still feeling guilty about this!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Carly and I had SO much fun together! It was great quality cousin time and I cannot wait to go back to Dallas! Hopefully, sooner rather than later!

SUBBING DISCOVERY

Well, now that I am off vacation, I am starting to sub again. It is so great to see the students again and be back in the classroom. Subbing is always an adventure, as most of you know. Tuesday I was in for ELL, yesterday kindergarten, today 2nd grade, and tomorrow 3rd grade. Everyday is something new! While for some people this would drive them crazy, I love it! I enjoy meeting new children and seeing the different ways classrooms are run. It helps me to really figure out how I want my classroom to be someday!

 

Being that I am in new districts, schools, and classrooms all the time, it can be hard to remember everything. Last year when I began subbing I decided that I would keep a journal. I write down the names of the people I meet in different schools, the things I loved about a classroom, and the things I didn't exactly care for. Keeping a journal has been amazing! It has allowed me to reflect on my day subbing and simply remember my experiences.

 

After teaching in 2nd grade today, I was introduced to something that I not only had to write down in my journal, but I also have to share with all of you. This little discovery is known as Adventure to Fitness.

 

"Adventure to Fitness is a series of award-winning educational fitness videos for kids. Through a global journey kids follow their fearless leader "Mr. Marc" to run, leap, lunge, and laugh to greater mental and physical fitness!"

 

These videos are loads of engaging fun for the students. They get to be actively involved in Mr. Marc's adventures by following his steps. The teacher I subbed for used one of the video adventures for the class' exercise break of the day. (The videos each run about 30 minutes each, so we did about 10 minutes of it.) Check out the video below for a sneak preview of this series!

 

 

Head to the Adventure to Fitness website to sign-up for a free school account! Yes, FREE! With a variety of educational and exciting videos, your students will be learning and having fun! PROMISE! After seeing the students today, I highly recommend these videos for exercise breaks, earned rewards, or indoor recess. Check it out!

 

Thanks everyone for stopping by! Talk to you all soon! ;-)

CONGRATS TO KAREN ROWLAND FROM ADVENTURES WITH FIRSTIES

So much to do, so little time! Isn’t that always the case? Lately it seems like that for me! I have been running around with my head cut off for days straight! Luckily for me, I am on VACATION starting tomorrow! Woohoo! I am so excited! This time tomorrow I will be soaking up some sun in Dallas, Texas. I am heading down south to stay with my cousin who lives there. I so need this girls’ trip! I am definitely not looking forward to the flight though! I am such a wimp when it comes to flying. That whole “it is safer to fly than drive” thing doesn’t work for me. I still freak out!

 

Well, since I leave early tomorrow, I have been trying to get everything done before I go. Let’s just say it is nearly impossible! Between subbing, creating new products, my DIY crafts, my birthday giveaway, my restaurant job, babysitting, cleaning, and so on (and believe me the list goes on), I am slammed busy! Today I was luckily able to get all of my fabric covered letters mailed to the winners! Check out my stack of envelopes I dragged into the post office with me today. Believe me when I say the people behind me were not too happy to wait for my 15 envelopes to be weighed and postmarked. Whoops! ;-)



 

On top of my crazy week, I was having Rafflecopter issues. So fun, right?! Grrr! Either way, my worst nightmare didn’t come true and my giveaway was still active despite the issues. THANK GOD! With that stress out of the way, I can happily announce that the lovely KAREN ROWLAND from ADVENTURES WITH FIRSTIES is the winner of the $200 worth of TpT products! How exciting for her right?! From looking through all the donations, I can admit that I am jealous that I couldn’t be the winner of the giveaway! A HUGE thank you again to all my teacher friends that donated for this giveaway! You all made my birthday amazing!!!

 

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

 

Now, I guess it might be a good idea for me to start packing. Ughh! It is the worst! Actually, I lied, UNpacking is far worse! Either way, be sure to swing by later this week for a fun blog hop that I am participating in! I am excited to give this thing a try! First time for everything! Thanks everyone for stopping by! Talk to you soon! ;-)