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! ;-)

 

Me?! In Cosmo Magazine?! That's a Steal Thursday & GIVEAWAY! Oh, What A Week!

Hi everyone! Hope you are all enjoying your week! It's the middle of July already! What?! I know! I am just as shocked as you are! Thanks to my Instagram obsession, I've noticed that some of you are already back in the classroom and decorating away! I must say that all of your rooms are coming along so perfectly! Lots of chevron print, owls, bumblebees, and bright colors! I am loving the chevron especially! I mean, what teacher doesn't drool over chevron! My lack of self-control for chevron has lead to my newest giveaway. I will tell you about that in a bit!

Now, for those of you who are still reading and didn't just scroll down to check out the giveaway, I have to tell you about my week! Ok, so the other day on Instagram, I received a notification that a fellow Instagram friend added a picture of me. So, when I read that, my first thought was oh maybe it's a picture of a giveaway, or something someone bought due to my terrible influence on everyone's shopping habits! (I can't help but post my latest shopping trips, so if I have caused a decrease in your bank account, my apologies! If it makes you feel better my bank account is very upset with me too!) Hehe ;-) Either way, the picture wasn't of a giveaway or of someone's latest shopping finds (although I do always love to see those), it was something better, oh so much better!

 

I am in the August issue of COMSO MAG! Oh. Em. Gee! Yup, that's my Instagram picture and my Instagram name (It might be small, but it is still there!) The crazy thing about it is I was never even notified! My lovely friend Amber from Sparkles, Smiles, and Successful Students shared the great news with me! Apparently, I get $50 for being featured too! Sounds like a win-win to me! Now that I have pretty much told everyone in my family and friends, and the employees at Michael's, I figured I had to share the news with you all too! Can you tell I am just a little excited?!

 

Another thing I am SUPER excited about is my #thatsastealthursday! While at summer school, a teacher had mentioned to me about this school closing sale just down the street. She told me classroom furniture was was $5, books .10, math manipulatives .50 and other items that were dirt cheap too! After that news, all I could do was watch the clock and pray that 11am came fast! As soon as I got out, I was off to the school closing sale! Oh boy, was it HEAVEN! I kept reminding myself that I don't have a storage unit and no I can't buy everything. Not to mention I don't even have a classroom to put it all in yet! Still, the deals there were just insane! Check out what I found for my #thatsastealthursday!

 

I picked up this adorable rocking chair for $5! It is screaming paint me! Doesn't a teal chair and a chevron print cushion sound amazing to you?! It sure does to me! I can't wait to get started! Of course I will share the after picture with all of you too! ;-)

 

 

Now this one takes the cake for the best find! Yes, you are reading the correct price! I got this amazing whiteboard easel for $5! Once I asked the lady how much it costs and she said $5, I practically lifted and carried the thing out under my arm! That easel was not leaving my sight! I thought my tissue box cover for .01 was amazing, but I think we got that one beat now!

 

Be sure to link up below with your blog post about your latest shopping steal! I always love another reason to shop and I can't wait to see your amazing finds!

 

 

 Chevron Tissue Box Covers!

 

That's right! Chevron has now hit tissue box covers! I just can't get over chevron print and who wouldn't absolutely love one of these babies sitting on your classroom desk?! I'll be honest, I LOVE how these came out! I wish I could keep them for myself! Haha!

 

So, here's how the giveaway works! There are two tissue box covers up for grabs. I will randomly select one winner from my blog and the other from Instagram! If you aren't following me yet on Instagram, my username is meetmissparker . I will announce the winners on Wednesday, July 24th! Don't hesitate to enter both on my blog and on Instagram! I am crossing my fingers for all of you! Good luck!

 

 

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Tissue Box Cover DIY & Blogger/TpT Meet Up in Newport!

          OH MY!!! What a week! Where have I been? I haven’t posted in a while. Yikes! Forgive me! If only there were 30 hours in a day, I might be able to get more done. Or, if I didn’t need to sleep I could do a lot more too. I value my sleep far too much to pull an all-nighter and get stuff done. So, now you are probably wondering what is making me so busy that I am even talking about 30 hour days and less sleep?!! Well, let me fill you in...

• Summer School Intervention – It has begun! This was my first week and I absolutely LOVE it! The students are great and they seem to be enjoying themselves! I was hired to teach math, which I love! Not only that, but I get to work with my favorite grade, 2^nd! Lucky me! I have been quite busy with getting things ready and prepared, and well, organized! Sticky notes and paperclips have been my best friends lately. No complaints though, I actually like organizing. I will be sure to keep you posted on summer school as the program continues. I have lots of fun ideas in the works!

• JOB SEARCHING – Lately, I feel like I have spent more time on my computer than anything. School Spring has become my homepage (not really, but might as well be) and the job search is in full swing. My goodness it is tiring. Tweaking those cover letters has been tedious and redundant (aka a pain in the butt). My favorite is when I spend two hours tweaking my cover letter for a position, apply, and then hear back a few hours later with an email saying the position has been removed from School Spring and no longer available! Yea, that’s lots of fun for sure! NOT!

• BLOGGER/TPT MEET UP – Yesterday was a blast! The lovely ladies in my area all met up for lunch and shopping in Newport, RI. We had a great time! I was so happy to have everyone down for the day!

 

 

What a great day with Deirdre from A Burst of First , Dianne from Hopelessly Devoted to Teaching , Sara from Smiling in Second Grade , and Lori from Hey Teacher (Her blog coming soon!) ;-)

 

 

• DIY PROJECTS – Ok, I know DIY projects are not exactly necessary, however, for me, I just love them so I count them into my schedule. This week, I spent the time prettying up my plain, wooden tissue box cover from Michael’s. You know, the one that I got for a PENNY! I still can’t believe that! Either way, check out my new tissue box cover...

 

   











                                          Before                                                  After

 

Ok, so here is how I did it...

 

 

Materials:

 

• Wooden Tissue Box Cover - (Even though I was lucky to find mine so cheap, I have seen other similar ones at Michael's for $5. Cheap enough to make one for yourself!)
• Tacky Glue - $1.79 at Michael's
• Fabric - I used a thicker piece of fabric to make sure it was durable and wouldn't rip. While it was a bit more pricey than a thin cotton piece, I recommend the thicker fabric. I ended up buying a half of a yard ($5 from Joann Fabrics) and only needed about half of that.
• X-acto Knife or Razor Blade - Either works fine!
• Tape - Suggested, not required. Most types of tape would work for this, however, scotch tape probably wouldn't work so well.

 



How to Make Your Own Tissue Box Cover:

 

Place the tissue box face down on the center of the fabric. Line it up so it is centered and all flaps completely cover the sides when folded in. I had about 1" or 2" of fabric that folded over the sides and into the center. You will be able to trim fabric if needed later.

 

 

Now, here comes the fun part, wrapping your tissue box cover! It is sort of like wrapping a present. I started with the smaller ends first. Gently lift the end of the fabric from one of the smaller sides of the rectangle and fold it over the edge of the wood. After eyeballing where the corner is, make a small cut in the fabric so the fabric rests evenly on the inside of the box and no longer lays across the edges of the longer sides of the wooden box. (Both corners need to be cut to do this.) Are you lost yet?! Check out the pics below to help you understand my probably confusing explanation.

 

 

 

 

Using the tacky glue, glue that first flap down to the wood. Use tape to secure it until it dries. Having the sides taped will help in the end when you need to pull the other sides tight. If you can see from the picture, I used electrical tape I found in my garage. 1 - because I couldn't find other tape 2 - because that stuff works! 3 - I was too impatient to go to the store and buy other tape! ;-) Once side 1 is secure, repeat the same steps for the opposite side of the box!

 

Now for the tricky part! You will find that when you go to lift and cover side 3 that there is a lot of fabric that bunches in the corner. You can reduce that overload by trimming down the excess fabric that hangs over from sides 1 and 2. After trimming down the fabric, lift the fabric straight up and over the wood. When in place and pulled tight, begin gluing! This step does take some trial and error, but it isn't too tough! (That is saying a lot considering I am terrible at wrapping gifts!)

 

After just a few tries, I was able to get the seam nice and even! Check it out!

 

 

(I'm proud of it! Can you tell?!)

 

The last side is actually quite simple. Pull the fabric straight up and over the wood. Just as the other sides, pull the fabric tight into place and then glue. Use tape over the fabric to hold the wet gluey fabric in place. Don't worry about the appearance of the inside. You WILL have glue and uneven fabric on the inside. That is, unless you are extremely talented and have 3 hours of time to make it perfect. Anddddd, as teachers and moms, I am sure you don't have that kind of time! Plus, no one can see the inside anyways! ;-) 

 

When you flip it over, you will see this! So, that means our next and final step is cutting out the center! (Almost done!!! You can do it!!!)

 

Using an x-acto knife or a razor blade, make a slight in the fabric from one end of the opening to the other. Being that the top isn't glued (for purposes of the glue bleeding through the fabric and because it is easier to make the scissor cuts), secure the fabric by holding it down between your fingers and then make the cut. This will prevent the fabric from pulling away from the sides as you drag the knife and make the cut.

 

Once the center cut is made, take scissors and randomly cut slits all around the perimeter of the opening. Before gluing the slits back on the underneath of the wood, make sure all of the pieces fold over and back all the way. Otherwise, make the slits longer and try again.

 

Now, just let your fancy, new, desk eye candy dry and soon enough it will be ready to use! Ta-da! Your teacher friends are officially jealous of your adorable tissue box on your desk! Hehe!

 

Be sure to share your decorated tissue boxes with me if you make one! I would love to see your pics on here and on Instagram (my username is meetmissparker)! Be sure to follow me on Bloglovin' (link to follow me on the right) and on Instagram! I will be decorating 2 more of these tissue box covers for a giveaway this week! You won't want to miss out on this giveaway and others coming up!

 

Thanks for stopping by! Let me know if you have any questions! Happy tissue box making! ;-)

 

 

 



Pizza Tray Gone Memo Board!!!

         

          Ok, so it all started when I went into the Dollar Tree (my favorite place if you haven't figured that one out yet), and was looking around for anything and everything, when I turned down the house item aisle and saw a pizza tray. Now, while some of you might see a pizza tray and think of it as simply a pizza tray, I looked at it and it screamed craft! Having spent many, many hours on Pinterest lately, I was inspired to turn this ordinary pizza tray into something useful! So, after a trip to Michael's for spray paint, I got to work on making myself a new memo board!

 

 

Here is what you will need:

1. 1 pizza tray (Check your local dollar store for the best bargain!)
2. Painters Tape
3. Scotch-Brite pad
4. Spray Paint (2 colors, I used Krylon semi-gloss enamel spray paint)
5. Elmer's Super Glue ($3 at Wal-Mart)
6. Ribbon (Don't overpay for ribbon! Look at Wal-Mart for a great deal!)
7. Small Magnets

 

          First things first, I used a Scotch-Brite pad (can be purchased at Home Depot) to rough the surface of the pizza tray and help the spray paint stick. Simply rub the pad all over the pizza tray and then wipe clean after.

 

 

 

          You are now ready to spray paint. I purchased Krylon brand semi-gloss enamel spray paint in white and black from Michael's. It can also be found at Wal-Mart and actually for a bit cheaper too (I found that out after the fact :-( ) I spray painted the pizza tray in coats so that the paint didn't bubble or take long to dry. Lightly spray a thin first coat that just tints the silver tray to white. After 10 minutes you can spray again. Continue this process until your tray has completely turned to white! Just like this...

 

 

 

          After letting the pizza tray dry overnight you can begin the taping! Depending on the pattern you want to do, this part can be easy or a bit more tricky. I decided to do my fav pattern, chevron! This wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I simply used a pencil to organize my tape lines and VIOLA chevron pattern!

 

 

          Before starting the spray painting of the black paint, be sure that your painters tape is pressed firmly down! Spray paint the black the same way you did the white paint. Coat it until it is completely black! After about 45 minutes you can start peeling back the tape. Peel slowly!!!

 

 

 

 

          Here comes the fun part! You now get to assemble your memo board! Take your ribbon spool and cut a piece your desired length (I cut mine about 2 feet long). Flip your pizza tray over and apply two large spots of Elmer's super glue to the back of the tray. Place the ribbon over the spots and press flat. Let the ribbon dry to the glue for a couple hours to be sure it is dry. Once dry, grab yourself some small magnets and start hanging your notes and photos!

 

 

Please feel free to contact me with any questions! Now go ahead and start creating your memo board! ;-)