Product Swap - You Have to Check Out the Awesomeness! {and giveaway!}

Hello friends! The awesome Cara from Creative Playground has set up a fun product swap. 

I had the opportunity to be paired with Laura from Differentiation Station Creations. She is such a sweet person and was easy to get to know. Laura comes from a special education background. And, oh, does she really know how to differentiate! 

I chose to review her Pirates Interactive Play Dough Mats Counting, Addition, Ten Frames, Printables

Friends, I have to tell you, I'm beyond excited to get to use this in my classroom. In kindergarten this year our Math RTI can only focus on counting and cardinality This packet will be absolutely perfect for my littles that are struggling with numbers. AND since it is differentiated it will be great for my littles who already know their numbers and are ready to do more with their numbers. 

Let me show you! 

I love the incorporation of play dough. I already know I'll have at least one kinder with OT issues. With this I can get both fine motor and math together. 

I envision putting the worksheets in sheet protectors so my kinders can get lots of practice out of it and have fun using a dry erase marker.

Another perk to this packet, Laura has directions for everything. There's no wondering if you are using it the way it was intended or wondering what something is for.

Check out her bright and colorful blog to see her review of my sensory tubs!

AND be sure to check out her store to see more of her awesomeness!

AND the Laura has been kind enough to let me give one of these away!! Enter the rafflecopter below for a chance to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

An InLinkz Link-up

1000 Follower Giveaway!!

Wowie-wow-wow!! I cannot believe that I have over 1,000 followers on TpT! Honestly, it kind of snuck up on me. I have to have a big giveaway, because this is kind of a big deal! Friends, you have  no idea how much it means to me that you follow my little store and my shenanigans on the blog and FB. You all rock!!

So here it goes!

The 1st random winner chosen will get to spend $50 in my store!

 The 2nd random winner chosen will get to spend $20 in my store!

And, finally, the 3rd random winner chosen will get to spend $10 in my store!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Jungle Mania!! {and giveaway!!}

Hello friends! The other kinder teachers and I have embarked on the journey of all of us doing a jungle theme. Let me be honest here, I.AM.CHEAP. We're all teachers here and know how it is. My husband teases me about it. So here are some pictures of how I turned my room into it's jungle craziness for under $100 {plus the rug from kidcarpet.com It was only $279 and I had a weak moment}. 

First of all, I created this:

I wanted everything on my wall to match the theme. So I created all of the posters and then got a little carried away. My printer sure has had a workout!

 For real, you NEED a low temp hot glue gun. I have a high temp one at school that uses the fat glue sticks. I picked the little blue one up for under $3 to keep at home. The low temp one does go slower than my high temp one, but if you get it on your fingers you won't die in agony. Seriously, friends, I have had burns and blisters from the high temp one! 

You totally need crate seats! It only takes MDF board {have Lowe's cut it for you} a drill and zip ties. Then you can staple your fabric to the MDF board. 

 

Friends, I am in LOVE with this theme! It is totally not a theme I would have picked for myself, but I love it! I can't wait for my new kinders to see it!

Enter below for a chance to win my Jungle Decor pack! 2 lucky winners will be randomly chosen!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Karla - Your email was kicked back to me. Please email me at linds85210@gmail.com to claim your prize!

How To Make Chair Pockets!

Hello friends! I posted my chair pockets on my FB page and had lots of questions on how I made them. Well, friends, here is your picture tutorial! 

1st: Choose your material. Keep in mind that sheets might be cheaper than fabric by the yard. A queen size flat sheet will make 18 chair pockets for little people chairs.

2nd: Gather your tools. You'll need your material, scissors, a tape measure and a yard stick. Choose a flat surface to do your work on. My kitchen table worked pretty well. :)

3rd: Patiently measure, mark and cut your material. This part seems to take FOREVER! And, honestly, I have a hard time being precise on everything. Just do your best, fabric is hard to measure and cut. 

4th: Gather your beautifully cut pieces and get out the sewing machine!

Mine is the Wal-Mart day after Thanksgiving special from like 8 years ago. It gets heavy use in the summer and is still going strong. So, while a nice expensive machine would be nice, it's not necessary for this project. 

5th: Sew the short ends to keep them from fraying too bad. 

I turn the knobs so its sews in a zig zag pattern for the whole thing. I think it looks pretty and hope it holds up better than the normal one.

6th: Trifold your material to make your chair pocket.

Lay your piece face down. Lift one end and fold it a third of the way up (about where the scissors are).

Then I took what is above my scissors and folded it back. 

This is the backside of the chair pocket.

When you do this trifold make sure your chair pocket is still at least 12 inches deep.

7th: Pin the edges.

8th: Sew up the sides.

9th: Trim off any that didn't line up.

And TA-DA you have a chair pocket!

I hope that made sense. It was hard for me to explain the trifold.

Good luck with your summer crafitiviites!