Twitter Linky Party and Giveaway Reminder!

I love these super cute graphics from The 3AM Teacher

I am linking up with Simply Kinder! She has an amazing post about why you should Twitter!

And, if you haven't yet entered, please visit my post from the amazing Angela Watson and enter the Giveaway!

I am still working on my classroom and have been so pooped! We start school next week, so say some prayers for me and all the other teachers!

Happy New School Year!

Awakened Book Giveaway!

I want to introduce you to a fabulous author and blogger! Her name is Angela Watson and she is from The Cornerstone. She was a classroom teacher for eleven years, and currently works as an instructional coach and educational consultant based in New York City.  She has written a new book and Devotional Study Guide that amazes me! I know once you read it, you will love it!  

Hi, Cheryl, thanks for having me on your blog! I'm very excited to share my books with your readers. Here's a little bit of info about them: Awakened: Change Your Mindset to Transform Your Teaching provides simple steps to help you feel peaceful and energized no matter what’s happening around you. Drawing upon principles of stress management, cognitive behavioral therapy, spiritual truths, and personal experiences, Awakened helps you develop thought habits that produce an unshakeable sense of contentment, motivation, and purpose. Learn how to renew your mind and take a fresh approach to the challenges of teaching!      

For those who do want to seek out the biblical truths behind Awakened, I published The Awakened Devotional Study Guide for Christian Educators. The guide elaborates on what the Bible has to say about renewing our minds. It’s 8.5 x 11 and is designed to be a workbook where you can record your thoughts and respond to what you’ve read. Each devotion is 4 pages: the first page includes the corresponding Awakened reading and an opening reflection where you can write down your initial thoughts as well as notes from Awakened if needed. The second page has the devotion and a wide left margin for notetaking. The third page has the application questions (with space for your responses) and an additional scripture reading (with space to add other related Bible verses you’re reminded of.) The fourth page has a “to do” challenge with a work space and a prayer. Click here to get a special discount on both books together.



You can use The Awakened Devotional Study Guide for Christian Educators on your own or with a group in your community. I’m also offering the first and only online Bible study developed specifically for educators. It began the second week of August and continues through the week of January 27, 2013, so it's not too late to join! We’ll be working through one devotion together on a weekly basis. The application questions will be posted on a private blog each Sunday. You can read and respond to the devotion any time during that week, and then the next set of questions will be posted the following Sunday. Here are the details and sign-up for the online Bible study group and to get ordering/purchasing information. You can also read the reviews of the book and online Bible study book club from those who participated in the focus group. I hope that you all will find that either of both of these books help you get your school year off to a GREAT start!

Thank you Angela for being a guest on my blog today!

Angela has graciously offered to give away a copy of either or both of these books to one reader of Crayons & Curls! Aren't you excited?! What a great way to start your school year!

To enter, just leave me a comment answering one question:  How do you handle difficult times in your life? and you will also need to leave me your email address so I can contact you if you win and let you pick which (or both) books you would like! The books are available in print version or eReader (ePUB or MOBI for Kindle).

The contest will run until August 30th at 10:00pm EST, win a winner will be picked by random.org. 

Good luck!

Winner!

And the winners are.....

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congrats to Jennifer K. - she has won the laminator!
Also, Congrats to Brenda R. - she has won the paper cutter!

You have 48 hours to claim your prize!

But don't worry, if you didn't win... You can try again - I just saw Smiling in Second Grade is giving away a laminator!

And if you need something to laminate - First Grade Fanatics is giving away 21 items!

Also, Debbie from Rainbows within Reach is having another Pinterest link up! Make sure you ONLY link your pinterest page!

My new laminator and paper cutter and a Giveaway!

MyBinding.com asked me recently to review their laminating machine and paper cutter! Let me tell you, I was over the moon excited! I already reviewed their binding machine - which I loved and can't wait to use in my classroom! {You can read about it here}.

Haven't heard of Mybinding.com? You can read their blog or go to their store to find out more about them {Go ahead - You will be impressed at what they have to offer - but hold down the Ctrl button while you click on the link to open a new tab so you don't lose your place on my blog!} 

 

 

If you click on the pictures it will take you to mybinding.com so you can read more about these products.

Wow! These products are so compact! They will be perfect for my tiny classroom! And so lightweight!

I wanted to laminate my flashcards from my I Can Read the Alphabet pack. After I printed them out on cardstock, I put one page in a laminating sleeve.

I plugged in my laminator and turned it on. After a few minutes it was ready to laminate! It was so cool that I just put it in and it fed it through! (okay, so I am easily amused!)

After it laminated, I wanted to use my Papermonster cutter to cut the flashcards apart. Well, I guess the laminate is too thick because it would not cut it! :(   Oh well! Guess it is back to the old fashioned scissors! :)

 

But it does cut the not laminated cardstock beautifully! It will be great for making perfect straight edges on paper or cardstock (as long as it isn't thick laminate - will have to try my school's thin laminate and see if that works!).

Now, guess what??? Mybinding.com has generously agreed to let me do a giveaway! I am so excited that I get to give one of you amazing followers the chance to win your own personal laminator and one person your own personal paper cutter. Are you excited?

Please use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter this giveaway. This giveaway ends at 12:01am on 8/18/12 and is open to Residents of the Continental USA.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congrats to Jennifer K. - she has won the laminator!
Also, Congrats to Brenda R. - she has won the paper cutter!

Disclosure: I received free products from Mybiding.com. All opinions are 100% my own.

Update, Freebies, Pinterest - Oh My!

I have to first thank you so much for visiting my TpT store yesterday!

If you visited the Teachers pay Teachers sale yesterday - Did you find something that you really, really wanted? I know I found an item I have been wanting, but waiting for a sale! Woo Hoo! :)

And if you did buy my I Can Read the Alphabet book, please go and re-download it! I updated the instructions and added some lowercase worksheets!

Also, Debbie from Rainbows Within Reach posted some amazing freebies from some amazing people and I really want to share this with you!  

I am sharing the list at the bottom of this post, but you can visit her {here} and send her some love! She is amazing and has such wonderful ideas!

She also had a great Pinterest link up! Please visit her and tell her I sent you! :)

This was a very quick post, but I really wanted to share this with you!

I hope you have a blessed day!

Sale!

Isn't this the cutest button! The great Michelle of The 3am Teacher made it!

Did you know there will be a sale on Sunday and Monday at Teachers pay Teachers? Gotta love a sale!  You can save up to 28% at most stores!

If you click the cute button above it will take you to my new store, where you will see:

(If you click on Download Preview there is a freebie for you!)

You will also see:

    

These items will be 20% off Sunday and Monday for the Back to School Sale!

I am already filling my cart! I hope you find yourself some goodies to help make going back to school a little easier!

Happy Weekend!

Monday Made It!

I am linking up with Tara from the 4th Grade Frolics for my very first Monday Made it! (warning - this is a long post! I am sorry in advance!)

I finally made my crate seats! I have been wanting to make them all summer, but never took the time!  {I got my inspiration for these from What the Teacher Wants!}  A sale at Joann's  Fabric got me moving to make these great seats! I got the material 50% off and the foam 50% off! I already had the crates, so my next stop was to Lowe's to get the wood. I bought a sheet of 1/2" plywood for around $13 (but I got 21 boards out of it!) and they cut it for me for free! I just brought in my crate and they helped me measure and figure out the size I needed. 

First, I gathered all my materials.

• 1" thick foam
• 1/2" wood cut to size
• 1 1/2 yards of fabric (I used oil cloth for durability)
• file crate
• spray glue
• scissors
• staple gun and staples
• ribbon (I haven't done that step yet - but you will want it)

Next, I cut out my foam. I place the board on top and traced around it. I used scissors to cut out the size I needed.

Then, I took my boards and the cut foam outside and sprayed the glue onto the wood and laid the foam on top and then pressed it on. I let it dry for a couple of hours.

Now it was time to cover them! I brought the boards inside had to figure out how to cut the material, without ruining it. I do not sew, so I called my mother-in-law for tips. She suggested I use newspaper and make a pattern. Easy Peasy!

I cut out the material, laid the wood/foam on  top and pulled it tight and stapled (I didn't have a helper, so I didn't get any pictures of me stapling, sorry!)

(If I had ribbon, I would staple ribbon over the fabric and staple it underneath - this will make it easy to lift the top off)

Ta Da!

Okay - If I can do it - so can you!

Now, let's see if I can get in my classroom to drop these off.

(I hope they are finally done cleaning!)

I think my husband is tired of looking at all my teacher supplies!

Go visit Tara and see what inspires you!

Happy Monday!

Read Freebie and Guest Blogger!

I was a guest blogger on Wednesday at Kreative in Kinder and left a cute freebie!

Go visit her blog and grab your freebie!

My New Binding Machine!

I was contacted by MyBinding.com to review their fantastic binding machine! I first went to their blog to find out more about them, and boy, was I impressed! They have so many amazing products and they have sales, so they are definitely teacher friendly!

When my package arrived (and it was quick!), I immediately tore into opened my boxes to see what goodies they sent me! Wow!!!! I am in LOVE!

Here is the cute binding machine! Let me tell you, it is so light weight! I love that little ol' me can lift it and carry it around and doesn't feel like I am lifting weights!  At my school, we use to have a binding machine and it was so heavy! Carrying it to my classroom when I wanted to borrow it was such a chore! I love that I could move this one all over my house with ease!

(Ok - the instructions do say that it is 6 lbs., but after lifting my 55 lb. son, I think 6 lbs. is light!)

I decided to bind some of my little boy's kindergarten work. I usually file it, but thought it would be fun to bind it!  I decided to use the clear covers they sent me as the cover page.

First, I had to tap the pages to make sure they were lined up.

Then I placed them in the machine (punching channel) and pressed the arm down so I could punch the holes.

Super Easy!

Success!

Then I put the binding comb into the metal fingers and pressed the handle down to open the comb to insert the papers. Next, I put the papers into the comb and lifted the handle.

Sweet!

Now his Kindergarten papers are all organized and put together in one little book! Gotta love that!

Thank you MyBinding.com for allowing me to review this wonderful machine. I truly am in love!

My class will thank you this year when I get to bind all their cute projects! Can't wait!!! :)

Circle of Moms

I was nominated for the Circle of Mom's Top 25 blogs. You can vote once per day for the next 8 days. There are some amazing blogs! Go check out all of the amazing blogs!

Blogger Product Swap with Innovative Connections

I am linking up with Mrs. Stanford's Class for a great product swap! I swapped products with Ann Marie at Innovative Connections. I am reviewing her wonderful Don't You See Subjects & Verbs Must Agree? 216 Cards-Sentence Parts!.

Don't You See Subjects & Verbs Must Agree? 216 Cards-Sentence Parts!

Wow! There are 216 Sentence Part Cards:

15 pages - 60 Subject Cards

15 pages - 60 Verb Cards (Action and linking)

10 pages - 40 Prepositional Phrase Cards

10 Pages - 40 Modifier Cards (Adjectives and Adverbs) 

and 4 pages - 16 Conjunction Cards (Coordinating and Correlative)

 I love that Ann Marie has made it so easy to use and understand! The directions are super simple and, after printing, my sweet 8th Grade daughter had fun using this awesome pack!  Even though it is summer, I think she enjoyed helping her Mom (and it kept her away from annoying her little brother for a little while).

My daughter helped me cut out all the parts of speech:

Next, we sorted out the different parts of speech and she had fun making sentences! (She loved the that the subject was current with today and she could pick out fun topics) She next made a sentence

(silly, but fun! - The Smurfs giggle carelessly in the shade.) 

Next, she recorded her sentence on the recording page (that you can download at Ann Marie's blog post) and she labeled the different parts of speech.

Wow! I love that this packet is so versatile! I can see a 3rd Grade Teacher using it all the way to an 8th Grade English Teacher! It would also be great for Home schooled students and great for parents to purchase to help their child review during the summer months! (I know me and my daughter had to think sometimes about labeling the different parts of speech - really helped dust off our brains!)

I love this product! My daughter had fun sorting the parts of speech and making sentences.  This would be a great center for all grade levels and I can see teachers using it and pairing students up or having students work in groups to practice working on subject/verb agreement. Of course, it would make a great stand alone individual center as well!

Please visit Ann Marie at Innovative Connections. You will love all that she has to offer! She is so creative and talented!

(And today she is reviewing my new product at my TpT store!)

You can also find her at:

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Thank you for visiting today!

*I am also visiting Kreative in Kinder today - Go visit! I have a freebie for you! :) *

You can see more blog post swaps at Mrs. Stanford's Class!
Thank you to Mrs. Stanford for this blog swap and thank you to Michelle at The 3am Teacher for making the cute button at the top of this post!