Monday Made It: Seat Crates

It's Monday Made It AND I made something this week!!!!!! I've never made anything for this Linky, so I'm super duper extra excited about it! I've been dancing around the house all day waiting till I can blog. My husband thinks I'm such an incredibly huge teacher nerd.  =)

So without further ado (drum roll please...)

SEAT CRATES!!

  

A few of my lovely co-workers made these last year and they were awesome. The kids sit on the seats during guided reading or author's chair or other special times. The seats also serve as storage containers for Kleenex boxes, baby wipes, books, etc. They're super easy to make. Click HERE for the full instructions; here's my reader's digest version:

What you need: crates (Big Lots), wood (Home Depot...they cut the wood as well), foam (Hobby Lobby...1 inch thick), fabric (Hobby Lobby), aerosol adhesive (Hobby Lobby), staple gun (Home Depot)
What you do: Cut the wood and foam to the size of the crate opening. Glue the wood and foam together. Wrap with the fabric and staple to the back of the wood. Put this beautiful package on top of the crate and VOILA! You're done! 

Jenna has inspected these seats and given them her sniff of approval  =)

 

Five for Friday (June 28)

It's that time of the week again...Linky party with Doodle Bugs!!!

1. The most exciting teacher-y thing I've done this week is start my very own TPT store! If you have any advice about running a TPT store, please let me know! Also, positive feedback is always appreciated  =)  My Digraph Sort will be free for the rest of the day, so please drop by and pick it up!

Click the picture to download

 2. My husband and I just bought a car! Is It's a Mazda 3 hatchback...zoom, zoom, zoom! I have to admit that I've never had the pleasure of buying a car before, and it was quite an experience. Even though we knew exactly which car we wanted and how much it was going to cost, it still took 3 hours to buy it! And I thought teaching had a lot of paperwork.  =)

The newest member of our family!

 3. Last year was the first year I used Daily 5 in my classroom and I LOVED it! This summer, I'm reading through the CAFE book and love it as well! The two sisters have great ideas for helping students, and they deliver their ideas in such a teacher-friendly format. I'm super excited about trying this out next year!!

4. SUMMER PROJECT: Seat Crates! Some of my co-workers tried these last year, and they were SO cute and SO practical! The kids loved sitting on these special seats, and the teacher could store extra supplies or center activities in the crate.

Click HERE if you're interested in making these super cute seats!

 5. I took this picture of my dog and her "yogurt face." Anytime someone eats a cup of yogurt, she just sits and stares at you because she wants to lick the cup when you're done. It's a little creepy in that adorable kind of way  =)

 

A not-related-to-teaching post about a cute little puppy!

Last summer, my hubbie and I adopted a dog. She was a 16 week old lab mix, and she's been spoiled rotten ever since! Neither my husband nor I want another dog permanently, but there's such a huge stray population in our area that we decided to give fostering a dog a whirl. A whirl it has been! Saturday, we picked up our first foster dog--an 8 week old puppy. Let me mention again that we got our dog at 16 weeks...when she was already house broken. I had no idea how much work went into crate training and potty training a puppy! At night we are getting up every 3 hours to let him out and during the day we have to watch him constantly to make sure he doesn't tinkle in the house (thank goodness for hardwood floors!). He's got super hero powers, though, because after all that work, he gives you one little look with those puppy eyes, and it all seems worth it! He's going to be a great dog for someone someday. Just look at him!