Beer Me!

Over the past few years I have actually begun to love beer. I’ve always been a Cabernet kinda gal but sometimes an ice cold IPA or Pilsner is in order. It's safe to say my newfound admiration of hops comes from my husband. He is always ordering craft beers when we are out to dinner or buying new 6-packs to try when we are at SPECS or HEB. So, when I was beginning my pallet creations my mind wandered to beer- I may have been sipping on one at the time but that’s beside the point. One of our close friends has a bottle opener screwed into the side of their kitchen cabinet and I always thought it was such a convenient idea, especially for a house with beer lovers. Obviously, re-selling bottle openers isn’t very creative so I decided to put a little spin on the idea and the custom pallet bottle opener was “born”.

I have made a few custom orders for close friends and family as well as a couple on Etsy. Some include; the state of West Virginia, the state of Texas in Longhorn burnt orange, a burnt orange Longhorn head (Hook 'Em Horns!) and a Texas State bear claw. 

I love making these because I know that they are special to the people who are ordering and/or receiving them. It’s something different and personal and there’s no better feeling than knowing you were the one who created it for them. If you can't get enough of these, check out my Etsy page and order one! You'd be utterly adored by the whomever you give it to!

 

Guess Who? Fun with Geometry

Who said geometry in the upper elementary grades can't be fun? Although the 4th and 5th grade standards get more complex with classifying shapes and putting them in hierarchies- you can still make it entertaining. 

Last year I stumbled upon this blog post, loved it, pinned it, and then forgot about it. I can’t tell you how many times I have done that! One of my New Year resolutions was to actually look through the ideas I’ve pinned/saved before taking the time to search for more and good thing I did! The archived Quadrilateral Quotes blog was rediscovered. I decided to take her amazing idea and add a little bit more depth to it. I started out by making my own quotes and quadrilaterals and letting the students match them on a giant anchor chart. 

I made sure to laminate them and use sticky tack because I had a hunch the students would be moving some things around and sure enough, they did.

After they matched the shape and description, I let them choose the polygon they wanted and create their own character. 

I made sure that they used all of the descriptive attributes such as; sets of, parallel sides, acute angles, perpendicular lines, etc. I didn’t want them describing a square by saying “I have four sides and four right angles.” We talked about how in fourth and fifth grade they should be using more expressive and specific attributes to describe shapes. This also happened to line up perfectly with language arts since they were working on using quotation marks and punctuation correctly.

It was wonderful to see their creative sides emerge in both the creation of the creature as well as their quotes. Some students even asked to use the protractors to measure the angles of their “creature” for a more accurate description! I placed them on my door and everyone passing by seems to love them. I can hear other students reading the quotes and guessing the shape.

 If you like this idea, check it out in my TpT store.

I also have task cards and activity sheets that correlate to these 4^th and 5^th grade geometry standards!

Valentine's Celebration

It took me a while to decide on a cute Valentine's Day idea for my students because every time I would find one, another would catch my eye and another and another... So, after scrolling through pages upon pages of Pinterest ideas and finally realizing I was running out of time, I committed to Rolos.

It was quick, inexpensive and most importantly, adorable! I bought the clear plastic bags from the $1 section of Target (seriously dangerous when you are a teacher- or just a human) and a Valentine's size bag of Rolos. Since I work with about 12 students I got away with buying one bag although for a whole class you'd probably want a couple. After dividing 4 Rolo candies into each bag I printed out the saying, "I like the way you roll!" and simply stapled it to the bag.

My fourth and fifth graders loved it. Most of them gave a little laugh after reading the saying, which is what I was going for. Happy Valentine's Day Ya'll!!

Horseshoe Wine Rack

After picking through a box of "junk" at our friends antique shop and finding a bunch of old horse shoes, I knew what I wanted to make with them. I grew up with horses and I love to drink wine so I figured- why not mix the two! Surely there are more people like me that love wine and horses! And viola- this beautiful wine rack was created.

 
I had James grind down the horse shoes to make them look a little more shiny than they originally were. Some were pretty old and rusty and although I love things rustic, they were a little too rustic for my liking. 

We used a piece of pallet wood for the back and added a little stain to give it a good "pop"! The first rack we made I used a light pine stain and when we made a second rack, I decided to use a dark walnut stain. I love the way both of them turned out. It's really more about preference. 

Both racks sold pretty quickly- one at Jessie's store and the other on Etsy. We are always looking for more old horse shoes so we can continue making these beautiful pieces.

 

Planter Box Perfection

My talented husband is at it again! He created these beautiful planter boxes for our dear friend and real estate agent. She had just recently moved and during the process of remodeling, she decided she wanted some planter boxes as a statement piece outside of her house.

That’s when James came to the rescue! He brought his welder and supplies over to her house and welded the boxes together on site. She just recently finished all of the surrounding landscaping and sent us these photos.

I couldn’t help but share!

Excuse the “not-so-focused” snapshot from the listing agent on a house for sale in Austin that James made custom planter boxes for as well.

I'm having a sale!!

Come check out my Teachers Pay Teachers store. It's mainly geared toward fourth and fifth grade math products- and best of all- everything is on sale today (1/20) and tomorrow (1/21)! 

Rustic Texas Pallet Sign

As you know, I love to create signs and decor with pallets and this may be one of my favorites so far! I loved it so much I couldn't bear to part with it and put it in my Etsy shop, so I placed it above my television instead. I've learned that is one of the hardest things about making all of these unique signs and decor- parting with them. 

This sign is about 42" long and around 24" tall. It's one of the larger (and heavier) pieces I've made so finding studs along with centering it in the wall proved to be quite the challenge. Luckily I have a wonderful- and strong- husband and a trusty stud-finder that helped.

 I had to use two coats of paint on this in order to get the look I wanted. It required one full tube of white acrylic paint and about two hours of painting. I'd say it was time and money ($.99) well spent. 

The greatest thing about this sign is how cheap it is to make:

• The pallets were free- just go to your local hardware store and ask them where they place the pallets they don't want. Some stores leave them in the parking lot, others mark them with certain colors, just ask! 
• The paint is less than a dollar if you use a coupon at Hobby Lobby or even full price it's no more than $2. 
• My husband and I have a nail gun but a trusty old hammer and nails would work (with a little more effort) to attach the boards together from the back. Although, before we invested in an air compressor and nail gun we used screws and a drill.

 If you love this sign as much as I do and want one of your own, don't hesitate to visit my shop and send me a convo or leave me a comment below! I love to work with people and create beautiful original pieces!