Rockin' and Lovin' Learnin': July 2015

Monday, July 27, 2015

Some things are harder to make than they look....Monday Made It

Y'all...some things are way harder to make

than they look...true story.

I'm linkin' up with my sweet friend Tara from

4th Grade Frolics for my favorite linky...

Monday Made It.
This is long...stick it out to the END.
It'll be worth it...I promise!
Hello...Amazon gift card!

Everyone stand up and curtsy...or bow

for Aris from Sailing into Second.

Last week she made the most ADORABLE

banner gif thingy for her TpT Store.

Look at it here before you read any further.

I'll wait for you to finish readin'...

Hers is just so precious and I decided the first time

I saw it (love at first sight)...that I WANTED one too.

There is NO WAY (yes, I'm shoutin' this)

that mine could even compare to hers...ever...BUT

I was DETERMINED to have one...even

if it did take me a REALLY long time

to make my own and it's nowhere as cute as Aris'.

ARE Y'ALL READY FOR THIS?

Cue rockin' roll music and air drum your fingers.

I DID IT!

The BEST advice I can give you...

READ Aris' post.

Here it is again if you missed it up there.

I followed her directions that lead me to

Christi Fultz's tutorial.

*Read Christi's directions and then WATCH the video.

Don't be like ME and start workin' before you have

viewed that video...trust me.

When I was finished makin' the first image, I made

a second and a third one.

I then dropped all three jpegs into

www.makeagif.com

*Sign in with Facebook for free if you don't

want to use their watermark.

After I had my gif saved, I then dropped

the gif into

www.photobucket.com

After I had my direct link from Photobucket, I

then copied that and dropped it into

http://tinyurl.com/

Final step, I used Christ Fultz's directions

again to input the TinyUrl code into TpT.

*Aris...if by some magical chance you are readin'

this, you seriously need to put up custom orders

for this flyin' banner thingy in your TpT store.

You will make billions.

I would like to be your first customer...please!

I'm not jokin'...have your people get with my people.

And by my people...I mean ME!

I'm beggin' you!

I also made a banner thingy.

I'm a banner newbie,

so I will probably get tired of it in about three days

and want a new one.

I found a fun little tutorial on TpT...

and it was a freebie from Camping Store.

Some of you may be thinkin'...

"Whatevs Alison...

makin' banners

is SO last summer"

and guess what...

you would totally be right.

I'm obviously late to the party.

In my defense...I DID take the past year

off from bloggin'...

just wanted to throw that back out there.

I need to give Stories by Storie a shout-out also.

She also wrote about changin' out your

TpT store front last week and inspired

me to "just do it"!

Thank you!

I also made some "Pals" from Polka Dots and Pal's

Create-a-Pal Base Set

This was so F-U-N.

It was like relivin' my childhood and playin' paper dolls.

I just couldn't decide which one suited me the best.

I wear my hair all of these different ways.

I'm horrible at makin' decisions.

I think everyone should make their own Pal!

Does anyone think these look like my favorite crazy pants?

I have a palazzo pant addiction...if you didn't already know.

Before we leave these two techy made-its...

Have y'all checked out the

Technology Tribe Pinterest page?

You should think about followin'.

Lots of great technology pins have been added

from blogs and other sources

in the past two weeks!

Thank you to Rachel Burden from

180 Days to Happy for settin' it up.

I love butterflies.

I'm pretty sure my classroom decor

has an identity crisis every year.

The theme is supposed to be Rockstars,

but through the years I have added in pieces

of things I love...

butterflies & giraffes bein' the main additions.

I saw this outside of Kirkland's and I could NOT walk away.

It's wings were whisperin' my name.

Even better...it was on SALE with an additional 25% off.

I quickly ran inside and asked them if they would put it on hold for me.

After a little beggin' from me and the promise of a new fishin' reel,

Jerm took his truck back to pick it up and even put it

together for me.

So, I guess my "made it" is...I made Jerm

help me on his day off.

I'm lucky he loves me and my bossiness.

When I woke up on Saturday mornin' he was busy puttin' it
together for me and told me...
"You almost missed Monday Made It because you
were Sleepin' In On Saturday".
I love him!

I have no idea WHERE it's goin' to fit in my classroom.

I will have to make space....

even if I have to put my desk...

on the ceilin'.

This was also on sale for $13....it had to come home with me too!

It will match my room...and might also have to go on

the ceilin'....yikes!

See if you can find a spot for it to fit...

See....I bet you didn't find a spot either...
no more room left to put anything except children.
*These are last year's beginnin' of the years pics.
I can't get in my room to work some magic until
Summer School is over and carpets are cleaned.

Everyone made such a big deal about

Jerm's Corn Salsa & Key Lime Tart

from last week

that I had to get back

into the kitchen with him...again.

You guys OWE me BIG time.

You know how much
I LOVE the kitchen.
*One day I'm goin' to get struck by lightnin'
as a punishment for my sarcasm.

Just look at all the love me bein' in the kitchen
got last week from my BBB's.

Ali from Teaching Powered by Caffeine

pretty much told me she loved me
(more than she already did)
because she made Jerm's Corn Salsa...
minus the black beans

and jalapeno.
Her yummy creation made her happy...which
made me happy.

Erin from Miss Lifesaver
made Jerm's Corn Salsa too...
and some other yummies!
She even tagged me in a picture on FB.
I tagged Jerm and told him he is famous.
Miss Lifesaver KNOWS who the kitchen boss
is around here.
*Hint: It's not me.

Carol from Teachers are Terrific made the

Key Lime Tart and sent me pictures.

She added toasted meringue to hers

and I'm goin' to be honest...her pictures

made me want to eat her tart...with a shovel.

She put mine to shame.

Okay...focus Alison...

kitchen...cookin'...cute apron...torture.

Sandcastle Cake

Not sure where I got the pan...maybe T.J. Maxx

or Marshall's several years ago.

This past weekend was my mother-in-love's birthday

so we made this for her because she loves the beach.

The castle didn't want to come out of the pan, so

we lost some of the towers, but that's okay...

we just added some candy for distractions.

(Swedish fish, seahorsies, and Sour Patch Kids)

The sand on the sandcastle is Vanilla Wafers.

I got chased out of the kitchen for tryin' to steal frostin'.

I didn't make y'all a cute recipe card this week

because we were in a hurry and used a cake mix.

You can just call us "Mr. and Mrs. Betty Crocker".

I discovered somethin' while in the kitchen...

I still don't like bein' in there.

My friend Jamie from Life As I Know It... is havin'

an awesome Back to School giveaway and

asked me to join in the fun!

Make sure you head over to her blog for a chance

to win a $35 Amazon Gift Card and $15 to my TpT store.

I just put up a bundle of my best-seller Rockin' Behavior Beads.

Happy Monday, friends!

Monday, July 20, 2015

They say....Who is THEY? Monday Made It...

Well hello there...new and old friends.

I'm linkin' up with my buddy Tara from 4th Grade Frolics

for Monday Made It.

They say couples that cook together...stay together.

What I want to know is...

WHO IS THEY?

Source: Marriage & Laughter

This cartoon is extremely accurate...except in real life

I would be the husband's character.

I know HOW to cook...I just don't LIKE to cook.

If you follow my Instagram...you saw

this funny picture.

I decided to actually use my new apron and

COOK with my hubby, Jerm.

I know...I know...

quit laughin'

He was just as surprised as you are!

First recipe up...Corn Salsa.

Jerm found an idea on Pinterest,

but he likes to make things his own...so

we shall call this Jerm's Corn Salsa.

Next up...Key Lime Tart.

I really should've posted dessert FIRST.

Somethin' to keep us cool in the Florida heat.

I could so make this all by myself and it was yumm-o.

The next thing I made is somethin' that I KNOW

my students are goin' to FLIP over.

No really...they are goin' to squeal when

I give this to them and aren't even goin' to complain

about doin' math.

I am in love, love, love with my

Wizards, Witches, and Wands

a Multi-Digit Multiplication Task Cards game.

I didn't have any students with me this summer to show

this in action, so I ~~begged~~ bossed

my amazin' mommy and her sweet friend Pris

into playin' the game.

They whined about not bein' able to use

a calculator (sound familiar),

but they finally agreed to do it

the old school way.

This is up in my TpT store for 50% off all day Monday

until midnight.

Since I hit 1,000 followers on Instagram this week...

I also made some

Wizards, Witches and Wands Labels-editable.

As a treat, I am puttin' them up on my TpT

for a FREEBIE until Monday at midnight.

Please be sure to leave some love

if you enjoy this item.

When I hit 1,000 followers on Bloglovin'...

I will be doin' a BIG giveaway.

If you aren't followin' yet...please join me!

Monday is my favorite day in summer

because I get to see all the wonderful

things everyone else is makin'.

When school starts back, all bets are off on

"Monday" even bein' a word in my vocabulary.

Happy Monday, friends!

Monday, July 13, 2015

Want to be friends? Check "yes" or "no"...

Hey friends...it's Monday.

Time for "Monday Made It" with Tara from 4th Grade Frolics.

I've been ~~stalkin'~~ nonchalantly scrollin' through

Instagram and every other Social Media outlet

known to mankind

to find out what I was missin' in Vegas.

I almost hopped in the car and drove

8 hours to ~~stalk~~ meet you in person.

My first made it is somethin' that I shared

in a post last week.

Read HERE.

Did you read it?

Do NOT

go any further with this post unless

you clicked up there where it says HERE.

Not jokin'...

Now you need to load the app!

I already have a set of the paper blocks at home, but

I wanted to make these for you guys to see.

I am seriously in love

with this...like whoa!

I really hope you read about the blocks here or

that picture above will make absolutely no sense.

If you're new here, you might not know that I teach

Talented and Gifted.

Can you hear me screamin'....

I LOVE NERDS?!

For real...talk nerdy to me.

I one thousand percent celebrate nerdiness.

The nerdier, the better.

In my classroom,

I make a super big deal out of nerdy

bein' the new cool.

It's a fact...nerds ROCK

and I'm proud to be a

"Nerd Herd Leader".

In honor of all of my nerds near and far...

I've made a cute little sign that I printed

and popped in a 5 X 7 frame.

Shh...don't tell Mommy Rose that I'm diggin'

the frame (that I bought for her one Christmas)

and already have it hidden in my suitcase to

take back to Florida.

I've already got a spot picked out for this on my desk.

Are you a Nerd Herd leader too?

Go scoop this up for FREE by clickin' here.

I also finished somethin' for my TpT store.

If you use behavior beads in the classroom, this is for you!

Under the Sea Behavior Beads-Special Edition.

I have them up as a FREEBIE until midnight Monday.

Be sure to scoop them up and please leave some love.

Last, but certainly not least...Miss Nelson

(Run! Miss Nelson's Got the Camera!)

and I made a vacation linky.

We both love to travel, but always

end up goin' to the same places...~~borin'~~ creatures of habit.

We need some fresh ideas and spots to go.

We'd love to have you join in with us.

This doesn't have to be teacher related

unless you want to link up

about your Vegas vacation.

It can even be a throwback post.

It's totally up to you.

This will be open for a month!

Read about this here.

I can't wait to read all the Monday Made Its and catch

up on all the rockin' Periscope videos.

I watched at least 40 broadcasts while writin' this post!

My username is: @butterflialisun

if you want to be friends.

Check "yes" or "no".

Kiddin'!

Happy Monday, friends!

Friday, July 10, 2015

Destination Vacation...let's talk! Vacations linky party!

Where do you LOVE to vacation?
Miss Nelson from Run! Miss Nelson's Got the Camera
and I would like to know if you

are willin' to give up your secret spot?
Here...I'll go first...

I am fortunate enough to live in The Sunshine State.
I reside in Panama City Beach near the
white sandy beaches of the Emerald Coast of Florida.

Yep...I get to wear my flip flops to school!

PCB's water is blue-green, clear and beautiful.
That is the only reason you will catch me in the water...because
I can see the bottom.
(I'm petrified of sharks)