Favorite Pins Friday Linky

Hi!  I am linking up with Cara over at The First Grade Parade to share some of my favorite pins.

Favorite Foods

This week I wanted my kids to try a different variety of foods.  They seem to only like chicken and pizza. This week I found some amazing dishes that I tried and will be making again.  My oldest son liked them a lot.  My youngest was still pretty picky.  One night he decided to eat 1/2 head of lettuce and a container of blueberries.  He didn't want to ask me to make anything else for him.  Hopefully one day he will try new foods.

1. These Chicken Enchiladas were sooo good.  There wasn't anything left for leftovers.  Major sadness...but I am glad they were a hit!  You can find the recipe here...Joyful Momma's Kitchen.

2.  I found this recipe for Ritz Chicken from The Girl Who Ate Everything,  To be honest. we have enjoyed a different version of this recipe for years.  However, when I saw this I thought it would be fun to change it up a bit.  It was so good.

3.  I haven't made this yet, but I got the ingredients for it and will be making it for dinner today.  This Crock Pot chicken from My Daily Moment looks wonderful!

4.  Searching through my recipes made me crave this yummy dessert, Red Velvet Cheesecake Swirl,  that I found from Six Sisters Stuff.  You can never really go wrong with ANY recipe that is on their website.  I have made this one several times.  The frosting is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.  I have made just the frosting before...just because.  It would be yummy on pumpkin bread, carrot cake or on my toast in the morning!  YUMMY!!!

Classroom Ideas

I have never really had a theme in my classroom before. I have always had primary colors as my main colors, but nothing ever matched.  After seeing all my bloggers friends' rooms, I decided I needed a theme.  I found my owl picture from Ikea and decided to use aquaish blue and olivish green as my two colors.  Everything has been falling into place, almost too perfectly for me and I can't wait to get into my classroom to set it up.

1.  These cosmetic sponges  from The Dollar Tree are going to work perfectly for white board erasers.  I love the colors and how they match so well.

2.  I saw this pin on one of my team members boards and knew right away that I was going to do it.  My theme is owls.  This activity from Little Learners  will match my room so well!  I can't wait to do it. I knew I was going to do a welcome board with owls of some kind, now I have it all figured out.

3.  This next pin for my classroom is one that I pinned.  To make a long story short...I ordered a rug from Kohl's on Monday.  They always have fantastic sales and coupons.  When I found this rug, it was almost too good to be true.  The colors were perfect.  It matched all the decorations that I made for my room.  I was excited.  On Tuesday I got an email saying the order was cancelled.  No reasons or explanations what-so-ever.  After calling Kohl's and much frustration, I was told the rug was not in stock.  I went on the website as I was talking and it was showing that it was in stock.  With a lot of frustration and long discussions, I was told I would have to keep checking to see when it was back in stock.  I didn't know how I would know that if it was still showing online that they had it.  I pinned it right away and thought I might check back.  On Wednesday I got a phone call apologizing for what had happened.  It turns out the skew number was wrong in the computer which was causing problems.  To make up for what had happened they told me that I was getting it for free!!!!  This completely restored my faith in them.   I am so excited and will have my kiddos write thank you notes for the new rug in our classroom.

This picture is of a unit I created for my room.  It is in my TPT store too.  Notice how the background matches the rug?!?  It was like they were made to go together and why I needed it so bad.  Remember how I said, "Things are falling into place?"  Crazy!

You can find my decorations here...Get Organized.  I just have been adding more and more to the pack and will be sending an update this weekend.  

4.  My final pin is one of my  favorites.  I have always wondered where people got the cute tissue paper flowers that hang from their ceilings.  I found this pin by Design Dazzle and was so excited!  I have been practicing making them.  They don't look as good yet, but I have a month and 1/2 to get it right.  :)

They would look cute with these.  There is no link to them...but I think I could figure them out.

I can't tell you how much I love Pinterest! It makes my life so much easier! :)

Just a reminder if you would like to join us for the MN blogger get together...it is happening next week.  Let Sara know.  

I am also really close to having 100 followers and have some great things that I will be giving away.  Stay tuned.  :)

Sara

Favorite Pins Linky Party

Can I just start by saying, "I just love, love, love this Linky Party?" I am a Pinterest addict. Sometimes I find a pinner and think that they would maybe be my best friend because we have the same tastes in food, clothing and ideas! I am linking up with Cara at The First Grade Parade to share some of my favorite pins.

 

My Favorite Teaching Pins

1.  This Just Write pin from jmeacham.com/ has saved me.  There are so many times that I get my kids started on their writing and then I get busy with a student or with something else and I lose track of time. Or, I have those kiddos that will start to write and within a minute they say that they are done.  With this board, I can chose a time and the kids have to write until the timer goes off.  Very easy.

2.   Labeling things in the beginning of the year can take a lot of time.  I usually saved my mailbox labels for last because I hated peeling off the old labels and putting on new ones.  I found this pin from teachingwithloveandlaughter and it has saved me tons of time.  All you need to do is attach a sticker with your kids's name on it to a binder clip and clip it to their mailbox slot.  I love it!  At the end of the year, you can send the clip home or attach a new name to it for the next school year.

3.  I will admit, I am a hoarder.  I started teaching with NOTHING in my room.  I had to find EVERYTHING that I needed.  Because of that, I saved EVERYTHING.  I have 4 huge filing cabinets stuffed crammed full of things.  They are an eye sore.  I found this pin from apartmenttherapy and am going to do it this year.   Because of teacher blogs, Pinterest and Google Docs, I have started throwing things.  My goal is to be down to 2 filing cabinets by the end of the school year.  It's all about baby steps for me!

 

My favorite Accessorize/Clothing I Want finds

1.  I love necklaces but sometimes have a tough time deciding if my necklace really goes with what I am wearing.  Thanks to this fun little find, I can now run to Pinterest if I am stumped on what to wear!  kellyvphotographyblog has so many fun ideas. 

2.  After seeing this fun pin at fashionworship, I decided I needed to get myself a fun pair of colored shorts. I am all about the coral & mint colors this summer!

3.  Chevron.  Need I say more?  I jumped on the Chevron bandwagon this summer.  I learned about Hazel and Olive through Pinterest this summer and found this fun dress that I just had to have!  I can honestly say, "It is one of the best purchases I have made!"  I get compliments and this little number everywhere I go! 



 

Pinterest has changed my teaching style and has helped me keep organized!  I love finding new things there everyday.  If you want to see other fun finds of mine, you can check them out here... My Boards.

 

Have a great weekend.  I can't wait to pin more finds from this fun Linky Party.

Sara