Holiday Crafts and a BIG Giveaway!

I don’t know about you, but I am just exhausted! I’ve been battling some allergy issues recently, though it seems to be a bit more complicated than just my allergies too. I feel like I could sleep at least 36 hours a day. 😉  Nevertheless, we’ve been plugging away at school and I even managed to get the house decorated for the holidays (with the help of my fabulous husband, I must confess).

I was tired of our old decorations so we bought all new ornaments this year. I honestly was debating whether to put a tree up or not, but then I saw the cutest little pink penguin ornament (I looove penguins!) and knew I needed to get that tree up. I went with bright colors of pink, blue, green, and purple. This is a bright, fun change from our usually gold and brown so I am loving it. I must also confess that I totally have a thing for short, chubby trees. We picked one out in record time this year.

Our lack of a fireplace means stockings hang on the stairs, but the girls demanded new stockings to match our decor. And by girls, I mean our three furbabies so please indulge me. =) Gosh, I love the sparkle! I still need to embroider their names.

I also got a little crafty. Hobby Lobby had their wreaths on sale 50% so this little guy was super cheap and easy to make. I love seeing him on the house when we come home at night! I literally used zip-ties to hold him together (they don’t show) and wrapped him in lights. I used Pellon in his hat to make him stand up.

I also decided to paint my pumpkins instead of tossing them this winter. I just painted one big pumpkin for the front porch, but I stacked three of our smaller ones to make a snowman. He still needs decorated, but I’ve been a little busy teaching. haha. It did take two coats of paint to get the orange all covered. When I finish his face and buttons, I’m going to put him out on the porch next to our little table tree.

Then I broke out the embroidery machine for another banner. My pencil one was so cute that I had to make a holiday one too. These would look so cute on a mantle!

Finally, I couldn’t leave out this little tree for our front porch. Several years ago, one of my students made it for me out of a tomato stand. I added little red bows to match our garland our front. It was such a unique, thoughtful, and inexpensive gift. I think of him each year when I put it up. I’m going to put my pumpkin snowman next to it when he’s finished.

Okay, this is a teaching blog so here’s the educational part (kinda). =) I’ve been part of several giveaways, but this one just might be the biggest. Our new collaborative blog Tips for Top Teachers is giving away oodles of great teaching resources (like my Winter Wonderland Unit for Big Kids), but the real star of this one is a Nook Color HD! Entering is easy and there are several ways to increase your chances of winning so click on over to take care of that!