It's a Par-tee!

  

 If you know me very well then you know that my DREAM JOB would be Party Planner extraordinaire. Now, I am no expert party planner - and I don't have the bank account that my dream job clients would - but I do tend to go a little overboard with 'themed parties'. That my friends, is why I am a self proclaimed party planner, for the budget friendly crowd.

    Our friend, Steve, had his birthday earlier this year and since he LOVES golf I had the pleasure of throwing him a Par-Tee! (Get it??) I'll let the pictures do the talking! If you have any questions or would like a template I made e-mailed to you just leave me a comment.

Front Door Sign - I used BGA instead of PGA since his last name starts with a B. 

The "Caddy Bar" All green candy in front of his cherished, Bill Murray signed, Caddy Shack poster. 

Printed Funny Golf sayings/Memes and framed them in dollar store frames 

19th Hole cake. Just cupcakes - coconut dyed green & peanut butter with brown sugar. 

"Sand Trap" donut holes, atop Peanut Butter & Brown sugar 

Bought the tees in a Big Bag at target for a few dollars, used as toothpicks for the "Sausage & Tees"
Are the bad golf puns getting to be too much yet?  

Well, you have to have a bucket of Balls! Mini Meatballs, used golf tees as toothpicks to get them, again.

Found golf ball ping pong balls!

Birthday Boy w/his new caddy shack Koozie! 

Our wonderful guests played along and dressed as golfers, too! 

I don't have golf clothes, so I just tried to play the country club girl role. 

I'm pretty mad at myself for not taking a picture of MY golf ball lanterns. But I do have the inspiration pin, I used. Saw them Here originally. I ordered my lanterns on amazon for about $6. Hung them from the ceiling with fish line. 

I think the birthday Boy had fun! I certainly did planning it! 

Summer of DIY

   When I got out of school that first week in June i told myself - this summer is the summer of DIY! I am going to finally finish my classroom projects, re-do that furniture that been sitting in my garage, organize the cabinets, etc. etc. etc. Well, July rolled around and I had yet to do a single project on my list. Oh, I was having a grand summer just not a productive one! So, I began spending some quality time in my garage with my sander and an end table. And a week later ... ta-da!

I originally got the table from my mom, who bought it at a garage sale. The original color of the wood went with nothing in my house, but I liked the look of the lines of the table and the sturdiness of it. I knew I wanted to re-do it, it just took about a year to get around to it.

This re-do project was fairly easy. The most difficult part was sanding the beveled sides & the legs, as you can see I ended up not doing a complete sand on the sides and just let the old color show a little, I ended up liking that look.

        

I am not a professional my any means but if you'd like to try something similar here's what I did: 

   1. Take the legs of the furniture. This is very important if you are doing two different colors - if you don't your lines will not be neat and clean. 

   2. Sand the furniture as best you can. The lower the grit for this part, the better (I used 60 grit). An electric sander will make this process much quicker and easier, but is not necessary.

   3. I painted the legs with a foam brush and  Behr Paint in Cotton Fluff. I used 2 coats.

   4. I stained the top with Miniwax stain, Jacobean. I only needed one coat, as the wood underneath was originally fairly dark the stain looked good (to me) with just one coat.
   5. I sanded the table top (not the legs) after the stain had time to dry. Here, the higher the grit the better. I used 220.
   6. I placed the stencil in the middle of the table and painted over with a foam brush, the same color I did the legs. If I did this again. i would probably use a roller brush, and go VERY lightly - the less paint on your brush for stencils the better. There are a few areas I wasn't really happy with the way it turned out, too much paint on my brush and it seeped out of the stencil. I only did one coat of paint.
   7. After the paint had time to dry I sealed the table top with a polyurethane coat, in clear satin. (Home depot man suggested it). However, it did turn the white paint a little brown - I think this was the spreading of the stain. I ended up liking the look though.
   8. Finally, I sanded the top again. I used 220 grit here too, but even higher would be good!
   9. Re-assemble your table - make sure those screw are tight!
  10. Enjoy your newly re-done furniture!

                                                     

                                                                  Original table in all it's glory

Stenciling the top

Sanding and painting legs

Close up of the table top

The Best Teacher Conference Hands Down!

   This past spring my principal sent me an email: "you need to apply for this conference." I had not the slightest clue what the Mickelson Exxon Mobil Teachers Academy (MEMTA) was. I put it off. My science instructional specialist came to me a few weeks later reminding me I needed to apply. So, I did. I was one of 5 people in our district accepted. What an honor!

  One of MEMTA's goals is to treat teachers well! And boy did they ever! Everything was taken car of - EVERYTHING! Hotel, transportation (flight if need be), food, food, food and LOTS of goodies to take back to my classroom. I was literally squealing like a small child when I walked into the Marriott and saw my nerdy, teacher swag and first rate accommodations.
   I met some really great teachers from around the globe, as far as Australia, that week. All whom are passionate about educating children in the STEM subjects. I learned A LOT, in a very hands on and friendly way. I developed a stronger sense of understanding the process of learning math and science for kids. I discovered new and exciting activities and learning models that I will be implementing next year and years to come. I fell in love a little with science. I kinda have a crush on it now, to be honest.
   I had the opportunity to listen to some wonderful guest speakers. I was blown away by Barbra Morgans stories and inspirations as she told us about how she made the journey from teacher to astronaut! What an inspiration!
   Dr. Calvin Mackie inspired me to tears. His words, "teachers are on the front lines," resonated with me. He truly has a passion for education, learning and the STEM subjects. His words literally gave me goosebumps. It almost made me want to skip summer and run right back into my classroom, to change some young people lives. We are on the front lines. As teachers - sometimes we are all that can make the difference in a kids life. He lit a fire inside the teachers in that room. If you have an opportunity to hear Dr. Mackie speak, do not miss it!

   So if you are a Math & Science teacher, especially grades 2-5 - Go APPLY! Like, right now!
The Woodlands (where I went) and Pittsburg Academies are only open to invited districts - so contact to your science or math district coordinator to see if you can apply. However, the New Jersey academy is open to ALL! So, seriously - go apply. APPLY HERE


Here are a few pictures of our exciting week:

Spring ISD teachers

Science & Math Journaling - a must in the classroom! 

MEMTA treats teachers right! 

Oh my stars - the desserts were good! 

sample of a pin-up our group did of our group designed experiment at the end of the week