Monday Made-It [newbie alert]

Happy Monday! Unless you started school today, in which case I should wish you a Happy New Year! I cannot believe that so many schools resume today -- August 10th!! That is insane to me. It's still SUMMER!! And I probably should not complain about our school going back earlier this year. We usually start after Labor Day, but this year we're starting on the 31st. Wah wah.

This summer, I caught the cleaning and purging bug... BAD. I ended up emptying every closet, cabinet, shelf and drawer to clean, organize and purge. I've known my  collecting has been a problem for a long time. I think many teachers are afflicted with this very issue.

There's a name for it I think...

Oh.
Hoarding.

You know what I'm talking about. The oh-wait-I-do-need-to-keep-64-empty-fiji-water-bottles-for-years-just-in-case-I-need-them problem. No seriously. I kept 64 empty Fiji water bottles for five years. And full disclosure -- they still did not make it to my purge/trash/donate pile. [Because I really do think I can use them this year!]

I mean, for the most part it was organized, so I didn't really bother to do anything about it.

But then my skin began to crawl.  It was like the stuff was yelling at me through the cabinet doors... in a non-creepy Edgar Allen Poe way.

Anyway, while I was in my room a couple of days ago, amped up on loads of caffeine and no breakfast I might add, I decided my classroom needed a little mini-makeover, so here's my Monday Made It post! I'm linking up with 4th Grade Frolics for my first every linky party (holla!)

Dear Lord, I hope I know what I'm doing! 

Remember when crate seats were all the rage on Pinterest? I feel like the minute someone posted that incredible idea, the whole site just exploded with other amazing ideas. So naturally, I had to make some crate seats when I pinned it about 30 times. Years ago, I bought thick wood, ridiculously priced foam and fabric and since my classroom theme five years ago was -- wait for it -- "classroom,"  I thought it was finally time to get some new fabric for these bad boys.

I mean, they weren't horrible, but they were faded, and... well, they've had a lot of fannies sitting on them over the years.

Here they are now all freshened up and Super Hero themed:

I put little ribbon tabs on them to help lift them up. I store all my math files in those crates, so easy access is important.

For some reason, my brain decided to decide it wanted to transform a plain lamp shade (incidentally headed for the trash can) into something for my classroom -- even though I have yet to get a lamp for it. (As if I need more evidence to identify my hoarding tendencies). So I spent all of J's nap time a lot of time drawing out a pattern, cutting the fabric, attaching it to the lampshade with clips, and gluing it down. It wouldn't have been so bad if a) I had pattern paper (I didn't, so I MacGyvered some home goods packing paper into a huge piece of paper thanks to scotch tape), and b) I had my fabric shears. I like to pretend I know what I'm doing whenever it comes to fabric, because I watch a lot of Project Runway and obviously that makes me an expert.

 And then there's the whole problem of the glue gun hating me and wanting me to die a slow horrible death via finger burns. 

Anyway, after an embarrassingly long amount of time, the lamp shade was transformed from this:

\

to this:

(PS. This is where I almost threw it in the trash out of frustration, but then I remembered how much I paid for that fabric and heard Tim Gunn tell me it was the ugliest piece of crap he'd ever seen and to make it work.) Oh and clearly I'm still shaky from massive amounts of caffeine and no food.

To the final product:

I made this wall art for J's room and finally got it printed and framed...yes, it's been almost 17 months since he was born.  A lot of moms would feel guilty for not having this done right after their kid's birth. Not me.

 It's okay. He's my second child.

(I think that calls for a hashtag... #secondchild)

And finally, I am so excited to share that I have "Made It" to TPT!! Please follow me! (Did that sound desperate??)  After years of saying "I should do this..." I finally did after much encouragement from my husband. I was super excited to make my first sale (the thought crossed my mind that it was my husband who bought it), and I'm just so excited to network with so many amazing teachers!!

I mean, I really should be hiding in a closet underneath a pile of dirty laundry because I have 0 followers and 2 sales, but everyone has to start somewhere, right?

(And I might have done a small victory dance when I got the first sale email...

...okay fine it was a big victory dance.)

Wishing all you teachers a great 2015-2016 school year!