Blog Readers

Grad school has temporarily (or maybe not so temporarily) taken over my life. I hope to get back to fun projects and deal sharing soon :/ But please know I have some cool projects that I am wanting to attempt. :)

Back to School Finds: August 19-25

Walgreens

Elmer's Glue
$0.49

Elmer's Glue Sticks- 2 pack
$0.49

Filler Paper- 130 sheets
$0.69

1" Binder
$0.99

Sharpie Marker
$0.39

Crayola Colored Pencils
$0.99

Expo Markers- 2 pack
$0.99

Bic Brite Liner Highlighters- 5 pack
$0.79

Sharpie Find Point Markers- 12 plac
$4.99

Walmart

Spirals
$0.17

Composition Books
$0.50

CraZart Markers
$0.50 - I'm passing on these- I'm a crayola girl through and through.

Elmer's School Glue
$0.50

Elmer's Glue Sticks- 6 pack
$1.97

Bic Pens- 10 count
$0.97

Office Max

Protractor
$0.05

Composition Book
$0.50

Papermate Mechanical Pencils
$$0.75

**10 Free folders with a $5 purchase.

Office Depot

2 pocket folders
$0.01

Slider Pencil Box
$0.01

Office Depot Pencils- 8 count
$0.25

Scissors
$0.25

Binder Clips- 12 count
$1

Post-it Filing Tabs-24 count
$2

3 Hole Punch
$4

** Buy 1 Get 1 Crayola Products

Fred Meyers

** $10 off coupon (in-store) on Shoes

Filler Paper- 150
$0.75

1" Binder- Anti-Microbial or Biodegradable Binder
$1.99

Pencil Pouch
$0.50

Composition Book
$0.50

Crayola Crayons
$0.49

Crayola Colored Pencils
$0.99

Buy One Get One On:
Dividers
Avery 4 pack highlighters
Ticonderoga Pencils- 12 pack

Target

PaperMate Mechanical Pencils- 3 count
$4

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Shopping for birthday presents (or any presents) can be pretty difficult. I always want to make sure I find something functional but not totally boring.

Enter: Pinterest.

Earlier this week I was perusing and stumbled on this little gem a.k.a. an adorable candy bouquet. Immediately I thought that it would be a perfect/fun gift for my dad.

I was convinced that just arranging candy in a fancy manner wasn't enough of a gift for my awesome dad. So after collaborating with my friend Melissa, I decided to stick a gift card to a restaurant in there.

I knew that I wanted to use Junior Mints to cover part of the base, so I measured a box of them first and then went on my way to JoAnn fabrics to purchase a styrofoam block used in flower arrangements.

Then I hit up Fred Meyer for LOADS of candy and BBQ skewers.

When I got home I busted out my hot glue gun (seriously, if you don't have one you NEED to go out and purchase one STAT). I then used the hot glue gun to attach the box candy (Junior Mints and Good & Plenties) to the styrofoam floral block.

After the block was finished, I hot glued all the other candies (and gift card) to their own BBQ skewer.

The next part was a little scary because I didn't want to end up with a billion holes in the styrofoam block- so I had to make sure that I carefully selected and placed each candy skewer.

Since the gift card was really the most important part of the gift, I chose to make the it the center of the arrangement,so I placed it first. I then carefully positioned the rest of the candy skewers in the styrofoam block- placing them carefully so they camouflaged the other skewers. Naturally, there were always going to be some showing, so I inserted tissue paper to do some more disguising.

To make a smoother transition between the box candy vase, and the skewer arrangement, I decided to hot glue a ribbon around the top of the boxes... I was going to add a bow, but I had great difficulty in creating one, so I decided to scrap it in the end.

Peach Crisp

Ali's Peach Crisp

Pie Crust
I used store bought, but you can certainly be more domestic and make your own.

Peach Filling
6 medium to large fresh Grossen peaches
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons flour

Great Grandma' Ella's Crisp Topping
1/2 cup softened butter NOT margarine
1 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar.

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

2. Make crust or buy pre-made at the store and place in your pie plate.

3. Prepare peaches by peeling and thinly slicing them. ** If you have difficulty peeling your peaches, you can blanch them for 20 seconds in a boiling pot of water.

4. Make the filling using a large bowl and a rubber spatula, gently combine peaches, brown sugar, and flour

5. Using the rubber spatula, gently spoon the peach filling into the pie plate, on top of the pie crust.

6. To make the crumble combine brown sugar, flour,and butter in a small bowl. I usually use a pastry cutter but your hands will work fine too. Work the mixture until it forms clumps.


7. Evenly sprinkle the crisp topping on top of the peach filling


8. Place the pie plate on top of a cookie sheet and then in the oven. ** I usually cover my cookie sheet in aluminum foil for faster clean up.

9. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes to brown the crumble topping. Reduce oven temperature to 375 and cook for 45 minutes to an hour. Then let it cool on a wire rack 1 1/2 hours before serving.

Back to School Finds August 12-August 18

Staples

Composition books
$0.10 each with a $5 purchase- limit 3

Expo Markers
$2

Sharpies- colored pack
$6

Labels
Save $5

Crayola Washable Art Supplies
$2

Office Depot

Spirals
$0.01- Limit 3

Rulers
$0.01- Limit 3

Office Depot Glue Sticks- 4 Pack
$.50

8GB USB Flash Drive
$4.99

Pink Pearl Erasers- 3 pack
$1

Crayola Crayons- 64 pack
$3

Copy paper
$3

Sharpie Highlighters- 5 pack
$2

RSVP Pens- 5 pack
$2

Command Hooks- 3 pack
$2

Fred Meyer

Spirals
10 for $1!!!!

Composition Book
$0.50

Crayons-24 pack
$0.49

Crayola Colored Pencils
$2.99

Bic Brite Liner High Lighters- 5 pack
$1.99

Office Max

PaperMate Ball Point Pens- 10 pack
$0.10

Filler Paper- Limit 3
$0.50

Mailing Labels
$11.99

Walgreens

Kleenex
$0.99

Plastic Supply Box
$0.69

Target

1" Avery Ring Binder
$2

Crayola colored Pencils- 50 pack
$4.99

Crayola Super Tips Markers
$4.99

Mead 4 Pocket Portfolio
$0.50

Back to School Finds August 5- August 11

Staples

White Out- 2 pack
$0.50

1" Binder
$0.75

Sharpies- 5 pack
$1

Copy Paper
$1

Wescott 5" Scissors- 2 pack
$1

Ticonderoga Pencils- 72 pack
$10

Office Depot

Scholastic School Glue
$0.01


Tug Sharpeners
$0.25

Staple Remover
$1

Pencil Pouch
$2

Post-it Flags
$3

Expo Markers
$3

Office Max

Ruler
$0.05- limit 3

Pink Pearl- 3 pack
$0.75

Black Pearl or White Pearl Eraser
$0.50 with coupon

5 Tab Dividers
$1 with coupon

Just Basics #2 Pencils- 72 pack
$2 with coupon

Target

Fivestar 1-subject notebook
$1- in one of the coupon inserts this week,there is one for buy 2 get $0.50 off. This would make it $0.50 for one!

Sharpie Hi-lighters-3 pak
$1

1" Up & Up Binder
$1

Sheet Protectors
$1

5 Tab Plastic Dividers with Pockets
$1

Ruler
$0.49

Scotch Tape
$0.49

Supply Box
$0.49

Camelbak Waterbottle
$8.99

BYO Lunch Bag
$8.99

Fred Meyer

Crayola Markers- 10 pak
$0.99

Binders buy one get one free with coupon

2 pack Pentel Energel Pens (AWESOME) buy one get one free with coupon.

Back to School Finds: July 29th- August 4th

Walgreens

Ticonderoga Pencils (10 count)
$0.99

Sharpie Highlighter (4 pack)
$0.99

Office Max

1 hole punch and 3-Hole Notebook Punch
$2

Expo Markers
Buy 2 Get 2 Free

Verbatim 8 GB USB Drive
$6.99

Fred Meyer

Crayola Crayons (24 pack)
$0.39

1" Anti-Microbial or Biodegradable Binder
$1.99

Kingston 8GB USB Drive
$6.99

5 Tab Write on Binder Dividers- way easy for kids to use!
$0.99

Scotch Scissors
$0.99

Supply Box
$0.99


Pentel WOW! Pens (5 pack)- these are some of the best pens around
$1.79

Cap Erasers (15)
$0.50

All Binders are on Sale!

Target

Pink Pearl (3 Pack)- Hands down, best erasers that don't leave smudges or rips in pages
$1

Papermate Eagle Ball Point Pens (10 pack)
$1

Mead 3 Subject Spiral
$3

Elmer's Glue Sticks (12 pack)
$3

Office Depot

Pocket Folders (Orange, Black, Green, Yellow, Blue, Red, Purple)
$0.01 each!
Limit 10....

Composition Book
$0.25

Metal Storage Bins
$1

Ruler
$1

Pink Pearl (3 pack)
$1

Name Tages
$2

Reinforcement Labels
$2

Mini Paper Pro Stapler -Best brand of stapler I have ever owned!
$2

Post-it Di-cut Stickies
$2

Clipboard
$3

Mini Mechanicals (28 pack)
$3

5 Pack Sharpies
$3

Post-it Flags
$3

3-Hole Punch
$4

Paper Pro Compact Stapler- this is the one I own
$4

Staples

2 Pocket Folders
$0.01

1" Binder
$1

Protractor/Compass
$1

Crayola Markers
$2

Remix

Two years ago, my friend Stephanie and I embarked upon a baking adventure (read about it here) where we attempted to make one Barefoot Contessa (Ina Garten) baked good a week. Our very first week we made Beatty's Chocolate Cake .

At that point in my life had never baked a cake from scratch before and to be honest, I didn't think it would be that different from a box mix- mostly because I was anticipating a complete disaster.

We somehow managed to bake Beatty's Chocolate Cake to perfection. It was the best cake I had ever tasted. The downside to it was that it took quite a bit more time than a box mix.

_____

Last week, thanks to grad school, I was running short on time. So for my friend Jalah's birthday cupcakes I cheated (sorry Jalah!).

I took a standard box mix of cake...I think I used Pillsbury's Devil's Food Cake... But instead of putting in 1 and 1/4 cups water that it called for, I put in 1 cup of freshly brewed coffee and 1/4 cup of water in hopes of bringing out the chocolate flavor.

I then whipped up a batch of chocolate buttercream frosting to go on top of it.

Overall they tasted pretty good. But I think one day this summer is going to be devoted to creating a bunch of my own box mixes of Beatty's Chocolate Cake, so I'm ready to roll at a moments notice. It really is THAT much better.

Back to School Finds: July 22-28

Fred Meyer

Ticonderoga Pencils: Just about the only pencils you should buy- they sharpen quickly and last a long time
Coupon: 24 pack Buy 1 Get 1

Avery Binders: Quality
Buy 1 Get 1 Half Price

Crayola Crayons: Best out there
$0.39 a box- I just scored 4 for my classroom

2 Pocket Folder $0.15 - Hold off on it- they usually sell them for a penny later in the summer.

Oxford Notecards- perfect for speeches!
$0.45

Binder Dividers
$1

6 Pack- Papermate Highlighters
$1


Target

Crayola Colored Pencils: The best around
$0.99- this is about as low as they go folks

Elmer's Glue sticks 6 pack
$0.99

Staples (Thanks, Jenn!)

5 Pack Sharpie Highlighters
$0.50- These babies don't smear and I love them!

Cap Erasers
$0.01!!!

Notecards
$0.01!!!

Post-it Dicut Notes
$1- Super cute shapes!

Sticky Note Flags
$0.25

Lysol Wipes
$2 - I wish these were on our supply lists..

Clipboard
$1 - So kids can work around the room in places other than their desks

Happy shopping!

Birthday Cupcake Toppers

One of my favorite people, Jalah, celebrated her birthday this past week. I decided to help her kick off the celebration in our grad school class by surprising her with cupcakes (more on those in a later blog post).

Cupcakes are pretty much the most delicious things around, and they are already pretty cute. But since you can have cupcakes on any old day, I thought Jalah's birthday cupcakes needed a little something extra.

In the past I have used stickers or foam cut outs on toothpicks to create easy cupcake toppers, but this time (with NO help from pinterest I might add) I decided to step up my game.

I started by typing up "Happy birthday!" TAB "Happy birthday!" ENTER as many times I could get it to fit onto one page. Then I picked a cute, but readable font and printed it.

Then I measured roughly a quarter of an inch out from each side of the "Happy birthday!" lines to mark how long I wanted them to be.

I then cut out on the pencilled lines and then cut between my "Happy birthday!" rows until they were just the perfect width. Next I folded those in half so that they could be glued on to fancy scrapbook paper.

I cut the fancy scrapbook paper to a desired width in strips.

Then I folded each in half and laid the "Happy birthday!" print over the fold to determine how long the scrapbook paper needed to be. Once I found my desired length I chopped into it forming a "v" to make a cute banner like look.

After this, I glued the "Happy birthday!" onto the scrapbook paper. Then the scrapbook paper to the top of a toothpick and laid it out to dry.

Back to School Finds: July 15-21

Back to school shopping is easily one of my favorite parts of the year. I love finding good deals for my classroom and students. Over the next month or two I will be sharing some of my favorite back to school deals on my blog. Here are the ones for this week. Happy shopping!

Fred Meyer

Scotch 5" Kid's Scissors for $0.99

** As a teacher, I always keep 3 small supply boxes for kids who need to borrow them- scissors are essential! I'm going to score 3 more pairs because ours have disappeared.

Binders: Buy 1 get 1 Free

Post-it Notes for $0.99

** Endlessly useful- this is a good deal. I love using mine in the classroom for "Parking Lots" and quick informal assessments. If you use them a lot, it's totally worth it to check out the monster packs at Costco.

150 Sheets of Filler Paper for $0.75

** I keep a class supply on hand at all time because we always seem to run out. This past year I scored a giant box of it for $5 at Goodwill. Love that place.

Spiral Notebooks 5 for $1

**You should wait on these- FM usually runs a 10 for $1 later in the summer. I purchase three colors for each of my kids and color code each subject. I'm only a little OCD.



Office Max

Just Basics Ball Point Pens for $0.25 a pack

** These pens come in blue, black and red. I always like to have a pack or two of these on hand to keep them in my "Pen" drawer for my students to use when they need.

Purell Mini Hand Sanitizer $0.10

** Love these minis! They are perfect for a purse, backpack, lunch bag, or whatever!



Target

3 Shelf Book Case for $14.99 after coupon

**Perfect for storing books in your classroom or home library! I have way too many books that I have loved from my undergrad and grad courses :)

ClosetMaid 6-Cube Wire Shelving for $19.99

When backpacks are stored on the backs of chairs it becomes difficult to move smoothly around the classroom. I decided to buy 5 sets of these and connect them for backpack and coat storage. Last year I added black dish pans so they could easily slide their stuff in and out.

Sewing: Coffee Cozy

Have I told you how much I LOVE pinterest? Since I joined last summer, I have had a lot of fun testing out new ideas. One of my super favorite finds was the coffee cozy via. It was really easy to make and was a great way to use up fabric scraps (which apparently I have way too many of). The creator designed an easy to follow and accurate pattern- which is sometimes hard to find on the internet. :)