Friday, August 23, 2013

Decoration Station

When I went to visit my sister in Texas this last May, my mom, my sister, and I went to the Home Goods/ TJ Max store. It was pretty fun- I got some great ideas for decorating one day! Decided to take a few pictures and describe some of my ideas.



Loved this mirror! Personally Red is one of my favorite colors. But I like the gold paired with the red here. Anyways, I like the idea of using this mirror to add some color to a bathroom if it were a little bit bigger. But it could also go well in a small room to open up space. I always feel like adding a mirror to a small room makes it seem bigger. 

One thing I also like to do is go into home good stores, get ideas, and remember that you could get some of the same furniture pieces at a garage sale/ flea market and turn it into a beautiful piece with a little paint!


Chevron is one of my favorite patterns right now. I have been using chevron in my classroom because I feel like it is a bright and cheery pattern. Not sure I love the gray and blue combo- but I feel like it could work with a brighter color in the room too - maybe a dark orange or even mustard yellow accent pillow or rug.



Love both of these lamps. If you could get the bottom piece of the lamp at a flea market, you could buy the shades to dress it up. I like that idea for future! :)



Took this picture because I like the shape of this table and the color. I'd like to make this one look a little vintage/ antique though if you found it at a garage sale you could really make it work.


The idea I got from this picture is for a room for a child that we one day adopt. I like the idea of having a picture of a tree, or even a tree painted on the wall. Then, you could put in a family tree with all family member's names and a verse about how we are God's children. I feel like this would be a really intentional way to remind a child they are a part of our family and God's as well.

Also, I would love to paint a canvas similar to this with a different saying.


Okay, I LOVE the idea of finding old maps of places that are important to us- for us it would be Texas and Alaska, framing them with a cute or antique frame, and putting them up in our living room. 

My sister told me that one of her friends did this as well and sewed a heart onto the place that she and her husband met, a diamond where he proposed, and cross where they got married (or something similar). Love that idea!


This was a really huge Texas Flag made out of pieces of wood that I thought would be really neat as a wall hanging or made into a really unique table.


This is a picture from a shop here in Anchorage- but I love ALL the accent pillows. I think I'm a sucker for awesome accent pillows. I love that it's just an old leather brown couch but made unique with all the different color and patterns of the pillows. Also I like the color palette- orange, mustard yellow, brown, light green.

Saving some of my ideas here for future use! (And maybe soon when we get a house) Hope they help you with some new and fresh ideas for your home :)


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Thursday, August 22, 2013

Teaching Galore

 I can't wait to start teaching middle school science! My sister helped me work on my classroom which was AMAZING because I got so much done. My colors are purple and lime green. Got some before and after shots of the classroom. It has been a blast to work on my bulletin boards and complete everything before the year gets started.

Take a look! I will be posting more about my year with teaching ideas and strategies as well as what works and what doesn't work as I go along. Here we go!



Before Shot of my Classroom. There was lots of cleaning supplies in the room so it's hard to see what it looks like.


This isn't my classroom, but I liked this picture for ideas.


Also I thought this Chevron set was super cute. Didn't order it for myself, but I liked it a lot.


These were some of the borders I had to work with.


Also not my classroom but loved this picture for an idea! I liked the idea of hanging flags but it didn't really work in my classroom. 


Also loved this flag set idea but didn't end up using it. Just posting so you can get ideas!


Thought this would be AMAZING but no room in my classroom for this. Super cool idea.


Loved these colors.


Loved this idea- you could probably find if you google "Chevron teaching labels". I found this on Pinterest.


Also found this on Pinterest. Looks like a personal bulletin board not for classroom but I liked the fabric and colors.



Also not my classroom but loved the set up.


Very cute idea.


THESE are my fabrics :)


My classroom! Final product bulletin boards.


Before and after shot. Just used laminated wrapping paper in the colors I wanted and mailing tape to tape them on the cupboards that had the icky color.


LOVE that I work at a Christian school and can encourage my students through scripture. Made this one to encourage a student that may be feeling lonely, overwhelmed, etc.


One of my favorite bulletin boards! Science is fun.


Space for school updates and upcoming events.


The doorway to my room!


All the drawers and cupboards got redone :)



Went to town with the label maker and organized all the cupboards in my room and made sure everything was labeled. Just the organizer in me. Gotta know what I have to know what I need! :)



Bought these lights at Target and 3M hooks to put up lights in my classroom.


Hard to see, but I bought a hanging paper star light and some lights to go in the front of my classroom.

Can't wait to start the school year! Hope these ideas were helpful for some teachers out there and will continue to update with ideas and tips.



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Tuesday, August 20, 2013

JP visits Alaska

Our friend JP Franco came to visit us the first week in August! JP knows Tony from the Forge discipleship program that Tony did at Pine Cove. 

JP came to visit us and we got to show him around Alaska. The best part is: I think we convinced him to move up to Alaska!! We will see. 

But we did have a blast enjoying sweet Christian community with JP and some road trips :)


View from our Flattop Hike with JP




Tony and I on Flattop!



This view never gets old. And always reminds me how lucky I am to live in such a BEAUTIFUL place!


Tony, JP, and I took a road trip to Seward, Alaska. While Tony and JP went to the SeaLife Center, I spent some time reading in this super cute coffee shop, "The Sea Bean Cafe".






And we found some baby Extra Tufs at the Hardware store in Seward!


Tony's family was also in Seward camping and we spent some nights camping. And Holly and I took a ride on a killer whale!!


Beautiful Seward, Alaska. Love this little fishing town.



Some folks showing the day's catch.




Tony's Dad is on the right in the picture to show off his halibut catch.


I love the colors and nature in Alaska. The fish, the sky, the mountains, the ocean.










For our final adventure with JP, we made sure he got some Alaskan King Crab before he left.


And we took him to some awesome artsy tourist shops in downtown Anchorage.

In case you ever want to visit Alaska yourself, some shops I highly recommend for unique Alaska T- shirts and gifts are:

- Dos Manos (for T-shirts, hoodies, jewelry, gifts) https://www.facebook.com/dosmanosgallery
- Alaska Starfish Company (for T-shirts and hoodies and hats, All American Apparel and super soft!) http://www.akstarfish.com/
- Octopus Ink (Clothing) http://octopusinkclothing.bigcartel.com/

That was a tangent. But, we loved hanging out with JP! And we can't wait for him to come back and (hopefully) live here! :)


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