Friday Freebie #1

My blog struggles a little with its identity. Is it a crafting blog? A place for sharing recipes? An education blog? Well, it kinda tries to be all three. But I'm conscious of not letting any one of those things take over from the others. Although poor little recipes haven't had a look in in a while!

Anyway, to keep things balanced and organised I've decided to add a little education feature post to my blog - the Friday Freebie! Every Friday I'll give you a little update on the things I've added to my Teachers Pay Teachers store and give you a little freebie for you to use in your classroom or at home too. Publicity for me, free stuff for you. Sound good? :)

I'm still figuring out this whole TPT thing, it's hard to know how much to charge for things that you spend all day making. If anyone has some tips then please let me know! And if lots of people buy stuff then I'll keep it super cheap I promise, teachers already spend too much of their own money on teaching resources!

So what have I added this week? Click on the image to download or find out more.

This is my favourite. I literally spent all day working on it yesterday but I love it! It's a set of lower case letters on jigsaw puzzle pieces. The consonants are on red pieces and the vowels are on blue to make it easier to differentiate them. Then they can be pressed together to create CVC (3 letter consonant-vowel-consonant) words. And I've made a few worksheets for the kids to practice on. 

These are the first thing I've ever sold from my store! I made a grand total of 45c. :) But we've got to start somewhere right? 

They are cute little stop sign cards that you hand out to children when they start misbehaving. This encourages them to identify the inappropriate behaviour themselves and make better choices. And it saves your voice from having to remind them ever two seconds!  

I'm pretty much in love with these little cards too. I love classroom management techniques that allow the kids to take a bit more responsibility for their actions and then give them some positive reinforcement. These little cards can be left on any desks that are being kept tidy and neat. They have a little poem on them and come with a poster to display to remind the class what the "desk fairy" likes to see!

And finally your freebie of the week! A cute little poster to remind those chatterboxes in your class or home that you need to be quiet to be able to listen! :) "Listen has the same letters as Silent". 

Want more freebies? Click on my "free downloads" label and see what else I have for you! :)

Want to open your own TPT store? Click here and give it a try!

Things I've Learnt:

- Hmmm... I've learnt a lot about copyrights and photoshop mainly! :)

Linked up to: Teaching Blog Addict, Sun Scholars, Reading Confetti

,Classroom Freebies

Etch-a-Sketch iPad Cover

I had a lot of fun making my first iPad cover so I decided to make another one! :) As much as I love my iPad I think I probably got more enjoyment from toys I had as a kid, like my Etch-a-Sketch. So why not combine the two! I did a little searching and found this great iPad cover at Smashed Peas and Carrots and decided to have a go myself. She has a super tutorial so if this doesn't make sense then check it out! I think hers is for an original iPad though, this was made for my new iPad. I was a little generous with the dimensions cos I wanted it to fit in with a thin rubber cover on it too so just test yours as you go!

                              It's a lot of fun to make! Want to make one? Well keep reading!

Here's what you'll need: 

- 2 pieces red felt for the inside @ 10" x 12"

- 2 pieces red felt for the outisde @ 10.5" x 12"

- 1 piece grey felt approx 8" x 10"

- 2 pieces wadding @ 10.5" x 12"

- red and grey thread, white embroidery thread

- velcro (preferably red)

- 2 large white buttons

Once you've cut out all your pieces, pin the velcro to the top of two pieces of red felt. 

Sew them in place, making sure they will line up properly. Use at least two or three rows of stitches to keep it nice and secure. We don't want your little iPad falling out! :)

Once that's done, pin the two pieces of felt rights sides together. You velcro should be closed and hidden, like the picture. Sew down the sides and across the bottom but leave a gap of about 3 or 4 inches at the bottom for turning later. Make sure you don't sew across the top!

This will be the inside of your cover so if you're not sure how much seam allowance to leave, test to see if your iPad fits in snugly!

Now we can get to work on the outside of your cover. First you need to cut a rectangle out of one piece of red felt. You'll be putting the grey felt behind it as your Etch-a-Sketch screen. I wish I'd made my "screen" a little smaller but I'll give you the dimensions I used and let you make up your own minds! It's 6" x 8¾".

This is the really fun part! You could do any design you liked on this. I went for simple, figured sewing it with my sewing machine might be almost as tricky as drawing it on an Etch-a-Sketch! First I drew my design on the felt using a vanishing ink fabric pen and my trusty ruler. Then I sewed over the lines with grey thread, easy. :)

Next you place the grey felt behind the red frame and pin it in place. Sew around the edge to secure it in place.

Sew your two large white buttons in place. Now you have the knobs for your Etch-a-Sketch. 

Use your embroidery thread to add some text at the top. Make sure to leave enough space at the top to allow for your seam when you sew it all together! (This is why I wish I'd made my "screen" a bit smaller).

Sew your wadding onto each piece of red felt. This will keep it in place for the next step. Make sure you sew it to the wrong side of your front piece!

Pin your two pieces of felt/wadding together, right sides facing. Sew around the two sides and the bottom. Leave the top open.

Clip the corners, trim the excess and press your seams. Then turn your cover the right way out.

Now take the inside piece that you made earlier. Place the cover inside it so it looks like the picture above. 

Pin the pieces together and sew carefully along the top. 

Using the gap at the bottom of your inside piece turn your cover the right way out. The two pieces should be joined as they are in the picture. Sew across the bottom of the inside piece to close the gap and push it inside the cover.

Test drive it with your iPad! :)

Things I've Learnt:
- Leave a little extra felt on the top/open end as when you sew it up at the end you'll lose a little space.
- Press the seams, I'm lazy so I didn't and regret it. :(
- Sew the buttons on after you sew in the grey felt, much easier than trying to navigate around buttons with your sewing machine!
- If you don't have a vanishing ink fabric marker then print or draw your design and pin the paper to your felt. I did it this way when I made my felt marbles maze and it worked out great!
- I'm thinking this would make a cute phone or kindle cover too.
- You could always buy a hard cover one if you're not a sewer. :)

                                                                   

Linked up to: Creative Itch, Threading my Way, Earning my Cape, Someday Crafts, Sugar and Dots, The Trendy Treehouse, Handy Man, Crafty Woman, Semi Homemade Mom, DIY Crafty Projects, Hey Mommy, Chocolate Milk, Michelle's Tasty Creations, Fireflies and Jellybeans, The Crafty Blog Stalker, One Artsy Mama, Thirty Handmade Days, Ladybird Ln, Its a HodgePodge Life, Romantic Home, Petals to Picots, 504 Main, Craftionary, The Gingerbread Blog, Cheerios and Lattes, A Night Owl Blog, Six Sisters' Stuff, Polka Dot Pretties, Or So She Says, Sew Can Do

Chalkboard Wine Glasses

I have some of those cute little wine glass tags that party guests hook onto their glass to remember it's theirs. They're reindeer and they are adorable! But people often forget which reindeer is theirs! And reindeer should really only be used at Christmas time. So I decided to search for an alternative. Turns out many many people had already solved my problem! Paint the glass with chalkboard paint and let guests write their names on them! Too cute!

I've had this pinned for ages but only just got around to buying some cheap wine glasses to give it a try this weekend. I was originally thinking they'd be cute to use at Christmas (watch out reindeer!) but it turns out my red chalkboard paint is actually pink! Ah well, I love them anyway!

Pretty happy with the results. And they were really easy to make! My inspiration came from Just Short of Crazy . She had the bright idea to dip the entire bottom of the glass into the paint. But my paint pot was pretty small and I figured I end up wasting a lot of paint if I transferred it to a bigger container. So I just painted them with paintbrushes. I was afraid they would end up with brush stokes on them but they dried perfectly! :)

I did a bit of research for this one and the main problem people seemed to have was with the paint dripping as it dried. So I wrapped the glass in paper towels and secured them with some masking tape. It was pretty much all for nothing though - no drippage! Maybe it was my blackboard paint but a little bit of masking tape would have done the trick. Better safe than sorry though, right?

Oh and if you don't have any blackboard paint there's a great tutorial over at Salt Tree to make your own! I haven't tried it yet but it looks great. I might try making some green and red paint so I can make my Christmas glasses after all.

Or I could just write some Christmassy messages on these ones... :)

I also painted an old picture frame with the paint too. All that's missing is a photograph... and some wine!

Things I've learnt:
- Don't use cheap pound shop paintbrushes or you'll end up with lose brush hairs ruining your pretty glasses!
- Make these a few days in advance of when you need them. I had to do two coats and it takes a long time to dry fully. But the actual process is very quick!
- They're probably not dishwasher safe but you can hand wash them no problem. Just don't try to wipe them clean with a damp tissue. Unless you like little bits of white tissue all over your pretty glass! Oops.

                                                                   

Linked up to - Thirty Handmade Days, Ladybird Ln, It's a Hodgepodge Life, My Romantic Home, Petals to Picots, Blissful and Domestic, Craftionary, One Artsy Mama, Practically Functional, WTFab, It's So Very Cheri, Sewlicious Decor, A Night Owl Blog, Six Sisters' Stuff, Creating my Way to Success, Be Colorful, Making the World Cuter, The Chicken Chick, Project Inspire, Sew Can Do, Sewing Barefoot, Today's Creative, Sugar Bee Crafts, Funky Polka Dot Giraffe, Hope Studios, New Nostalgia, Homework, Ladybug Blessings, So I Married a Craft Blogger, The DIY Dreamer, Seven Thirty Three, Fireflies and Jellybeans

Spelling Chants

So I've finally bitten the bullet and signed up for Teachers pay Teachers. Here's a link to my store if you want to check it out - Being Inspired Store

I figure worst case scenario I'll get a few more visitors to my blog and best case scenario I'll become a millionaire like the top seller! (Of course realistically I'm just hoping to making a tiny bit of money!). So if you're tempted to sign up and give it a go click here. Nothing to lose right?

At the moment I have a few freebies and a few things you can buy. My aim is to keep a balance, we all love freebies and teachers already spend too much of their own money on school resources! :)

Speaking of which - I've just added these free spelling chant posters.

Click here to download

They can be used by parents or teachers as a fun way to practice spellings. In general I have issues with the way spelling is taught. Often kids are just given a random list of words from a spelling book to learn off each week. And instead of being taught spelling strategies they are just tested at the end of the week. The same kids succeed and and the same kids struggle each week. And most of them forget the new words quickly as they are not using them in their writing and reading.

 But it doesn't have to be like this! The words can be relevant and purposefully selected. They can be chosen from the class novel or the current area of study in science or maths. They can relate to common errors that are being made in the class or link in with a specific word family that is being taught. Or ideally they can be a combination of all of these. There's no reason why each child can't have an individual modified spelling list depending on their ability level and the mistakes they commonly make in their writing. 

So once you've got the words all right, what next? There's still a few more things you can do to help improve your kids spelling. Get them to actually apply their new knowledge and use the words they're learning. Identify the words in the world around you and help make them relevant to your kids. Ask them to look for the commonalities between the words and encourage them to come up with their own spelling rules and mnemonics. 

But mostly - make learning spellings fun! And that's where these spelling chants come in. It's just a list of silly ways to practice spelling new words. Like the "snap and clap" where you snap your fingers on each vowel and clap on each consonant. Or the "explosion" where you start off whispering the letters and gradually get louder until the word explodes at the end! Silly but fun. The way all learning should be. :) 

Happy spelling!

*Really hoping there's no spelling mistakes in this post now... :)

Linked up to - Reading Confetti, Teaching Blog Addict, Sun Scholars, Classroom Freebies, Hey Mommy, Chocolate Milk, Living Montessori Now, Homeschooling on the Cheap

Happy Halloween!!

That's all! :) Hope you're having a great day!

Hot Water Bottle Heat Pack Tutorial

I'm trying to think up some ideas for Christmas presents that I can get started on and I came across lots of cute heat packs on Pinterest. I was torn between making one of those and making a hot water bottle cover when I realised I could just combine the two! :) Just fill the little hot water bottle with rice and a few drops of lavender oil and you have a microwavable hot water bottle!

First download my hot water bottle template here. This make quite a small hot water bottle but you could easily enlarge it.

(And if you like it and want to show your appreciation by clicking on a few ads I promise to keep supplying you with free stuff! :)

Print and cut two copies of the template in a cotton fabric.

Pin your two hot water bottles together (right sides facing if your fabric has a right and wrong side). Sew around the outside, leaving a small gap on the bottom edge so you can turn and fill it. I sewed a zig zag stitch around the outside afterwards just to make it extra secure. (Don't want any rice escaping!)

Mix some rice with a few drops of lavender oil and leave to dry. Then fill your hot water bottle with rice. Sew across the bottom to close it up.

Next I sewed a little cover for it. I kinda just figured this out as I went, using the original template as a rough guide. As you can see from the picture, just leave a few inches of extra fabric at the top. I cut along the fold.

Then sew it up in a similar manner to the soap pouch I made.

This is what the other side looks like, with the hot water bottle tucked safely inside.

The finished product. :)

Things I've Learnt:
- I filled mine with rice as that's what I had in the cupboard but after trying it out a few times it doesn't really hold the heat that well. It's lovely and hot for about 10 minutes but it'd be nice if it lasted just a bit longer! I know you can use buckwheat and flax seed too so maybe they'd be better!
- This little guy is quite small so I might have to make a bigger one next time. You could easily enlarge the template though.
- Be careful when heating these in the microwave, nothing worse than smelling burnt rice instead of lavender! They're pretty small so 1 minute to 1 and a half minutes max! It's a good idea to watch it and turn and shake it half way through.

*Thanks to Melanie @ My Mulberry Junction for her comment - dent corn might be a better option than rice to keep the heat a bit longer! :) And to Jessi @ Practically Functional who suggested using lentils instead! I think I'll just have to make another one to test it out! Oh and thanks Fran for her tip about putting a cup of water in the microwave with the heat pack to keep the rice from drying out/burning!

                                             
                                                                  


Linked up to - Be Colorful, Making the World Cuter, The Girl Creative, Sew Can Do, Creating my way to Sucess, My Fave Finds, Sewing Barefoot, Morsels of Life, Today's Creative, The Creative Itch, Sewlicious Decor, Sugar Bee Crafts, Funky Polka Dot Giraffe, Hope Studios, Homework, Ladybug Blessings, New Nostalgia, DIY Dreamer, Someday Crafts, Sugar and Dots, The Trendy Treehouse, Semi Homemade Mom, Seven Thirty Three, Lil Luna, Michelle's Tasty Creations, Fireflies and Jellybeans, The Crafty Blog Stalker, One Artsy Mama