Thrift It, Gift It, Facelift It Reveal!

Hello friends! 

I am so excited to be here today to share my Thrift It, Gift It, Facelift It item makeovers! If you don't know what I'm talking about, be sure to hop over here first and read my original post.

For those of you who do remember me sharing this a few weeks ago, today is the day! We are all revealing our thrifted, gifted goodies!

Here's the before photo of the gifts I received from Kimberley who blogs over at Seaside Ave. They were almost too pretty to do anything to them, but I did give them all a transformation. Mine might not be quite as transformed as some but I love how they all turned out. So, let's see what I did!

Here's the after! I'll show you each item below.

I love these vintage vanity trays. I have 3 or 4 in various places throughout my home. I decided to transform this one into a wall mirror. All I did was paint the frame and hot glue ribbon to the back to create a hanger. I love it! It hangs in my tiny hall area. So pretty!

Aren't the details beautiful? It has been overcast here all morning so sorry for the gloomy pictures.

Next up is the beautiful hand mirror. I couldn't bear to change it too much, so I had my hubby drill a small hole in the handle and I put a piece of ribbon through it. It is a wall mirror now as well. It joined my metallic mirrors over my vanity. I have been wanting to add to this wall for some time now and this was the perfect opportunity.

Next up is the gorgeous fabric and battenberg lace handkerchief. I was stumped about what to do with these items. I couldn't figure out what I wanted to make with them! Then, all of a sudden, it hit me....cut the handkerchief in half and sew it on the ends and create a table runner. So, that's what I did. I also added a piece of turquoise lace where the fabrics meet. I love it! 

What do you think? You can also see the candle sticks below. I was originally going to use these to create a tiered tray with vintage china plates, but they were too tall and just didn't look right. So, I painted the top part, leaving the bottom brass as well as the part that holds the candle. I could not get to my candles as the drawer I keep them in is blocked by some things I didn't have the energy to move...lol! 

Here's a closer picture but again, the weather is affecting the lighting.

And, last but not least is the vintage metal tissue box holder. I opted to just paint it and put a bottom in it. When I empty my box of tissues, I will cut the top off, spray paint the box gold and insert it into the metal holder. But for now, I just put a bottom in it. It will be used for small paper scraps when I am working on decorating my planners and journals at my desk. I have little trash cans  tidy tubs on my student tables at school and thought I could use one myself. This is the perfect size. You can see it to the far right. And, yes, my desk has changed again!

So, what do you think? I had a lot of fun joining in this challenge! Maybe we can do it again sometime! Thanks so much to Tania for coming up with the idea, inviting me to participate, partnering us up, and keeping up with all of us! It has been a blast! Be sure to hop over and visit all the other participants. I can't wait to see what they all came up with too! 

Here they are.....

Tania at Little Vintage Cottage

Kimberley at Seaside Ave

Donna at Distressed Donna Down Home

Cecilia at The B Farm

Kim at Snug Harbor Bay

Go Now!!!

And, just in case you're wondering what colors I used, here they are. I used the Rustoleum Ocean Mist on the vanity tray/wall mirror and candle sticks and the Krylon Blue Ocean Breeze on the tissue box cover/tidy tub. Love both of these colors!

Until next time. Have a beautiful weekend!

My Sweet Classroom!

Hello everyone! Sorry I haven't posted lately but as many of you know, I have been busy getting my kindergarten classroom ready and starting school. I usually go in the week before I am officially back on the clock and set up my classroom. I like to have it all ready so I can focus on other things during my pre-planning week before the student start coming. So, I have been back in school mode for the last three weeks.....one getting my room ready, one week of pre-planning, and the first week of school with students. Thankfully we stagger start in kindergarten which means we only have a few students each day. It makes the beginning of the year so much easier. Since school has been my main focus lately, I am sharing pictures of my classroom today. My theme this year is sweet treats and I have incorporated some into the room. I hope you enjoy...:) 

This is a favorite area of the room for the students and myself. This is where we meet for reading lessons. The beginning of the year is mainly reviewing and learning the alphabet letters and sounds. This is where I read my morning message to them as well as read them books. The easel gets a lot of use! I always sit in my red chair that I redid a couple years ago. The students sit on an assigned spot on the rug.

Here's a closer view of the window. I made the curtains last year and will most likely use them for a few years. The alphabet in the window sill are wooden blocks. 

Moving around the room, you see my small group area. The door is to my closet.

This is the inside of my closet. It is actually very large. This shot taken from the door doesn't show everything.

My "office" area is next. A little busy I know but I love it!

This little desk sits at the end of my desk and holds a container (made by one of my parents last year) full of necessities....Clorox wipes, hand sanitizer, Lysol air freshener, and so on.

Next up, I have three of these shelves which I use as cubbies for the kids to keep their backpacks and coats in the winter. They are assigned a number and that's where they keep their stuff all year. The numbers are on gumdrops this year.

The top of this cubby holds bins for various things, papers, folders, & library books. Over the cubby is my Super Improver chart. The students set their own goals for things they need to improve on. Their goals can be academic or behavioral. My principal likes to see students make goals and track their progress in achieving them. This can be a challenge in kindergarten but with my guidance, it is possible. They earn a sticker or hole punch each time they improve and move to a new level when they reach ten improvements. They are competing against themselves, not each other. To the right, the yellow and blue charts are used for my helper of the day.

Moving on around is the door to the hall. It holds page protectors which hold important calendars and notes.

Our schedule hangs beside the door.

To the right of the door is the student computer stations. The birthday and rules board is over this area. The banner is made from book jackets. I made it a couple of years ago.

This wall houses my calendar area and projection screen. I love my Smart Cookie reward system I'm using this year. You can see it on the left of the white board. They can earn a cookie to be placed on the cookie sheet at the end of each day if everyone has had good behavior all day. I'll bake them cookies when they earn a dozen. 

The library area is next up. I am still tweaking this area. 

I took this picture a few days later after I made the little reading banner. I made it using Word Art and inserted a map of the world as the fill for the letters. I love how it turned out! Mama quilted the map for me when I first started teaching. It will always hang in my classroom. :)

And here is the last corner. I have a full sized fridge and stove. The fridge is used daily and I use the stove on occasion. The cabinets hold lots of supplies and necessities like tissues, hand sanitizer, paper goods for snack, snacks, and so on.

I didn't take a picture of all the student tables, but here is what they looked like for Meet Your Teacher night. The basket in the middle is what we call our tidy tubs. They are used as little trash cans for paper scraps.

The C.A.N.D.Y folder acronym stands for Communication and News Delivered to You. They use these daily to take things home and bring things to school.

I had these little treats ready for them that night as well.

Each table has one of these hanging over it. I have six tables and each is assigned a different color.

In the hall beside my door I have a desk with this adorable mirror I made. I bought the mirror at the thrift store for $5. I wanted one that looked like a window. The hubby built a window box on it for me and I painted it different colors. The mirror was wood tone before I painted it. It turned out so cute! I made little banners that say Mrs. Vicky's Sweeties and made flowers out of paper straws and cupcake liners. Isn't is adorable? I made the table cover as well using polka dot fabric and sweet treat fabric for the top part.

I also made the pink and white canopy for over my door to make it look like a store front. I made a canopy for three of my kindergarten team as well. 

This is the area in the hall where I will display student work.

And this is looking down the kindergarten hall.

My students used bingo markers to make their names this week. I write their names in different colors and they have to match the color using the bingo markers. They did a pretty good job following directions.

I have 17 little sweeties so far and love each of them already! I am the team leader for my team this year and put together a little something for each of them. I love the milk carton gift boxes I found in the Target Dollar Spot. They look like pencils! And, the cute gift tags came from there as well. Since we are doing a sweet theme, I had to give them some candy as well as a Krispy Kreme donut scented candle. Yum! 

I f you made it to the end, thanks for sticking around! I know this isn't very exciting for most of you, but it's where my heart is right now. On top of getting back in the groove with school, I am taking a Clinical Educator Training course which will allow me to have an intern in my room in the future as well as prepare me to be a mentor teacher. That is taking up some time in life as well right now. And, the hubby and I decided to start the 21 Day Fix lifestyle last week. We are both doing really well on it but weaning myself off sugar has not been easy. I can say that I feel much better and have much more energy that I did. I have lost 7 pounds so far and have been walking after school most days. I ordered a Fit Bit and can't wait to join some competitions against some friends to get my steps in each day! I am excited about this new journey I am on and hope I can stick with it! 

A quick update on Miranda! She is doing great! She absolutely loves teaching and is doing very well, receiving very high scores on her lessons. She has one more week of school and two interviews lined up. She has a flat secured and a roommate to live with. I couldn't be happier for her and this journey she is on. I hope each of you is doing well! Have a blessed and beautiful Sunday. 

Until next time.....

Miranda Moves....to Prague!

Hello friends! I'm finally back and have a fun post to share today. I hope you enjoy it. If you're a regular reader, then you know that I have been preparing mentally for my daughter's move abroad. Well, July 31st she left and I want to share with you a few special things/moments.

This is my beautiful Miranda and this is her story. This girl young woman makes me so incredibly proud. She has always been a light in my life and she inspires me each and every day. I don't know where she gets her bravery, but this girl has more than her fair share, especially considering she is a quiet person by nature and doesn't like to be in the spotlight. She has always been independent though (I fostered that in both my children) and has never let fear of the unknown keep her from living. She has been out on her own for the past 5 years and has been quite successful in her young life already. She had a great job and was happy with her life, but she knew she was meant for something more. When her friend told her she was planning to move to Spain to teach English as a foreign language, something sparked in Miranda. She knew this was what she was supposed to do. She told me about her plans at Christmas last year and she immediately started putting her plans into action. She didn't know if she would be able to financially do everything that had to be done and paid in 7 months time, but by golly, she did it! She was provided with more overtime than she wanted at work, but it helped her realize this dream. Here she is on the day we took her to the airport. This was before the emotional good-bye scene.

She has always been passionate about travel, so what better theme for her going away party. I used things I already had along with some of her vintage travel items that I am keeping for her while she is abroad.

I took the easy stress free way and bought the party food from Sam's Club. It was all delicious though!

I ran out of room so I used Miranda's vintage piano bench and my Raskog cart to hold the overflow.

The banner above the buffet says Oh the Places You'll Go. I made it for her FSU graduation party 3 years ago and had saved it. It came in handy once again. I just cut it apart to reuse it. 

Yumminess! That strawberry dip is absolutely delectable and so easy. You just mix together a container of marshmallow Fluff and a block of cream cheese. Oh my! Run to the store now and get the stuff to make some. I used this brand because it was the right amount. You could use two of the Kraft brand if you can't find this one.

I love all her vintage travel items and am still using them as decor in my dining room for now. 

She made this wanderlust banner using pages from a vintage travel note pad I purchased.

And I made this one. We just wrote the letters. I was going to do them all bold like the first one, but my marker was about dry...lol! There's more of her decor on the china cabinet. I used my milk glass vases turned upside down as pedestals for the globes.

It was a fun day filled with her closest family and friends. I wanted to show you the quilt I made for her to take with her. This is on the back. I hand embroidered it. All the family signed their names in pencil and I stitched over them. Click on the picture to enlarge it if needed. 

This fabric was the inspiration for the quilt. Miranda moved to Prague and as you can see, this Metro Cities fabric that was given to me has Prague printed on it. I added the two little patches I got at Michael's.

Here are the other fabrics.

These  next two are by Tim Holtz. I love his style!

Here it is all together. She loved it!

Here it is on the bed in her flat in Prague. If you are not familiar with Prague, it is in the Czech Republic in Europe. This is her temporary home while she is in school for a month. She will find her own place when the course if over and she finds a job. She attends TEFL with 25 other students. She is loving it! She just completed her first week and has been teaching volunteer students from day 2! 

She was blessed with a long layover in London and is fortunate to have a friend, Jessica in the US Air Force based nearby. She and her husband picked Miranda up and took her on a whirlwind tour of London. She had a blast! Here's a picture of Miranda, Jessica, and Big Ben!

And here a just a few photos she has shared from Prague. She can't believe how inexpensive things are there compared to the US. This delicious meal called goulash with dumplings, along with her beverage (a beer, Prague is famous for their beer and while she isn't a fan, she wanted to try it) was just over $4 American! In Koruna or Crowns, it was around 100. Their currency is like 25 to our 1! You can't get a value meal at McDonald's for $4, let along a meal as delicious looking as this, not to mention a beer!

This beautiful astronomical clock is something I plan to see when I visit. It is amazing! I read about it  here and it has been in use for over 600 years!

The Vltava River is just beautiful!

I want to ride in the paddle boat shaped like a swan. Do you see it?

Beauty everywhere she turns and she is in love. So am I but for now I only get to see it through her eyes. Next best thing to seeing it in person though, especially since I know how happy she is.

She knows she did the right thing, even though it was a huge leap of faith and a difficult thing to do. Here she is in front of the Lennon Wall.  

Today she is out and about on a walking tour of the city. I am typing this at just after noon which means it is just after 6 o'clock PM over there. Hopefully I will be hearing from her soon and seeing some more pictures! Miranda blogs over at Miranda Writes if you want to check it out. 

She is safe and happy and I couldn't ask for more. I thank all of you for prayers and support during this time. I felt them...truly! Continued prayers that she will be able to get her Visa to live there and also get a job would be appreciated. Thanks so very much my friends!

Adventure awaits!