Crayon Wreath

Yesterday, I posted about the first day of school and showed a preview of a wreath I made for my classroom. For the base of the wreath, I used a craft ring like this. (I bought mine at Michael's, but this one is comparatively priced on Amazon.) I used the remaining crayons from my melting art project.

I started by laying the crayons on the base in a circle. I was having trouble keeping them even, and forming a perfect circle in the middle. After trying several household objects to fit in the center, one of my pots acted as a perfect base to work around.

After I had the crayons laid out in position, I put a strip of hot glue on the back of each crayon.

You'll notice I don't have ribbon to hang the wreath. I would suggest gluing some ribbon around the base right away so that you can hang it later. Then you can glue crayons over it an not even notice it underneath. I didn't do this until I was done, and unfortunately don't have a picture of mine with the ribbon. I meant to take a picture today of it hanging in my classroom, but I forgot. (I guess I was too busy teaching.) I ended up taking two crayons off, gluing some ribbon, and then re-gluing the crayons over. So either way it worked out.

I also bought this apple and star from Michael's. They are little wood pieces that were already decorated. All I did was use a paint Sharpie to write my name.

I will try to take a picture of it hanging and add it in later this week. Today (the second day of school), I successfully learned the names of all of my students. I had them time me and I did it in 40 seconds. Tomorrow I am going to beat my time!

UPDATED:

Here is the picture of the wreath hanging in my classroom.

First Day Jitters

Today was the first day of school with my new fourth graders. So far, I have 25 students with 15 of them being boys! My friend at work showed me a picture of her son today on the first day of his senior year. She was joking about taking a picture of him, and then I admitted that I still take a yearly photo on the first day. My mom always took pictures of us growing up and I've continued the tradition as a teacher. Here was last year's photo! This was the best I could do with my self-timer, since Justin is still deployed.

While I was pretty excited for my first day, Iivana on the other had was not. She knows when I'm off to work and she will be in her room. Just look at that face. She knows the way to her mommy's heart, and sometimes I wish I could still stay home with her! (Remember, I'm a crazy dog lady now.)

I was also going to tell you about this sweet wreath I made for my classroom, but I am exhausted! I talked more than I'm used to today and according to my pedometer I walked twice as much as what I have been lately. Hopefully tomorrow night I have a little more energy, so I can show you how I made this!

So So Salad

First things first, happy 3rd birthday to my baby girl, Iivana. I had intended to make her homemade treats, but I was lazy and bought her a bone instead. I did fill up her pool from last year for her to play today. However, she wasn't too interested in her pool.

I love this picture that I took of her last week. She was out of food, so I went to the commissary to buy her some dog food and they had 2 dollar off coupons. Then I noticed that it was only 11.99 for a huge bag. We normally pay close to forty dollars a bag for her Nutro Dog food! I bought all they had stocked because it was such an awesome deal.

For dinner tonight I made a watermelon and goat cheese salad. It had a citrus vinaigrette that you make from 3 tablespoons of EVOO, 3 tablespoons of orange juice, 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar, salt and pepper.

I used mixed salad greens for the base. Although I wish I had chosen more of an arugula and spinach blend that had a little more flavor than romaine. I topped the salad with watermelon chunks, red onion, and goat cheese. Then I poured some of the vinaigrette.

I had some left over steak that I cut up and topped the salad off with. Overall the salad was okay; I think I had built it up more in my head. I think I would do with out the lettuce and try a different dressing next time. It wasn't horrible, but not something I will probably make again the same way. I'd be happy just eating watermelon and goat cheese. Maybe some basil and a balsamic vinaigrette would be better. But this was an easy and filling summer salad to make.

Colorful Pup

Remember when I went to Painting with a Twist? I had a blast there and definitely want to go again, but I can see how it can get a little pricey to go often. After my first experience at PWAT, I felt more confident in my painting abilities. They walk you through the painting process, so anyone can paint! 

While looking at the calendar for future classes, I came across this neat dog painting. I thought the color scheme would go perfect in my kitchen with these food pictures and colored mats. But I wanted my painting to be of my sweetheart, Iivana. So I decided to take on the task at home!

I already had some blank canvases at home from my melting art project when we bought a value pack. However, I did have to invest in some brushes and acrylic paint. I bought 3 brushes from Michael's that were on sale for 3 dollars each. I bought a small, medium, and a larger sized one. I also bought this starter pack of paint for 9.99, which I used a 40% coupon on so it was even less. Since I'm a teacher, I also got 15% for an educator discount. So I maybe spent 15 bucks on this project. I will eventually buy more colors and alternate brush sizes, but I wanted to make sure that I could paint at home first.

I used my computer as a guide and pulled up the PWAT picture and a picture of Iivana that I took during a personal photo shoot of my doggie. I sketched an outline of her. This was probably the most difficult part, because it was the structure of the painting. 

It's light but you can see my sketch.

Then I painted solid color bases.

I guess I got carried away and didn't take pictures of my other in between steps. I mixed colors, painted layers, let them dry, then added more color. The good thing is that if you mess up, you can let it dry and paint over it. I worked on it for a couple hours one day. I left it like this and then finished it up the next day.

My finished product! What do you think? Does it look like Iivana? The eyes were really difficult for me to mimic. I also think the face on this painting is a little longer than hers, but I like it!

This is the picture I used to draw her from.

Marshall's Finds

Last week, I enjoyed a 90 minute exfoliating massage as a way to finish up my final weeks of summer. Justin bought it for me as a gift before school was out, and I kept putting off using it. I was happy to use it on a summer day, because I wasn't rushing to get there or leave. I could just let my body and mind relax. When it was done, the masseuse told me I should walk around at some of the stores next door because after a massage you are in a sleepy state. She said it is not safe to drive right away.

So I wandered over to Marshall's, which is a discount store that sells mostly clothing items. While in the store, I stumbled upon the small food section and found some gluten free food items. Each item was one or two dollars off of the suggested price that I would probably pay at Whole Foods or Central Market. These are the gluten free food items that I bought: cake mix, pizza mix, chips, and candy.

I wasn't overly impressed with either of these two candy items when I tried them. (And I love fruity chewy candy!) The worms only came in three flavors which if I remember correctly were lemon, grape, and tangerine. What a random combination? The gummy bears just didn't measure up to my standards either. I don't know if since I bought them at Marshall's that they were harder than normal, but they weren't squishy and gummy enough for me (if that even makes sense!)

I love these Dude Ranch flavored Late July chips! I normally buy them at Whole Foods for 2.99 for these smaller sized bag. These were only 1.99, which I was ecstatic to find this deal. The ranch flavor is so addicting that you eat this bag much faster than is intended. I guess I'm lucky they only had two bags in this flavor, because I don't need to have a stock pile of quick eating chips in the house.

It was exciting to find gluten free foods at a discounted price. I will have to remember to keep Marshall's and similar stores in mind for the future. I'll post about one of the cake mixes soon. I still need to try the other cupcake mix and the pizza mix. Hopefully I'll get to them soon. I have a couple ideas in mind, so we'll see...

Summary of Michigan Trip

I need to wrap up my Michigan vacation posts since tomorrow is my actual last day of summer vacation. I officially go back to work on Wednesday to start another year of teaching fourth grade! Plus, I've been working on some fun DIY projects I want to share. So this post sums up some memorable things I did (& that I have pictures of) while in Michigan last month.

I was fortunate that my sister, Jill and her husband allowed Iivana and me to come stay with them for a few days. While they were at work my parents and I took the kids to Potter Park Zoo one day. These two pictures crack me up! Maren is petting the goats and my dad is with Maren in the kangaroo cut out.

 Jett and my mom with the spider monkeys which was his favorite part.

After our zoo visit, we stopped by the MSU Diary Store.

We enjoyed some ice cream.

We went out to eat for Jill's birthday at Ruby Tuesday.

They had a gluten free menu, but it was a chain restaurant. If I'm at a chain, I usually try to pick something that doesn't require a lot of modifications. I'm not sure how knowledgeable the kitchen staff is about gluten free and cross contamination. So I kept it simple with the petite sirloin, a baked potato, and broccoli.

 I was able to attend my sister's annual 4th of July party with my baby, Iivana.

I think I pretty much scarred her for life of being terrified of fireworks. For some reason, I didn't think the noise would scare her because she hears loud planes all the time. But we retreated to the van for safety during their show.

But I still got a glimpse of some of the fireworks.

My niece, Maren was still going strong that night. She was a doll and put on her mama's shoes; she was so proud of herself.

I met up with some friends for drinks.

I tried some new gluten free beer that I don't have access to in Texas. (Thanks to my sister, Kristen for hooking me up!) Here I was drinking Dogfish Head's Tweason'ale beer. I thought it was a wonderfully refreshing summer drink. The strawberries and honey give the beer a fruity flavor that isn't as sweet as cider. I hope they start selling this in Texas soon.

Check these links for other Michigan things from my trip:

• Vince & Joe's
• Fruitiversary
• Crunch Granola
• More Goods from Vince & Joe's
• Yummy Filled Donuts
• Gluten-less Maximus IPA

Gluten-Less Maximus IPA

Still posting about my vacation in Michigan!

One night my mom and I met up with my sister, Julie, to eat dinner. Of course, I had to choose a place to eat that was gluten free friendly. I searched the Royal Oak and Ferndale area for something that would please every one's palates. Searching consumed a considerable amount of time. I looked for blogs, read Urbanspoon reviews, perused online menus, and even found myself on Facebook. And then it happened...I found out that Woodward Avenue Brewers just came out with a gluten free beer on tap! It is a rare occurrence to not only find a gluten free beer at a restaurant, but to find one on tap none the less.

My mind was instantly made; I wanted to have dinner at the WAB! Plus, it was a week night and we could score happy hour prices.

The beer was made from sorghum, like many I drink. But this beer was definitely different than what I'm used to with gluten free beer. I think because it was an IPA, it had a bitter taste. It had more of a beer (with gluten) taste. With each sip, I loved it more and more. I loved it enough to get a second one.

I assumed by the description that it was all gluten free. I wanted more proof and was searching the Internet to see if the gluten content was ever tested. But I really couldn't find anything about that. I did however, come across a question on Facebook.

Before we went to eat at WAB, I looked at their online menu. I figured if they had a gluten free beer, they would surely have gluten free food. I was disappointed to find nothing about gluten free on the menu; they only had vegetarian friendly items noted. I decided to call before we went to ask if they accommodated GF diners. My call left me a little hopeless, but I REALLY WANTED TO TRY THE BEER! There were some items on the menu that seemed like they could be okay with some rapid questioning. When we arrived, I asked about their tortilla chips, which I learned are made in a shared fryer across the street so those were out. After what seemed like a billion questions, I settled on a salad, the Southwest Chicken Salad. I opted out of the bacon because I wasn't sure, I ordered the salsa for dressing, and I asked what brand of BBQ sauce they use. I felt positive about my menu decision and proud of myself for asking the right questions. (After reading over the menu, I feel they could make some of their menu items GF as a way to expand their market along with their GF beer. If they used GF tortilla chips, a lot of their Mexican dishes could be GF. So take this hint WAB!) It was a nice treat to enjoy some GF beer at a restaurant like everyone else.

Yummy Filled Donuts

While in Michigan, my mom's co-worker told her about a store in Rochester Hills called Celiac Specialties. My mom insisted that we check it out since it's really not that far from my parent's house. I looked at the website before to see if anything caught my eye. I'm glad I did because I saw donuts filled with jelly and custard on the site. I haven't come across any filled donuts since being gluten free, so I was excited about the prospect to try some. When I went to the store, I couldn't find them but I asked a worker about them. She didn't have any out but went and found some in the back! I was happy that I looked at the website before because I could've totally missed out on these donuts. I picked out two raspberry filled donuts and two custard filled donuts. 

They came frozen which is nice because then you don't have to worry about eating them all at once. I pulled out one of each flavor and put them in the refrigerator the day before I wanted to eat them. The powdered sugar comes on the side, which makes sense because of them being sold frozen.

I just dabbed powdered sugar all over and felt like I did a decent job. Doesn't it look like a regular gluten filled donut?

A gluten free jelly filled donut! The donut was a delightful treat that I usually don't consume. The dough had an airiness to it, but was soft and had a good consistency. I thought these were a good reproduction for a donut.

The custard filled donut came with chocolate frosting on the side.

 I didn't do the best job of frosting this one. Ok, it looks pretty pathetic, but it's more about flavor than looks!


The chocolate and the custard was the perfect pair. I don't think I can say I liked one flavor better than the other. The two kinds I picked were different, yet I enjoyed each equally. I recommend these donuts and look forward to eating more in the future!

Their croissant rolls are also highly recommended. I brought some to Wisconsin where Kristen and I made some great turkey and ham sandwiches from them.