Blog Redesign + New Name!

Good evening everyone! I've been super busy since I returned home from Houston after attending Debbie Diller's conference, and part of what I've been up to is a little makeover for my blog! Although I liked what I had come up with a few months ago, it still wasn't as "me" as I thought it might could be, so I did a little tweaking to my banner, color scheme, and background. I also decided to change my blog name! I am hoping this does not cause a lot of problems for any followers or subscribers; I'm assuming that if you were already following me via Blogger, an RSS feed, or Google Reader that nothing will change, but I wanted to alert those of you who might just bookmark my blog that the domain name is now http://yaythirdgrade.blogspot.com. Part of the reason I changed my blog name is because I'm in the process of redesigning and updating my Etsy site, which is called Yay Paper. I'm hoping by correlating my teaching/blogging endeavors to my Etsy shop it'll push me to create more and put my products out there.

In other news, I am over the moon because I noticed I now have 100 followers! I started this blog a little under a year ago, and it was mostly so I'd have a site to link back to as I blog stalked - never did I imagine I'd become so addicted to being a part of this wonderful teaching community! I am so glad you've found me, and I hope that by following me you've found something useable for yourself and your classroom. I will be hosting a giveaway soon to celebrate this milestone, but I want to take some time to think long and hard about what it will be. As a way to say thank you to you all right now, I've reduced the price of my fonts on my TpT site (which is also now called Yay Third Grade). I love the feedback I've gotten from y'all on what I've created, but since no one has purchased a font yet, I think that may mean the price is too high. I know there are a billion free fonts out there, so I get that paying for a font seems unnecessary, but perhaps someone out there will want to spend $2 so that I can at least say I've made my first sale on TpT! That'd be two milestones in one week!

Thanks for stopping by to check out the change! Tomorrow is my school's final day of the 7 Habits/Leader in Me training, and next week I will share some of the great things I learned and experienced with y'all. I also got lots of great ideas from the Debbie Diller conference, and after I create the things I'll need to implement those ideas, I'll be sure to share those, too! Have a great rest of the week, y'all!

And the Winners Are...

 6 = Keri @ Teach~Play~Smile 

 2 = Stephanie @ Third Grade Thoughts

 8 = Colleen @ Totally Terrific in Texas 

5 = Jennifer K. @ Herding Kats in Kindergarten 

Congrats ladies! Thanks to everyone who entered - you helped make my first giveaway a success! I'm really close to having 100 followers, and as soon as that happens, I'll have another giveaway, so stay tuned!

As for now, I have to pack and get myself on the road to Houston because tomorrow and Friday I'll be attending Debbie Diller's Summer Institute! This is my first training of the summer, and I can't wait to see what all we'll be doing - I'll be sure to share once I get back! If you'll be there, too, let me know, I'd love to meet you!

Happy Wednesday y'all!

Monday Made It

Hey y'all! I'm happy to finally be able to participate in Tara from 4th Grade Frolics' Monday Made It! Last week, when I was reorganizing and cleaning up my Pinterest boards, I made a list of the things I'd like to try and make before the summer is over. Today, I realized two of the things on my list could be made using materials I already had at home, so I got to work!

First, I made this Kiss Your Brain treat jar (source; pin). I used an empty plastic rice container, scrapbook paper, left over glittery stickers from a wedding project made for a friend, and Modge Podge. I love using the phrase "kiss your brain" when a student says something super smart or inquisitive, and now my students can grab a Hershey's Kiss from my jar if I tell them to kiss their brain!

(just imagine there are Hershey Kisses inside!)

For myself, I made a spiced concentrate (source; pin) to add to my chai tea lattes. I'm not a coffee drinker, but I.am.obsessed. with chai tea lattes. Unfortunately, I can't afford to spend $5 at Starbucks every time I crave one, so I've been on a mission to try and recreate the drink at home. This concentrate is made using sweetened condensed milk and a combination of spices, and it definitely mimics whatever it is they add to the chai at Starbucks! I've made sugar syrups (both vanilla and cinnamon and then vanilla and cinnamon combined), and those made my drinks gritty and overly sweet. The sweetened condensed milk is sweet, too, but it's not so sweet that you feel like you're going to get a cavity from drinking your tea! If you're a chai tea latte lover like me, I highly recommend making this to add to your tea (I make the base of my drink from Tazo chai tea concentrate and vanilla soy milk).

If you'd like to link up with something you made or just want to check out what other people have made, click the image below to join the linky!

And, just in case you haven't checked them out yet, I made a few new fonts last week and you can win your favorite if you just visit this post and leave me a comment telling me which one is your favorite (they're also for sale in my TpT store)! There will be four winners, and the giveaway ends tomorrow evening, so don't forget to stop by!

Fun New Fonts + July's Currently + A Giveaway!!!!

Hello friends! I've been super busy these past few weeks - my mom was in town visiting for awhile, and then I went up to the Dallas/Ft. Worth area to visit a friend and my boyfriend's family. This week, I finally had some time to get creative, and I'm so excited to have a few new things share with you all - I've made four new fonts, and I've just posted them to TpT!

This one is called PlainPrint Bold: 

 This is called Boxy Print:

 This is my fancy shmancy Calligraphy Print:

And this guy is called Bubbles!

This is my first time to list anything for sale - all of my other products are free, so I'm nervous and terribly excited to see if there will be any purchases! The response to my first font was overwhelming (it's still posted over on dafont.com - over 17,000 downloads as of today!), and I still get so happy when I see my font pop up on people's websites and products. I hope these new fonts will be just as useful and popular as my first one was! 

If you like what you see, head on over to my TpT store to purchase and download! And, if you're interested in getting one of my new fonts for FREE, please leave a comment below telling me which new font you like best! Since there are four new fonts, I'll pick four winners - don't forget to include your email address so I can email you your choice if you win! I'll randomly select the four winners next Tuesday, July 10th, so be sure to leave a comment before then! 

In other news, since I missed June's currently, I wanted to be sure to link up with Farley this month with my July currently. I know I'm a little late, but here's what I've been up to:

For my reads, I picked Holes as the book I love to read aloud to my third graders. I have a few go-to books (Matilda, Because of Winn Dixie, and Charlotte's Web are a few others I read regularly), but I really love Holes because it provides so many great conversation starters. I also appreciate that the main characters are BOYS who are strong both physically AND emotionally.

For my go-to professional book, I immediately thought of the Two Sisters, as their practices and teachings definitely changed the way I approach reading in my classroom. However, next year our school is going to become a 7 Habits Campus, so I've been reading The Leader in Me, and I'm sure that will end up being my new go-to book.

Alrighty, that's all for now! Don't forget to comment if you'd like a chance to win your favorite font! Have a great weekend, y'all!