DIY Glass Magnets Make Great Teacher Gifts

Did you know that teachers are some of the most highly skilled kleptomaniacs around? It's true. We are well know for our thievery - mostly of ideas and the occasional stapler from the lounge, that is. We are taught early on in our education courses that when we see a great idea we should use it!

Well, here is my attempt at another stolen idea. Michaels has these for sale and I have seen some blog posts on them, as well. In need of a quick, easy idea of something to make to give John-Heath's teachers for Valentine's Day I decided to try my hand at these glass magnets. Simple and cheap inexpensive. Two of my favorite words when crafting.

Supplies needed:

flat, glass marbles

(I found mine at the Dollar Tree. They were a larger size, which I thought would work out better)

glue (I used my Mod Podge)

Magnets (Mine came from Wal-Mart)

Decorative card stock or scrapbooking paper.

To make, simply cut out pieces of paper to the correct size needed and glue on the back of the glass marbles. When this dries, glue on a magnet. When this is dry take a paper towel and a little Windex to really make that marble shine. Voila! A quick, simple, and budget-friendly gift for anyone, especially teachers, teacher aides, grandparents, and/or anyone who likes to display papers on a fridge or filing cabinet.

You can see I messed up on the first one just a bit - cut the paper too small. Practice makes perfect, though. John-Heath loves it when we craft. He helped out by putting some of the magnets in place and by cutting a few pieces of paper into about a gazillion smaller pieces of paper.

Linking to some great parties.

Linking up to...

Nest of Posies Big Valentine's Party.

Inspiration Friday @ At the Picket Fence

Valentine Time

John-Heath is excited about Valentine's Day. Yesterday, we got the cards for his classmates all ready to go. In kindergarten, it's requested that the cards simply be signed but not addressed to specific children. This way, the students will have an easier time passing out their cards. In kindergarten, not everyone can read well enough to recognize the names of all their classmates.

I fudged a little and signed his name for him, except on his teacher card. I would have allowed him to write his own name (goodness knows he needs all the handwriting practice he can get) but the spot on the card was just too small. He would have barely managed to get two letters down before running out of room. The teacher card was a little different and gave more room for a signature.

He did contribute to the process, though. He wanted to be the one to attach the included suckers (after eating one, of course). The holes for the sucker sticks were pre-punched but still attached so he liked popping them out the rest of the way. I tell ya, it doesn't take much to entertain a 5-year-old.

We also worked on some little gifts for his teachers. More on that later.

Have a great Friday. We still have snow on the ground and slick spots on the roads, but the sun is out, the temp is rising, and we've been told we're in for warmer days ahead. Hallelujah!

Samuel L. Clemens once said,

"I was born excited."

I know another little boy who was, as well. And I wouldn't have him any other way....most of the time ;)

Has the Mason-Dixon Line Moved?

video by RookiexLee

Gee whiz, people. The last time I checked Tennessee was still considered a southern state. Well, it sure doesn't feel very southern today. I was going to take a picture to post - it's so snowy and gray and cold-looking - but, as luck would have it, my camera battery needed recharging.

So, I guess we'll hunker down again tonight and enjoy an evening of movies, popcorn and cookies. My children have grown up to believe you cannot watch a movie without popcorn and John-Heath has now added cookies to the movie-watching menu, though there are times he just can't have his way on this one. I mean, seriously, he can't be eating a plate of cookies 3 or 4 nights a week. Well, he could - but he shouldn't.

I remember a time when Ren was little and I took her to the movies. I asked what she wanted to see and she replied, "Toy Story 2." I reminded her that her daddy had already taken her to see this particular movie only a week or so earlier. To this she said, "Yeah, but he wouldn't buy any popcorn."

And just what's showing tonight at the Tire Swings Theater? Well, we plan on watching Rocky 3 on AMC at 7:00 (Ren is a new Rocky covert) and may follow that up with Scary Movie - the first one. I've never seen any of these and Ren is trying to convert me.

Stay safe and warm, friends.

P.S. 10:01 p.m. Okay, I'm not a prude. In fact, I have a healthy sense of humor, but Scary Movie just isn't going to happen. I made it to about the 4 minute mark and already felt as if I had fewer brain cells, not to mention several moral objections. Nope. Just not gonna happen.

Look Away, Ms. Wilma.

It is very possible that I will face persecution for what I am about to reveal and that all three of my former librarians - Ms. Wilma, Ms. Gail, and Ms. Akins (who, incidentally, is still going strong after 47 years in the public school system) - will forever blot my name from their memory.

I, Tyla, a lifelong lover of the written word, yea, a librarian these past eight years, have succumbed to temptation. Envious of mantels and vignettes on blogs near and far, I have ripped the covers off books for decorative purposes. In my effort to fit in, be a part of the group, go along with the gang, and keep up with the Joneses, I have defiled the very thing I have sworn to defend. Okay, so maybe defile is too harsh a word.

What I actually did was take a few old books that had seen better days and were recently weeded from my library’s collection and gently remove the pieces of tape which had long ago been added to hold together their covers. Of course, before doing this, I did check just to make sure none of the books were first editions. You never know. Many schools have some very dated collections.

Good news, though. Apparently, Pottery Barn endorses this type of bibliotherapy. So, now I have my very own set of coverless books held together with a nice piece of twine to adorn my winter mantel. And the best part is I didn't have to shell out $39.

P.S. My day at home ended up not being as productive in some areas as I had hoped but I was able to get Ren in to see her eye doctor for an annual eye exam. This means she won't have to miss any school to have this done later. Sadly (but expected), each eye was just a bit worse and required stronger contacts and it seems her left eye is the weaker of the two. Her doctor is soooo nice and when Ren expressed an interest in her career she offered to let her come back one day and shadow her to see what a typical day is like.

What Shall I Do With Another Day Off?

You guessed it. We have more snow. Not a lot, but the roads, which were very wet, are now very icy. So, it's going to be a toss-up tomorrow between cleaning or crafting and blogging. I feel the latter may win out, especially since I've been behind with my updates. Of course, John would probably say I'm behind in my cleaning.

But, as John-Heath said last night when I told him it was time to go to bed and we didn't have time to rewind the movie to the part he wanted to see again, "we have plenty of time, lots of time. We've got time to kill." So, maybe with all this free time I'll be able to clean, craft, and blog.

Our Unwanted House Guest

Warning: Weak-stomached, easily offended friends should read no further. It's really not that bad, but I thought it would be fair to warn you just the same.

A stomach crud is making its way through my family. First, it started with Ren who came home early Tuesday and was out all day with it Wednesday. I might have thought she was just wanting out of school early, but she left during 4th block Health and Nutrition (an easy peasy class and her last class of the day) so I knew something was up.

Normally, I don't catch what my kids have. I've taught school long enough and been exposed to so many germs that I have built up a pretty good immunity to most things. Apparently, what Ren had was something new because I started to feel not so hot last night myself.

And now, John-Heath is complaining of tummy troubles, which he always refers to as "diarrhea and pain", even when it's not (as the case is now). And it's never just diarrhea. Pain always follows. What's wrong, mommy? You got diarrhea and pain? --Or-- I don't feel good, dad. I think I got diarrhea and pain.

It reminds me of a joke from Bill Cosby's Himself comedy routine in which he tells of how his mother was always saying she was "sick and tired".

Bill Cosby: "And tired" always followed sick. Worst beating I ever got in my life, my mother said, "I am just sick..." And I said, "And tired." I don't remember anything after that.

Everybody Needs a Little

John-Heath and my rather tired looking Christmas wreath. Yep, it's still up.

A few weeks ago I was able to sign up to receive some samples of gelato and sorberro from the Roba Dolce company thanks to Karen at This Old House 2. We here at Tire Swings consider ourselves ice-cream connoisseurs and were eager to jump on the gelato bandwagon.

First, I have to admit something. I had never had gelato before. Well, come to think of it, I do think I was given a spoonful at a women’s show in Nashville a couple years back, but not enough to really matter. At any rate, what difference could there be between it and ice-cream? But, hey. It was free, and free is always a good thing. So, I signed up. I gotta tell you, this blogging thing has its perks.

John-Heath was just sure it was a gift that Santa must have forgotten some weeks earlier.

It arrived on a snowy Thursday evening. I had opened the door to the front porch seeking to take pictures of the falling snow and spotted a bigger box than I was expecting. Honestly, I thought when they said they’d send samples it would be four or five little one-cup servings.

Instead, this is what we received...

Time to dig in.

I promise we didn't eat them all that night. We did devour the chocolate chunk, though. And it was deeeeelicious!

In addition to chocolate, they sent mango, raspberry, pistachio, and coconut gelato and lemon sorbetto, which has an icier texture than the gelato and would be wonderful on those hot summer days. It was pretty good on a cold winter day, too. The pistachio is not a flavor I would have picked but it's really good, so I'm glad they included it.

Roba Dolce's newest fan.

You know I have to say, I was surprised at just how much more smooth and creamy it was than regular ice-cream. You really can tell a difference. And the best part...it has less fat than ice-cream.

Thank you, Karen, for inviting us to participate in this great venture. You have new converts in Tennessee.

Please Read This Carefully

I was on the phone today at work A LOT and one thing I can state with near certainty is that 95% of all businesses have changed their menu options. Please listen carefully as our menu options have changed. I don't know about you, but hearing this as the IVR is one of those pesky little things that gets under my skin just enough to annoy me ever so slightly.

I don't care who you call, any business phone, from your hometown doctor to a very large book vendor a thousand miles away, is rigged with this welcome message.

Quite frankly, I miss the point. Do I know the menu options of all the businesses I call well enough to hastily start pushing buttons? Of course not. So, I'm going to listen to the choices. I would even listen to them without being told.

But since it seems everyone's doin' it, I think I'll begin classes tomorrow like this...

Please listen carefully as today the boys will get to check out books first.

Though I Love Them...

...snow days are growing a little tiresome. There. I said it. Now, all you who know me personally may take a minute to pick yourselves up off the floor.

I do love snow. I always have. And I love snow days, just not when we have so many together. Why? Because I have two children who cannot be in the same house with each other for very long at all before all heck breaks loose and I turn into Momma Witch #1.

So, while these days are beautiful...

I am kinda looking forward to seeing this...

What about you? Are you ready for some sunshine, blue skies, and green grass?

A Room Makeover Begins

John-Heath's Bedroom/Playroom

When we began building our house in the very early summer of 2006 it was our initial plan that this room would be a guest bedroom. I even had visions that it would also serve as a comfy reading room/office for me - a mom cave, so to speak. My mom and dad have been holding our rice-carved bedroom suite for us at their home for the past umpteen years (it was too tall to fit in the house we were living while we built). I thought once we moved we would reclaim it.

When we finally moved in we thought it might be best for a while, as John-Heath was just a little over two, to let him sleep on a toddler bed in our room and use the spare room as his play room...but just until he was old enough to be moved upstairs to his "official" bedroom across the hall from Ren.

Well, here we are a little more than three years later and we have yet to make the move upward, though the guest room downstairs (his playroom) has become his full-fledged bedroom. He still gets up from time to time in the middle of the night and comes to our room and I don't want a sleepy him to take a tumble down the stairs. So, until I feel secure that he will stay put each night we'll just leave him where he is.

Other than painting some pieces of furniture and hanging some airplanes from his ceiling I never decorated this room very much. It was just a blue room with a bunch of toys in it. And, frankly, blue is not a favorite of mine. Here it is with everything off the floor (so that I could vacuum) and a couple things off the wall (unintentional).

We used this time to get rid of some toys, too. Some went into permanent storage to keep, some went into temporary storage until the next yard sale, and others went in the trash. Shhh.

I was really hoping John-Heath's little t.v. would fit into that top opening on the shelf but, alas, no such luck. The picture on top of the shelf is of Ren and John-Heath on a creek bank in Kentucky and was taken just a couple months before we moved in to the house. Our friend Nikki Wolf took it. She does an awesome job and is very reasonably priced.

There sits John-Heath in the hall having one last hurrah with some of his toys.

So, where am I headed with a makeover? Well, take a look below. I found the perfect inspiration room for a boy who loves his little army men. My two favorite parts of this room would be the painted camo below the chair rail and the curtains. There was a time I did not like drapes made from two different materials but I have since changed my mind and I love these. The colors in this room are more my style, too. You can see more pics of this fabulous room at the link below the picture.

Beyond the Screen Door Designs

Isn't that the cutest little table? Some people are so clever in their creativity!

Well, I'm hoping to get started on this pretty soon and I'll be sure to do a big "reveal post" when it's all done.

Linking up to some of these great sites.

Sometimes They Call Me Twyla

You know it must be a slow news day when you blog about your name but here goes. A new friend, Heather over at Love and Life at Leadora, was a little curious about mine.

It is somewhat unusual I guess. For years I was the only Tyla I knew. In fact, I thought I was the only one. On the planet. Ever! Then a friend got a computer that was hooked up to this thingy called the Internet and told me you could find just about anything on it. You could even search for people.

So one evening I sat at my friend's computer and, in the process of trying to locate my long lost friend Ursula, I decided on a whim to type my name in the search window. I was shattered. Really, people. I almost cried. I wasn't the only Tyla. In fact, there are thousands of us out there.

How could this be? I was always (and still am) the most average person you'd ever meet. I wasn't a straight A student. I wasn't an athlete. I had done nothing incredible. In fact, the only thing special about me was my name. And now it wasn't even special.

My mother's friend, Ms. Effie, is the lady responsible for my moniker. She herself the bearer of a great name had read the name "Tyla" in a novel and suggested it to my mom and the rest, as they say, is history.

Over the years 91% of people have mispronounced it when first addressing me. It is pronounced Tie-la, with the 'a' in 'la' having a short 'u' sound, as you would hear in luck or duck. A few, like a former, legendary, beloved boss, never pronounced it correctly. Ever. He, as so many others, called me Twyla. Our first phone conversation went something like this...

Mr. Brown: Hello. Twyla?

Me: Yes, this is Tyla.

Mr. Brown: Twyla, this is Mr. Brown at your hometown school. I have a 3rd grade spot up here if you want to come teach for me.

Me: Oh, yes. I would love to teach for you.

Mr. Brown: Well, okay then, Twyla. Now, I'll need the spelling of your name and your social security number. So, how do you spell that?

Me: Well, Mr. Brown, it's Tyla. T.y.l.a. Tyla.

Mr. Brown: Okay, then, Twyla. We're glad to have you. Just come on up and stop by the school when you get a chance.

Me: Thank you, Mr. Brown.

Mr. Brown: Sure thing, Twyla. We'll see you in a day or two.

Bless his heart, he never did call me by my actual name but I didn't care. He was an awesome boss!

Today, it seems I'm everywhere. I'm the Texas Young Lawyers' Association, an English rock musician, a sophisticated line of bikini wear, and now...wait for it...a Bratz!

I am Tyla and you'll be happy to know I finally found my long lost friend Ursula. She's alive and well and living somewhere really cold!

The World According to John-Heath

"Dad, I know what monsters are but what's an ink?"

John-Heath, age 5, after watching Monsters, Inc. for the sixty-fourth time

1/16/11

Easy Peasy Silhouettes

I have long wanted to have silhouettes made of my children. Every so often there is an ad in our paper announcing the arrival of a certain maker of fine silhouettes to nearby shopping centers for a limited time. This man, whose name escapes me just now, is credited with creating ones for the grandchildren of President and Mrs. George H.W. Bush. Each time I've seen the ad I have always thought I should set up an appointment and take the kids. I have yet to follow through with that thought, though.

So, I thought for the time being I might as well just try to make some myself. Honestly, I am probably one of the last in bloggerland to try this. I had seen some on someone's site (their name also escapes me) that were made using a photo editing option in which you create a contrast between the head and the background and then erase everything but the head and shoulders. I tried this with little success. I'm not sure what I was doing wrong but I had a very hard time getting a smooth edge around the faces.

Anyway, I decided to cheat a little.


First, I took profile shots of my kids against my kitchen wall.

In case you're wondering (though you probably aren't), the paint color in my kitchen is English Red by Porter Paints.

After downloading the pics onto my computer I just printed them off onto regular paper. Then I cut them out, traced around them on black construction paper (which is all I had at my disposal at that particular moment), and cut them out one more time.

I cut out a piece of pretty scrapbooking paper to fit my cheap ($3) faux wood frames from Wal-Mart - On a side note...I miss the fact that few things are made from real wood anymore - and used Mod Podge to affix the silhouettes to the paper. I put a light coating of the MP on the back and pressed it into place and then put a very thin coating over the entire front of each silhouette. It goes on white but dries clear and gives it just the slightest sheen.

Finally, since they were small (5x7s), I picked a spot of minimal wall space so they would seem more in proportion. I hung mine in our foyer.

I didn't quite get Ren's on as straight as I would have liked so I will probably be redoing them at some point in the future. But for now, they do the trick and add a little something special to the entry of our home.

I am linking to these fabulous sites. Be sure to check them out for ooodles of ideas.

Her Name is Chena and She...

...is probably not dancing across the sand today, but she is celebrating her birthday. So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my friend! I won't reveal her new number here - that just wouldn't be very tactful, but I will say she is older, MUCH older, than me.

Chena and I grew up close to each other throughout most of our school years. In fact, so close did we live to each other that she was an auditory witness to a few of the many times I wound up in trouble.

In high school she was one of my constant friends (even during the times we might not be speaking to each other). Together, we sailed through 80's pop music, twist beads, sticker and button collections, scary movies (a certain vibrating pillow that once scared me to the point of peeing my pants while watching The Texas Chainsaw Massacre comes to mind just now), guy talk (he was not a block head! He just had a strong jaw line), trips to the mall, and even the Challenger explosion - it just so happened we were out of school for snow that day and watched it on television at her house. Later, she served as one of the bridesmaids at my wedding, gladly wearing a peach colored gown with puffy sleeves.

Today, we still live in the same town and get together every once in a while to eat out, catching up on what's new and reminiscing about the good ol' days. Where does the time go?

Happy Birthday, my friend!