Classroom DIY

So, I mentioned in my last post that I got a job as a Kindergarten teacher! I'm so excited! I'll be at a private Christian school pretty close to where we live. Now, because I've been without a job for a while and Isaac works off of commission doing body work AND we just had to spend a little over $5,000 for a new air conditioner inside and out of our home we are renting in Dallas AND I need to stock a classroom and find clothes to wear to teach (what a run-on sentence, huh?) I'm trying to do as much DIY stuff as possible! So, here's my project for the day with instructions.

I plan to use these as seats for the kids for things such as guided reading. The top is removable and we can store guided reading materials such as books and whisper phones in the crate! :)

Supplies:
crate (walmart has them for $3.47 right now 7-24-12)
plywood (not pictured) (hardware store)--they cut it for you if you want
staple gun (hardware store)
staples (hardware store) I got 5/16" so they wouldn't be too long but long enough.
mattress foam (walmart)
pliers (hardware store or husband's tool bag) ;)
scissors (who doesn't have scissors?)
fabric of choice (craft store like Hobby Lobby)--I chose a Peanuts theme for my classroom and anything I can't find that goes with that I get dog stuff to go with Snoopy. :)

First thing's first! There's a lip inside the top of the crate that you will need to measure! * Have it cut to where the wood isn't snug in there because you'll be adding fabric but still big enough that it'll sit on there.

My finger is on the lip you need to measure. Ignore the jerky treats in the back. :) (although, I will say, Costco puts them on for BOGO sometimes AND we had a coupon for other dog treats one time and those were still cheaper. They look like a piece of bacon and I tear one in half at bed time and give each dog one half) I digress....

Now, I'm fortunate enough that my husband cut the wood for me. Usually Home Depot is really good about doing stuff for you if you tell them you're a teacher. But, my husband did have to sand the corners to make them more rounded.

Next, I went to Walmart and got a twin sized mattress pad. It was called a 'convoluted mattress topper'.

After that I went to Hobby Lobby (or for those of you not in the south you can go to a Michaels) and picked out my fabric. I got a simple cotton fabric, but I'm sure fleece would work ok, too. But, to me fleece shows more dirt and what not when it gets dirty.

Now, lay the wood on top of the mattress topper and trace it and cut it out. I ended up using 3 layers of cushion on the seats so that they would have enough cushion on their little booties. :) AND so it would stick over the top of the crate.

It doesn't look like it but there are three layers. The layer in the middle is smaller than the rest.

Now, turn your fabric upside down and stack the foam and put the board on top. Then you can cut enough to stretch REAL tight over the board and staple.

Abby wouldn't have anything to do with the staple gun or scissors

 and I could hardly get Mia out of my face. I think she thought I was

making something for them with all the kisses she gave me.

Pull the fabric really tight over the corners and staple. Then pull the rest in towards the middle so there's nothing on the sides puckering out. If any area puckers a tiny bit it won't matter. But, it doesn't have to look perfect on the bottom. But, if you'd like it to get another rectangle of fabric and lay it over the bottom, fold the ends under and staple.

Voila! They definitely hold up. I sat on one and it held me--that means it's SUPER sturdy!

Look who came to claim she helped after all the stapling and cutting was done! She weighs 40 pounds in case you're wondering. So, she roughly weighs as much as a 5 year old kid. 

Also, I'm going to get a short piece of sturdy canvas (like on backpack straps) and make a loop and staple it under one side of each stool for a handle to pull on to lift. :)

Holy Fear of Frogs, Batman!

UGH!

Can I just say that to start with? Ughghghghghghgggghhhhh!! <--- that's me shuddering.

Yeah, yeah, all God's creatures. (snakes, lizards, spiders, frogs and scorpions are not my favorites of God's creatures...in fact my friend posted a picture of a spider on facebook that would make me lose control of my bodily functions.)

Anyways. I grew up in the country...dealt with all the aforementioned hideousness that are creepy crawlies.

My best friend even lived on a farm until she got married a few weeks ago and we found these last summer:

Those are chicken snakes....about 6 feet long and my friend was hooking the hay and pulling it out of the barn, her dad was shooting the snakes, then Isaac was shoveling them and bringing them outside to turn belly up to get rain. Don't tell me it doesn't work because we had one of the worst droughts on record last year and it rained that day with not a cloud in the sky!!! I won't show you the picture of the one that had a bulge in it's throat (wait, throat, neck, belly...is there a difference on a cylindrical animal?) and Isaac knew it was an egg so he tried to just crunch the egg with the shovel, I know what a boy, huh? And the snake split open and the egg yolk ran....I know, but this is real life when you are living in the country!

Anyways! Now that you've got the willies here's my frog story. Isaac was sweet and took the dogs out last night and about 45 seconds after he went out he called me. He told me I'm missing it, the dogs found two frogs in the dog park and don't know what to do about them and it's hilarious. I'm all for cheap entertainment and believe me these dogs entertain pretty often! I run down there with my phone camera already on because y'all know how long it takes the iPhone camera to come on (3gs anyway).

So, Isaac found Mr. and Mrs. Michigan J. Frog. Really? You don't know that reference? This is who the heck Michigan J. Frog is...

So, I told him to put them down and not come NEAR me with those things! So, he said watch.

He picked one up and Abby was EXCITED! She loved them! She nosed them, tried to lay down next to them and rub them. Tried to taste them...whatever, she's a dog...no kisses for mom!

Anyways I went into the dog park to watch them play with the frogs and decided I was going to video it.

The video is quiet at first but it does get kind of loud because of some doofus screaming :)




Anywho...am I alone here? Anyone else afraid of frogs? I don't like rodents either and birds have it out for me as well...pretty much anything else is good with me! :)

Just a Little About Us

Hello everyone,

My name is Lindsay. I'm 25. I'm a teacher. Well, I can be. I taught 2nd grade for one year, then budget cuts, positions moved around, blah blah. You know the rest. So, I am a 'real housewife' for now! Which is great, it gives me time to do things for me like bake, watch movies, make paper crafts, sing Broadway showtunes, and bible studies!

That's me!

I'm married to a WONDERFUL man named Isaac. He's a body man...meaning he does collision repair on cars. He's got a 1963 Chevy C-10 that is literally school bus yellow (hence the belt buckle) that is his first true love! It was his grandpa's farm truck, then his dad's, now he took it and restored it. We go to car shows and when we buy a house here we'll be able to get it out of storage and bring it with us!

We've got two CUH-RAZY blue heeler girls named Mia and Abby.

photo by Kendall Mason


They keep us pretty busy! And yes, they're my babies!

So, that's us! :)

In February 2012 we moved from Dallas, TX to Houston, TX. If you're from Texas you will understand the rivalry there. It's not an out-right obvious one such as Texas vs. A&M, but if you ask any Dallasite about Houston they scrunch their faces, make fake vomit sounds and complain about humidity, traffic and rude people. If you ask Houstonians about Dallas they look like there's a bad smell in the room and complain about 'too many trees and grass' (I promise I've had people say that) and traffic and rude people. Isaac was an air force brat and wasn't born with this innate hatred for Houston. Before we moved here I had been to Houston TWICE in my life and that was enough! HAHA! I told God "I will NEVER live in Houston." That's what I get for telling God His plan!

On a side note.... God? I'll never live in the Bahamas! ;) Worth a try, right?

So, in February Isaac came down to meet with a friend that used to work with him at the shop in Dallas, but is now the shop manager here. 2 weeks and 5 days later we moved into the 3rd floor of an apartment that when I mention what street it's on I get a lot of sympathetic looks and hear, "Oh honey, you didn't research well, did you?" Well, it's our home and we love  are okay with it, all 45 steps up the stairs, gun shots at night, dog park smaller than our old backyard and all. It's our new home and we're making the best of it.

Thanks to a friend that Isaac works with now, we've plugged into an AWESOME little church in the Woodlands. It's absolutely amazing. It's got fewer than 40 people that attend Sunday worship. And there are Bible studies throughout the week. Since it gets pretty lonely I go to both Wednesday night Bible Study and Thursday night Bible Study. I'm also going to a wonderful Ladies Bible Study on Sunday nights. Right now we are doing a Beth Moore study on James.

So, what will I talk about here? Us, our lives, my crazy obsession with my puppies, some of my crafts I make, anything I feel like sharing. Any tips I find and lessons I learn that I can share to make anyone's life a little easier. And the best of all Jesus and what he's doing in our lives! 

So stick around, can't promise the same Bat time, but it'll be the same Bat place!

www.reluctanthoustonian.blogspot.com