Sunday Smorgasbord Randomness!

So it's a good thing that Fabulous in First hosts this fun Sunday Smorgasbord linky, because everything I have to blog about right now is kind of random.

I've been reading everyone else's back to school posts with a mixture of jealousy (I know, easy to say that now!) and relief. I'm a crazy planner, and I love to be ahead of the game. I'm moving classrooms AND grade levels this year, so I feel like I'm already weeks behind the curve. Right now my school is being cleaned, so I can't get into my new room and work. So that's where the jealousy comes from. The relief is that I still have a few weeks of summer to get my act together.

So, time for some randomness! If you follow me on instagram, then maybe you've seen my growing addiction to one of the latest craft trends, washi tape! As a long-time crafter I've been using colored/patterned craft tape for years. But I always bought it online with a very specific use in mind. But now that washi tape is becoming popular, I can find it in stores easily. Before I knew it I had accumulated these 18 rolls in the matter of a few days. 

While working on non-teaching related crafts I've ended up with lots of scraps, so I randomly started doing this to my keyboard. Now it has become a craft of its own and I'm using it as an excuse to buy some more varieties of tape to finish off the last 13 keys I plan to do. (I'm not going to do the letters and punctuation I don't think.) See how this problem is growing? I've found myself washi taping all kinds of things. It's out of control.

You could tell the mailman was wondering
why I was delivered 3 giant boxes that weighed
almost nothing!

So, I did a donorschoose project last year and acquired a bunch of brand new beanbags for my classroom. And when I moved my stuff into my new classroom (all in boxes, stuffed in closets...stress) I discovered that the exiting teacher had left behind 4 large black beanbags for me too! The problem? They're all flat as pancakes. So, that's why I went ahead and ordered these big bags of bean bag pellets from Walmart online for $12 a pop. I couldn't find any in person. It looks like a lot of stuffing, but I'm curious to see how far it goes in the beanbags. 

I broke down and solved a problem that I've dealt with every few years for my entire career. I don't know if everyone else deals with this or not, but I have been buying and replacing these blue cardboard mailboxes every 3 or so years because by that point they're collapsing and broken. I bought some new ones the year before last with classroom funds, but since I am moving rooms and grades I had to leave them behind, leaving me in the position of either buying the same blue ones or investing in something else. 

I decided to try out this plastic set from Staples. I bought two of them, but put them together to just make one big set of mailboxes. It's still only about 2 feet tall. I'm pretty happy with how sturdy they feel, and I'm looking forward to not having to worry about replacing mailboxes ever again. Of course, spending another $110 out of pocket was the trade off. Shhh...don't tell Killer B!

Now I just need to find a durable and reasonably priced solution to book boxes. My magazine files are BEAT. I'm thinking about doing plastic shoeboxes in their desks. Thoughts? Solutions? Help!

Have you seen this documentary yet? If not, it's on Netflix instant streaming right now and well worth the hour and 40 minutes. Killer B and I watched it last night. To see how some of these community members and educators handle (or not handle) bullying is heartbreaking, but eye-opening. It's a good reminder that this stuff is happening everywhere, every day.

On a lighter note...

Today is the last day to sign up for my 350+ follower giveaway! I'm going to put together one of those fun "everybody wins" giveaways if/when I finally hit 500!

I hope you've stopped by the great Grades 4-6 Pins board on Pinterest. The $50 TpT gift card is still up for grabs for the rest of today! Go enter if you haven't already (the rafflecopter is in my last post), and thanks so much to everyone who has taken the time to follow my TpT store!