How To Change Your Font Using Digital Papers

Sometimes we do things that we don't even realize come as second nature to us. As I click around different blogs and stores, I'm always amazed at the creativity people have! They make it look so easy! Last night as I was creating, I saw something I hadn't realized was available for me to use. Huh? Let me  explain.

When I use PowerPoint, I like to make borders for the things I'm creating. And since I've done it so many times, it doesn't seem too difficult/tedious anymore. So when I'm clicking on things, I generally am clicking so fast, I don't realize there are other options! Last night, I saw an option that I've never explored before. "Format Text". This little beauty has opened my eyes to more creativity. I feel like I've explored a new land. 

"Format Text" allows you to not just change the color of the font you're using, but use patterns (i.e. digital papers) as the text color! AMAZING FIND! Here I will walk you through step-by-step how to format your text using digital papers. You can download it for free (PDF form) here.

I hope this "how to" inspires you to create something new and exciting!

Broke

So tonight, as I was at the grocery store buying fresh fruit for my son, I realized I also needed cottage cheese, and eggs, and juice, and lunch meat....and pretty soon, I was spending $68 when I had intended on spending less than $20.

Healthy food is so expensive! And my son must be going through a growth spurt or something because I couldn't get him to stop eating today!!! It's the end of the month, and like most teachers, that means I'm broke. I can get through until Wednesday...as long as I don't have to gas up a car.

I watched the nice cashier ring up each item one by one. She made a joke (that reminded me of the "Target Lady" on SNL) about a "pair of pears". I smiled politely and reached for my wallet. After I swiped my card and received my receipt, I went to zip up my wallet. As if on cue (and as a reminder of my current financial situation), the zipper was stuck. I couldn't close it even halfway. I pulled and pulled. Nothing! Then I realized, the zipper was disconnected from the fabric. Gosh, my luck.

Needless to say, I will be hosting a Thirty-One party now in order to earn a new wallet. If you haven't heard of Thirty-One, you are missing out! Their products are a teacher's DREAM! I recently purchased a tote and a tote insert. I use the insert for my Mary Kay products and the large tote (turquoise) for the trunk of my car. It's perfect for grocery bags that tend to fall over, to take to the beach, or even for grocery shopping. I LOVE that the stuff can be monogrammed in cute fonts and colors! It was REALLY hard to choose the pattern. I stood around for about 45 minutes before I finally committed to what I bought.

 Here's a picture I sent to my Thirty-One consultant:

Adorbs, right?

Seeing as how I spent most of my money on my classroom already, I'm pretty excited to host a party next week! It will be the perfect way to remind me that school starts soon and I need to stay out of the pool and more time at work.

Mom Mode

So I'm in "Mom Mode" this week. I have successfully loaded and unloaded the dishwasher twice already this week! Wait, WHAT?! Yes. Twice. I think I need a ticker tape parade.

Which leads me to my next thought. Why do these little jobs seem so important when it's summer time? I get excited to see my kitchen counter clean and my sink empty. During the school year, that only seems to happen on the weekends Sundays when my husband is home. Simply because he served in the Marine Corps, and they're good like that.

Did I mention I vacuumed too? The Cheerios never even saw it coming.

So this week I'm tackling the biggest "Mom Mode" task. That's right. Potty training. My son will be three next month and I REALLY want him to be potty trained before I go back to work. Everything everyone says about potty training being hard is totally true. And I'll be honest, I was jealous when a friend came over with her little guy who's two months older than my son and he's already trained! She said, "I just told him we're out of diapers and he has to wear underwear now." I personally think it helped that he goes to day care and has peer pressure. I wouldn't have thought this had another friend not told me her daughter is potty trained too. She was feeling the pressure at swim lessons because another kid made a comment about her daughter's diapers (Little Swimmers) under her suit. Didn't realize that peer pressure started so YOUNG!

My cousin is a preschool teacher and also has a one year old. Although she's ten years younger than me, I often find myself asking for her expertise on the inner workings of my child. She gave me the best information yet. She told me that often kids who use Easy Ups (Pampers version of Pull Ups) take longer to potty train. She said they can't feel the feeling of being wet because the Easy Up pulls the liquid away from the body. She also said that if I was worried about taking him in public with just his undies on, I should put them on, then put the Easy Up on over that. This way if something happens, he can feel being wet. BRILLIANT!!!

So...I did that. And won't do it again. My son still wet himself, but didn't care! Also, with the heat wave we recently had, my son's body was sweating like a horse in there! The pee probably cooled him off!

Yesterday I had him in his undies all day and he did just fine. I am one proud Mama. I guess it also helped that I bribe him with gummy bears for going #1 and ice cream for #2 in the potty. Hey, don't judge. Stickers weren't his thing.

Now that I'm done with this blog post, I think my little man and I will go outside and mow the lawn.

Summer Heat

Whew! This week has been nothing but HOT! I've been in my parents' pool every day since Thursday of last week...with the exception of today. Because...I'm home sick today. Yup. Summer fun has finally caught up with this mama. Between play dates, day trips, swimming, BBQs, staying up late, waking up early, trainings for school, chasing a toddler...and the list goes on...It's finally caught up with me.

But... because it has caused me to slow down and stay in bed most of the day, I've managed to allow my creative side to work its little tail off! I managed to create three new things for my TPT store, change my banner for TPT, upload them (with some frustration), and snuggle with my son. <3

Since I'm in such a good mood, I've decided to promote some things that I found this week online to use in my products.

The first I have to give a shout out to, is my all time favorite TPT store: Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Desgins 

The products in this store are AMAZING! I have spent many of my TPT credits and earnings in this store. The item I've been spending the most time using lately is "Clock Face Intervals Clip Art — Every 5 Minutes / Over 140 Graphics!" I like it because it comes with all the clocks at 5 minute intervals, is labeled very nicely, and comes with a clock without hands! This was perfect in designing my telling time unit! One of my favorite features of this artist's work, is that a logo is included with your purchase which makes it easy to credit the store for their artwork. I LOVE THAT!

The next shop I found that was willing to take my money, was My Clip Art Store on Etsy. This store has the CUTEST clip art and digital papers! I was looking for fish and found so much more! I ended up purchasing the ClipArt Combo Surfin' Safari and following the store.

How could you not love that coconut drink and beach chair? I may have to decorate my classroom with some more surfing stuff now that I am using these! Oh the possibilities!