Back to School TO DO

This is SO me right now! 

I just finished creating and printing my word wall letters (this is gonna be my cutest one yet!)

{polka dots and chevron by Dreamlike Magic}

I love that my vowels are hot pink and my consonants are light green. I know, what happened to green and blue, right? Well this will all be on a blue background thanks to Walmart's super cheap twin sheets. Staple a sheet to the wall, add some border, and you've got another bulletin board!

Then I printed this super cutie:

{The Teacher Wife}

...still figuring out where it will go.

Laminated? Framed? Plastered on each and every kid's desk and tattooed on my forehead?

In other news...

I had a HUGE moment of panic last night when I looked at a calendar. I know, right? Where did all of my summer go? I fly out SUPER early Wednesday morning to go visit the fam for a week. This will be the longest time that my sweet hubby and I have spent apart since we got married 3 years ago! Maybe that sounds sappy to you, but I love that boy :)

I'll get back next Wednesday, then I start a workshop the following Mon-Thurs. After that, I'm back in my classroom the next Monday, non-stop till school starts!

My summer vacay (at home) only has 5 days left!

Soooo... what's left on my to-do list? (And what can I get done on the plane?)

A Get-to-know-the-teacher Scavenger Hunt for the first week of school. 

Some examples for a writing center

An All About Mrs. Newman book

(Hopefully my sweet mom can help me with this while I'm home!)

A Check-Out board

...and last but not least...

Sweet table skirts and curtains

(Hoping mom might be all about this too!)

Too ambitious? PROBABLY! What's left on your back-to-school to-do list?

Dollar Tree DEALS!

Hit up the gym last night (I'm making getting fit my summer "job") and unfortunately for my wallet and my husband, Dollar Tree is NEXT DOOR to the gym. How perfect!

I told myself I was just going in to look, not expecting back to school stuff to already be out. Well, it was, and I spent $30! Wanna see what I scored?

Clockwise from top left:

• Two puzzles in the frame to make this from TeacherTipster.com
• A clipboard to fancy up a la pinterest
• Two mini dry erase boards - each day of the week I will put one spelling word on each, with the magnet letters scrambled up. Two words per day for five days will be all 10 spelling words throughout the week! (Not my original idea...)
• Die cut letters in a beautiful turqoise that will go SO well with my classroom theme. 
• 3D plastic stickers in an ocean theme - I'm not big on stickers but I am beginning to hoard them in preparation for using these awesome Friday journals.
• A Lei to wear during Guided Reading - when I wear the lei, kiddos can't interrupt me.
• Photo albums (4x6) to put kiddos pictures and names in like this
• Library pockets - I had such a hard time finding these last year so I seriously bought 9 packs of 10 - I have enough for at least three years. My name is Mrs. Newman, and I am a hoarder.
• Money Matching game - no specific purpose for these yet but I love to use flashcards in the hall during bathroom breaks
• Cardstock coins (I bought these last year but I can't find them! aaah!) to make posters like these AMAZING ones
• A pizza pan to fancy up a la pinterest (but I bought a round one instead)
• Foam letter tiles (I bought two yellow capital sets and two blue lowercase sets.) More on these below.

I can't wait to get started on my classroom - but I can't get in until August 13th. For now, I'll just have to settle for doing these little projects at home!

Have you found any good deals yet?