Cassie Stephens: teacher clothes

Showing posts with label teacher clothes. Show all posts

Sunday, September 2, 2018

What the Art Teacher Wore #204

Hey there, friends! I come to you just as excited as this photo from Monday because...it's a three day weekend. Here's to staying in my pj's all weekend, watching The Office for the umpteenth time and working on all the projectzzzz. I hope you all are livin' it up and partyin' hard like me!

To kick off the week, I wore my needle felted Kandinsky inspired dress to inspire my third graders as they started painting their plates for our Circle Loom Weaving unit. I've got several weaving videos on my YouTube channel if you are interested in bringing fibers to your art room. Just search my playlist Fibers!

Many of my grades are kicking off the year with fiber arts projects like sewing, weaving and fiber applications. I'm so excited about that, here's just a peak. MANY more details to come, I pinkie swear! Of course, I share tons of sneak peeks here.

On Tuesday I got all set to teach some of my classes about landscapes. They are getting ready to do my Tree Weaving project which means they gotta paint a landscape first.

I was feeling all sorts of prepared. We partnered up and looked at the landscapes in those clear plastic sleeves. The kids had to work together to find the horizon line, the back-, middle- and foreground. It was a GREAT pre-assessment. Then we went over the vocabulary and corrected our mistakes. I chatted about scale, perspective and atmosphere. We were just getting ready to paint when the fire alarm went off.

C'est la vie. After being outside for 10 minutes, we were hot, bothered and not ready to paint. So with our short class, we each took our turn playing the Clean Up Drums instead. More on the Monet Dress here.

Many years ago, my husband scored me a drum set for my art room. I haven't pulled it out of the storage closet in a couple of years...but decided to this year. It's our Clean Up Drums...an incentive for awesome behavior. One student is picked at the end of class to play a fill. I teach all the kids how to play a fill so that when it's their turn to play, they'll know. On our first intro do, we each get our chance to learn and play a fill...it's a lot of fun.

My fourth graders are gearing up to sew. Once class is stitching emoji pillows and they are SO EXCITED. I had to wear my needle felted emoji dress for the occasion.

Teaching sewing means teaching good sewing habits. I created color coded sewing kits for each table. The kits include a color coded needle book (the felt piece with the button) and a color coded felt backed magnet for pins. I'll keep you posted on their progress!

Another fourth grade class is stitching pizza pillows! So OF COURSE I managed to leave all of their supplies at home. SMH. They were great and the rolled with our alternative project instead...sewing next time!

Third graders from Monday had a bonus art class on our half day Friday. I was excited to see the patterns they added to their plates in just 30 minutes!

Since my younger students have really been focusing on line, I have been introducing them to the work of Kandinsky...which means I got to end my week on a Kandinsky note too. Hope y'all have a long and relaxing weekend!

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What the Art Teacher Wore #203

Hello, favorite friends! I hope everyone had a super duper week! Mine was pretty good...got my school picture back! This would explain why the photographer said, "Well, if that's the face you wanna make." IT'S THE FACE I WAS BORN WITH, BUDDY! One only a mama could love.

Monday! I'm wearing my new Keith Haring shirt from Uniqlo and a skirt from the thrift store!

This week wrapped up our second week of school. We watched our second video...this one titled Art Room Etiquette. I like to meter our my rules and routines to give the kids time to create and not be bombarded with information. After that quick video, we learned about SCISSOR SAFETY with my giant scissors I scored at the flea market!

This week I also busted out the Quiet Critters! It was kindergarten's second time in the art room...a perfect time to establish working quietly, staying in our seats and raising our hands. These lil fellas were certainly helpful!

If you follow me on Instagram, than you know I scored a bunch of artsy shirts from Uniqlo. Their shop and website is full of them! My skirt is from Anthropologie.

We wrapped up our Getting to Know You Sculptures this week and while I love them...they are everywhere!

You can find out all the details on this super fun project here. It's been such a hit with my students and other art teachers. I so love it when y'all let me know that you are using a lesson of mine. Thank you!

This week also marked the introduction of two new things in the art room...my mike and my director's chair! Y'all don't even know how much this has made read alouds more fun. I LOVE reading to the kids while they work...this has been the perfect thing!

In case you didn't know...I'm a bit of a Chuckhead. I counted...I have 11 pairs of Converse. I'm not proud. I just love them so. And these pride rainbow-bottomed ones just had to come to my art room. I mean, c'mon!

Mission for next week: HANG ALL THESE SCULPTURES. Please pray for me.

One of my very favorite dresses because I love the print so stinkin' much! All the details here.

Now that the sculptures are done, we are ready to move on to bigger and better things...which means supply prep! I spent my Friday afternoon trying to wrap my head around everything that I would need to have ready for the kids. Stay tuned, I'll keep you posted on what we'll be up to!

Feet up Friday was lookin' SOUPer with these Chucks!

Friday! Top from Uniqlo and skirt from the flea market!

Folks been asking me, "where you keepin' all those sculptures while the kids work on them?" ALL ALONG MY MILE LONG CABINETRY. It's insane! There are so many of them! I'm surrounded!

Friday afternoon, nearly every surface of mine looked like this. The kids managed to clean their tables so that part looked great! Meanwhile, over on my desk. Ah! Sorry of my life. I hope y'all have a great upcoming week!
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What the Art Teacher Wore #200

Monday's ensemble: shirt: from Uniqlo a couple of years ago; skirt: do y'all have Buffalo Exchange where you live? It's my FAVORITE resale clothing shop. If you have one, get thee there! That's where my skirt is from; shoes: Trashy Diva, couple years ago. My problem with sharing where I got my clothing is that most of my clothing is pretty old...or thrifted. So it's tough to say where it's from!

Guess what I'm bringing back? My What the Art Teacher Wore feature! My blog got it's start with 3 weekly blog posts: What the Art Teacher Wore, DIY's and art projects for kids. Well, over the years, I dropped WTATW and I don't know why! I now share my daily wears here. I've decided to share them at the end of the week here as kind of a highlight reel of my wacky outfits and my wacky week. So let's get started!

I kicked off my Monday with a morning meeting at school, a lovely brunch with the other art teachers in my district (I work in a small k-8 district with 8 art teachers) and a haircut! If you follow me on IG then you know I've recently become the proud owner of what I'm calling Bang Toupees. I even took them in for a hair cut. Yes, that was awkward..."would you mind cutting my fake hair? Thanks!"

Tuesday's outfit: shirt from The Crayola Experience in Orlando; skirt from H&M

Tuesday was my last official day of summer vacation. My intention was to spend the day working in my art room. I got ONE bulletin board done (see below) and then spent the rest of the day buying all the 90% off things at a local craft store and eating tacos. Which is really how I'd rather spend my last day anyway!

This board sits in a place of my art room that is both hard to see and rarely viewed. So I decided to create something big, impactful and semi-permanent. I used wrapping paper I found at Marshall's and boarder from Joann's. I cut the wording out from white paper.

I love how well it goes with this side of my art room!

Wednesday: This was our first official day back! I wore my jacket from Forever21 that I added a million patches to.

Lots of rainbow patches of course. I forgot to snap a picture of my dress underneath...it is a recent thrift store score.

Our district always kicks off the new year with a motivational speaker (they are always AMAZING) and then time for the teachers to attend PDs. My sweet friend Jennifer organized a wonderful PD with Ashley Owens of Black Sheep Goods. It was super fun!

Thursday! The top is from Forever21 a couple of years ago and my skirt is from Modcloth!

Thursday was filled with meetings. I was excited to score this shoe bin at the thrift store for just a couple of bucks. I'm really hoping it works well as a yarn caddy in my fibers area!

ORANGE YA GLAD IT'S FRIDAY?! Y'all, I've been waiting all week to wear this skirt and say that! Shirt from Target, shoes from wherever you buy Chucks and skirt by me!

If you read my last post, than you know I lead a PD at my school on Friday. It was so fun! I cannot wait to do something similar when my kiddos come back in a week!

Added bonus: all the tables and supplies are prepped for the kiddos. AND the teachers served as great test-drivers...even if they didn't know it.

I hope y'all have a wonderful week! My kiddos come on Wednesday. I cannot wait!

DIY: Viva Italia Dress

Hey, friends! I am wearing this here dress today in...Italy! I managed to snap some photos before leaving but I'll be sure to share my Italian adventures with you when I return home. Until then, let's talk dress-makin', shall we?

After (a handful of) years stitching and countless homemade dresses, I think I have finally found the mashup of dress patterns that I like the very best. I am loving the fit and look of this halter-style top with this circle skirt, it's my new fave!

It's taken me this long to realize that simply because a pattern looks good on the envelope does not mean it will look good on you. And that's okay! You gotta go with what is the most flattering for your body type and your taste. Personally, I love a good fit and flair. And I like my fit very fitted (ahem) and my flair super, um, flair-y (double crinoline, anyone?). But I also know that I cannot do a v-neck, scoop neckline or anything else that is meant to show off cleavage. Because, well, I ain't got none. So it just looks awkward trying to show it off unless I'm wearing my big ole "Insert Cleavage Here" necklace which I seem to have lost.

And I'm cool with this. Not the loss of my necklace, that thing was expensive, but the fact that I can't wear a good ole cleavage bearing frock. Because I have bodice patterns that work...and I think this one works the best for me.

Now, here's a little something else I've learned: size down on the bust. Do you see that bust measurement of 34"? That is my correct size but when using this dress pattern in the past, I always found the bodice to be a pinch roomie (remember, I like a good fit). You can see other dresses I've made with this pattern here and here. For a more fitted dress, size down on the bust measurement. I'll be using a 32" bust for the bodice in the future. Now, this works for me for the entire dress because I do an open skirt...meaning I can have hips for days and the skirt hides 'em (another reason I love me a circle skirt!). However, if you are using a hip-hugging pattern, you may need to size up for the rest of the dress.

Y'all would be so proud: the last couple of dresses I've created have been from fabric straight outta the stash. I purchased this fabric years ago with the intent to make a dress...but, Ima be honest, I didn't love the colors in the print. So in the stash it sat. Until 36 hours before leaving for Italy, that is! Another reason to love this pattern: it's a quick stitch!

You might notice I decided not to add the bow/belt insert. On the dresses I have with built-in belts, I feel limited. I love to add different belts to my clothing to change up the look. So I skipped that step in the pattern. I also made the straps thinner...the thicker ones just screamed "homemade!" to me.