What the Art Teacher Wore #163

 Field Day Monday: With only 2.25 days left of schoolin', we had a field day on Monday. What that meant for this art teacher was I spent the day in the shade transforming sweet innocent children's faces into tigers, pirates, Boba Fett, and the random requests of horses, unicorns and a rainbow cat. Yes, that happened. I didn't take face painting in college so there will be no photographic evidence of the damage that was done on that day. But me and my helpers buddies had fun! dress: made by me, here; shoes: Converse

Welp, the show is over, kids. The school year ended for me on Wednesday with another year of art teacherin' in the books. This time of year is exciting for me as I start to think about 1. All the Things that I've Done Wrong and 2. Dream Up Ways to Make 'Em Right. Plotting, planning and dreaming is in full swing. Along with resting, relaxing and vacationing, of course! We hit the ground running to sunny (albeit chilly) California on Thursday and it has been a wonderful way to kick off the break. I hope y'all are enjoying your extra long weekend as well.

In other news, my attempt at sharing with you my Me Mades for #memademay kinda flopped as I only did one other What the Art Teacher Wore blog post! My vision of MeMadeMay ended up being more MeIsCray. Pretty sure you understand. 

Until next time, have a super fab-o weekender and we'll chat soon!

 Last Full Day Tuesday: Between field trips and class parties, I only saw a couple of classes on this day. That by no means meant my day was chill. I still had to bag and tag over 100 clay projects and art show work to take down. Thankfully, the teaching assistants and some sweet fourth grade students came to my rescue! It never hurts to ask for help. I need to remember this and do it more often. sweater: thrifted; top, hair bow and skirt: made by me, here; shoes: Shoe Carnival

 Last Day, Hurray!: What better way to celebrate than a good ole fashion barbecue dress from the lady who never cooks out! It's funny, being from the Mid-West, what we think of as a barbecue is cooking on the grill and then slathering barbecue sauce on said grilled stuff. In the South, it's tooooootally different. To barbecue means to slow cook meat until it falls off the bone in shreds. Imagine my surprise when I first moved to Tennessee and ordered barbecue. I was all, "where are the grill marks and the red sauce?!" dress: made by me, here; shoes: made by me, here

Disneyland Thursday: On Thursday, we hit the road to Cali (okay, we flew because lawd knows I couldn't handle that kind of car ride). Disneyland and California Adventure are our faves. Right now, the parks are actually calm-ish (well, as calm as Disney can be. In fact, the hubs coined a new term: Bisney. When something is SUPER busy, it's as busy as Disney. Therefore, it's Bisney). We were actually able to try out a couple new attractions! dress: made by me, here; sandals: Chacos

 We got to ride Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters which entails mini-Italian style cars that "dance" in a synchronized manner to Italian songs. It was so fun! My fave part was picking out the car. 

 I had to get one that matched my dress. Of course. By the way, it's surprisingly chilly in SoCal in the evenings! I was all sorts of bundled up. 

 This ride was a total trip. But the spinning at the end just about did me in. 

 As a teacher, I find the Disney parks so inspiring. I always come away with new ideas and inspiration from what I'll teach to why and how. For example, our Diner Themed Art Show? Guess what inspired that? Carsland is all based on Route 66 and heavily vintage in theming. It's one of my favorite areas in the park. 

Shopping Friday: My other favorite thing to do in California? Shop! I am a diehard Buffalo Exchange fan (word is that there is one coming to Nashville...what?!). My faves are in Costa Mesa and Fullerton. If you've never hit a Buffalo before, you are missing out! Oh, and get you some grub at Native Foods, our other Cali fave. dress: made by me, here; belt: old, Anthro

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What the Art Teacher Wore #161

Hello, Monday. Let's Do This: So much to do...so little time. Story of my procrastinating life, y'all! I ride the struggle bus everyday and wonder, "just how does the other half live?" Oh, the life of an unorganized hawt mess art teacher. The fun NEVER ends. dress and necklace: made by me! here; sweater: thrifted; belt and crinoline: Amazon; shoes: Marshall's

Oh, y'all. Don't let the smile fool you. It's that wild -n- crazy time o' year: Art Show! Thankfully I am backed with The Best parent volunteer reinforcements. These volunteer mamas of mine show up Every.Single.Day. to mat, frame and hang some of the best masterpieces in Tennessee. My fave part...they are NOT procrastinators like myself and the show is actually ahead of schedule! Like, what the whuuuut? I'll be sure to post pics after I regain consciousness from my post art show coma (art show is May 17th. If you are in the 'hood, consider yourself invited). Not only that, but we've had all sorts of other artsy mayhem going down. Because when it rains, it pours. And beautiful colorful rainbows are the result!

In other news, seeing your #WeCanMakeItMay snaps on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram seriously MAKE.MY.DAY! Thank you so stinkin' much for playing along. If you've not joined, jump in now! Follow me here to find out more.

Second grade ceiling tiles are up, thank you to just one of our fabulous custodians, Mr. Scruggs! Lil known fact: Mr. Scruggs is also our in-house DJ. How many of y'all can boast that? I seriously teach at the best school, y'all. More details about our ceiling tile project here. 

 Tuesday, I Kinda Thought You Were Friday: When you wake up with that feeling, you KNOW it's gonna be a long week! This week actually zipped by...mostly because I just stayed so crazy busy. dress: made by me, here

So our theme for the art show is diner...which is why the kids have made a ton of clay food (if you follow me here, you've seen it all!). When one of my students acted like he was eating his food, I got the idea to snap photos of the kids in The Diner (a mural they have been working on) with their food to use as adverts for the art show. They have had the option of dressing as a customer (themselves), a chef or a server. It's been so fun. I can't wait to share what we've created with their photos!

 Only Clean Spot in the Room Wednesday: Like, seriously. The only reason I took a couple snaps of me standing in random other places is because THE REST OF THE ART ROOM IS TRASHED, Y'ALL. It's all of my own doing. Welllllll, I did have the help of about 400 artists. But, whateves. It's worth it. Although the mess is giving me a bit of an eye-twitch...and I have an exceptionally high tolerance of messes. So that's when you KNOW it's bad! jacket: Gap kids; dress and tights: Target; boots: Frye

 I did manage to escape my art room occasionally to see what the parent volunteers had been up to...look at that first grade display, y'all. It makes my small heart grow ten times it's size with this amazement! Just a lil over a week til the big day. I'll def share all the gory details. In fact, this coming week's Art Teacherin' 101 will be all about who we hang the work on that there deer mesh.

 Paint Splattery Thursday: Because I am COMPLETELY INSANE, I decided that I needed a new ensemble for the art show. AND I decided that the kids should paint it. So I laid down some cold hard cashola for a canvas-esque drop cloth from Walmart (they claimed it was canvas, I beg to differ) and some house paint from Home Depot (BIG shout out to Dave, QT and Ms. Mary for cutting me and my students a great deal for this project. Go to the Home Depot in Franklin, y'all. They are awesome!). For the occasion, I thought I'd wear something which was already pretty painty. This way, when hit with paint-splatter shrapnel, I wouldn't be so sad. dress: painted by moi, here; tights: RIGHT?! Amazon

 Lord. What kind of art-makin' animals have I created?! Notice how I snapped this photo from a VERY safe distance. They had entirely too much fun. Meanwhile, the rest of 'em were in my room "working"...aka going bananaz. It's that time of year! 

Oh, but look at the result. I couldn't resist cutting into the fabric and starting my ensemble this weekend. Looking forward to sharing with y'all soon. 

Friday in the Diner: The kids are nearly finished painting the diner mural...I've had so much fun taking photos of them there! I can't wait to show y'all. I'll be so sad when the art show is over and this comes down. dress: Buffalo Exchange; necklace: Anthro

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What the Art Teacher Wore #160

 Clay Week Monday, Here We Go!: Since we are studying the food-sculpture artist Peter Anton and making our own food sculptures, this Modcloth number seemed totes appropriate. sweater: Buffalo Exchange; dress: ModCloth; belt and crinoline: Amazon; tight: Target; shoes: Aldo

I shared with y'all earlier this week that it was Clay Week up in my art room. In preparation, I spent my weekend filming videos...which made for a less-than-relaxing weekend. But, in the end, it made for a much easier Clay Week experience! I'm so glad I did it. For each lesson, I shared an intro to Peter Anton, our artist inspiration for our food sculptures. Then I jumped into our clay lesson. For my 30 minute first and second grade classes, that meant I showed them the first phase of the sculpture. At the end of the 30 minutes, they bagged their project and completed it the following art classes. For my 60 minute classes with third and fourth grade, I would share with them the first half of my video, allow them time to work and then have them meet me again on the floor for the second half of the video. This allowed them to not become overwhelmed with directions. 

The best part about sharing the videos was that it allowed me a little time to breathe and prep. As y'all know, clay lessons can be taxing. This video freed me up to wedge clay (lil known secret: just put the leftover clay back in the back with some water and smack the back on the floor several times. Viola! Wedged!), cut clay and prep supplies. My master plan is to film many videos this summer to have ready for the new school year. Stay tuned!

 Clay Week = Comfy Week: When picking my clothing out in the mornings, I was all about the stretch jersey, y'all. AND washableness. Clay is so stinkin' dusty that I just knew I'd be covered. So wearing dry-clean-only/hand-wash-whateverness was not gonna happen. top: Buffalo Exchange, originally from Forever 21; dotted dress and tights: Target; shoes: Aldo

All week long I heard, "I love clay", "I want to be a clay creating person when I grow up...what's that a called again?", "Thank you for letting us work with clay!" It made me realize that I need to provide more than just one week of clay for these kids...so next year, I plan to do clay week in the fall and the spring!

 All the Emojis, All at Once: Not gonna lie, telling kids whom I normally allow to work on projects for extended periods of time that they have ONE DAY AND ONE DAY ONLY to complete their project is a lil stressful. Both for me and the artists. So I was feeling all the emojis, all the time. Happy! Rushed! Surprised! Annoyed (DID YOU REALLY JUST THROW THAT CLAY LIKE A BALL?!). You get the pitcher. top and jean jacket: Buffalo Exchange; skirt: Target; tights: Amazon

This is what our tables looked like on MONDAY. By Friday, those paper coverings were trashed. I spent my Friday throwing them away, cleaning all the clay tools and putting them up and just de-clay-ifying my entire art room. Whew! It felt so good to get all that dust outta there!

 Thursday, Don't Make Me Cut You: While I did love me some Clay Week, it truly was a looooong week. Holy Smokes! You don't even wanna know how many days this week I woke up thinking it was Friday. Only to discover...well, you know the rest. sweater: thrifted; top: Urban Outfitters; skirt: ModCloth; tights: Target; boots: Aldo

I'm sure y'all have your own methods for teaching clay. I learned everything I ever needed to know about teaching clay to children from Danielle McDaniel, aka The Clay Lady. If you aren't familiar, I strongly recommend you check out her books, supplies and videos. She is FABULOUS!

 I Ain't Too Proud, Friday: A coupla weeks ago, a sweet kindergarten student of mine wore this amazing jacket. I was all, "oh my word, where did you get that?!" To which she replied, "I dunno, my grannie got it for me". You better believe I checked the label of her coat. I immediately went home and looked up GapKids and found this jacket...in the biggest size I could get it. It's still pretty snug but I'm a lil on the small side up North with the chest of a 12 year old so it works for me! dress: altered by me. It was too short so I added the leopard print jersey; belt: Amazon; boots: Frye; jacket: Gap Kids; necklace: Anthropologie

I mean, right?! I had to have it! Granted, I coulda made it but...I currently don't have time to do squat diddly so I decided to treat myself. It's good to do that once in a while (and by "once in a while" I mean thrice daily). xo!

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What the Art Teacher Wore #159

 Tuesday Because I Forgot to Snap a Pic on Monday: Sorry, y'all. This here blog post only features the four outta my five day work week. I've slipped into the habit of forgetting to take pictures until the end of the day when 1. I look haggard (and by "haggard" I mean not that far from looking like Merle Haggard) and 2. I've already changed outta my dressy duds into my workout ware. So, long, uninteresting story short, I missed Monday. Aren't you glad I 'splained all that to you? scarf, sweater and top: vintage; skirt: Pin Up Girl Clothing; shoes: Anthro

Hello, besties! I hope y'all had a fan-fabulous week and are ready for more! I know I'm not alone when I say that this time of year is BANANAZ. 

(Okay, seriously? I could watch this for the next five hours and not get bored). And I don't like that feeling of everything being bananas. In fact, I dislike bananas ALMOST as much as this guy...

I mean, how do y'all deal with stress? Personally, I know when I'm getting myself in too deep when my eyes start twitching. I'm a naturally lazy person who likes to do things in her own time (read: NEVER) so having things pile up on my To Do list kinda wears me out. To prevent myself from becoming overwhelmed, I like to have certain sayings on a constant loop run thru my head: One Day at a Time; Easy Does It; When Eating an Elephant, Take One Bite at a Time...

Dude! I was kidding! I'm not gonna eat you, I'm a vegetarian. Although I might chase you for those sweet converse!

So, what stress-relieveing tips and tricks do y'all have? I'd be welcome to some. Mostly cuz I'm having the darnest time Sharpie-ing my newly sprouted gray hairs with a twitchy eye. 

Until next time, kids!

 June Cleaver Wednesday: When I recently found this vintage dotted number at Buffalo Exchange, I knew I had to have it. I felt like a cross between Lucille Ball and June Cleaver all day long. Prolly not the wisest thing to wear vintage on a painting, sculpting, and weaving day but when has that ever stopped me before?! brooch, scarf, dress: vintage; belt: Pin Up Girl Clothing; shoes: Dolls by Nina

 Artsy Thursday: One of my lil kindergarten students came in with the most amazing outfit: a splatter painted jean jacket with the words ARTIST stitched across the back. Y'all better believe I checked the label on her jacket to see where it was made: Gap Kids. They make an XXL, y'all. If you don't think I ordered one over my lunch break than you just don't know me by now. top: Forever21; art supply skirt: vintage, etsy; belt: Amazon

Fri-YAY, y'all! Knowing that I'd be spending my day prepping for CLAY WEEK, I wore my fave flats: those hawt pink Minnetonkas. I can't wait for the kids to get elbow's deep in clay next week. I'm so excited about their projects, can't wait to share! skirt and shirt: made by me, more here; spool necklace: made by me, more here

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What the Art Teacher Wore #158

What's a "Monday"?: I've not been to school or seen the likes of a Monday in almost two weeks due to some art teacher conventionin  and spring breakerin . It was hard gettin' my Monday-on but with the help of my new most favorite sweater in the world, I did aight. head scarf, blouse and skirt: thrifted; sweater: Buffalo Exchange; belt: Amazon; tights: Target; boots: Anthropologie

I'm not even gonna sugar coat it for y'all: This was the best/worst week I've seen in a long time. I sprouted more gray hairs and counted down to summer/retirement more times than I'm proud to admit. But the happy highlights like an amazing visiting artist and a happy write-up in the Tennessean balanced out the cray. Thank goodness. Cuz it turns out I got a whole lotta years before I can start slingin' back the Metamucil and hangin' in my pj's all day (which is how I plan to spend my retirement. Don't judge). 

Let's talk about the good stuff, shall we? A coupla weeks ago, our local newspaper, The Tennessean sent photographer Shelley Mays and reporter Melanie Balakit to my art room to snap some pics and do some interviewing. Melanie and I chatted at length about my love for creating artist-inspired clothing that I wear in my art room. You can read the article here. Shelley even came to my house and visited my sewing room (pictured above) which was so fun AND meant that I spent a good part of my Saturday frantically cleaning my otherwise disturbingly messy abode before she arrived. It was such a wonderful opportunity to chat and share what I love. Special thanks to Shelley, Melanie and The Tennessean for making me look and sound less crazy than I truly am! 

 Murphy's Law Tuesday: Y'all. If it was gonna go wrong, it most certainly did on this day.  Between an assembly, a fire drill and a visit from the Fire Marshall herself, the day pretty much imploded after the first bell. I just kept applying more red lipstick and attempted to smile thru the trauma. In other news, CAN YOU BELIEVE HOW FREAKISHLY PERFECT MY ART TEACHERIN' DRESS IS?! sweater and scarf: thrifted; dress: vintage, etsy; belt: Pin Up Girl Clothing; tights: Targs; shoes: Fluevog 

Wednesday, Whatever: After Tuesday, I was all, it can't get ANY worse. Brang it, Wednesday. sweater and headscarf: Anthro, thrifted; skirt: Anthro, not-thrifted; belt: Amazon; tights: ya know, Targs; shoes: aren't they the best thing everz? Aldo

 Thursday, I Always Did Like You: As a kid, Thursdays were always my fave because that's when the Cosby Show aired. Not gonna lie: highlight of that show was seeing what wild outfit Lisa Bonet (aka Denise) would be wearing. She was always my fave. splatter paint dress: made by me! DIY here; sweater: thrifted; shoes: Clarks; palette hair clip: DIY here

 A big part of what made my Thursday awesome was a visit from artist Richard Heinsohn! He's an abstract artist from Nashville who had plenty to share with a third grade class. The absolutely loved him! I mean, check out these smiles...

 After learning about Richard's style of abstract painting, the kids got a taste of their own. I can't wait to share with you what they created. This is the second time my artists have had the chance to learn from a local contemporary artist and I'm so happy that they've had the opportunity. I can tell it's going to have a lasting impact. 

Fri-YAY: Thank goodness. I love my Fridays as they allow me to really catch up. I've started sorting, stacking and framing student work for our GIANT annual art show which is gonna go down in a lil over a month. Routine panic attacks have already set it. Awesome! pencil dress: made by me, DIY here; pencil sweater: needle felted, more here; giant pencil: made by fourth grade, blog post to come!

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What the Art Teacher Wore #152

 Monday, Monday: I know it looks like I'm wearing a completely oversized pair of culottes (80's friends, 'member those?!) but I swear I'm not. Instead it's just an oversized dress with a super oversized crinoline underneath. I mean, y'all. I can't even fit through most doors with that partic'lar crinnie on! sweater and dress: Anthro; shoes: Clarks; brooch: vintage

Hey, buddies! First of all, I wanna say thank you for all of your kind words after last Sunday's blog post. I appreciate you allowing me to whine and the happy thoughts y'all sent my way. I took a little day off this week to have some time to myself and it truly made a world of a difference. Mental health days are always a good idea, in my book! 

Second thing is HOLY MOLY, Y'ALL SUPER DUPER WANT YOU A PALETTE HAIR CLIP! If I had all the time in the world, I'd open up my very own Palette Hair Clip biznatch and start rackin' in the big bucks! But until that day, I'll just have to award the Palette Hair Clip to (drum roll please...)

CHALLEN BAKER! Here's what she said about creating a homemade gift: 

My favorite gift that I ever created for a loved one: a paper dress that I made for my mom when I was a wee preschooler. (My parents always said that I was the creative type). I wrapped little pieces of paper around my mom so I could measure out her size and then I proceeded to tape them together. I even made her matching paper shoes! I recently inherited a sewing machine so I would love to start making some dresses out of fabric. Once I get the hang of this sewing machine I would LOVE to make some paint palette hair clips for myself and my friends! (Thanks for the tutorial Cassie!).

Yay! Congrats, Challen! And thanks to everyone for playing along. I've not done a giveaway in a while, this was so stinkin' fun. Might have to get all Oprah and start giving stuff away more often. Until then, have a super fun week, kids!

 Holiday Party Tuesday: So holiday party season has begun and I'm lovin' it! In fact, I had a wee Christmas craft night this past Friday (more details on that this coming week, our craft was epicly awesome, if I do say so and I just did) and I'm heading to one tomorrow night. I love any reason to get all dolled up, eat delish food and chat with buddies, don't you? sweater: DIY, here; dress: thrifted; dotted tights: Target; shoes: Shii

 "It's Tacky...And Yet, Somehow Tasteful" Sweater Wedensday: Says the checkout clerk at the grocery. I swear, I get more tips and tricks on my ensembles from the grocery store, y'all. Also, did I tell you that I have kindergarten convinced that the color of my legs is all dependent on the food that I eat? This time, with my sparkle tights, it was speculated that I had eaten glitter. They are so funny! sweater: thrifted; skirt and tights: Target; shoes: Dolls by Nina

 Blue Christmas Thursday: I dunno if you can see it very well but this dress is about as lit as I was Friday night (ahem). The kids loved seeing that my dress could light up and I loved sharing with them how I made it. I think it's good for them to realize that you can create your own clothing, you know? Of course, they kinda know that about me at this point, I suppose. sweater: thrifted; dress: DIY here; shoes: DIY here; belt and crinoline: amazon

 Craft Night Friday!: I love hosting craft nights, y'all. It's become one of my fave things and it's really the only time I bother with cleaning the house so it's nice to not see dust bunnies the size of my head for a change. I'll share more details soon but I will say that we dined on breakfast, complete with big a## pancakes, egg scramble and cheesy potatoes (along with Bloody Marys and mimosas!) before diving into a glitter-tastic craft. If you follow me here, you've already seen a sneak peak! dress: DIY here; tights: Amazon

I sometimes get asked if I get all fanc-ified on the weekends. Well, only if I leave the house...and how could I possibly do that when I have this hunk of love holding me down. It's nearly impossible for me to even write this here blog post. Until next time!

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