Oriental Tradings Costumes - Pea & T-Rex

Halloween is just around the corner! If you haven’t seen all the costumes that OrientalTrading Company has available you seriously need to go and check them out.

I can’t even begin to tell you how much time I wasted spent looking at the costumes they have there.  I thought about finding one that I could wear for our Halloween Party in my first grade classroom...…but then I decided the kids would probably want to wear them too.  And then I had visions of what a nightmare that might turn out to be...… so I decided to ask my sweet niece if she would like to pick out a costume for herself and her little one.  She's always up for fun, so she jumped at the chance.  I think I must have WAY too much time on my hands, because within an hour she let me know the two costumes they wanted.  When you have a child that loves dinosaurs, it is pretty clear what they want to be.  Lol.   

They came over to try them on as soon as the package arrived.  At first, my little nephew was a bit embarrassed to put on his costume.  As you can see, he chose T-Rex.  It is basically a jumpsuit with a hood, gloves and feet.  He wouldn’t stand still long enough once he got it on to adjust anything.  He was ROARING like crazy!  What a cutie and take a look at the tail!

My niece April decided on a PEA costume.   She is such a sweetie pea... and I loved that I could help bring a smile to both of their faces. It took a little bit for us to figure out where all the Velcro needed to be stuck together at... but we figured it out (I think!!)  Anyways... She needs a green shirt and leotards and that girl is ready to be the Pea that took the Dinosaur trick or treating.  I’m just sad that her husband isn’t going to dress up like a carrot... – wouldn’t that be cute.

 

OrientalTrading is one of my favorite places to shop online.  I didn’t even know that they had costumes until I was given this opportunity to review them.  Go check them out!!  They have a huge selection and they are shipped directly to house.  Enough said!

Enter Your School to Win - SHOPLET FOR SCHOOLS

The Shoplet for Schools campaign started on September 19th and ends on October 3rd, 2016.   Trust me, you don't want to miss this opportunity for your school.  There is a grand prize bundle of assorted school items valued at $5,000. The winner of the event will be selecting a school of their choice to donate the prize!!!  This contest is open to anyone who wants to help their school out!

Products have been donated by Shoplet's various network of partners and vendors. Some of the participating sponsors include 3M, Avery, Pilot, Lysol, Ticonderoga and many more. 

COUPON ALERT!!!
You can enter the coupon SHOPLETFORSCHOOL20 and receive 20% off of your order through October 3rd at Shoplet. 

Click on the picture below and find out what your school could win and sign up!!! 

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Amazing Pencil Sharpener

Look at this really pretty pencil sharpener from Classroom Friendly Supplies!  I don’t think that my picture shows you just how beautiful this yellow pencil sharpener is.  

    There are so many things that I absolutely love about this pencil sharpener.  Here are a few of my favorite things about it:

•  You can easily take it with you in your backpack if you are a student.
•  The pencil sharpener brings every pencil to a sharp point!  Seriously, the pencil is REALLY sharp!   

• As you sharpen the pencil, the process is relatively quiet!
• The pencil is pulled in the sharpener as you turn the handle.
• It leaves a nice crisp sharpened pencil with even those special pencils that always seem to leave a bunch of the outside decorative paper hanging around them.  You know what I’m talking about!
• It has sharpened every pencil I have tried without eating it up!
•   It can be moved from one place to another easily.
• There is a clamp that comes with the pencil sharpener that allows you to clamp it down and then move it to another location.  Or you can purchase a mount to make the location a permanent one!

• There is a HUGE variety of colors to pick from.
• They accept purchase orders from your school!

However... here are a few of my issues with the pencil sharpener:

• It is kind of a pain to pull out the clasp for every single pencil when you are sharpening 20 pencils for your 1^st graders.
•  The SHARP point breaks relatively easily when I write because I press down so hard. (It still remains sharp though)
•  I would prefer that you were given the option for the pencil sharpener to come with the mount (to make it permanent) or the clamp (if you want to be able to move it) instead of having to purchase the mount.
•  It’s manual!  So it take a bit more time to sharpen them.

So there you go... my thoughts on this beautiful pencil sharpener. I did receive this pencil sharpener for free and in exchange I promised to give it a review.  With all that being said, I decided to ask some of the teachers at my school if they would like one.  Every single one of them said yes, except for one (who likes her electric one)!!!  I

    If you would like to watch a video that shows in more detail about how this pencil sharpener works, please click on the pencil sharpener below to view it. 

Organizing with SMEAD

It drives me nuts when I can’t find something that I need. Therefore, I’m always looking for the best way to stay organized.  Here are couple of products that I was pretty excited to check out.  I absolutely love it when I find new office supplies that might make my unorganized life just a little bit easier.   

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Every couple of months I find myself with a big stack of papers that I have to sort through and file.  I knew as soon as I took the plastic off this package of Organized Up Vertical Expanding Files that it was going to make my husband’s life easier.  He may not agree but it’s going to work perfectly!  

Now he can put everything in its designated pocket.  Then when he finally decides to bring the papers home… they will be so much easier for me to file!!!!  Okay… I guess it will make my life easier!  .

This navy blue VERTICAL expanding file has 12 pockets with a tab area that is relatively large!  Also included with the organizer are some labels that you can print and attached to the tabs.  I haven’t added them yet, because I want to make sure I put them on the correct tab!!!  They have to be in ABC of course!!  I have used expandable files before, but never a VERTICAL one… it seems so deep!! 

There is an elastic cord that goes around the expanding files that help keep all the papers in the correct place.   I’m going to keep my fingers crossed that my hubby will use it and file everything in the labeled tab.  

Then there are these 3-in-1 SuperTab Section Folders which also came in a pack of 12.  This particular package comes with blue, red, green and yellow folders (3 of each).  They also have a large label area with 3 pockets. 

 I really like this.  That extra pocket will allow me to file something that is smaller in size and not ever worry whether I will lose it or not.  

The other cool thing is the “lockit” in the middle of the file folder.  This is pretty awesome.  It folds up when the folder is closed and it securely keeps all the papers in place.  I don’t know about you…but I can’t count the number of times that papers have slipped out of a folder when I’ve dropped them or they simply slide out when I’m carrying them.  I’m so thankful that there are creative people out there that can think up this stuff!

Are you ready to do a bit of online shopping to make your life easier?    Go ahead and find your way over to Shoplet.com.  They will help you meet your shopping needs while searching for office supplies, cleaning supplies, Smead products, medical supplies, and office furniture.  

I received the above mentioned items at no charge and in exchange, I agreed to give my honest opinion of each of these products.   All opinions expressed here are my own.

Halloween Candy Galore... One Stop Shopping

It’s only two more months and Halloween will be here!  I am such a procrastinator and I usually wait until Halloween to buy all my goodies… or… there have been a few times that I turned off my porch light and hid from all those little goblins.  Shhhh!!!!   Not this year though.  I am ready for them!    I did all my shopping online at Oriental Trading!  Oh my goodness they have such a wide variety of items and it took me FOREVER to decide what to get.

Look at all these goodies!  What little gobblin wouldn’t love getting these little treats in their sack?  These goodie bags hold a bunch of candy.  I love the the Headers for the packages! 

ROAD KILL GUMMIES… These are hilarious (in a sick kinda way!)  There are 23 in a pack.  The boys in my class are going to have fun with these!  

HALLOWEEN SIXLETS… over 110 pieces!  That’s a bunch of packages.

GUMMY EYEBALLS - These are way too creepy!!! But the kiddos are going to love them!  46 pieces in the package.  These are some heavy eyeballs!!

CRAYOLA COLOR YOUR MOUTH TAFFY – I had never heard of these before.  I of course had to try them.  They did indeed make my tongue purple! 

HALLOWEEN SUCKERS WITH POPPING CANDY – How fun are these going to be!

WITCH'S BREW CANDY ASSORTMENT - Creepy eyeballs… Spooky Pumpkins… Sixlets!   Gumballs with Nerds INSIDE!! 

Okay… I have to confess that maybe…just maybe… I ordered a few of these for myself.  I will need to have a few sweets for myself on Halloween…right????  Look at this HUGE box of Strawberry Twizzlers (180 pieces)!!!!  I LOVE LOVE Licorce…but I don’t think I can eat this entire box… My church has a candy drive for their fall party, so I suppose I could give some to them???? 

I have been looking on Pinterest for some cute ideas for our First Grade “FALL PARTY”    I’m going to use these Pixy Sticks to create some cute little gifts.  I sure hope my 1" x 8" Clear Bags come in soon so I can put them together.  Look at all those Pixy Sticks.  That’s a bunch of Pixy Sticks…over 144!!!! 

If you haven’t already purchased your Halloween treats, why not go over and see the HUGE selection that Oriental Trading offers.  Be careful though…it is overwhelming trying to decide what to choose!  

A Heart Most Certain by Melissa Jagears

Back Cover

“Lydia King knows what it's like to be in need, so she joins the Teaville Moral Society hoping to help the town's poor.  But with her father's debts increasing by the day and her mother growing sicker by the week, she wonders how long it will be until she ends up in the poor house herself. Her best chance at a financially secure future is to impress the politician courting her, and it certainly doesn't hurt that his mother is the moral society’s president.  Lydia’s first task as a moral society member--to obtain a donation from Nicholas Lowe, the wealthiest man in town-- seemd easy... until the man flat-out refuses.

Despite appearances, Nicholas wants to help others but prefers to do it his own way, keeping his charity private. When Lydia proves persistent, they agree to a bargain, though Nicholas has a few surprises up his sleeve. Neither foresees the harrowing complications that will arise from working together and when town secrets are brought to light, this unlikely pair must decide where their beliefs--and hearts--truly align.

My THOUGHTS

The author, Melissa Jagears has such a gift for writing.  I think that this is probably my favorite of all of her books I have read. It is so well written and it is definitely a keeper and a reread for me!  I absolutely love the time period that this book takes place which is in the early 1900s.  Although it is a historical romance, there is definitely an undertone of whether or not an individual is really able to change their level in society.   Lydia is a young woman that is close to becoming another one of the poor people in her town and Nicholas is a man that doesn’t give a hoot what society thinks of him.  This is first book in the Teaville Moral Society series and I can’t wait to read the next one!

***I received a free copy of this book from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for my honest review.***

Master Duo 2/3 Hole Paper Punch

I never knew I needed one of these...  

I have several hole punchers and I use them for all kinds of projects.  But when I received this Master DUO Heavy-Duty Hold Puncher in the mail… I was a bit perplexed!  How on earth could it punch 3 holes and also 2 holes???   Well it didn’t take me long to find out!  Take a good look at it.  Doesn’t it look kinda complicated?  Well it did to me… but thank goodness even I could figure it out.   I must admit I did have a few issues that I had to work out.  I couldn't get the paper under where I needed it to go so that my paper could get punched.  Grrrr... I knew what the problem was...I just didn't know what I needed to do to fix the problem.  

The two-hole punch is in the LOCKED position!

Duh.... I realized that it was in the locked position.  If you look closely at the picture below there is a place where you ALIGN the paper...but there is also a a lock mechanism that needed to be unlocked which then allowed the paper to slide under the hole punch position.  Yip!  I figured it out all by myself.

I have 23 students in my 1st grade classroom, so I wondered if I could hole-punch 23 sheets of paper all at one time.  It was kind of a tight squeeze, but I was able to get 25 sheets in there. I tried it in the 3 hole and also the 2 hole side.  It was relatively easy and they came out perfect!

I also was concerned about how I was going to be able to line up the papers and get the holes in the exact right spot.  There was an easy solution to that problem too.  On the two hole side there are the words "align here" which points at a line.  All you have to do is put your sides of the paper on these two lines.  Easy Peasy!  (Yikes...look at the dust that has accumulated on my hole punch)

I love it and I think you will too.  I'm excited that I now only need one hole puncher in my room now.  

Please go check out this hole puncher at Shoplet.  While you are there go ahead and spend some time looking at their huge assortment of office supplies, cleaning supplies, medical supplies, and office furniture.

  
I received these products at no charge in exchange for my honest review of this hole puncher.  The opinions expressed here are my own and reflect what I thought about the product.