Meet the Teacher Part 2 && Fashionable Pin-spiration

Last night I blogged about Meet the Teacher Night...check it {{here}}. It was way too late for my brain to care about staging my focus table so I saved that for today. Like I said last night, decorating and planning are kinda my things. I might not have gotten my moms blue eyes but I sure did get her talent of making things look good.With all of the whats and wheres mapped out last night, today was all about putting the pieces together && filling in the missing design gaps. This is what I put together today...

Now, keep in mind a few things are missing and obviously the table will be different (that standard light colored school wood instead of my rich cherry), but not too shabby! The frame to the left (pink) is my sign in reminder. The pink frame has this sign inside of it:

A mason jar with pens will go next to it. In the picture the "pens" are really straws, but who has a gazillion matching pens at home? Not this chick. The metal owl came from Hancock Fabrics (thanks Rachel @ A Tall Drink of Water for the heads up). In the middle of the table I have 3 different sized mason jars sitting on a silver serving tray (wedding gift finally coming to good use). The hydrangeas in the jars are fake in the picture (they'll be real the night of MTT). To the right of the serving tray is my "Guess-timation Jar." The orange frame has this little sign inside of it:

 

The "Guess'timation Jar" is empty right now (to the left of the orange frame) && I have a good reason for it. I'm going on a cruise in 2 weeks && I have absolutely zero will power when candy is around. If I bought Starbursts to fill it up for the photo op they would be gone by the time MTT Night rolled around and I would have to fill it up again. I hate working out as it is...I don't need any extra calories to burn. To the right of the orange frame is a mason jar with markers in it for the kids to fill out their guess-timation slips. I used the same chevron ribbon that I wrapped the pen jar with to wrap the marker jar. I need to get another bow so that they match and that jar will be finished. The guess-timation slips are not pictured...I'm saving my ink at home && waiting until I get to school to print them out, but they're pictured on my last blog. The table runner is made up of 3 different colored place mats that one of my sweet little babies from last year gave me as an end of the year/house warming gift. This will more than likely change when I have the task of covering my not so attractive kidney table that is  light school colored wood. I'm thinking a solid table cloth with a chevron runner in the middle.

Now for everyone's favorite part, the treats. I mentioned last night that I bake cookies every year (I'm crazy I know). There's something about a cookie baked from scratch that just can't be beat...even the ease of buying them already made is no match for the taste of a fresh cookie. I also like knowing what's going into the cookies so if a parent asks a question about an allergin I know what I used (you just never know with store bought ones). So after they cool (and my husband has taste tested them) I put 2 cookies into each clear treat bag. I tie it up with curly ribbon (and think about my favorite movie The Elf while I curl them). Then comes the cute part...the tag. Last year I used sticky labels, but this year I'm kicking it up a notch. I re-discovered my Slice tool and all of the fabulous things that it can do this summer & was dying to use it again on another project. For the labels I designed them on Publisher and then printed them out. They're 2.5 inches in diameter so I used my circle punch to cut them out (bought it from Michaels for pretty cheap...before Hobs came to town). Then I used my slice to make a 3 inch scalloped circle tag and glued it all together. So cute & so easy...seriously the hardest thing was making a decision on what colored paper to use.
 

There you have it...MTT Night in a nutshell. Simple, cute, && easy. But wait, it's about to get even easier...everything  MTT that I've blogged about will be going into my TPT store by Monday. If owls aren't your thing I'll be putting a few different themes up. I have a few loose ends to tie up before it's the way I like it, but it'll be up on Monday at the latest and will be part of my Monday Made It link up blog. With clipart added into the package I can't offer it as a freebie (that requires purchasing a special license), but it won't cost you an arm and a leg.


After putting all of my teaching stuff back into my hoarding closet...I mean temporary teaching storage closet... I was blog hopping and found a linky for back to school outfits. I'm still in complete denial that I have to go back to work soon so I'm not thinking about a meet the teacher outfit or a first day of school outfit just yet. Buuuut there's still tons of summer fun to be had and putting your best foot forward is imperative. My closet is full of cute dresses, colorful tank tops, and skinny skinnies. I definitely know how to throw things together and look put together (atleast I hope). However, I'll be the first to admit that my normal attire for this summer looks like this hot little number...

Too hot to trot I know, I know. I personally love yoga pant type pants and a tank top...ocassionally I even make it to the gym because I'm dressed like this. When I actually do go out in public for something other than a gym session (or grocery shopping) I clean up nicely. Pinterest has been my inspiration for a lot of my outfits... && some I think of all on my own only to find that Pinterest thought it was cute too. Love it when that happens right?!?! The last part of tonight's blog is dedicated to the outfits I wear/plan to wear...you know when yoga pants just don't cut it as appropriate. I might be on a teacher's budget, but just because you're on a teacher's budget doesn't mean you have to look frumpy dumpy. High end names have never appealed to me...I work hard for my money and I'm not going to blow it on one shirt just because some magazine says you'll be cool if you buy it.  You can get the same look for a fourth of the price. The majority of my closet is budget friendly. Yes I have a few splurge pieces (mostly shoes and jewelry), but what girl doesn't?  Here are a few trends that I LOVE more than frozen grapes....

Trend #1: Coral {{anything coral}} Everywhere you look coral is one of the hottest colors around. Paired with navy blue stripes && it's {{shut the front door material}}. I'm not a big shorts person--I'm really insecure about my legs (I think it's God's way of getting back at me for stressing my Dad out when I wore all of the short shorts that I wore in high school). I should be thankful that I have 2 functional legs I know && I am..but every woman out there has an area that they aren't completely secure with and for me it's my legs. I really break out into a sweat at the thought of wearing them. Ironic because I have so many cute outfits that involve shorts. Anywho, my pinspiration is on the left and my {{got it in my closet}} version is on the right...

I changed the top from being long sleeved to a tank top--it's summer time in Charleston...do I really need to give another reason??
Top: American Eagle
Shorts: Target
Shoes: Steve Madden (looooooovvve Steve Madden)

Trend #2: White Shorts {{with a frayed hemline}} Nothing says summer better than a pair of white shorts && a great tan. While my tan is fading quickly, the white shorts are stocked and ready to go.

I've never been a huge fan of the flowy tops...I'll save those for when I'm prego (maybe)...so in my version I have a more fitted top. If there's one thing about a trend it's that you've got to take it and make it your own.
Shirt: TJ Maxx (shout out to the budget Barbies out there)
Shorts: Jessica Simpson
Shoes: GAP

Trend #3: Chevron {{any and all chevron}}
Hi, my name is Amy and I'm addicted to chevron. That is a support group I wouldn't mind being a part of because chevron addicts are pretty fabulous. My choice of chevron comes in the form of a dress. It's not hard to copy an outfit on Pinterest when there's a link to the store that sells it && it doesn't cost an arm and a leg to get it into your closet.

Dress: Red Dress Boutique
Shoes: Steve Madden
Belt: Nine West?? (on sale at Belk...not a splurge)

Trend #4: Maxi Skirts
There's an Ecard pin floating around out there in the land of Pinterest that explains maxi skirts the best...you feel dressed up, but they're just crotchless yoga pants. Whatever it is...I love them. I was hesitant to buy one because I'm short (5'4") and I didn't want to trip over my skirt (I'm clumsy as all get out). But when I saw this one on the Red Dress Boutique's website I took my chances and I'm so glad I did.

Top: Target
Skirt: Red Dress Boutique
Shoes: Nine West (even though you can't see them...again on sale at Belk)

Now that I've officially missed the entire beginning of the movie we rented, I'm getting the evil eye to shut this lap top down for the night. Soooo until next time, live, love, && make yourself feel beautiful...even if it's in yoga pants!