Random Thoughts on a Random Day

Lots of random thoughts today on lots of random topics. . .


I went on an "I-am-bored-so-let's-go-to-Target-and-spend-money-on-random-things-I-don't-really-need" shopping trip.  You know those dollar bins they have in the front of the store?  Well, I found these gems on the right.  Orange, yellow, pink, and red striped magazine files.  Too cute!  They don't exactly match the cute striped ones below that I got at Ikea for my friends to use as book bins, but I love 'em anyway!  The best part is that all black dot items were 50% off, so I scored those babies for just fifty cents each!
  


I'm  making maracas!   On that unnecessary Target shopping trip, I also picked up two bags of plastic Easter eggs for 50% off.  These two big bags were just a dollar each. Last year, I wrote a post called Some EGGcellent Ideas that gives a bunch of ideas on what to do with all those leftover plastic eggs. In looking back at the post, I was surprised to see that I never included the maraca idea.  If you want more info on how to make them, visit the blog Dana Made It.  She has a perfect tutorial with step by step directions.

My plan is to make them for Cinco de Mayo.  Well, actually we will be making them on Tres de Mayo as the fifth falls on a Sunday. :-)

Above is my lame attempt to give it a trial run.  Lesson learned - Get better masking tape!  Mine wasn't so sticky so it didn't wrap around the egg too well.  I'm thinking of also getting some wider tape so that I can just have my friends wrap it once.



My latest library book sale haul!  If you read my blog, you may know that I love buying books on the cheap from my local library book sale.  Below are the books I was lucky enough to find on my last visit.  It was a good day!  Too many books to fit in one picture!

Buying books from library sales is a perfect way to stock your classroom library for what can literally be pocket change.  Since my teaching position changed this year, I found my library required a serious overhaul.  I needed a lot more books at lower levels.  Luckily, I've been able to find many good books over the course of the year.

SMARTIES for smarties!  Yes, I still give my friends Smarties on occasion.   The name alone makes them a school food!  Okay, I kid about it being a school food.  But, sometimes we all need a little sweetness in our day!


Which leads me to my next random thought. . .


My favorite "new" app is Color Splash.  I put new in quotes because this app has been around a long time.  I'm just late to the party.  But, what a party it is!  Essentially, this app lets you take any picture, convert it to black and white, and then color any part of the picture you want.  Above, you can see that I used the app on the Smarties picture.  I also used it on the pictures of the books and the trial run maraca, but since the backgrounds were originally on the gray side it doesn't show as well as it does in the Smarties picture.
I also used the app in my post about two picture books for writing lessons when I took this picture at Barnes and Noble.  Since I still can't find my camera and am using my iPhone for pictures at the moment, this app has made it all a little more fun.  It is well worth the $0.99!

And, finally my most random thought of all. . . 

I can't get enough of this stuff! :-)

So, what random thoughts are floating around with you today?