I. LOVE. GARAGE. SALES.

Okay, so last night I stayed up until 3:30 a.m. trying to add a little more personality to my blog. I searched and searched for cute blog templates and copied and pasted codes until my fingers were sore. I was tired....my eyelids got heavy, but I did not give up. I fully succeeded in getting my blog the way that I want.....FOR NOW.

Perhaps, I could have asked for some help with creating my blog. My boyfriend completed his undergraduate and graduate studies in a computer studies program. He would have been more than willing to help me. But, see I have a little problem.

I am extremely impatient. And I kind of like to do things myself.
I probably should work on that.

Moving on.

Garage sales. If there are a few things that make up my hobbies, garage sales are definitely one of them.
I. LOVE. GARAGE. SALES.
I am pretty sure I get it from my mother. Actually, I know I do. When  I was younger by mom dragged me with her to all of the possible garage sales she could find.
I hated them then, but I love them now.
Maybe it's because most of the decorating in my Condo comes from garage sales. I am very proud of my home. I think it is adorable. :)

As for the classroom...I have gotten TONS of wonderful things from garage sales. Books, baskets, stuffed animals, rugs, rocking chairs, YOU. NAME. IT.

I went to a few garage sales on Friday. It was a neighborhood garage sale. I had no intention of buying anything.

Okay, I'm lying.

Here are some things I got:

Paper trays. 

I seriously have a million of these. Okay, not a million. I think 20. Last year, I used these for organizing papers on my my desk. I also used about 8 of them for my writing center to organize student choices. I also used them for listening station response paper organization and write the room choice papers. Why did I buy these if I already have them? Well, I am all about COLOR. I think a classroom, especially a first grade classroom needs to be filled with lots of color. The ones I have currently are black and just a little boring. These are much better.

Beanie Babies!

 My wonderful first grade team uses the reading strategy beanie babies as part of our literacy time. If you search the internet for the reading strategies you will find tons of information about them. I can not take credit for this idea. If you haven't heard about it please look into it. The kiddos LOVE it. And they actually use the strategies!! The strategies actually work because they give kids a visual. Currently, my entire team has a bulletin board display of the decoding strategy posters with the corresponding beanie babies. I was looking into adding the comprehension beanie baby strategies, this year. I feel as if I just don't focus enough on comprehension in first grade. It is so hard when you are trying to teach them how to JUST READ. Well, I didn't think I would be able to find the beanie babies at a reasonable price, but I did! I only need one more! 

I.LOVE. DR. SEUSS.
And so, do my first graders. I have so many of his books...but not all of them. And I got very lucky because these are the ones I don't have.
SCORE!!!!!!
I love listening to them read Dr. Seuss books to their partners during buddy reading. It's so cute. :)

I seriously can't believe I found this. I drove past in my car, saw it, and hopped out SO FAST.

Five baskets. And they stack. They are actually from the Container Store!

I have a smaller version of this which the kids use to turn in homework, homework calendars, and their notes from home. 

I. LOVE. IT.

This one is perfect because there are five baskets. I'm thinking I can label each basket for a day of the week. I can use it to store my copies, books, and other resources for that particular day. Currently, I use those Sterilite Drawers for my daily papers, but sometimes there just isn't enough room...what would you use this for?

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST. MY most PRIZED FINDING:

OMG. This book is awesome. Yes, the title is correct. My kids and I love this book. I was a little hesitant to read it to my first graders. We did have a little talk about appropriate behavior before I read the book. Ironically, I read the book during Laughter Day on our end of the year ABC Countdown. It actually is a really cute story and has a little lesson behind it. Please check it out.
 (Guess, who's paws are in the picture? She just wouldn't move!!!)

So, I got a few more things, but this post is getting REALLY long. I will finish up by saying, I got all of this and more for 12 dollars.

YUP!

So please, if you're looking to save money, try garage sales. You never know what you'll find!

I'm off to the gym. Second time today. I have to get myself energized and ready for some late night Pinterest pinning and a thousand games of Words with Friends.