32 Years of Teaching Decor Needed a Makeover!

Last May, near the end of the school year, my principal came to my 2nd grade team and said she would need to cut one of our sections. I, of course, just KNEW it wouldn't be me who got cut. I've been teaching for 32 years...I've taught all the grades from K-3...I'm 2 years from retirement! 
But guess what?! That's right! I'm the 2nd grade teacher who was cut! What?! Now don't worry, they didn't fire me but it sure seemed like that to me! And boy did I pout around for quite a while! I was the one who would be teaching 3rd grade...Gifted and Talented.

Needless to say, I got over my pouting fit and started getting excited about the new challenge I would be facing. I started packing up things to take to my garage sale, things to give away, and things to take to my new classroom. (Yes, I had to move rooms too! I guess that will be good in a couple of years when I retire, right?!)
So now I'm in my new classroom and I realized I needed to buy some stuff to teach another grade! WooHoo! I think I might have a problem when it comes to school supplies. My family may or may not be planning an intervention. They will just have to wait until after school starts for that intervention because I've got too much on my plate right now!

Not only was I going to need school supplies, I was going to need new name tags, signs, labels, etc. for my new room. That's where my sister Sabrina, from A Space to Create, comes into the picture. 
Sabrina lives in Hayden Lake, Idaho and she drives to the mid-west every summer to visit with family. That is a 3-day drive with 2 kids and 2 dogs in tow. Ugh. Sabrina is a high school art teacher in Washington state and was previously an art director in advertising. (She was a true big-wig but really wanted to teach instead.)
On with my story...I went to my mom's in Michigan to hang out with Sabrina and the gang. Sabrina was ready to chill out since she'd just gotten out of school and had driven across country with a car full. I, of course, couldn't get my new classroom assignment off my mind. The first thing I asked Sabrina was: "Will you make me some clip art that I can use on things for my new classroom?" Needless to say, Sabrina was a little perturbed with me. But, after a couple of days she agreed to help me out. 
We decided to start a new line of items on TpT as a collaborative venture. She was the art talent and I was the elementary classroom talent. (Well, I also had a little more art talent from Steve at Pixel Puzzles on TpT. He does special requests and is AWESOME to work with.)


That is how the BLOCKCRAFT Kids and Pets were born. 
So far, I've got book basket labels ready to go.
I've got name tags for my chair pouches, seat sack book bags, and my tables. I've even got inspirational posters to put up in the room.
Check these examples out! 

I almost forgot to show you one of my favorite items! The birthday cards! They turned out so cute!

If you would like to check out some BlockCraft Kids and Pets for your own room, just click the pics. All the name tags and cards are even editable and come in lots of colors. We are planning on adding more items, so check back often.
On another note, Everything in my store is 20% off today until Wednesday, August 2. On top of that, Teachers Pay Teachers is having its Back to School sale Monday and Tuesday. Just use the code: BESTYEAR, and you will get an extra 10% off the sale price.

Thanks so much for stopping by. With my new teaching assignment I should have a lot of things to talk about! I will really work hard to share my journey with you along the way.