Dollar Tree Treasures

I have long been a fan of the "dollar sections" at various stores. My favorites are The Dollar Spot at Target and the Five and Under Finds at Michael's. Recently, I found these great items at our local Dollar Tree. I couldn't believe the great deal I got on the science project boards- $1 each! I have spent as much as $5.00 at other stores! I found large foam dice for various math games we like to play. I picked up 2 bags of colored clothespins for all the great letter and number matching printables you can get for free from Confessions of a Homeschooler. I found several different sets of sightwords and some inspirational stickers. Last but not least, I found these nice spinners. One is just a normal spinner you can use for all kinds of activities and the second one is a Word Wall Spinner. On it are various directions regarding words. For example, "Choose a word and use it in a sentence" or "Choose a word and define it." I thought this would be great for not only word walls but also for spelling or vocabulary words! So, if you live near a Dollar Tree, get out there today and find your treasures.

My Favorite School Supply

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love school supplies. I could easily spend hours wandering through Office Depot. All those isles of pens, calendars, filing systems, and more send me into a state of giddiness! There is one item though at the very top of my list of favorites and that is my laminating machine. A friend of mine actually discovered this one day and after her demonstration, I knew I had to have one! I was spending WAY too much on laminating at our local store and the thought of being able to do it myself was thrilling! This machine is called the Xyron Creative Station and it is so absolutely simple to use that I became addicted immediately. Even my children can do it and they actually argue over who is going to get to laminate. The best part about it is, it does not use any electricity or batteries- just old fashioned hand cranking. Although the cartridges are somewhat expensive, I am able to purchase them 40% off the regular price at our local Michael's or JoAnn Fabrics. So, all you homeschooling moms out there- if there's one item to invest in, it would be this fantastic laminator. It will save you time and money, and its lots of fun!