Christmas is a week away and if you are anything like me, you still have a few gifts that you have not gotten covered.  These two DIY gifts are quick and easy to make, but they always get wonderful reactions from the recipients because they are so special.

Framed Family Cloud

Isn't this gift the cutest thing you have ever seen?

My oldest gave this one to her grandmother as a Christmas gift.

I have made no fewer than ten of these word clouds and each time the recipient has gushed about them.  We have one for our family that hangs in our hallway.

The first step is to type out all the family members first and last names in a word processing documents.  By having them in a document, so you can copy and paste or come back later if you are interrupted.

To create the image I use the site Wordle.  Word takes the number of times a word appears on your list and makes the word that sized based on the number of times it appears.  This is why you want first and last names so the last name will appear larger.  I also copy the adults' first names a couple extra times, so they appear larger than the children's names.

Then hit go!

Wordle will create your cloud of names.  Then you can change the font, color,  and formation until you get the combination that you LOVE.  This is my favorite part.

The last thing to do is to print and frame it.  I personally like them framed with matting as it makes it dressier to hang on the way.

 The whole gift takes less than an hour from start to finish.

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Document Holiday Ornament

I am a packrat; I save all kinds of documents: every Christmas card, birthday card, notes from the teacher.  I have worked to sort and trash some of the boxes of papers that I have, but some are too precious to pitch, so I had to come up with a way to use and display them.  The document holiday ornament was born.

All I used was a clear glass bulb and the program from my friend's wedding.  I knew that I didn't need to keep the program from the ceremony, but I also knew that I did not want to throw it away.

Using my scrapbook paper cutter, I sliced the text of the program into one-inch strips.  Some of the border I trashed, and I could only use one side of the document.

Next, I rolled each strip into a spiral around a large marker that I had lying around to curl them.  I had to roll them fairly tight to get the strips into the bulb, but they uncurled once inside.

I was able to get five strips into the bulb without it looking crowded.

As the strips uncurled, you could see the back of the program as well, which was a very nice bonus.

What document would you like to put into an ornament for yourself or for a gift?

I adore Mid-Month Confessions today.  Time to make myself feel better about my shortcomings.

1) My grading got neglected this month

Every teacher has those times when they just can't bring themselves to grade another paper, right?  I was caught up after Thanksgiving, but that didn't last long. I guess being aware is the first step.

2) I bought a two-piece bathing suit for summer knowing I need to get fit in order to wear it.

Maybe I should put it on a hanger for display in the dining room...

3) I am afraid of all the things I regret doing and not doing.

This is why I have been trying to push myself to try new things lately.  I have set goals for blog writing- haver you noticed?  I also applied for two teacher programs this fall and to speak at a couple of conferences.

4) Balancing all my stuff is hard.

I want to do everything well, but I am finding that it just isn't possible.  Teaching, being present with my kids and husband, my blog and business, friends, housework and errands, sleep, and working out never seem to all fit into seven 24-hour days.  Randi Zuckerberg says you can only pick three; my problem is that my three are never the same, and I have two jobs: teaching and my business.  Sometimes I feel like I am spinning my wheels.

5) I enjoyed the quiet after giving my students new seating charts.

It didn't last long and the next day I had to 'remind' a few students to move to their new seats.  As a rule, I am generally not strict about seating charts, but a couple of my classes got out of hand.  I may have to change them up once a month from now on.

6) I still miss our dear kitty- Shadow

We lost him in November after he showed up on our deck two and half years ago.  We took him in (actually I woke up to him in my bed with me) and never looked back.  I still come around the corner into the kitchen and expect to see him on the rug in front of the sink where he loved to sleep.  He was so tolerant of everything as you can see.  Twitch has been a very lovey cat since we lost Shadow.  Just writing this is getting me choked up- I just miss him.  He did go quickly in my husband's arms, but his absence if felt in our home.  Hug your kids and kitties tight!

On a much lighter note, what do you have to confess to this month?

Museums, science centers, and cultural exhibits are some of the best trips that I have been on.  I also love EPCOT at Walt Disney World because I get to spend the day traveling around the world meeting new people and trying new food.  While not the mecca of Orlando, Florida, The Grand Rapids Public Museum has offerings for the whole family.  Our family has had the opportunity to visit this institution several times.

The Grand Rapids Public Museum hosts wonderful traveling exhibitions in addition to their regular collections.  We have seen the Titanic Experience, The Robot Zoo, and American Spirits in addition The Discovery of King Tut that is pictured here.  The Discovery of King Tut was one of our family's favorites.  Right now they have an exhibit on The Peanuts comic strip that looks like something our family would love.

As a social studies teacher and someone who has always adored anything to do with Egyptology (What kid did not want to be Indiana Jones?) This exhibit was a must-see trip for us.  Museum admission ($8 for adults and $3 for kids) includes some special exhibits, but others require special add-on admission, which usually runs about $13.

While everything was a recreation because the originals are no longer loaned out by Egypt due to damage that occurred, not a single piece was blase'.  The amount of gold in the exhibit was awe-inspiring.  My photos don't even do it justice.

My husband and I couldn't get over the number of artifacts found within King Tut's tomb.

One of the most interesting parts of the exhibit was that you got to walk through the tomb to get to the interior of the exhibit.  We had the chance to experience what Howard Carter saw when he first unearthed it; there were numerous rooms before arriving at the sarcophagus of King Tut.

Most of us have seen photographs of King Tut's sarcophagus, but seeing an exact replica was breath-taking.  It is a truly magnificent piece of art to memorialize the most famous pharaoh of Egypt.

The Grand Rapids Public Museum also makes sure that there are plenty of opportunities for photographs and for kids to experience the museum hands-on.

Do not forget to take a spin on the historic 1928 carousel before you leave the museum.

While you are in Grand Rapids, be sure to go across the street to the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum (The only presidential museum not connected to the presidential library) and see all the great memorabilia from our Michigan president.

I was in no way compensated for this post; the opinions here are 100% mine!

The stretch from Thanksgiving to Chrismas is bittersweet for me.  I love the holidays, but I am always in a mad dash to exams and vacation.  I don't know about you, but I need all the help I can get to save my sanity in the next couple weeks;  This is why twenty-four teacher bloggers have gotten together to give you tips to save your sanity, some freebies, and a great giveaway.

The second part of my sanity-saving plan is to then print my lesson plans, pull EVERYTHING (every warm up, notes sheet, question, etc) I need to copy, schedule all the online assignments in Google Classroom, and head to the copy machine.  This took about two planning periods to complete.  

The first day I pulled everything and put a dot next to it on the printed lesson plan, so I knew I had it.  This part didn't take too long since I did a lot of this while I was writing the lesson plans.

Then I sat down to schedule all my Google Classroom posts for the last fifteen days.  It is nice to be able to post to all three of my English 11 classes at once.   This probably took the longest of all the items in the second part of my plan, but it is so nice to have it all automated.

Lastly, I grabbed my lesson plan, the stack of items to copy, and some binder clips to head down to the copy room.  I was totally that teacher running both machines at once, but I don't feel bad about in since not a single other teacher came in (they must not be on this sanity-saving plan).

This four-hour strategy will save your sanity.

This sanity-saving plan has made my week so much easier.  I wasn't fighting the copy machine, running around trying to find the right handout, or worried when my youngest caused me to run late because she couldn't find the right shoes.  

Now I can spend my evenings and weekends getting ready for and enjoying the holidays because I KNOW I am ready for students.

The Freebie

Even with all the planning in my sanity-saving plan, there might be a time when you are gone (those nasty winter colds) or when your best-laid plans go awry.  I have a perfect solution for these moments:

One Bad Tweet

This is series of questions for the informational article “One Bad Tweet can be Costly to a Student Athlete” by Gannett from December 30, 2014.   It contains 11 questions connected to the Common Core Standards for informational reading at the secondary level.

Be sure to grab One Bad Tweet today before the freebie goes away.

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Now for the giveaway!

Today's prize is $5 to Starbucks, Post-Its, and a Desktop Weekly Planner

Be sure to check out all of the stores on sale on December 12th.

I did some serious reading on my fall vacation to Maui and over Thanksgiving Vacation: The Secret Healer by Ellin Carsta, Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult, Up to this Pointe by Jennifer Longo, Who We Were Before by Leah Mercer, and Me Before You by Jojo Moyes were all devoured in the past month.

This post contains affiliate links, and I will be compensated by the company at no cost to you if you purchase through my links.

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The Secret Healer by Ellin Carsta

The Secret Healer is one of my favorite reads of this fall.  This period piece novel was unpredictable, which is often hard to do with me reading.  The Secret Healer is an English translation.  This story of a lay midwife being accused of working with the devil and committing murder kept me up late several nights reading.