My Beautiful [Highlighted Summer]

In case you aren't on Instagram, or don't follow me, here's a peek at my Insta-Life lately.
[*All photos are taken from my Instagram account.]

Enjoying my morning devotional on the deck with coffee and Mr. Darcy. Mr. Darcy was quickly over IT.

 

On our way to Hocking Hills! Mr. Darcy loves going on vacation with us.

Back in June we got our first egg from a chicken. With five chickens, we get a steady five eggs a day. Fresh eggs are wonderful.

My co-workers decorated my office in celebration of my birthday. I love them. They know me so well.

My bestie took me on the wine train for my birthday. It was completely crazy. I love her. She knows me so well.

Drive-in date nights are a summer MUST.

Camping with Nana and Papa.

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

Bulletin Boards are Never-Ending

Coming to Sweet B's Impressions this year is a new feature exploring all of the fun [and creative] things I do at my job as a Youth Services Librarian. I know every few months I blog about what I did at work that day, and sometimes I'll even post about what I'm working on. However, I want to share a little more for my crafty readers who want to know what I'm doing, why, and how I go about it. It's something I love about this profession: why reinvent the wheel? We all share what we do; take the idea and make it your own. Who knows, maybe you'll find inspiration for your library, next party, or a craft to do with your kids.

Today, I'm sharing my crafty-ier side. Bulletin board style.

I'm running behind with all of this year's summer reading programming ideas underway, so I do not have a bulletin board decorated for the upcoming Winter Olympics. The above picture is of the first bulletin I did when I first entered my job a year and a half ago.

Our creativity is never-ending over here at the Howland Branch of the Warren-Trumbull County Public Library because someone decided it would be awesome to line the entire length of our department with a huge bulletin board. By the time we finish the last one, it's usually a new season (or one has been up too long) and we start re-doing them all over again. After my first Summer Reading Program adventure, I decided a fall theme would be a great bulletin board display. So I found a huge piece of cardboard and cut out a tree. The kiddos were a little skeptical of my "tree" until I stapled on some leaves.

Fall 2012

My co-worker really liked my tree idea, and since I put a decent amount of work into it, we decided to keep it up for another season.

Winter 2012-2013

Or two....

Spring 2013

Then Summer Reading rolled around, and the "Dig into Reading" theme just sort of fit with what we had going. So we got a little creative, turning our tree into a bush. And let me tell you, those leaves were a pain and there are plenty of them. Holy frijoles, leaves galore! But the layers make it look great.

Summer Reading 2013 "Dig into Reading"

--->Notice how our eggs "hatched."

Fall 2013

Why not turn our bush into a fall bush? Sure, let's cut out more leaves...

Thankfully, we have an Accu-Cut machine, with various leaf dies, which allows us to cut out about 4-8 each time (depending on the thickness of the paper).

Winter 2013-2014

And we must have a snow-covered winter bush! With lights! This one is probably my favorite of all the tree/bush bulletin boards. The kids seem to really enjoy seeing what we do with the board each season. And I'm pretty proud of our resourcefulness. But, alas, this summer's reading program is all about science. I think the tree/bush will have to come down finally. Plus, the background paper is starting to fade, and I'm ready for something new.


A little farther down the huge bulletin-board-lined wall is another bulletin I created inspired by various fairy tales. This board took quite a bit of time, but I had the most fun making this one. I wanted to elaborate a little more, but time got away from me and other boards need changing. This display has been up since last fall, and I'm leaving it up a little while longer because I really enjoy it.

I tried to feature as many fairy tales as I could without it becoming too busy and overwhelming. If you look closely you'll find Rapunzel in the tower with a tiny prince climbing her braided hair, a small Jack climbing the huge beanstalk, Goldilocks with her bears, the Wolf hiding in the woods ready to pounce on Little Red, the three pigs and their three establishments, the Gingerbread Man on the run, the Frog Prince basking in his pond, and the Three Billy Goats Gruff. Oh, and don't forget Cinderella's castle and pumpkin carriage.

I sectioned off some of the boards in order to feature smaller bulletins. These ones we change often, and they're usually focused on upcoming programs, authors, or topics.

Yet, the bulletin board continues....So my co-worker and I decided to dedicate a section to the Caldecott winners (award given to the illustrator of an outstanding children's picture book) since we already had the winners pulled and sitting on top of the shelf anyway.

We also decided to do the same thing with the Newbery winners (award given to the author of an outstanding children's literature), since I recently weeded the juvenile books and we need the space desperately. The "Mother Goose" bulletin has come down, and the Newbery one has gone up. I like it because these bulletins are timely and will be up for a very long time.

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

Sunday Sweets (On a Monday...Night)

1.  HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!

2. I hope everybody had a great weekend filled with cookouts, parades, family and ice cream. Lots of ice cream :)


3. My brother flew in from South Carolina this weekend. I've missed him sooooooo much. I hate not being able to see him whenever I want. It's just awful. But I spent all the time I could with him because I won't see him again until Christmas...and this is a maybe :(


4. My little sister graduated from high school on Sunday, which, sadly, kind of makes me feel old. Anyhoo....CONGRATS!

My brother, Cody, the graduate, Cherokee, and me

5. Okay. So, THE most stressful thing in the world is buying a new house. So many things to consider and think about and anticipate and mull over and decide and there's plenty of time to second guess yourself and.....this list is getting tiresome. And I'm getting stressed.



4. Here's a sneak peek into my new life as a Youth Services Librarian.

These are just some of the new books that are no longer "new" that needed shelved. (I had two! more piles just like that on my desk in the back!)

5. By the way, I'm sad because I realized earlier this week I'm never going to actually finish all of the books I want to read. By the time I finish one book, I've already added 10 more to my "to-read" list. Ai yi yi.

6. I had to work on Saturday which mainly consisted of me buried under a pile of cut-outs and paper as I finished up the Summer Reading Bulletin. To say I was having a blast is a huge understatement.

(I wish I could have made it bigger, but we have such high ceilings I can't really hang stuff.)


7. Weird experience: Mr. B was having some foot pain so we went to see "Dr. Scholl" (haha). I never knew going to the doctor could be so much fun.

8. I'm dreading summer. I hate shorts and the stage where I'm white as a ghost until I get my first tan. Ugghhhhh....

9. And I'm not a tanning-bed-before-summer kind of gal. The idea of skin cancer and ageing faster with wrinkled skin is not high on my list.

10. Over the weekend I was not home because I was visiting family. The other night Mr. B called to inform me that our beautiful planter was knocked over....and broken. There is no way it fell over on its own. We're pretty sure it was those darn neighbor kids. "We can't have anything nice."

11. I've been super stressed with my new job and house hunting that I've been enjoying some must-needed "me and wine" time fairly often this week :)


12. Oh, and I think I'm moving my "Sunday Sweets" back to every other week. I don't seem to have the time to blog about other things....and to be honest, I miss the variety of my posts. Soooo....see ya in two weeks :)

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi