Happy Halloween!

I have wanted to dress up as Ms. Frizzle for Halloween every year I have been in a school and I felt this year with the addition of Liz to my stuffed book character collection. 

Ms. Frizzle is a fashion hero of mine. I really wish more teachers matched their clothes to the lessons they were teaching. Ms. Frizzle's outfit of choice is usually a shirt dress with a full skirt bottom. I wanted to go with the "outer space" outfit Ms. Frizzle so I needed a dark blue or purple. I looked at thrift stores for months trying to find the perfect dress but could not find one that works. Finally I found one an ugly pink color which I dyed purple. This left random dark patches and an all out bad dye job. However, this was fine for my "space" look so if you want to dye your dress too you don't have to worry. If you can't find a dress that works you can always just work with a dark colored button down and long circle skirt.

Although just adding random stars and planets looks just as good I wanted to try and recreate a solar system on my dress. I used a paint pen to draw half circles starting at the bottom and moving outward.

I used dots of white and glow in the dark puffy paint to add stars, an asteroid belt and swirled the paint to make galaxies. This took quite a while and the big globs took a while to dry.

While I waited for the paint to dry I cut out planets from felt. I hot glued pieces on top if needed such as Saturn's rings and the land on earth. I did not make Pluto (every 90s kid who loved this costume just gasped) but I did made earrings to represent Pluto and Ceres.  

I finished by badly hand sewing the planets to their designated paint line. I didn't mind the uneven stitches too much. I thought it made it look kitschy and handmade. I wore a polo underneath the dress to make the color and added accessories like galaxy tights, my planet earrings, heals that I tied felt stars to and my Liz of course. I used my own curled and teased red hair at school (like the above photo) but finding a big curly red wig works just as well, if not better.

Some of the other great costumes this year

Frida Kahlo

Alpha Wolf

Under a Rest

Maroon 5

Full of Spirit

October is one of my favorite months in middle school because we have two weeks of themed outfits. This years spirit week was a little uninspired but I still had fun.

TWIN TUESDAY
(I went as a seventh grade boy I work with. Ran into some trouble with the Mohawk)

WACKY WEDNESDAY

(This one wasn't far off from what I normally wear)

AMERICAN THURSDAY

(Little Rosie the Riveter so I could throw in some history when students asked about it)

PURPLE AND GOLD DAY

(and of course we have to show the school colors some love. Plus I had an excuse to wear my square dancing skirt)

Night Owl Problems

I have never been an early bird. I tried to keep my college classes toward the afternoon and for several years I worked overnight shifts, rarely in bed before 5am. Because of my late night nature, I can be quite the beast when my alarm goes off.

Over 43 schools in the United States have moved their starting times back due to research that shows the majority of teens are sleep deprived. However, the secondary school I work for at this time is not one of them and therefore I must also live by the lovely Benjamin Franklin's “Early to bed and early to rise...” mentality.

This is my list of how to beat my morning blues and try to turn this night owl into an early bird.

Night Before

Pack your lunch

Night before packing gives you more time to put together a healthy and well balanced lunch and not just throwing stuff together.

Set out the outfit you will wear tomorrow

Along with shoes, jewelry and even clean undergarments. Your bag should also be packed with what you will need for the day. This just helps me not spend all morning starring into my closet, blurry eyed.

Warm bath or shower

Maybe you are someone who uses a shower to wake their body up, but I know I could sleep in the shower if I had the chance. Use it to relax your body and wash away a busy day.

This is also a good opportunity to start getting your hair styled. I pin-curl or braid my hair and let it dry while I sleep or blow dry and straighten my bangs before bed.

Go to bed early

I would like to be asleep by 11 so I try to be in bed at 10:30. Giving your body time to settle in. My big issue is keeping electronics off and away from my bed.

I also sometimes use melatonin, sleepy time tea, relaxing ocean sounds or even sleep hypnosis videos if I am still having trouble sleeping.

Morning

Keep your alarm away

It is so easy for me to hit the snooze button on my alarm. Just one little push and it is back to my dreams. Moving the alarm far enough from my bed that I actually have to get up to turn it off takes away that easiness and gets me moving. Make sure it is loud enough though.

Put on music that moves you

I play the same Pandora stations in the morning that I use to workout. Hard to be cranky with Shaggy's “Mr. Boombastic” playing in the background.

Make your bed

I hate making my bed but when I started forcing myself to do it I was a lot less likely to get back in it. A made bed also makes your whole room and your life in general look a lot more put together.

Hair/Makeup

This is probably something most females do daily anyway but it is new to me. I try to keep the same basic easy makeup each day. It just makes you look more awake. Hair on the other hand is different. I know most teachers keep a basic, easy hair style but I try to work as many creative, pin worthy styles as I can into my hair. It takes more time than my simple brush and spray process but I think it

Morning Yoga

Stretching is a great way to fully wake up your body and relieve stress. Also, yoga makes you feel trendy and cool.

Bunnyyoga.com

Breakfast

A healthy, energy packed breakfast is very important for a long day of work. Try to find something easy and that you like the taste of. You don't want to be choking down steal cut oatmeal just for the benefits. It also helps to sit down at the table to eat so you don't feel rushed. If you are rushed however, make sure to have something to take with you that you can easily eat in the car or when you have a break and try to give yourself more time the next day.

I purposely left out coffee because I am not a fan of the taste and caffeine is not my friend. I do understand that coffee is the fuel that keeps most teachers going so continue to enjoy. I will stick with my tea.