Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Fave Blogs

I am in the process of listing my favourite blogs. I'm starting with some excellent vintage blogs. I've been a big fan of Black Olives On My Fingertips, Thriftaholic, and Yard Sale Bloodbath since discovering them last summer. I take comfort in the knowledge that people all over the world are preoccupied with finding the perfect tea towel from the '60s, or Pyrex butter dish. I love reading tales of wandering into strange estate sales, and discovering mysterious boxes of clutter in people's driveways. 
I'll soon be listing some of my favourite arts and crafts blogs. I haven't tapped into a community of thrifting teachers yet. Are you out there?

Friday, February 13, 2009

Artsjunktion, Junktion, What's Your Function?


Today seemed like a fitting day to begin a thrifting teacher blog. Today was a day for professional activities, so I decided to finally go to Artsjunktion. It is open to teachers in the Toronto District School Board and it is run by an art-loving woman in the bottom of a west-end school. The space was like a cross between Goodwill and an art gallery. I didn't think I'd be able to pull myself out of there. There were mountains of fabric, buckets of corks, old electronics (we could have used these last month when we built robots), shelves filled with National Geographics and books, toys, and box after box of random things from manufacturers, restaurants, printing presses, etc. I picked up a goodly selection of vintage '70s/'80s film transparencies which looked like they were used for advertising, a few metres of fabric, foam board, and some other things pictured in the sidebar. It was all free! I'm not sure what will become of everything I took, but I am starting up two craft clubs at our school, not to mention art lessons in our class. I will post pictures as and when the beautiful things emerge. 
Erin

Welcome

Hello and welcome to my brand new blog. I am a grade 4/5 teacher from Toronto. I recently began a classroom blog and was having so much fun with it that I decided to start a second blog that features less of the day-to-day running of our class and more of things that inspire me. I am an ardent thrifter,  seeker of vintage pieces, and collector of things to make art and crafts with. I live for yard sale season. I hope that The Foolscap Flyer will be a place to share ideas and to prove that you can be a funky, creative teacher without spending a fortune. I hope you find this as enjoyable to read as I'm sure it will be to write.
Erin