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Dallas Adult Book Fair Guide: Spring 2026

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#adult book fair #book club activities #book fair guide #book festival #dallas events #dallas galentines #dallas spring events #dfw activities #grown up book fair #literary event

Dallas Adult Book Fair Guide: Fall-Winter 2025

I have had so much fun being a vendor at Dallas-area grown-up book fairs, and I want to share all the amazing events coming up this season! Full disclosure: I am a vendor at a few of these (I’ll mark them with an * if you want to come visit me!), and the rest are events that have popped up in my vendor research. Unfortunately, I can’t be at EVERY event, but maybe one of these will line up with…

#adult book fair #book club activities #book fair guide #book festival #dallas events #grown up book fair #literary event

How to Make a Picture Book Ornament

If you’re a book-loving parent, there’s a chance that you’ve seen the same Instagram reel that the algorithm feeds me throughout the holiday season for two years now: a mom who paints ornaments featuring the cover of her child’s favorite picture book of the year. If you want to try making it for yourself, but doubt your artistic ability, OR if you’re artsy like me, but you need to sketch forever…

#book ornament #christmas crafts #christmas traditions #family tradition #handpainted ornament #how to paint ornament #how to storybook ornament #ornament #ornament hack #painted ornament #picture book ornament

Behind the Scenes: Creating High Quality Art Prints From Home

Here’s how I turn an inkjet print into a long-lasting, high quality work of art to gift or sell! I am a self-taught artist, so this is all information that I’ve gleaned from poring over Google searches, YouTube videos, and social media posts from other artists and companies. My best advice for any new artist who’s looking for the same information (i.e, how to create long-lasting inkjet art…

#art business #art business tips #art print business #art prints at home #art tips #beginning artist #creative business #how to seal art prints #make prints last longer #protect inkjet prints #self taught artist #spray sealant art prints

Comparing Alternatives to Sticker Mule

Along with many artists in the summer of 2024, I have found myself in a place to shop around for sticker production companies. Full transparency: I hand draw/digitally design each of my stickers myself, but I do outsource production because it’s a better fit for my personal life. I’ve used one sticker company the entire time I’ve been at this side hustle hobby of mine, but now it’s time for a…

#alternatives to sticker mule #art business resources #creative business #etsy tips #honest reviews #side hustle tips #sticker business #sticker business ideas #sticker company controversy #sticker junkie review #sticker ninja review #sticker printing #sticker review #stickergate

Baby Shower Books To Encourage A Love Of Reading

#baby book ideas #baby books for baby shower #baby shower gifts #best baby books #book recommendations #get kids to read #reading to baby #toddler books #types of books for babies #what to give at baby shower

My Reading Journal Format, Including a Free Canva Template!

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#book lover #building a reading habit #free canva template #free reading log #free reading resource #journals for readers #reading journal #reading log

A Must Read for Earth Day + Free Bookmarks!

If you are concerned about the planet, if you garden, if you work in or own a big business, if you like science memoirs, you must read Braiding Sweetgrass. I adored this book. Granted, I am a double major in English and Biology, so science texts with reflections on humanity and our place in the universe are *chef’s kiss* perfection for my soul. This is a collection of essays that weave…

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#ap english language book #bookmark download #bookmark printable #books about nature #braiding sweetgrass #earth day book #eco-friendly book #ecology book #free bookmark #indigenous writer #potawatomi #protect the earth #robin wall kimmerer #science book #science memoir

My Kid's Reading Journal, Or How I'm Channeling My Dad and Bribing My Kid to Read More

I have a love/hate relationship with reading journals for kids. As a kid, I hated them. For the most part. My dad made it extra homework for us because he’s one of those immigrant parents who thought American schools didn’t assign enough work. He made us keep a daily journal: 5 sentences to describe our day, and 5 sentences to summarize at least one thing we read that day. He’d check every now…

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#elementary reading #elementary teacher #first grade reading tool #free download #free reading resource #homeschool reading #kids reading journal #reading journal #reading tracker

Read This Before The Next Eclipse!

This essay changed my mind about eclipses Consider this my assigned reading to you for this weekend! Helen Macdonald wrote the essay “How to Stay Sane During a Solar Eclipse” in anticipation of the 2017 eclipse. I remember distinctly and aggressively NOT caring then. My entire school made an event out of it, making solar glasses and having the entire student body go outside to watch it. I…

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#ap lang science text #book review #eclipse assignment #eclipse essay #eclipse lesson #helen macdonald #science essays for high school #science writing #solar eclipse 2024 #solar eclipse viewing #totality #vesper flights

The Somewhat Counter-intuitive Reading Habit That Helped Me Read More

I am a slow reader. Well, slow compared to the hardcore Bookstagrammers and Booktokers out there. I don’t think I’ll ever reach 50+ books a year, at least not at my current stage of parenthood. But I have consistently surpassed my personal goal of 25 books/year for a few years now, and to me, that’s still a lot. Continue reading The Somewhat Counter-intuitive Reading Habit That Helped Me…

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#book addiction #book blogger #book recommendations #how to read more books #read more books #read more often #reading challenge #reading rut #reading tips #reading tips for adults

My 2024 Reading Journal Project

Reading journals are in my blood. From being forced to keep a journal as a kid, to becoming an English teacher and learning that processing our reading through book clubs and logs helps us remember our reading more, I love keeping track of my reading. I successfully kept a journal for about 6 years, but I fell out of practice in 2020 because… well, 2020. I yearn for the Instagram-worthy…

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#book log bullet journal #free bullet journal #free journal template #free printable reading log #reading bullet journal #reading goals #reading journal #reading journal ideas #reading journal pdf #reading journal spreads #reading passion project #reading tracker #reading tracker for students #reading tracker printable

DIY Pop Culture Advent Calendar: One of My Favorite Holiday Projects EVER!

I have to give all the credit to my friend Kelly for this one. My friends come up with such fun projects for me to do, and this one was AMAZING. If you’re painting your own advent calendar this year, or just looking for ideas for pop culture Christmas paintings, scroll down to see images from my three advent calendars and tips from me! Happy crafting! Way back in 2020–The Year That Shall…

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#advent calendar ideas #christmas diy project #christmas painting #christmas project for family #christmas project for kids #create family heirloom #die hard christmas movie #diy advent calendar #diy christmas project #family advent calendar #family christmas project #favorite christmas movies #holiday tradition #home alone painting #paint wooden advent calendar

Holiday Freebies: Printable Lord of the Rings Handlettered Quotes

What better way to celebrate the fall and winter holidays than with quotes about food and togetherness from JRR Tolkien? I wanted to try my hand at downloadable freebies, so here’s a set of handlettered pieces that I made in 2022! These are 8.5x11in downloadable PDFs. They are for your personal use, and not intended for resale in anyway. I hope you enjoy nerding out your classroom, office, or…

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#fantasy wedding #free classroom art #free library art #free lotr poster #free printable art #handlettered book quote #hobbit themed #hobbit wall art #lord of the rings art #lord of the rings quote #lord of the rings theme #lotr themed party #second breakfast poster #shire party #tolkien quote poster

Transcendentalist Day

The change of seasons from summer to fall always makes me think of one of my absolute favorite lessons for American Studies. Full disclosure: This is a lesson idea I took from our AmStud district lead. But it’s such a good one that I have to share! I love taking an inquiry-based approach to learning. One of my favorite strategies is launching with an experience that students can apply to an…

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#american studies lesson plan #ap english classroom #ap lang lesson idea #easy transcendentalist lesson #fall lesson plan #fun ap lang lesson #henry david thoreau lesson #high school sel ideas #introduction to APUSH period 4 #nature appreciation #outdoor apush lesson #outdoor lesson idea #teach transcendental texts #teaching ralph waldo emerson #thoreau day

Taking Engineering Lessons Home: A SCRUM Task Board for Household Chores

After teaching during COVID, all my task management strategies fell apart. My mental load was overflowing. When my second child was born in 2022, I couldn’t afford to let things continue to get out of hand. It felt like nothing was getting done in the house, the piles of laundry never stopped, and I could never catch up. Mind you, I still feel like that. But this helped. Continue reading…

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#affordable house management #chore chart for adults #family chore board #family chore chart ideas #home management #housework strategy #organize household #scrum board #share family chores #share the mental load #simple housework #task board #tips to clean #unload the mental load

A Multifaceted, Multicultural Identity: Visual Texts About the Experiences of Children of Immigrants

Children of immigrants, particularly first generation and second generation, have a unique struggle with identity. Continue reading Untitled

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#ap lang discussion topic #ap lang project ideas #ap lang teaching tips #ap lang video argument #asian american students #asian american texts #children of immigrants #diversify classroom #first generation immigrant #japanese american texts #lessons on identity #multicultural texts #poem by arab writer #poetry lesson #slam poetry lesson #texts by asian writers

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