Hey there, y’all!
Welcome to Teachers and Teaspoons, a site dedicated to diving deep into my favorite passions: Teaching, Baking, and Creating! If you’re one (or all like me) of those three, we are going to have A LOT to chat about here. When we talk about ALL THE THINGS and everything in between those three topics, my ultimate goal is this:
I want you to gain something from it.
It’s that plain and simple. Whether it’s a lesson plan idea, cookie recipe, baby shower themed DIY decor, or just some dang affirmations and reassurances you need to hear, I’ll be here. Whatever it is, I hope you gain it. So, let’s teach, bake, create, laugh, learn, cry, dance (might be challenging, but we’re creative, remember), encourage, and inspire here together. I”m pretty pumped. BUT FIRST, here’s a little background on who I am.
I tried not to be a teacher. Really, I did.
My college degree isn’t even teacher related. But there’s just something so darn rewarding and addicting about building relationships and watching kids succeed. I’ll chat more about my teaching experience in later posts, but before I became a stay at home mommy and cottage bakery owner, I was a teacher. I’ve taught 3rd, 4th, 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grades. If I include my time spent as a long-term substitute, I’ve been an Algebra, English I, English III, AVID, Business, Marketing, Entrepreneurship, PE, and EC-4th General Education teacher.
PHEW!
I wore 1,247 hats while teaching, too, in the form of club sponsorship, teacher mentoring, learning improvement committees, presenting at district-wide professional development sessions and more. TOUGH. STRESSFUL. EXHAUSTING.
But, darn it, so DIFFERENCE MAKING. Since both of my boys are in school now, I have returned to subbing again a few days a week and maintain baking and mommy duties on the other days. So, I’m still very immersed in all things education! Again, I have SO much to share here in so many different categories, and I can’t wait to dive right into it.
If you give them a cookie…
In 2018, my youngest son turned one, and my oldest son was three. Being Mommy will always be my favorite, but after being pulled in SO many different directions all day at home with the two of them for a few years, I desperately needed an outlet. I wanted something I could create and call my own. So, I began watching A TON of cookie decorating videos on YouTube.
I was mesmerized.
I have always been a hobby baker, but I never thought of jumping into the wonderful, exciting, insanely time-consuming but oh so satisfying world of cookie decorating. I was all in, studied all the necessary laws for my area, and began brainstorming of ways to set up my little cottage bakery business out of my home.
From my kitchen table, (from every inch of my kitchen, really), HOMEgirl Cookies was born.
It has grown and blossomed into something I never imagined it would be, and I’m so incredibly thankful and blessed to say that. I get to bake, decorate and design cookie sets, develop new recipes for drop cookies, and perfect classic flavors in my kitchen like chocolate chip and snickerdoodle. I’ve hosted several porch pop-up shops, taught cookie classes, shared goodies with schools and businesses, and I have my very own built in taste testers who get their FAIR SHARE of sugar. To say there is a wealth of knowledge to share in this category is an understatement, and I’m ready to TALK (and stuff my face with cookies).
And the CREATING part?!
It’s one of my favorites. From themed event decorations to setting up my in-home cookie room or prior classrooms, I have done MILLIONS upon MILLIONS of projects.
I love to find budget friendly ways to make something better, improved, more useful, or just down right PRETTY.
Decorating (especially for special events and parties) and creating is kind of my jam, and I have lots of ideas, demonstrations, and other things to share that can add a little jazz to your parties and spaces.
Again, I am SO glad you’re here. If you ever have any questions about anything, don’t hesitate to contact me!