Latest news with #Tricks
The Irish Sun
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
I decluttered my son's bedroom with a £4 B&M shoe rack hack that looks super stylish & way more expensive
A BARGAIN hunter mum has shared a super simple hack to declutter a child's bedroom. So if your little darling is obsessed with toy cars and you're constantly finding them all over the floor and in every single drawer, then you'll need to check this out. 2 A mother has shared how she gave her son's bedroom a glow up without breaking the bank Credit: Facebook 2 Not only did it declutter his bedroom, but it also added style to the space too Credit: Facebook Not only did Kristie Dewar tidy up her son's mess with her handy trick, but it also gave his bedroom an epic transformation too. Eager to show off her interior idea which cost her just £12, Kristie took to social media and explained exactly how you can do the same too. Posting on Alongside her post, Kristie beamed: 'Not perfect by any means (I stuck the wheels on with super glue then realised they should be down a bit - hey ho) but I'm pleased with it. Read more on decluttering 'The total cost was £12 which is a bargain as pre-made it is a lot more.' She then added: 'Ideal for car obsessed children, especially if you are on a budget. 'Can get as 'I wanted [something] simple as my son is only two and all he cares about is cars and bright colours!' Most read in Fabulous For Kristie's gorgeous wall feature, she used a cheap shoe rack, which she bought from B&M for just £4. She also used laser cut MDF which she got for £8 (including delivery) from Manchester Laser Cuts. I didn't want to fork out hundreds for a new front door but a 99p Shein buy & a lick of paint worked wonders As well as this, to save on costs Kristie used To create her truck design, the Eight Easy DIY Tips & Tricks The ultimate guide for homeowners and renters: DIY expert's Save time and money with this easy DIY tiling hack to transform a room in under an hour Avoid these five mistakes in your next DIY project Transform your kitchen with this Noisy neighbours? Here's DIY expert shared her favourite strategy for painting around glass without tape If you want to give your kitchen a fresh look, here's Five tricks to 'Then paint the MDF and used command strips to stick it up.' Alongside her shoe rack feature, Kristie painted on the front and back of a lorry, including detailed wheels. DIY fans beam We think Kristie's DIY overhaul is incredibly impressive and it's clear that many others do too, as her Facebook post has quickly amassed 229 likes in just seven hours. Well done, that looks amazing Facebook user Many eagerly raced to the comments to share their thoughts on the One person said: 'Love this, thank you for the idea!!' Most popular DIY jobs homeowners love to do Paint walls New carpet Paint fence Paint ceilings Wallpapering Paint skirting boards New light fitting Re-grout/replace bathroom tiles Hang curtains/blinds Paint/oil interior doors Paint a shed Paint stairs New plug sockets New hard flooring New front door Update kitchen sink Replace kitchen worktops Hang shelves Change/update doorknobs Paint/upcycle garden furniture Another added: 'Well done, that looks amazing.' A third commented: 'That's brilliant.' Meanwhile, someone else tagged a loved one and penned: 'This is cute.' Unlock even more award-winning articles as The Sun launches brand new membership programme - Sun Club
Axios
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Axios
Utah bans more books from schools — including bestseller "Water for Elephants"
Utah has banned two more women-authored books from public schools statewide. The latest: The state Board of Education this week added Sara Gruen's bestselling 2006 novel "Water for Elephants" to a list of 18 titles forbidden in public schools. In March, the board banned "Tricks" by Ellen Hopkins — the author's third book to appear on the state's list of "objective sensitive materials." By the numbers: Utah has banned 18 titles from schools since state lawmakers in 2024 ordered schools to remove any book or other content if at least three districts deem it to be inappropriate. 16 of those books were written by women. How it works: Per guidance drafted by the state board of education, districts forward complaints of "sensitive materials" to a committee where parents outnumber educators, to determine whether the content should be restricted. To decide what counts as "sensitive material," districts use criminal statutes that define "pornographic," "indecent" or "harmful" material for children. Those laws allow for content with "serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors," taking into account the children's ages. But the book-banning law requires districts to "prioritize protecting children from the harmful effects of illicit pornography over other considerations" as they decide which books to forbid. Zoom in: "Water for Elephants" was targeted by Davis, Tooele and Cache school districts. "Tricks" was flagged by Davis, Tooele and Washington districts. The intrigue: Davis School District — which briefly banned the Bible in 2023 — has been one of the contributing districts for all 18 banned books. "Water for Elephants" chronicles the memories of a fictional veterinarian who works for a traveling circus during the Great Depression. It was a No. 1 New York Times bestseller. A 2011 film adaptation starred Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson, and a Tony-nominated stage musical opened on Broadway last year. Zoom out: It's not the only Utah-banned book to get Hollywood treatment. Judy Blume's "Forever" inspired an 8-episode Netflix series that launched this week. The 1975 novel, which describes a teen couple's "first time," was considered controversial by late 20th-century standards. Catch up quick: The state has banned four books from schools so far this year. "Like a Love Story" by Abdi Nazemian was listed among "The 100 Best YA Novels of All Time" by Time Magazine in 2021, along with "Forever." "Damsel" is the second book by Elana K. Arnold to be banned in schools. Both books were added to the "sensitive materials" list in January. Here are the other books on the list:
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
State board delays vote on removing more books from South Carolina public schools
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCBD) – A decision that could have made South Carolina the nation's leader in state-mandated school book bans has been put on hold. The State Board of Education voted Tuesday to postpone consideration of whether to remove 10 books from public school libraries and classrooms after several board members raised concerns about the review process. The following books were recommended for removal by the Instructional Materials Review Committee during their March 13 meeting: Tricks by Ellen Hopkins Lucky by Alice Sebold Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas Identical by Ellen Hopkins Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas Hopeless by Colleen Hoover Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimananda Ngozi Adichie Collateral by Ellen Hopkins At issue is a regulation adopted last year that governs what is considered 'age and developmentally appropriate' material for K-12 schools, prohibiting books that contain descriptions or visual depictions of 'sexual conduct.' To determine what is 'sexual conduct,' the regulation uses the definition as outlined in a portion of the state's obscenity law. Some educators argued that the definition is too broad, creating the possibility for inconsistency in what is and is not allowed. Mary Foster, a Beaufort County parent and teacher, attempted to demonstrate that Tuesday while speaking in defense of 'Half of a Yellow Sun,' a historical fiction novel based on the Nigerian Civil War in the 1960s. 'These excerpts are not from Half of a Yellow Sun but are from a book your board voted to retain: 1984 by George Orwell,' Foster said, after reading several explicit passages. To keep one and not the other would create a 'problematic' interpretation of the regulation, she said. Robert Cathcart, a staff attorney tasked with presenting each book, said that the board has already established precedent as to what is considered a 'description' of sexual conduct. In the case of '1984,' he said, sexual references were 'too brief, too generic, and too nonspecific' to rise to the level required for removal, but that wasn't true for at least one of the books currently under review. 'In this material specifically – 'Collateral' – these passages are long enough, contain enough explanatory detail, enough adjectives and adverbs to put the reader in that place and therefore paint that mental image,' he said. South Carolina's flat tax proposal would initially raise rates for most Further, Dr. David O'Shields, the superintendent of Laurens County School District 56, pointed to a section of the code in the obscenity law that says material should be considered 'as a whole' and suggested unintended legal consequences could arise if the board moved forward with removing the books. He noted Tuesday that only five of the 10 titles were available at one of the district's high schools and that some had only been checked out a handful of times. 'I can't in good conscience after having done my own autopsy of what we have, I cannot and will if necessary be the only dissenting vote because I think we're misreading the law,' he said. Then, there was another issue: the process by which books can be challenged. The regulation established a system by which parents can challenge materials in their child's school that they believe fail to meet the standard. Parents must make a 'good faith effort' to address their concerns at the district level first but can appeal local decisions to the State Board of Education. In this case, the challenge to the 10 titles originated from one parent in Beaufort County. That same parent has sought to have more than 90 titles pulled from public school shelves statewide. Critics argued that ceding that power to one person is a problem, especially when the outcome would impact hundreds of thousands of students. 'This is an example of one individual determining what rights every parent in South Carolina has,' said Josh Malkin, advocacy director for the ACLU of South Carolina. 'Regardless of how you might feel about these books, regardless of your political leaning, the fact that it's so easy for one individual to take away your rights should be alarming and a call to action for everyone.' Several board members seemed to agree. 'When does this thing stop?' asked Ken Richardson. 'I'm gonna be honest with you, I love Columbia…but I do not like to come up here every single meeting and have to vote on books that nobody in my area is even talking about.' 27 books have been challenged in South Carolina since the regulation was implemented last June, with 12 being removed or restricted from schools. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Committee votes to remove 10 more books from South Carolina public schools
SOUTH CAROLINA (WSAV) — A committee with the South Carolina Department of Education has voted to remove 10 more books from all public school libraries in the state. This includes 2 books by Sarah J. Maas from the popular throne of glass series and several books by Ellen Hopkins, including 'Tricks'. The removal is based on a rule against books containing a description of sexual conduct. The state Board of Education will take a final vote at its April 1 meeting. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
SC committee recommends 10 more books be removed from K-12 public schools
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCBD) – A state committee has recommended that multiple books be removed from public school libraries and classrooms across South Carolina. The Instructional Review Materials Board voted Thursday to recommend that 10 books be pulled from K-12 shelves under a rule adopted last year that bars books containing descriptions or visual depictions of 'sexual conduct.' The regulation also established a system in which parents can challenge materials in their child's school that they believe fail to meet the 'age and developmentally appropriate' standard. Parents must make a 'good faith effort' to address their concerns at the district level first but can appeal local decisions to the State Board of Education. 11 books have been pulled from public schools by the board since the regulation went into effect. Trump wants to dismantle the Department of Education. What could that mean for South Carolina? Among the books under review Thursday was 'Last Night at the Telegraph Club' by Malinda Lo, which follows a young Chinese American girl as she explores her sexuality in 1950s San Francisco. In a March 11 letter, Lo told the committee the book is rooted in her own experience and urged them to 'trust the judgement' of local teachers and librarians. 'I'm a Chinese American lesbian myself, and when I was a teen growing up in the 1980s and 90s, I often felt alone and confused,' she wrote. 'I didn't have access to books like this that would have helped me better understand who I was. That's why I write books about LGBTQ+ and Asian American characters. I'm writing the books I needed as a teen.' 'While not every book is for every reader, every reader deserves the freedom to choose what they wish to read, not to have those rights taken away from them by the state,' the letter continued. Ultimately, committee members voted unanimously to recommend the following books for removal: Tricks by Ellen Hopkins Lucky by Alice Sebold Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas Identical by Ellen Hopkins Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas Hopeless by Colleen Hoover Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimananda Ngozi Adichie Collateral by Ellen Hopkins The recommendations will come before the SC Board of Education for a final vote on April 1. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
