Last Monday Made It 2014

Well, its back to school time here so this will be my last Monday Made It for the year.  For more great ideas, visit Tara at 4th Grade Frolics.  On with the creations.......

I wanted a new, stylish clipboard for all of my important teacher stuff (and mainly to be able to clip things to a place that I won't loose them the first week!)  So, off to Walmart I went and picked up this clipboard for just under $4.

Well, you know I can't leave well enough alone, so, I added my touch!  I pulled out some trusty vinyl from my stash, got my cameo all set up, and went to work.  I got the inspiration from this fabulous teacher blogger HERE.  She was even so kind to tell me what font she used (because it was perfect) so that I could copy her.

I did place the vinyl on the back of the clipboard so that when I write on the clipboard I don't have lumps and bumps.  I forgot and cut my name out in pink regularly, but I went back and flipped the text horizontally so that the sticky part would be on the front and I could place it on the back. (not pictured correctly)  

I also use drywall tape to transfer my vinyl.  Its not as sticky as the transfer tape and I can see through it better.  I don't do a ton of vinyl work, but this roll has lasted several years so far.

And here is the finished product.  I did also add some black vinyl circles.  I used Cricut brand (black and white) and Silhouette brand (pink).  Both cut great on the machine, but the Cricut vinyl is thicker and more opaque than the Silhouette brand.

Since the machine was out, I decided to add my name to this caddy to use at my group table.  

Thanks for looking.  If you have any questions, please let me know!  Thanks!

Monday Made It #4

 Wow, I have been busy getting ready for my new classroom this week!  I have another Monday Made It for you.  I'm linking up with Tara at 4th Grade Frolics.  This is my last "official" week of summer, but I will be heading into my new classroom to start getting it ready!  I tried to finish up the last little bit of projects I had before this week.  I still have a couple more to go, but that's ok!  Here's what I finished up last week.

I went to one of those painting events with a friend about a year and a half ago.  I painted the owl on this canvas then.  When I was finishing it up, I thought it was too plain and I'd add something to it when I got home.  Well, I got busy and never added anything to it.

Several years ago I saw this quote on Jennifer McGuire's blog.  I loved it and thought it was appropriate for a classroom.  I decided to paint it onto the canvas.  Out came the cameo (I'm loving this more and more!).  I used the cameo to make a template out of contact paper.  I used the font Things We Said for the white letters and I used a bold font for the rest.  I painted the white letters with a paint pen and they came out very neat.  I painted the bold letters with acrylic paint.  They seeped a little under the edges so I used a black sharpie marker to line the edges and give it a finished look!  I LOVE how it turned out!  I can't wait to hang it in my new classroom!

This was inspired by all the Monday Made It's I've seen this summer.  Here is my version of the 'No Name' board.

I think it goes well with my owl theme! All the supplies are from Walmart.  I loved that the wood piece was black chalkboard so I didn't even have to paint it black!  I used vinyl for the words, attached the painted owl and clothespins, and called it done!!

This last project is something that I wished I'd had done years ago.  I've never had a classroom set of clipboards and I thought that now was as good a time as any.

 I picked up the clipboards at Walmart.  They are $1.44 each there.  That was about $.44 more than I wanted to pay, but after finding cheaper ones online and paying shipping, it would have come out to be about the same price per board.  I also used this paper pad from Walmart and some Mod Podge.

I Mod Podged one paper to the back of each clipboard.  I did two of each pattern.  I figured that I could use this to group students also.  I'd have them all select a board and then tell them to find their partner by finding the person whose pattern paper matches theirs.  

I chose the flat clip clipboards so that they would nestle nicely into this container.  I bought this container two summers ago to use for my sister's baby shower.  I'm glad I have an official use for it now.  I used some black vinyl to label it up and called it finished also!



Thanks for looking.  I'm off to enjoy the last little bit of summer with my little guy!!!

Monday Made It #3

I am so glad that I've joined up with Tara at 4th Grade Frolics to get so classroom projects completed this summer!  I am back with my third week.  I actually completed more projects that I'm showing you this week, but this is all I've had time to photograph.  I guess I save the rest of my goodies for next week's fun!!

I have had this chair floating around the house for years and I decided it was time for a makeover.  I spent less than $5 on this project.  I only had to purchase the fabric because everything else I had on hand.

Here is the Before---->

I found the really cute owl fabric at Hobby Lobby.  I did injure myself in the making of this project! :(  I know the owls on the bottom are facing the wrong way, but after all those staples, I was NOT about to pull them all out again!!!  Maybe next year!! LOL  It will still look great behind my group table!

Here is the After------> 

On to the next project.......

My mom found this owl chalkboard on one of our summer Michael adventures.  It was too plain so I decided to dress it up a bit!

Here is the Before----------->

I added some vinyl that I had on hand, took a couple of paint pens to the eyes, and added some ribbon!!  What do you think?

Here is the After------> 

Thanks for looking!! Let me know if you have any questions!!

Monday Made It #2

Hey!!  I'm back with another Monday Made It post!  I'm linking up with Tara over at 4th Grade Frolics with a project for school.

For the last five years, I have used these bins from Lakeshore for my daily papers.  I would take time on Friday afternoon and get everything ready for the week and put them in the corresponding bin for each weekday.  That way, if I was out for whatever reason, everything was ready for the sub.  Well, fast forward to this upcoming school year.  I'm moving to another school and since the bins were part of the school's property, I couldn't take them with me. :(  I was going to just purchase them for my new classroom because they worked so well for me in the past, UNTIL I saw the price!!! Seriously!!!! $60 for bins-I think not!!!

That led me on a search for another solution.  I've seen examples of these drawers floating all over the internet and I decided that I would give them a try in place of the ones for $60.  I have an owl theme in my classroom so I went to TPT in search of an owl themed set.  I found this one and I fell in love!  I liked that she gave you a file that you could edit and make work for you however you needed it to!

I found these sterilite drawers at Walmart for just under $10 a piece.  I picked up three sets and I now have a drawer for each day as well as a set of file, copy, and grade for my desk.  The best part-they were HALF the price of the ones from Lakeshore.

I do, however, have a little tip for you.  I printed mine out on white card stock and laminated them with my Scotch thermal laminator that I purchased at Walmart a couple of years ago.  I do NOT recommend doing that.  My thinking was that I wanted them on the outside and I wanted them sturdy.  I did not think about the drawers being curved.  If I ever have to redo them, I will print them on regular paper and then laminate them.  I ended up having to hot glue them to the front of the drawer with quite a bit of hot glue.  I tried double sided tape and they ALL popped off overnight.

Thanks for looking!  If you have any questions, please let me know!

My First Monday Made It

So if you aren't familiar with Monday Made It, you should visit Tara at 4th Grade Frolics. I've browsed other's Monday Made It projects for a couple of years, but this is my first tine to actually participate.

So a couple years ago burlap door hangings were the "rage."(They are still popular) I pinned a couple of similar projects then but never made anything. Well since I'm moving to another school/grade I thought now was as good a time as ever.

I started by finding an owl image on my Gypsy and cut out the layers of the owl with my Cricut. I found this owl on Noah's ABC's cartridge.  I then used the layers to create my template and I traced the layers with a sharpie onto the burlap.  I cut out two body layers-one for the front and one for the back.

Then came the paint!  I started by painting the entire front piece with brown paint that matched the color of the burlap.  I let this layer dry overnight, but the acrylic paint dries fairly quickly.  I found that it was easier to add other paint layers on top of a painted surface.  The burlap absorbs a ton of paint on the initial layer. It was easier to paint the base brown so that when I added the lighter colors on top, it didn't take as much paint.

I also used various cricut and svg files to create the chevron backdrop and the name.  I cut these out of plain paper and sprayed adhesive on them.  I let them "dry" so that they were tacky and had a temporary bond when using them as stencils.

When all the paint layers were dry, I used a fine paintbrush and black paint to draw the outline lines.  I also used a white paint pen to add the "highlight details."  I added the wire, bow, and a bunch of spray glitter!

If you have any questions, please let me know.  I'm entered into the #cricut #imadeit contest with this also! Thanks for looking!!!

Summer Re-Cap

Oh WOW!!!  It's been forever!!  I won't bore you with all the details about what has been going on.  A LOT has happened since this summer and I hope to be sharing some projects with you really soon!  I have been crafting, just not as much as I would like.  Here is a recap of my summer.....

In late May I got this in the mail!

I got a great deal here and I couldn't resist.  I purchased the designer edition when it was half off this summer and I'm still learning all the quirks but so far I'm in love.  I still have my cricuts and gypsy and I don't plan on getting rid of them.  I will still use both machines.  I made this purchase mostly because I want to use all my true type fonts from my computer instead of having to purchase new cartridges and still not have the exact font that I want.



June was the annual CKC Houston with my besties.  Here is a pic of my goodies.

We had a great weekend (as usual!) and made lots of memories!!!

July was pretty quiet.  I took lots of naps and organized my scrapbooks.  I've been so busy of the last couple of years with showers and other projects that my scrapbooking was neglected.  I purchased the above page protectors a couple of years ago (not sure if they are still available but I know several companies are now making similar ones).  I decided that the pages didn't have to be perfectly pretty and done just so.  I wanted to get the pictures out of the boxes and into albums so that I could share the memories.  I placed the photos in the pockets by event and added a little journaling spot to note the date/location of the pictures.  If I ever have time to go back I can make pretty pages with them.  For now, I'm calling them done and officially saying that "I'm caught up!"  I no longer feel overwhelmed and uninspired because I am "so far behind."

August was back to school time.  I didn't make too much for my classroom other than a few teacher math manipulatives to use in the classroom.  Poster sized ten frames to use with my students since my white board is not magnetic and a set of numbers and math symbols that have magnetic tape on the back that I use with a small hanging magnetic board over my math board.  The "counters" have a red side and a yellow side and each side has a Velcro dot in the middle.  (I store the numbers in the blue and red pockets below the ten frames and the counters in the alphabet pocket under the frames as well)  Everything on my math board is attached to the flannel fabric behind it with Velcro.

Stay tuned for more news later.  I'm trying to get back on track of posting projects.

Thanks for looking and happy scrapping!!!

Classroom Crayon Wreath

So I picked up this crayon wreath flyer at Hobby Lobby about a year ago. http://www.hobbylobby.com/assets/pdf/project_inspiration/projects/HL-209.pdf I bought the supplies then, but I'm just now getting to making it. It will be a cute addition to my classroom. For starters, I had to get rid of the ribbon slip knot thing! I figured out how to make the ribbon slip knot, but could not figure out how to apply it to the hoop. The directions do not give any indication on how to either, so I just glued my crayons down with hot glue.

Supplies:

• 1 -8" embroidery hoop
• 1 -12" embroidery hoop
• 3 boxes of 24 ct. crayons
• 1 roll of 3/8" craft ribbon
• 1 wide ribbon piece for the hanger I used SU! 1 1/4" stripped grosgrain ribbon in Old Olive (item # 115618)
• various die cuts (I used all SU! paper and the Cricut Locker Talk & Doodlecharm cartridge)
• acrylic paint (to paint the hoops) and a sponge brush
• hot glue gun (I used high temp) and glue sticks
• Wooden apple cut out
• paint pens (for name)

Steps:

1. unscrew the screw from both hoops and hot glue the ends together
2. paint the hoops desired color
3. lay all crayons on the hoop in the desired color order. This helps with placement when you begin to glue them all down.
4. glue down each crayon. If you are a perfectionist like me, make sure that all crayons are facing the same way.
5. Thread craft ribbon in and out at the top of crayons and again at the bottom. I tied my knot behind the crayon to keep the ribbon tight.
6. Attach die cuts with hot glue. I laminated mine first to help them last longer.
7. Tie large bow at the top making sure you leave a long enough loop to hang the wreath. You can add hot glue for reinforcement on the hoop.

If you have any questions, please let me know! Thanks for looking!