Coffee Table Makeover

Today is the first day of school for us.I was able to finish one of my favorite projects last week just in time for school to start.

I had this old square coffee table that I painted for my room last year. By the end of the year, it needed to be refreshed. My husband had the wonderful idea of covering it with a white bord from Home Depot. Here is what it looked like at the end of last school year:

Home Depot cut a sheet of white board into a 45 inch square. I attached it with Power Grab glue and put white duct tape around the edges of the table. Here it is now:

I let the children write their names on the table at Meet the Teacher night.

One of the best parts about this project was that the white board sheet was $14 and I have a large enough piece left that I can recover the table next year if it gets messed up for some reason.

Now, I'm off for a busy first week of school. 

Monday Made It

I filled bags with goldfish crackers and attached this tag. I am going to have these on the students' desks for Meet the Teacher this Tuesday. I found the free printable on firstgradeblueskies.com.

I had a basket in this spot on my classroom counter. But, the more I thought about it, I decided that I want to have the students help sort the papers. There is a space for Homework, Math (for 2 different classes) and Science. I used a scrapbooking shelf unit I had at home and printed labels for each shelf. I think this will help me keep the papers better organized this year.

This was a small bamboo hamper I no longer used at home. I removed the top and painted it turquoise to match my room. I hot glued ribbon around the top and bottom. I am using it in my classroom to hold various items such as yard sticks, a broom and rolls of paper.

I had this stool in my class for last couple of years. I painted it to match that classroom. It didn't match my new room, so I painted it black. I was planning to paint a design on it, but I haven't decided what I want to paint. So, for now, it is black and blends in better with this room.

I made this plaque for the house. I printed out a quote I like on photo paper. I painted a wood shape navy blue. Then, I mod podged the quote on the wood. I attached a hanger on the back.

I go back to work this week, so I'm not sure if I will be able to make things this week, but I hope so. It is very relaxing to be crafty! 

Monday Made It

I am excited to link up with 4th Grade Frolics again for "Monday Made It".

I hung these in my class computer area. The sign that says "computers" is a recycled wood picture. The larger piece is a 10"x14" canvas. The 2 smaller pieces are cardboard shapes I got from Hobby Lobby. I painted all of them with chalkboard paint. I glued on labels from Schoolgirl Style and added 2 tissue paper flowers, ribbon and clothespins. I am going to hang the daily computer schedules on the signs.

The picture is from Schoolgirl Style. I mod podged it onto a canvas that I painted turquoise. I hung this on a cabinet in my class.

I found this "friends" cardboard sign at Hobby Lobby. I painted it turquoise and hung it above the sink area in my class. I painted a canvas and glued clothespins on it. I plan to hang pictures of the children in the class on the canvas throughout the year.

I made the "Class Jobs" sign by gluing a cardstock paper onto a cardboard shape i got from Hobby Lobby.

I am going to use these drawers to help organize my Guided Math groups. I found 3-drawer bins that are larger than the others I have. They hold scrapbook paper so they are about 12" x 12". I think the larger size will be better since I like to keep manipulatives and other materials together with papers I need for each group.

Since I will teach Math to 2 different blocks of students, I got two bins (one for each group). They can stack together.

5 for Friday

I am still busy making things and organizing my new classroom. This week, I made a "No Names" holder for papers that don't have names on them. The white board is actually the front plate of a drawer that we pulled out when we remodeled. The "No" and "Names" labels are printed from a Schoolgirl Style set. I used 1 inch blue ribbon around the edges and I got the blue chevron clothespins from Walmart.

This is a small metal table that I have had forever. It was done in shades of brown and orange. I spray painted it an aqua color and I am going to see if I have a spot I can use it in my classroom.

I went up to my classroom this week to work on labeling things. I organized my books and got the labels on the bins. I have most of the Math manipulatives labeled also.

As I organize my classroom, I have been making labels to go along with my manipulatives. I finished them this week and posted them on Teachers Pay Teachers. I made them in four different chevron colors: turquoise, lime green, blue and gray.

Turquoise Chevron here

Lime Green Chevron here

Gray Chevron here

Blue Chevron here

I have also been researching my family's geneology since my mother died in 2013. She had started the research in the year before she died and I want to finish it for her and our family. This week, I finished making notebooks for one of the lines. I put the line of ancestors in the front and some information about each person. It has been very interesting.

Monday Made It

Like most teachers, I have been busy making things for my classroom. Here are some of my "Made It"s.

Made It #1

Here is a picture of a chalkboard  I made for my Centers in my classroom.

I made two of them. They are made from a cabinet door. We recently remodeled our kitchen and I kept the cabinet doors.

To make the chalkboard, I painted the middle part with black chalkboard paint.

My cabinet door was already white. I  hot glued lime green ribbon (hard to see in the picture) where the black chalkboard paint met the white of the cabinet door to create a nice straight line. I also hot glued 2 clothespins to use if I want to hang a paper.

I removed the handle and hot glued some paisley pictures from the Schoolgirl Style set I bought. 

This hid the holes left after I removed the handle.

Made It #2

I bought a small child's toy box/bench at Goodwill last year for $4. It had been painted black. I wanted to give it a makeover to match my classroom. First, I put primer on it.

Then, I painted it lime green.

I painted the top of each post turquoise. Then, I glued a thick piece of foam to the top (recycled from another project). I covered the foam in fabric and stapled the fabric under the top.

I hot glued ribbon along the front and sides.

Made It #3

This is one of the Student Mailboxes I have had for years from Really Good Stuff. It was a dark green color on the outside. Since I am focusing more on lime green and turquoise in my classroom, I wanted to change it. I painted the outside lime green.

I hot glued a white border around the edges and a ribbon on top. I glued the words "Kids' Mail" to the top.

Here they are both together.