Getting Crafty!

In an effort to theme-ify my room, I thought I would get a little crafty this year and make some things to add to my décor. I was really sick of looking at the ugly brown magazine holders we are given at my school so I thought I would improve those first. I went to Ikea and bought these great blank,white, magazine holders...perfect canvas to for creativity! Then , I started searching the net for ideas on how to go about decorating them! I found this idea (which I improvised a little) on a great blog called Not Just Paper and Glue.  

Here are my materials:

In her post, she doesn't really say what she used to glue the paper onto the holders...I used mounting glue. I also highly suggest working outside (hello happy fumes) and covering your work area with a trash bag or some other material you don't care about. Also, make sure your "drape" is secure. Nothing worse than a freshly painted project being swept into the grass by the wind...

First, I sprayed each holder. This was tricky. If I sprayed too much, they had drip marks. If I didn't spray enough, they looked blotchy. It took a few tries, but I eventually got the hang of it.

Next, I let them dry overnight (which really stunk up my house something wicked). I cut pieces of scrapbook paper to fit along the spine of each holder. Then, I sprayed the mounting glue to the paper and carefully placed it onto the magazine holder. 

Voila! Here is a picture of the (almost) finished project. **I still need to add labels so I know what is IN them.**

Afterwards I was feeling very bold, so I had another thought...

Pencil holders!

I decided to use some recycled cans to hold my “Broken” and “Sharpened” pencils in my class.

(The kids in my room trade out a broken/dull pencil for a sharp one instead of sharpening their pencils...this reduces the amount of time they are out of their seat, as well as distractions.)

I basically used the same process, but with cans: paint, dry overnight, adhere a strip of scrapbook paper with with mounting glue. The mounting glue didn't work as well on the cans, so I ended up taping them. Finish them off with some labels and you have some lovely (and very green!) pencil holders!

What are some things you have created for your classrooms?