Beginning of the Year Bulletin Boards

My beginning of the year bulletin boards from a few weeks ago! All of these great sets were purchased from the Dollar Tree except for my "Recipe for a Great Year" sentence strips made by yours truly.

Open House

The parents and leopards had a great time with their open house "Search & Find" tonight. One of the missions was to guess their child's owl out on the "Hoo Am I" tree. The kids wrote what they wanted to be when they grew up and their favorite food on the wings. This awesome template is FREE on the Lakeshore website!

The kids also showed their parents their family trees, "Stellar Sentences", labeled pictures, "When I Grow Up" posters, and "What I Love About School" apples. Then they had their parents make an estimate for our "Estimate Jar" and showed them our reading corner.

My Classroom!

Back Cabinets- The left three cabinet shape posters came from my, as Junie B. would say, "favoritist" teacher store, Dollar Tree! I found the right three door posters as a freebie on TPT under "3D Shapes" a while back. I will search and post a link if I can find it! I got the "SHAPES" letters from Michaels and the large leopard stuffy from my Grandmother Barbara. The "AR Stars" bulletin board has a 25 square chart from Wal-Mart for each student to mark with a star sticker (in the mailbox) whenever they get a 100% on an AR test! They also get to ring the bell and everyone takes a moment to applaud them which they love. The "winners" bulletin board recognizes students who win the weekly estimate. I send the jar home each Friday with directions for parents to send back on Monday filled with an item of their choice and a sealed number of how many there are. The kids place their estimates throughout the week and whomever is closest, wins! Then of course I have my "Sharp" and "Not Sharp" labels for pencils.

I used some leaopard fabric to cover my back window; unfortunately, my sewing skills have yet to develop so it is poorly cut. The circular dry erase adhesive is a Wal-Mart find from las school year and the "Wipe Your Paws" mat as well (a gift from my Fairly Odd Parents). The reason I posted this pic though is to share the great weekly organization tool of the stacking paper trays on the right. These are labeled by day and keep all my papers in check!

Stating objectives is imperative to our evaluation document. I used to have a small laminated "Daily Objectives" poster but it was difficult for the kids to read from their desks. So, I roped off a section of my white board with leopard border and added some die cut letter for a more useful one! I use the pointer and the kids can read along. The colored levelized groups on the right side of the picture have the kids names on them. The  coordinated rectangles to the left have their numbered rotations.

One of my besties, Marissa, made the cute palm tree with butcher paper for me! My behavior chart is attached with leopard ribbon. The kids all start on blue and move up or down depending on their actions throughout the day. The "Happy Helpers" are rotated with clothespins.

My reading  corner has some pillows and bean bags for silent reading around the room and calendar for our story time after lunch. The books are all individually labeled with the AR level, color, and quiz number (yes, this took me ALL Summer). The canopy is one that I had over my bed as a child! I had to cut it and hot glue it for a draping effect.

View from the reading corner

Dresser Turned Media Console

So, we've all seen the shabbied dressers turned into immaculate TV stands on Pinterest and I decided it was time for me to try it on out! A furniture DIYer that I met a few years ago taught me that today's furniture is rarely solid wood and unlike yesterday's furniture, we're not able to sand, stain, or repaint it into something new. Not to mention the quality typically can't compete. Ever since my "come to Jesus" conversation with this fine specimen, I've been really into recovering old furniture and transforming it into something fresh. I picked up this piece on a resale site for about $75 dollars and went to work! *Note: I generally am not a fan of tooting my own horn BUT I did this ENTIRE project all by myself and I'm very proud of it, toot. One of my evil character traits when it comes to redoing furniture is impatience. So, while I did lightly sand the scuffed top of the dresser, I just used Rustoleum Paint and Primer spray paint to get the piece gloss white. This stuff is not cheap and I had to go to Lowe's for more and more several times (prob went through at least 6 cans). That being said, if you have the time and patience to sand, prime, and paint, it would be much more frugal! If you do decide to use spray paint, make sure you have a mask with goggles and are in a well ventilated area. I painted  in my garage with the door open (there were too many nats outside), wore goggles and a mask, and still am convinced that I inhaled too much.  I took out all of the drawers first and painted the body. I didn't bother painting the inside. Then, I took measurements of where the drawers slid in and got some plywood cut at Lowe's to fill in as a base on the first two rows. I painted the bottom three drawer fronts and pulls and sanded the edges for a bit of a "shabby" look. Ta-da! P.S. I also attached a drill bit for the cord holes in the back :).





The Silver Plated Jewelry Box

Came across this $5.99 gem in a local thrift store last weekend! With some buffing, polish paste, and elbow grease, it cleaned up nicely. Here's a before and after pic; of course I  always get carried away before I remember to take a proof pic, so ignore the light polishing. Check out the velvety inside and it's perfect place on my mismatched dresser. For my fellow "The Brass Teapot" lovers, I did pinch myself and it did not fill with money. Nonetheless, I'm pleased with my treasure!

Sand & Stain

I decided when I had my living room painted "Lemon" to go with the Country Chic look that I've always loved. I needed some barstools for my counter-height bar to attain more seating but everything was too expensive and nothing was "just right". So, I purchased some basic ones at Wal-Mart that were on sale for $15 each! I spray painted the legs with my fave Rustoleum Gloss White Paint & Primer and let them dry overnight (this stuff dries pretty fast, which is also a big PLUS). Then I sanded the top seat with my Black & Decker random orbit sander, wiped off the dusties thoroughly and stained with a dark mahogany. I did several layers of stain and let dry overnight, followed by several layers of polyurethane to seal. Then I repeated the process to match my cheapo wine rack (it's darker in real life!). Eventually, I will get to sanding and staining my beautiful pedestal table top to match but that has been on my to-do list for about a year now.

Craigslist Steal

This little cutie was posted on Craigslist for a whopping $5 from a local storage site. Unfortunately, I didn't take a before pic but trust me, it was a hot mess. It's not solid wood BUT it was just perfect for my little space in the hallway leading to upstairs (also perfect for storage and seasonal decor). I didn't do much but sand it and paint it; still, it's one of my favorite finds!

White Clad Storage

Lastly, I just HAVE to share another quirky Craigslist find for $30 that's served me well. This solid wood little cabinet has a shiny brass plate and special serial number. At first when I looked it up, I found that the company sold ice boxes back in the good ol' days to keeinsulate ice before refridgerators and freezers. I thought maybe the hole drilled in the back and the swivel top was just an addition until I saw the SAME model in one of my student's readers being used as a TV stand. Nonetheless, it serves me well in storing all of my favorite board games and remotes whilst serving as a perfect place for my digital frame, gentle reminders, and cutesy owl light.