Brag Buttons {Monday Made It}

I'm joining in on this week's Monday Made It to share with you a little something I've been working on this week. 

You've no doubt all heard about Brag Tags, right? Well, this is kind of a spin on Brag Tags and I'm sure I'm not the first one who has had this idea, but I thought I would make Brag Buttons instead! I personally just think they are cuter, but that's just me!

Here are some examples of the ones I printed and made! 

They turned out super duper cute if I do say so myself! These buttons came from Hobby Lobby. You can get a pack of 12 buttons for $4.99. The back of the buttons just snap into the front. It took less than 5 minutes to assemble all 12 of these. You can purchase these buttons at any local craft store! I scoured Dollar Tree and Dollar General, but they didn't carry them, so your best bet is the craft store {Michael's, Hobby Lobby, A.C. Moore, etc...}

I created a set of 39 buttons to print and use in your classroom and they are on sale in my TPT shop for half off for the day! Just click the image below to head on over and grab yourself a set!

Annnnnd I also created a little freebie download for you that is also available for download in my TPT shop! Just click the image below to go grab your free copy!

I will be working on button sets for classroom jobs and classroom rewards as well, so stay tuned in the coming week! 

You can also win yourself a copy of this newest creation by just commenting with your email below and giving me some examples of buttons you would like to see in the classroom jobs and classroom rewards sets! I'll choose a winner tomorrow!

Teacher Week 2013 {Classroom Digs}

It's time to check out my classroom abode! 

It's nowhere near being complete but I am going to post some photos of what I have comning along so far! I will be posting my final reveal next week! 

In the meantime, here are some projects and things I have going on. Many of these things may look familiar as I am sticking with last years NEON theme! =)

 These two items are new additions to my classroom theme this year and I love them!!

 I used my same bulletin board borders as last year but I added some Cameo cut out letters for each subject area. I am in love with the way they turned out!

Head over to Blog Hoppin' and link up so I can check out your classroom digs!

Oh, don't forget I'm having a 30% off Back To School sale in my Teacher's Notebook shop ONLY until August 15! Click my button below to head over!

Easy Classroom DIY Projects and a FREEBIE!!

I have been SOOO busy this week in my classroom and I feel like all these little projects are consuming all of my time and making it seem like my room isn't really coming together like I'd hoped, but they are super cute and all that's really left now is just hanging up stuff and finishing up my bulletin boards! Here is what I've been doing!

 I saw a colleague do this a few years ago and I finally got the gusto to try it out! Isn't that font just adorable!? It's called Badonk-a-donk and I LOVE it!! I just covered my cabinets in white chart paper and then added letters cut from my Cameo! I plan on using it to write in math, science, and social studies vocabulary words. I will then have a separate word wall for our grade level specific word wall. You can see the headers I created for those below!

 Those velcro dots are a lifesaver! I just put the other half of the velcro dot on the back of the word and stick it up there! So much easier than trying to tape or glue them up every week!

 I have been seeing these adorable How Do We Go Home signs around Pinterest and I wanted a NEON one to match my room theme. HEHE I think it turned out super cute! I plan on using clothes pins with the students names printed on small neon cut outs to stick around the circles.

 I mean, I almost died when I found this puppy at Wal-Mart today. I don't know why I never though to look for one, but on the hunt for Velcro dots, I spotted it and I was in teachery heaven! I already used it to make my WWW headers! She's awesome! 

You can purchase those adorable numbers from Amy Lemons at Step Into Second Grade with Mrs. Lemons HERE! 

I am really getting into my classroom NEON theme if you haven't noticed! LOL

I haven't really shown you whole pictures of my room because well there's nothing really up except for my editable word wall and the borders on my bulletin boards. I can't wait to see them all finished so I can share it with you! 

I wanted to give you all the How Do We Go Home? printables FREE so you can make them too if you wish! Just click the picture below to download!

I will post more pictures of the progress next week! We can't go tomorrow and Monday. =( But, I hope to have things on the walls at least by Wednesday and I'm still waiting on some new book bins to arrive from Really Good Stuff so I don't feel like I can accomplish the organization of the library until they arrive!

ANNNNND TPT is having a GIANT back to school sale on August 12 and 13! You won't want to miss out! I have so many things on my Wishlist already!

And TN is also having a Back to School sale from August 11-13th and there will be 30% off there!!

Happy Thursday! It's Big Brother night!! WOO HOO!

Crafting and NEON Decor

So, I recently posted about my adventures making my crate seats. You can view that post HERE. After posting my finished product on facebook, I had tons of teacher friends asking me about it, telling me they wanted to make them too and then an idea was born! I decided to host a Crate Crafting Party! I know it took some serious motivation for ME to finally just make them, so I thought this would be a good excuse for everyone to get together, eat some delicious food, drink some yummy beverages, and craft it up! 

It was a HUGE success! 

There were almost 10 of us spread out throughout my kitchen and living room! It was quite a sight! I think I will be cleaning up tiny pieces of foam for the next couple of weeks. It was so much fun to get everyone together and do something productive at the same time.

Another idea was born from this as well from my firstie friend Meagan who suggested we should do a monthly Pinterest craft get together. I am so stoked about this idea and I can't wait to see what craft the next hostess chooses! 

In other news, I have finally finished my NEON classroom decor set and I might just be in love...

It is 169 pages full of editable signs, covers, cards, and labels.

It is available in both my stores! Just click my buttons below!

How to Make a Crate Seat

I finally made my own crate seats after much Pinspiration!! I have had many requests to share the process with you and I just couldn't wait for Monday Made It!

Things to consider:

* The crates I purchased were from Walmart. They are not the standard sized square crates. These measure 12 by 9 inches whereas the typical square crates are 15 by 15 inches. You can choose whichever works best for you. If you have older students, you will probably want to go with the regular sized crates.

* I chose plywood from Lowe's that measured a half inch in thickness. You can go smaller, but I wanted to make sure these were durable and last me a LONG time! 

* Choose a fabric that will match your room decor! Duh!

* I used a TWIN XL mattress pad from Bed Bath and Beyond, but if you make these using the regular sized square crates, you will want to buy a larger size depending on how many crates you are making. 

I made a total of 8 crates to go around my kidney table. 

Here is what I purchased:

* 8 crates from Walmart for $4.97 a piece (You can probably find them cheaper, but I got tired of going to different places to find the ones I wanted.)

* 1 large piece of half inch thick plywood from Lowe's for $17.47. 

* 3 yards of fabric for $5.33 per yard. (Determine how many yards you need based on the size of your crates and how many you plan on making.)

* 1 foam mattress pad from Bed Bath and Beyond for $19.99. (You can get them from Walmart too, but I wanted a higher quality so that they would last longer)

* Staple Gun (FREE because I already had one!)

What I spent: $93.21

Here's how I did it:

1) Measure the length and width of your crates so you know how your plywood needs to be cut. Or, do what I did and just take your crate into Lowe's with  you and have them measure it for you! =) They're super nice! We had to cut the plywood a bit smaller than the exact dimensions so that it would be easily pulled out for the storage space underneath. The people at Lowe's or Home Depot will cut the plywood for you for FREE!

2) Lay your plywood on top of the mattress pad and trace as many as you need. I wanted to have two pieces of foam per seat, so I cut out 16 pieces of foam total. 

 3) Cut out your fabric making sure to leave enough around the edges to fold over the seat. We placed the plywood on the fabric and cut that way. My mom even taught me a little trick! If you just make a small snip in the side of the fabric, you can just rip it the rest of the way and it makes a clean line! See as my mom demonstrates! haha

4) Place your foam pieces down on the plywood.

5) Flip your plywood over face down on the fabric.

6) Pull the fabric around and staple it to the plywood! We did it like we were wrapping a present!

7) Staple your ribbon to the plywood where you stapled the fabric so that you have a handle to pull your seat up and access the storage!

That's it folks!

It took us a little over an hour to make all 8!! They came out super cute and I love them! 

Stay tuned for my room theme 2012-2012 reveal! I'm excited!