Made It Back to the Classroom Monday 7/30

My Made It Mondays projects are sadly coming to an end since teachers must report back this Thursday.  So I thought I'd share all the great things I've been making to prepare for Meet the Teacher and setting up a cute classroom.

#1 "Sea" What to Expect in 4th Grade - Hallway Bulletin Board with Clothespin Tacks
I used black fabric and black&white polka dot trim to setup the board.  I just hate when flourescent lights fade butcher paper, so I did fabric in the hallway too this year!! Then I used my HobbyLobby pre-dyed black clothespins hot glued to thumbnail tacks from Michael's to hang student advice/artwork on the wall.  Hopefully this is an eyecatcher as students enter/leave my classroom on Meet the Teacher night.

#2 You're o-FISH-ally in the 4th grade {student gifts}
Well I invested a whopping dollar into my rectangular 3x4 plastic craft bags from the Dollar Tree to put my snack into.  Bought BabyGoldfish on sale at the grocery store.  Stuffed bags about 3/4 full with fish.  Printed labels and stuck onto folded digital scrapbook paper of choice - mine was chevron.  Staple & admire!

#3 Not Your Generic Corkboard:

Last year I seem to have loved posting important emails or calendars on the wall behind my desk up with pushpins.  This created WAAYY TOO many holes in my wall and it could have been much cuter.  I had some extra black fabric lying around but if I didn't cover a corkboard or an existing display board I would end up with scattered remnants of powdery white paint and drywall ALL OVER my beautiful black fabric.  Visited BigLots & bought a generic corkboard for $6.50, painted the frame white, stapled my fabric, and hot-glued fabric ribbon as trim to hide my mistakes.  Then, I used sandpaper to give the frame a distressed shabby chic look to make it pop against an already white wall.   Finally, I added some rhinestone-embellished clothespin tacks to hold notes/important papers (5 - for the five days of the school week?!?)  My goal is to go through this every Friday after the kids are gone so I still have room to post new & important info.

#4: Dry-Erase Countdown Until .... sign

This was definitely something I knew I wanted in my classroom as soon as I saw it on pinterest.  I changed the clipart color from green to blue to match my color scheme and just decided to countdown until students' first day back-to-school since it is now in the single digits!!  I love how versatile this sign is, we can countdown until important tests, assemblies, field trips, holidays, birthdays, etc.  The possibilities are really endless!  If you'd like the blue candystriped template for your project, I'm sharing it as a free download here.


Thanks for visiting and I hope you are able to leave me a comment below - I just love hearing what other creative minds have to say.

Also, I can't wait to visit other blogs through the Made It Monday linky hosted by Tara at 4th Grade Frolics and see what you've been creating lately.  :)