Ribbon Bulletin Board

This is something that I've wanted to try making for a long time.  I think these boards are beautiful, and they can be simple or fancy, and functional at the same time.  At the end of the school year, I had important papers (like checking out lists, etc.) that I needed to keep track of.  I had them in one spot, but there are eight other people who spend the day in the classroom with me, and they were accidentally lost.  I eventually found them in the recycle bin! (It sits right next to my desk.)  That is when I realized that I desperately needed a bulletin board-just for me for all those little papers I need.  What a good opportunity to make a ribbon board! So I did.

I absolutely love this fabric!! I originally bought it for curtains for the house in Woodward, but that just didn't happen.  Now I'm glad it didn't.  It gets to go to school with me now. Anyway--

Here are the materials:

Bulletin board

Batting

Fabric

Ribbon (I used grosgrain)

Upholstery tacks

Hammer

Staple gun

Tape measure

Pins

Hot glue gun

1. Cut the batting and fabric large enough to cover your board and wrap around the back for a finished edge.  I left the fabric a little bigger than the batting so I could fold it over the batting when attaching it to the board.  Use enough batting to give your board some puffiness when the ribbons are attached.  I think I used four layers.  This is the part I fumbled.  I didn't put enough batting in, and it wasn't padded enough.  I had to start over.

2.  Fold the fabric and batting around to the back edge and using the staple gun, staple it to the board.  I did one or two on each side so I could get the fabric tight and smooth on the front.  Once I did that, I went all the way around.  I left the corners for the end.  I trimmed the batting and fabric a little because it was super thick.  Then I folded the fabric like a present and stapled it.  The back turned out to look fairly neat.

3.  Figure out where you would like your ribbons.  I think I did mine a little differently, but I like how it turned out.  Make sure they are parallel with each other.  That was hard with this fabric, but I accomplished it!  Pin the ribbon down on each end until you get the upholstery tacks on.  Also, leave enough ribbon when you cut it to wrap around the back.

4.  Once the ribbons are pinned, gently tap in the upholstery tacks at the intersections of the ribbons.  Make sure the tacks are in straight lines vertically and horizontally.  Take out the pins.  Be careful that you don't hammer the tack all the way through the board.  I did this a couple of times.  This is when the padding will really start to look cool.  

5.  Take the ends of the ribbons and hot glue them to the back of the board.  I tucked mine under the fabric if I could. 

6.  Add your mounting hardware.  At this point, I added a ribbon to hang it from.  I think it might need a frame to go around it, so this is still a work in progress!

I was amazed at how easy this was. I will probably make one for the girls also.  They will be able to do a lot of this project on their own.  

Oh! Here's a little side note.  When you've got a cute board, you need cute tacks, right?  So I made some!  I had some large head thumbtacks and some of those glass beads on hand.  I drew flowers that matched my board with a sharpie on the head of the thumbtack, hot glued the bead on, and voila! Cute tacks!

 

Paper Doll Designs

I love the things Paper Doll Designs makes!  A friend of mine showed me her business and got me a mirror as a gift for Christmas one year.  I love it!  She makes spirals, rulers, candy wrappers, cell phone covers, flags, you name it, she can do just about anything.  I think I might have to make an order for school just to make the girls and I smile.  Here are pictures from her latest post:


 

These photos are from Paper Doll Designs.  Go check it out!

Flashlight Derby

Every teacher tries their best to help their students learn.  I am no exception.  When I was teaching preschool, I wanted to be able to review what they learned in a fun way.  That is how I tried to teach everything--masked in fun.  You have to with a special needs preschooler just to keep their attention.  Anyway, we were studying the letter F and I came up with the idea of Flashlight Derby!  We reviewed colors, shapes, numbers, and letters.  It was a wonderful success in preschool and the idea stayed with me.

Now that I teach elementary school, I wondered if I could make it work for my guys now.  So we tried it.  I still had the same cards I used with preschool, plus I added words and names, since all of them are reading!  We tried this in May, so we had lots of material we could use.  Here's what you need:

Flashlights (I asked the students to bring their own, and I had ones from the dollar store just in case)
Masking tape
Bold marker (I used a black Marks alot)
Paper/Index cards (I used 1/2 sheets of recycled copy paper or construction paper for the colors)
A bit of time to put it up

The premise is simple.  Make the sheets/cards using what you want to review, and tape them to the ceiling.  Put them randomly in one area (across the room is hard to see) where the students can be on the ground.  Then make sure everyone has a flashlight.  Have everyone lay down on the floor (YES, Teachers too!!) and turn off the lights!  I was the caller, and I would say, "Find the number 30."  The students would have to shine their flashlights on the number.  Do this for all of the items, or until you run out of time or patience.  My boys found this extremely relaxing and fun.  They were really good at it too!  We put all of their names up there, as well as the teachers, principals, and their sight words.  It was loads of fun.  In preschool as a prize to the "winner," (they all did well) I let them pick from the treasure box.  My elementary class was happy with just playing it.  Here is what my ceiling looked like.

Semester Calendar

As you are probably noticing, I have a thing for calendars. Small ones, big ones, flippy ones, I love them all. There are many times when I find myself needing to see a month or two in the past and a month in advance for the same task. Just a quick glance-something that drives me crazy to have to pull out the big planner for. I decided that I would like to have a semester at a glance calendar in my room. And--why not make it awesome? That's what I did.

I just took an extra frame, fabric, and styrofoam from a package that I already had at home to make this. I cut the styrofoam to fit the frame, wrapped it in fabric, and installed it in the frame, using the original backing to hold it all in. I was going to put the months directly on the fabric, but it got lost in the pattern. So I put the calendars on a piece of black scrapbooking paper and it works. The calendar is pinned on with straight pins. It will be easy to change out the calendars or even change the format if I like. Just print and pin.

The "In" Box

This past year I finally found the perfect inbox for turning in papers.  I was using a wire stack-able letter tray for turning in work, but it just wasn't fitting what I needed.  That's when I found this.

The lid fits underneath, and the student's completed work fits nicely in it.  The best thing is--when I need to take papers home to grade, I just snap the lid on! And--It was just $3 at Wal-mart.  Score!

Now, as I sat at my desk, thinking about how I could make my classroom look and feel better, I realized I could cover it.  This is how it looks.

I cut my fabric the width of the sides and Mod-Podged it to the inside of the container.  I really didn't need to do the bottom (I was afraid papers would stick to the fabric if I did), but if I covered the lid, it would show right through the bottom.  That's what I did.  I measured and cut out a piece of fabric that would cover just the top of the lid.  I used Mod-Podge to adhere the fabric to the inside of the lid.  I did a little bit at a time, and I used a straight edge, a plastic putty knife, to push the air bubbles out and make sure I got the corners stuck tight.  I love how it turned out!!

Perpetual Calendar

My students are getting in the habit of writing the date on all of their papers.  I have seen the flip calendars with the month, day, and year spiral bound on an easel.  I didn't want that.  I wanted something I could hang on my chalkboard where the big calendar is.  So I made a calendar the way I wanted it.  I made the months one color, the days another, and the years yet another.  Then I laminated, cut them out, and punched holes in them for rings.  It is such a help in the classroom!  Last year I didn't know what to put it on, so I found something on hand--half and curtain rod and fishing line.  I didn't like it, but it worked.  I figured out something even better.  I put it on a hanger!  Then of course, I had to cute it up.  I took off the hook part of the hanger off because I didn't need it, but it would be just as cute with it on.