Monday Made It: Polka Dot Explosion

It's Monday! That means it's time for one of my favorite Linky parties - Monday Made It hosted by Tara at 4th Grade Frolics. I'll be stopping over there after I post this to check out what others have made.

 

I have been very busy making things lately since it's back to school in just two short weeks. I finally got the email today saying that I can get up to work in my room starting next Monday. It's not an official work week, but I guarantee you I'll be up at the school a lot. There's still a lot to do in the new classroom since I haven't been able to put ANYTHING away yet. Luckily, I'll have my best helpers (my parents) in tow!

 

Now that we have the exciting news out of the way (yes, I'm excited about getting back to work), we'll move onto my projects for the week. I'm sure I've made more, but I'm going to share three different projects today.

 

#1

The first project for Monday Made It is one that I finished last week. It took paint, wood pieces from AC Moore, and painters tape. I've posted at tutorial here if you're interested in seeing exactly how I made the sign below and how I messed up along the way.

 

 

I'll be attaching some ribbon to the back and it'll be hung outside my door. I love the way it turned out. I learned a thing or two about painting along the way. This entire project cost less than $2. (If you have the paint already...otherwise add in a little more for the paint.) The next two projects were actually completed today.

 

#2

Yesterday, I went to an awesome local open craft time and made some really cool things for myself. However, when I headed to the craft time, I had planned a different project. I forgot the Washi tape though! So, I worked on that project today and I must say I am now an official fan of Washi tape. The stuff is amazing!

 

 

I posted Saturday about the reading buddies I use in my classroom. They are great for motivating students to read independently but I decided I needed something to make "Visit the Teacher" more inviting. I had some small popsicle sticks and a roll of Washi tape sitting among my craft stuff. I've had the craft sticks for a while (I'm not sure when or why I bought them), but the Washi tape was actually bought for a different classroom project. My clothespins are at school though so I can't work on that project yet.

 

I decided to go ahead and try out the Washi tape and came up with these tiny pointers that students are going to be able to use during our reading group time. Now, I just need to find a cute little container to hold them in! The wolf is just an example - it would not fit in well with my décor. :)

 

#3

The last project that I worked on today is another one of my big summer updates. Do you remember the white bins I use for my reading bins? The ones that were getting washed and then getting a face lift? Well, they got their face lift today! All it took was the ice bucket, ribbon, and some hot glue.

 

 

I took the ribbon and put it around the middle of the bin. I used hot glue to keep it in place. You'll notice that the ribbon doesn't quite meet on the one side - that's okay! I'm going to cover that mess with cute tags once I have student names to put on them. I think these will look much nicer in their cubbies this year. In this picture, you can see that I have the cutest help ever!

 

 

Disaster struck in the middle of this project though! I ran out of ribbon. :(  Apparently it took a little more than I anticipated. So, I'll be making a trip to Wal-Mart at some point. I should probably evaluate what else I need before I go so that I don't make multiple trips.

 

 

I feel like I've actually gotten something accomplished today. Way to turn around a rainy day! What's my next project? Turning fabric into pillows for my reading center...

 

 

Also, don't forget that everything in my TPT shop is FREE until the end of July. If you download something, I would love it if you left feedback!