More Classroom/Library Projects

I put up some of my library stuff, and what I found is that I had some holes that needed to be filled.

I needed something above my awesome blue chair, so I just printed some colorful silhouettes of things I love.  (And, of course, spray painted frames to coordinate with it!)

I have a few filler pieces for display shelves:

I am going to have a display about missing summer with summer reads, so I needed some signs for that and a spraypainted fish:

There's a section in the library for guidance resources, so that needed labeled:

There were no Dewey Decimal signs in the library, so I made a couple of those:

Finally, I have a kind of ugly section that has graduating classes' senior pictures, so I needed something for about that.  I absolutely love how this turned out:

I really can't wait to get it all installed tomorrow.

Cost-Efficient Classroom: More DIY School Projects for Your Classroom or Library

Well, the good news is that I thought of more stuff that needed done for my library.  Because it's a combo middle school and high school library, I am going to have 2 sets of books on display:  Rebecca Caudill (middle school) and Abraham Lincoln (high school) books.  This means I need signs to display them.

I went to the local Catholic Charities.  The good news is that the smaller frames are extremely cheap 50 cents or a dollar.  I bought a few more than I needed because these signs would be helpful for all kinds of things like homework turn in station or signs for how-to flyers.  I just spray painted the frames and made the signs within.  I searched for the color I wanted and pattern like "pink pattern" or "blue pattern" and then layered words on top of it in Office.  They turned out great!

I also finished turning my pencils/pens into flowers.  This is super easy.  I bought cheap flowers (some Dollar Tree and some Walmart), cheap pencils, and floral tape.

I just snipped the flowers off and wrapped the pencils with floral tape.

A couple of years ago, I took apart one of my old office chairs and using my awesome staple gun, re-covered it.  Unfortunately, it doesn't match a different project I had in mind, so I fixed it.

I also picked up a sweet metal $2 magazine rack.  I forgot to take a before picture, but it was black and gold.  I left the gold and spray painted the rest in my color scheme.  This is going to be great for putting informational flyers out.

Finally, my best project!!  I took a $5 folding chair and transformed it.  I spray painted it, and then I re-covered the cushion.  I couldn't get it off the chair to staple it on properly, but I stapled it on the back and then used super glue and a screwdriver to attach it around the edges of the chair.

Yes!!  I can't wait to move this stuff into the library in a few weeks!

Bargain Beauty: Updating or Decorating a Classroom or Library for Cheap

Growing up, I didn't care too much about the room in which I read, ate, slept, or hung out.  Then, I went to college, suddenly had a lot of free time, and began watching HGTV.  Suddenly, all that changed.  Design on a Dime gave me the desire to update things for cheap, and Color Splash made me want to use bright, daring colors I wouldn't at home.  Of course, now, Fixer Upper makes me want to take old things and make them beautiful.  I've moved classrooms and libraries a few times, and this year, preparing to set up the giant space that will be my library, I felt more prepare than ever.

Here are what experience has taught me to be the two most important tips for making a school space awesome:
1. Thrift shops have the best, cheapest things that can be transformed for your classroom.
2. Wielding a spray paint can is as close to waving a magic wand as I could ever hope to get, and it's pretty darn close.  (Seriously, I love spray painting.)

There two tips will take you SO far on a budget.

Now, I know you can get some pretty cheap stuff from Walmart and Dollar Tree for school stuff, but when you get it from a thrift store like Catholic Charities or Goodwill you are supporting a good cause and re-purposing materials that may otherwise end up in a landfill.  This means you get to feel really good about your purchases and help make the world a better place.

This year, when I went to my local Catholic Charities, I had a few things that I was looking for.  (I like lists because they make skimming easier.)
1. vases
2. frames
3. seating
4. anything that look especially ridiculous or awesome
5. lamps (or I would have if I didn't already have some at home that were sitting around going to waste)

I like to start at a thrift store and find everything I can, and then, I worry about filling in the gaps from Walmart/Dollar Tree/Amazon.  For example, I bought pans from Dollar Tree to spray paint as magnet boards.

I got a ton of frames (some huge, some small), some large scale art that I was going to use as frames, some bulletin boards, an amazing chair, about a billion vases, a magazine rack, and some figurines including a dog, cat, swan, and pigs.  A few are pictured above.  I was really just lucky to find that chair.

After this trip, I knew my color scheme needed bright blue because of the chair.  I knew I wanted something bright because I am dealing with a big space with not enough natural light.  I'm also dealing with a lot of blue formica that isn't going anywhere.  I search bright color scheme on Pinterest and found this picture for inspiration:

Then, I bought a bunch of spray paint and got to work, painting the frames, vases, and figurines.

You can really see how the figurines look so cool now that they're spray painted.

I then went and got fun fabric to use as the backs of my displays for the frames, cheap ribbon to use as boarders, cheap flowers to fill the vases with flower pencils.

I just cut out bubble letters that I had printed out for the letters rather than buying anything.  I bought some very inexpensive ottoman covers from Amazon and stuffed them with old things I had around the house.  I even purchased some really inexpensive Walmart chairs because fun seating can go a long way.

If my students love the chairs half as much as my kids, I'm set.

I had leftover fabric and spray paint so I transformed a few things I had around the house.  I had a pair of really ugly lamps that I think look awesome now.  I spray painted the stand, cut the fabric into sections, hot glued on the fabric, and covered the seams with ribbon.

I had so much fun spray painting and designing that I was honestly upset when it was done.  Sadly, I can't get in my school until the second week of August to put it in place.