Schoolroom Swag

Elementary Teacher

Having fun in the classroom and "balancing" life!

Saturday, August 29, 2015

Details of decorating

Ok, so here are some details that kicked my bulletin boards up a notch:
1. the ever popular tissue pom
2. multiple borders
3. multiple patterns (but within a common theme and color)
4. bows
5. streamers
6. border "extras"
7. Paisleys and dragonfly cut-outs

Going for a homey end table look. A real plant, wooden sign, a lamp. The blue and lime poofy things are pens from the dollar store. We use them to track our reading!






My phone's camera. Not good.





I took left over small pieces of border and just bent them to make little "flowers" and ribbon pieces.

 
Birthday bags

I later ran out of this border, but found some similar pennant border using the same colors, so integrated that as well. Use what ya got!
 


 
Next job- add cute bags/boxes/baskets to the top to cover up the yuck. Our budgets can only do so much, right? Baby steps.
 

A couple weeks into the school year I found the blue border. It's a little different hue than some of my other turquoise items, but shades and tints of a focal color are ok!

 
I also added this pennant and blue border to my desk:


 
And to add some "home" to the room in the calendar area:


 
 
Ok, so I think that's a pretty good look at my room. I tried to achieve a calm and homey space that still had some bling. I think we all feel comfortable, and the kids seem to enjoy it. I've also gotten some compliments from our neighboring 4th graders! Woohoo! Thanks for looking!

Glitter Words
[Glitterfy.com - *Glitter Words*]

Saturday, August 8, 2015

A Room Without a Theme: Before and some after


I usually am a themed classroom girl. Last year was Secret Agent.





The year before that was my favorite: Enchanted Forest.









This year I switched to 3rd grade and I wanted something that felt a little cozier, homier, and older. More 3rd grade chic.  So here are some before pictures.




 




 


 


A lot of great features! Besides being fairly new and well maintained, it had great space. And it really lent itself to a homey feeling. I didn't love the burgundy cabinets, but there was a lot of black that I really liked, and I loved the window with the space around it.

So here are some afters:
This little corner became a reading corner
here:

I need a cute little chair for the corner.
 
 
This smart board wall became this:
 

 
 
The rules
 
 

A little gift for the first day! I wrap up all the books in curling ribbon like a gift. Then we open our gifts and go through each book one by one, discuss what it is for and what we will learn, and then put it away in our desks.
 
A space by the window went from this:
(I brought the pillows, lamp and rug in)
 
To this reading corner:

 
 
 


 

                                                                             Before:
 
 
                                                          After: The birthday bags
 


So there's a little preview. I sometimes miss having a theme. But it's a very calming room. The blue is actually a teal color, not quite as blu-ish. On the first day one of my students told me it looked like a hotel!  I'm not sure if he meant it as a compliment, but I'll take it!

I always make all my own decorations. I had to completely change my plan this year because I didn't have access to colored ink, and couldn't afford to make a bunch of colored prints at Staples. So I did the best I could with black and white. I figured it was cheaper that way, and I could always just use the copier for some things.

 
I always say decorating is in the details. More details to come at a later time. Thank you for looking!

Glitter Words
[Glitterfy.com - *Glitter Words*]