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New Classroom Colors and my first Monday Made It!

June 24, 2013 by 12 Comments


Last year when I found out I’d been hired to teach 5th grade after a two year hiatus to stay home with my daughter, it was 3 days before school started! I barely had time to clean and somewhat setup my classroom, let alone plan my classroom décor or put together any organizational systems. Throughout the entire year I kept a list of tasks I wanted to achieve this summer- the first being completely overhauling my classroom ‘style’.

 I’ve never been a theme person- partly because in upper elementary the students tend to find it cheesy- but also because I want my classroom to feel more like an extension of my home. After all, we spend 8 or more hours a day in our classrooms! So I chose some of my favorite colors and patterns, and here is what I’m going with:

Classroom-colors-2013

 

{All fabrics and ribbons were purchased at Hobby Lobby.}

 
To be honest, I’m a little worried about the chevron. Don’t get me wrong, I love chevron as much as the next girl, but I’m starting to feel like it might become like the latest pop song on the radio that I love in the beginning, but it gets so overplayed that eventually I get sick of it. BUT… I decided to stick with it and that leads me into my first “Monday Made It”!
#1: “Made It” for School- Inexpensive Throw Pillows
When I was at Hobby Lobby picking out the fabric for my new color scheme, I happened upon these. 
pillow-covers
  They have a whole selection of super cute pillow covers. They average from $5-$7, but if you wait for a sale (which they have often) you can get them for a few bucks a piece, or you can download the Hobby Lobby App which has a 40% coupon in it weekly.  I’ve REALLY been wanting some fun pillows for my library area which I am sprucing up this summer.
Rather than purchasing expensive pillow forms, I just bought some Poly-Fil which is only around $3 for a bag, and stuffed the pillow covers.
stuff-pillows-polyfil
 They turned out so cute, and were about one-fourth of the cost that a new throw pillow would have been!  Here they are all finished:
Finished-Pillows
#2: “Made It” for Home- Refinished Dresser
If you haven’t heard about Centsational Girl and you are in to painting or DIYing projects for your home, do yourself a favor and get over to her blog right away! She is my new painting idol. I found her blog via Pinterest one day when I was researching whether I could paint laminate. Oh, and by the way, YES you can!
One of my sweet teacher friends gave me this old dresser that used to be her daughters:
I followed Centsational Girl’s directions to a T, and for the first time ever I painted something that actually looked professional when I was done! Here is the result, which now sits happily in my little girl’s room:
dresser-after-for-TL
For an awesome, everything you need to know tutorial about how to correctly refinish/repaint furniture, click here. The most important things I learned were:
1.   Waiting the full amount of time between coats is key, and waiting a full 5-7 days for the paint to CURE before you apply the protective coat is even more important!
2.   Multiple thin coats are far better than 1 thick.
3.   If you are painting something white, use Polycrylicto protect it rather than polyurethane so that it won’t turn yellow.
4.   For painting larger pieces, roll the paint on, the follow up with a NICE brush.
5.   It is worth it to purchase a nice brush, like Purdy, because if you don’t you will be picking paint brush bristles out of your new paint job constantly!
And that’s my first Monday Made It! Now I’m off to start creating my teacher toolbox, which I think I may be the last teacher on earth to make- I will post pics next week! If you’d like to join in the fun, click the picture below to head over to 4th Grade Frolics!
 
 
-Amber-

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Filed Under: Before and After, DIY, In My Classroom, Linky Party

Comments

  1. Jennifer Laffin says
    June 25, 2013 at 12:14 am

    I bought that very same pillow (the blue chevron) at Hobby Lobby today to make for my Monday Made It next week! How funny!!! It is so cute!

    Jennifer
    Mrs. Laffin’s Laughings

    Reply
  2. Emily Wells says
    June 25, 2013 at 12:50 am

    I’m wondering on the pillow did you fasten them shut or are they tight enough that the stuffing doesn’t come out?

    Reply
    • Amber Carlson says
      June 25, 2013 at 12:57 am

      Hi Emily! The pillow covers actually have zippers that are hidden in the seam or under the flap (it depends which cover you buy), so after you stuff it, you just zip it closed!

      Reply
  3. Hoots and Hollers says
    June 25, 2013 at 12:03 pm

    Your dresser turned out amazing! What a difference! Just found you today through the linky and am a new follower… Thanks for sharing your pillows, too.

    Smiles,
    Sarah @ Hoots N Hollers

    Reply
  4. Mrs. Shepherd says
    June 26, 2013 at 4:20 am

    Girl you are AWESOME! I’m heading over to HB tomorrow to pick some of those up! I’m your newest follower on bloglovin.

    My second grade Journal

    Reply
  5. Amy says
    July 3, 2013 at 2:37 am

    LOVEEEEE the pillow idea! I was just out today looking for pillows for my classroom at Hobby Lobby, Target, etc. and couldn’t find anything reasonable! You are a life saver! I just want to smack my forehead since I didn’t think of this first! Thanks for the quick thinking!

    Reply
  6. Liz says
    August 8, 2013 at 1:32 am

    I’m your newest follower… we have the same classroom colors! Those pillows came out awesome!

    Liz
    Floating Through Fifth

    Reply
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