Monday Made It: Pointers 2.0

I made some pointers for my classroom back in 2012. And again in 2013. Then the school year ended in 2014. And the school janitors threw ALL of my pointers away. All of them!!! :O

SO I had to make more...

I probably didn't need that many...... ;)

I did make some for a few friends and also some to give away at a workshop I was teaching. That should explain at LEAST half of them. :)

A fun-filled evening with 2 of my awesome teacher friends!

And this is my new favorite pointer, of course. :) :) :)

Some other cuties.

 

The mini pointers came out ADORABLE.

We used washi tape and duct tape to wrap the sticks and then hot glued the wooden pieces to the sticks.

My husband brought home like 40 of these heavy duty cardboard tubes from work--perfect for pointer storage!

We wrapped the tubes in fun duct tape.

My favorite set!

Here's to hoping these pointers survive the school year! ;)

Monday Made It!

So I have had this sudden burst of craftiness and have been making all sorts of things!! You may have already seen this post about my READ sign and crate seat covers. Well, I made a few more things after that! I can't even show you all of them right now because there are so many projects!!

Saturday, I put my birthday bouquet together just by using krazy straws and birthday stickers. Easy peasy.

I also made a first day of school sign.

I am making another one for the 100th day and another for the last day (at some point). I LOVE it so much! I mod podged scrapbook paper to the wooden F and used washi tape to hide the seams. I then stapled it (heavy duty stapler) to a 12 x 12 canvas (with glitter paper glued to it). I applied my favorite sticker letters to the glitter, which was not easy but they are still there!

I also finished making fun, matching labels for my classroom!

I have a few more projects to share but those will have to wait until later on this week because this is my last week of summer!!! Time to get in gear and start working on curriculum!!! :O

Math Bins MAKEOVER!

So one of my first grade BFFFFs texted me a picture of some BEAUTIFUL storage drawers from Walmart the other day...

My classroom theme is Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, so I knew I MUST have some of them!! The orange is perfect! I decided to get rid of my blue math bins...

I love the color of the blue bins but they do not really match the rest of my classroom. And while I was changing things up, I also decided that I needed better labels for all of the bins. (Originally, the kids would go to a numbered bin during math stations and complete that activity. I decided midway through the year last year to keep daily activities elsewhere and use the drawers for math station games/supplies storage since the amount of games and supplies is ever-increasing.) Anywho, I did it! I bought 2 orange bins and switched them with the blue! I also made my cute little labels and this is what it now looks like:

Did you notice the drawer with no label????? I don't have a clue what happened to it!! For whatever reason, it did not make it to my classroom with the others! I guess I'll do that one tomorrow...

These drawers store partner games for Word Work (Daily 5) and daubers (Do-a-Dots).

I LOOOOOVE my orange bins!!! Love, love, love!! :) I would love to switch out the white bins with pink ones so my room is even more CCBB, but I haven't ever seen any that color. Let me know if you do! :)

I also made labels over the weekend for my math manipulatives:

I printed them last night, cut them out, and was able to adhere them to my containers today! If you follow me on Instagram, you've already peeked at them!

If you are interested in the labels, click on either of the product pics to check them out in my TPT store. They are available for the very low price of $1.75!

So excited for all of this cuteness!! :) Can't wait to catch up on Monday Made It and see what YOU have made!

Monday Made It: Subitizing

Yay! It's time for......

This week, I made dot plates for subitizing:

I know you may be thinking, "Well, duh, easy enough to make and no explanation needed." Well, that is true, BUT I made a little presentation on the plates that I hope you watch and enjoy! :) And, please ignore my 1:30 a.m. voice............ :)

There you have it!! And this is not just a Kinder or 1st grade thing--it's never a bad thing to work on strengthening number sense! Go make some dot plates!! To help you out a little, I am including a page of suggested dot arrangements. Click the pic below to download your freebie!

And that all leads me to Made It #2:

I just finished up this pack this morning and I am VERY excited to use it in my classroom! Here are some sample pages:

And a fun little craftivity!!

You can check out this pack in either store:

Happy Monday!! :)

Monday Made It!

I haven't participated in Monday Made It in a looooooong time, so I am excited to link up today!

Remember these little cuties??

Well, I have been buying those little wooden, pre-painted shapes like crazy and finally decided to take the time to assemble some new pointers. If you notice in the photos above, my current pointers all have colored sticks. While I like the colored sticks, the dye tends to bleed a little in moist, little child hands (and kid hands ALWAYS seem to be moist!!). Well, I decided to use my friend Mod Podge and some scrapbook paper to give them a different look!!

That's right--I Mod Podged scrapbook paper onto the dowel sticks! It was a little tricky at first, but I ended up being able to crank out 14 of them last night! It took 3 episodes of Snapped to get them all finished.

DIY Pointers

Materials:

• a surface able to get a little messy
• dowel rods (any size)
• scrapbook paper
• X-Acto knife (or sharp scissors)
• Mod Podge
• hot glue gun
• fun wooden shapes of your choice

Procedure:

1. Pick your paper. I recommend trimming one end of the paper so that it is slightly shorter than the rod so you are to wrap the stick a little easier (you can see how much I trimmed on the right side; and, don't worry, that part will not be seen.) Use a paintbrush to apply Mod Podge to the top of the paper. Lay the dowel rod on top of the Mod Podge on the paper, leaving a little edge exposed. 

2. Grab the edge that was exposed and press it onto the dowel rod. Roll/tuck it just like a burrito over all of the Mod Podge you painted on.

Be sure to apply enough pressure to get rid of air bubbles and tuck tightly!

3. Use an X-Acto knife (or scissor blade) to trim the excess paper. Trim slightly below the bottom of the stick.

4. Apply a little more Mod Podge to the flap and finish wrapping the stick.

Press it down!!

5. Apply Mod Podge to the paper to seal it.

6. Let it dry for 10-15 minutes.

7. Time to glue! Apply hot glue to the back of your chosen wooden shape.

8. Apply pressure to the stick for about 30 seconds. 

VOILA!!!! 

Here is the part of the stick I did not cover with paper. Leaving it exposed made wrapping SO much easier!

 Made some big ones for the number line at the top of the wall in my classroom.

This is to show you how ginormous these are!

I. LOVE. THEM. EVEN. MORE. I cannot wait to add these to my pointer collection!!

Cheap trash can + fun stickers equals.......

...pointer storage!!!

LOVE IT!! And it was so easy to make! :) Stickers from Hobby Lobby and trash can from Walmart.

The third and final project for me was this fun little tray!

The tray will hold various supplies for small groups and will sit on the small group table. I bought the tray from the party section at Hobby Lobby.

 Procedure:
1. Pick your favorite papers.

2. Cut the papers to fit the inside of the tray.

3. Apply Mod Podge to the tray where you will place the first paper.

4. Stick the paper on and press it down. 

5. Do the same for the rest of the papers. 

6. Apply a top coat of Mod Podge. Beware of air bubbles!

VOILA!!

This tray will house these fun pails and will be kept one of my small group tables.

Thanks for stopping by!! :)