School Bulletin Board

Here is the bulletin board I did for the end of the school year.  I'm really happy with how it turned out.

 

I used the Stampin' Up! In Color 12 x 12 paper pack 12-14 for this project.  All the colors went nicely with the background paper and color of the frame, I think.

 

I cut the crabs out at 3" from Create a Critter.  I think the shells were cut at 3" as well, but since they are an accessory they cut out just right for the crab to hold.

 

 

I used my Gypsy, and I have many fonts.  I can't remember which one I used right at the moment, but I'll look it up when I get back from New Orleans and let you know.  :)

 

 

On one side of the sea shells was the number of days left of school.  On the other, is a yellow layer that makes it look pretty.  As each day ends, I removed a sea shell from a crab, turned it over and stapled it at the bottom with the sea weed.

 

 

You'll never know how happy I was to take that last number down!  lol  I loved my students this year for sure, but it will be so nice not to have to be "on" all day 5 days a week (and when I see them outside of school in the afternoons and weekends).  I can relax a little and not have thoughts of lesson plans, tests/quizzes, missing homework, etc.  Oh yeah, and I can clean my house and bake something yummy.  I have time for Pinterest again!  Wow!  This is getting exciting thinking about it all.  lol

I'm including this on D.L.ART's page for the SPLASH Challenge.  The challenge implies anything "wet" so I think my bulletin board fits since the crabs are under the water.  :) 

Classroom Bulletin Board

I like to carry over my crafty-ness into my classroom to make it more homey place for my students.  It also looks more organized when it's decorated in a uniform way.

I used printable, digital paper that I bought from MyGrafico.  I really like it.  I have used it for several different things.  Sometimes I just print it out and cut it for a project like the bulletin board and the organizer caddy.  Other times I arranged it digitally using either Microsoft Word or Publisher and then printed it out like the signs on my white boards.  

I know what you're thinking.  "Doesn't it cost a lot to print the paper out?"  Actually, it doesn't cost any more than buying paper as far as I can tell, and it's so much more versatile.  Also, have you ever spent a lot of time trying to find a great paper for a project and then there isn't enough of it?  This way, you print what you need.  If you have SCAL or eCAL, you can fill a shape with the digital paper patterns and then print-to-cut for your own personalized embellishments.  Awesome, right?

Don't get me wrong.  I'm all about some scrapbook paper, but this just gives you another option and a little more freedom in some of your projects.
 

This is the district's theme this year.  I'm working on another bulletin board that's all about me and it's going to say "Know me, Learn from me."

 

There are actually words on my word wall now.......

The words were cut using the Curlz font on my Eclips.  Oh, that reminds me!  Another cool tip is one I learned from Pinterest.  The silver staples were really standing out on the black letters and killing the effect.  I learned that you can use Sharpie paint pens to paint the staples before putting them into the stapler.  Who thinks of these things?  Geniuses, that's who!  Not me........  I painted a row of staples black and re-stapled.  Now you can't even tell they are there unless you look really close.  Some of my students have noticed it, though, and have asked me, "Mrs. Kinkey, did you know your staples are black?"  I just looked at them innocently and said, "No, I didn't know that.  What a convenient coincidence." You can imagine the eye-rolling that took place.....