It has been so nice to be able to go to my classroom and work slowly on moving things around and reorganizing this summer! I love how the room is really coming together. One of the things I knew I wanted to change was my individual book boxes. I had bought really nice tubs from Steps to Literacy, and I loved them but they just didn't work in our classroom.

I had a shelf they were suppose to go on, but if they were on the shelf then students had to be getting up to get them every time they needed them. They were never able to do this quickly or quietly. When the boxes were at their desks they got dumped over and books were all over the floor getting stepped on and destroyed. I found myself saying "pick up your books" or stopping to pick up the books myself constantly!

I searched for different solutions and finally decided to try book bags for next year. I bought canvas bags from Michaels, and Hobby Lobby. I wanted them to match my classroom so I was looking for red, green, and blue. I found really nice red bags at Hobby Lobby they were on sale for 50% off so I got them for 1.50 a bag. I couldn't find blue or green so I decided to get white bags and dye them the colors I wanted. The white bags come in packs of three for 7.99 I had 40% off coupons for both stores so I ended up getting them for $3.19 a set.

I didn't want the dyeing process to be a lot of trouble, I've seen posts about dying things in the washer and decided to go that route. I bought Rit liquid dye made to be used in the washing machine.
I decided to use emerald green and royal blue. I like lime and aqua but I know the bags will be used a lot and I didn't want them to be really light colors, I am sure they will get dirty. Each bottle of dye cost $2 at Walmart.

I followed the directions on the container, putting six bags in the washer using the hottest water possible and ran it through the cycle twice.This did mean I had to watch the time and make sure I set the cycle back to the beginning before the water drained, but that was the most trouble I had.
The washer did all the work! After the bags ran through the double cycle I washed them one more time in warm water with detergent, then hung them up to dry. The color came out really vibrant. I was surprised at how dark they were when they came out of the wash, but after drying they were much brighter. I ran the empty machine through a small wash with a cup of bleach after the bags were done and there are no signs of dye left over in the washer at all.

Such a simple process and the bags turned out great! I am so excited to see how these work for us this year.
It's hard to see the green but I really like the shade! It's not too dark but not super light either.

I wanted to label the bags as we will be using them for individual book boxes so I made these cute little tags to match them. I plan to laminate them and attach them to the bags with book rings. I didn't have a ring at home so I just put this one on with a paper clip!
I still want students to have a little ownership of the bag so I am going to wait and let them write their names on the tags before I laminate them. If you would like to use the labels you can download them HERE!

I also spent part of the week organizing my library and labeling books! It's been a big job but it will be so worth it!! I'll share it all with you when it's finally finished.

Don't forget to head over to Tara's blog to see all the other Monday Made It Projects!
Thanks for stopping by!
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I've already been on summer break for three weeks and I haven't even had a chance to link up with Monday Made it yet! I've gotten a lot done that I'm excited to share with you so here comes a picture overload!
Up first is a desk redo that I am loving! I had this old desk/computer cart that I really wanted to use in my classroom but it was soooo ugly. I decided to give it a make over.
 See I told you UGLY!



I primed it first since it's laminate, and then spray painted it with an aqua blue. I used this beautiful contact paper I picked up in the Target Dollar Spot to cover the top, and I love how it turned out! I am going to use this at the front of my classroom for my document camera and teachers guides. I really love it!


Next I wanted new curtains. I searched and searched for something that would match and I just couldn't find anything I liked. So I decided to make some. I ordered this fabric from Fabric.com.


Premier Prints Zoom Zoom Twill Harmony

Which matches my room perfectly and sewed simple valances for my windows.I think they look much better than the old ones which didn't match my colors at all! 

What do you think?


I had a large blank space in my classroom last year that I tried to hang things on but everything kept falling unless I used hot glue and after about November I just didn't have time to hunt down the ladder and use the glue gun to get things up there. So I decided to create some easy bulletin boards that I could pin stuff on. 
 See that big blank space! I need to use that!


 I got foam board from the Dollar Tree, I used spray adhesive to attach colorful paper and a boarder to each board. I LOVE this new Painted Palette Ombre border from Creative Teaching Press. I got the mounting tape from Menards. I used this last year for a hall display and it was great. It's removable but holds really well. I taped the back of each board generously and then stuck them to the wall.

 Here's that space now! Can't wait to add our vowel team activities here this year!

I added these above our writing center as well to display grammar and punctuation anchor charts!

I saw this post by Melissa at Got To Teach and knew I wanted to make one! So I had the poster I made last year printed as 18x24 at Vista Print..
I got a poster frame at Michaels. It was white and I liked it but the poster blended in with it and I wanted it to pop, so I painted the frame red and I LOVE it! Can't wait to hang it in the classroom.

I wanted name plates for my students desks that 1.) match the classroom, and 2.) have only the references that we really use all the time on them. So I made these.
Again so very excited about these! They are exactly what I was looking for!

Now head over to Tara's blog to see all the amazing teachers out there and what they are creating this summer! I love Monday Made it!!


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