Monday Made It AND Planning a Giveaway

                                      

I think I should have researched the DOs and DON'Ts of this project before I began. I saw these cute clipboards all over Pinterest. I read a couple blogs where people had said how easy they were to make, so I decided to make my own. I must say-YUCK! What a fiasco! What I thought was a cute, simple, easy project turned out to be my own nightmare. I was so excited to a make them. I went to Target and bought new clipboards. I went to Michael's to pick out cute scrapbook paper (5 for $1), spray adhesive glue and spray Modge Podge. I also wanted to decorate the front AND back of each clipboard. I figured you see the back more than the front anyway because the front usually has papers covering it. Right away, I found out that my 12x12 paper was a bit short for the clipboard (annoying). So I decided to add pieces to the top. I used spray glue to adhere it to the clipboard and no matter how much I used, the corners lifted. I was gluing and re-gluing without much luck. I sprayed it with Modge Podge hoping that would seal it better-WRONG! At this point, I was so frustrated, I wasn't sure I wanted to attempt the back side. Come to find out, the back side was easier to complete than the front because there is no clip to get in the way. My mom was helping me with this project and suggested we use regular Modge Podge instead of spray. Ok. At this point I'll try anything. When we used the regular Modge Podge, it started to ripple the paper. AWESOME! (hint of sarcasm here). Then I sprayed them with clear acrylic so they would not be tacky. Here are the finished products, front and back views.

They look cute. I'll use them. But I am not in love with them because they are not perfect or at least near perfect and they were a lot of work to make. I would love to hear any words of wisdom from any of you that have had success with this project. I would love to make more but I just don't think it's worth it at this point. Sorry for my diatribe, but I guess not every Monday Made It has to be a success story, although that would be nice.  On to my next project....

My next project which I am SUPER excited about is my 100 Follower Giveaway! I turned on my computer yesterday and was school-girl giddy when I saw that I had over 100 followers. So, I am going to plan a thank you giveaway to all you amazing blogging friends out there. I am going to be giving away some of the items in my store. I also have a couple projects I am working on that I would like to have up before the giveaway starts. If any of you are interested in donating items to my giveaway I would LOVE it! Please email me at brightconcepts4teachers@gmail.com or leave a comment after this post letting me know.  Thanks so much everyone! Have an amazing Monday!

Monday Made It-Clips and a FREEBIE

                           

This past week I had many projects that were "in the works". I had ideas. I had started making some of my ideas. And I had NOT completed many of my ideas. However, I did get one complete. It's these cute little guys.

I started off with plain wooden clothespins. My dad helped me spray paint some of them black and some of them white. Then I took a paint pen and added dots to them. 

I wanted to make them cuter. So I used some scrap booking paper I had and cut out a flower pattern. Then I glued them to the top of the clothespin. I am going to add a magnet strip to the back so they can be used on the whiteboard or file cabinets in my room.

I am also going to use these clothespins for my classroom behavior clip chart and to display anonymous work. Instead of the flowers, I made blue polka dot circles with numbers in the center. Each student will have their own number in class. This will allow me to use the clips year after year without making new ones because their names were on it. 

If you like this idea for your classroom, just click on the picture above to grab your FREEBIE copy to download. I have included the numbers 1-36 to accommodate all class sizes. Enjoy!

Also, for today only I am having a sale at my TN and TpT stores in celebration of my birthday. Everything is 20% off today only! Enjoy shopping everyone!

Monday Made It

                                    
I wish I was able to get this post up earlier today, but this is the best I could do. I have so many projects started for Monday Made It, but this is the one that I actually completed. I saw this from Dana at Fun In 1st Grade and thought it was super cute, so I made one for my 2nd grade class.

I bought a plain, wooden 11x14 frame from Michael's and painted it turquoise (my school colors) and then put a clear coat of acrylic on top of it to keep everything in place. I then hot glued these cute, colorful letters around the frame. I am going to take each student's picture on the first day to send home with them. Then I want to make a collage of each of their pictures and put it in the frame to have up in the classroom during the year. I then want to take their picture on the last week of school to compare their pictures and show how much they have grown and matured over the year. I think it will be a great way to show the full circle of the school year. Hopefully this week I will be able to complete some of my other projects to have ready for NEXT Monday. 

Monday Made It and a GIVEAWAY

                                             
I have been looking at what everyone is making for Monday Made It and I have been pinning things like crazy, but I had not made anything until yesterday! Now I am linking up with all of you and Tara at 4th Grade Frolics. You see, my husband came up with this "great" idea to have Mondays be "Monday Move It" for my 2 boys this summer. That means, NO ELECTRONICS all day! So, Mommy (that's me) has to figure out the activities for the day usually. Yesterday, was Art Project day at Camp Mommy. We went to Michael's (NO Hobby Lobby here that I know of) and purchased the supplies needed to make Tara's believe sign and some painted letters that say READ!

Tara's believe sign hit home with me. Ever since I was a little girl my mom told me if I believed, Santa would leave something for everyone who believed under the Christmas tree. Santa always left something! I continue this tradition with my children as well. However, I also use it in my classroom to make the children realize they need to believe in themselves. They can do it!  So when I saw the believe sign- I HAD TO MAKE IT!

I purchased an art canvas, acrylic paint and a paint pen. I loved Tara's polka dot design and thought it would be cute in my classroom. Then I bought some wooden letters. My dad spray painted them black for me. They dried super quick in the warm California sun and I hot glued them to the canvas and added some ribbon to hang it with. Now I need to decide where I am going to put it!

Finished product! I LOVE IT!

Here is my other quick project. I bought black wooden letters and used the same colors from the believe sign and attached ribbon to hang them with. Simply, easy, perfect for my classroom! Can't wait to hang them up!

GIVEAWAY!!

I am super excited to join Lisa at Learning is Something to Treasure. She is having a 400 follower giveaway! How exciting is that? I am joining her and several other fabulous bloggers for her giveaway. I am giving away my Parts of Speech and Punctuation Posters for your classroom. Head on over and join this fabulous give away today!

July Currently

I am linking up with Farley over at Oh! Boy 4th Grade. Click on the image above to link up. Happy July Everyone! 

Also, don't forget to check out my July 4th Sale I have running for the next few days. Everything is 20% off in my TpT store and TN store! Enjoy the rest of your weekend!