TREE TUTORIAL

Oh my goodness! Tomorrow is the first day of school! I definitely have some butterflies in my tummy! I hope I will be able to sleep tonight. I swear I'm worse than the kids! I had such a sweet class last year! I am hoping that this year is just as wonderful!

I was in my class yesterday for some last minute stuff and wound up staying for 7 hours! What is wrong with me? And somehow I still didn't manage to accomplish all I had hoped to. I did however, finish putting up my tree. Every year I have to have a tree or two in my classroom. I need greenery! And since I don't have a window in my room having any live plants is out!

Another good thing about the tree is that it is FREE! I just love good ole butcher paper!

First you start off with some brown butcher paper. And crumple, crumple, crumple!

This will be your trunk. Now staple it to the wall. If you can't staple than use hot glue!

Now crumple some more brown butcher paper and add some branches!

Hmmm...seems a little sparse. Let's add some more branches. And make them a tad thinner!

Now it is time to add the greenery! Grab some green butcher paper and cut out some leaves. I don't use a stencil, I just wing it!

These leaves definitely need more texture, so let's scrunch some more!

Now make A LOT more! And repeat, once again- A LOT! Then staple, staple, staple, until you get the amount of greenery that works for you!

And there you have it! A lovely tree to add interest to your classroom! Oh how I love my tree! Here is another view!

In my humble opinion every classroom needs a tree! Go ahead - give it a try!

ANCHOR CHARTS, TREES, ETC.

Here are some of the anchor charts I had in my classroom last year...

And here is a pic of my lovely cherry trees! I was so sad that I had to take them down! I wanted to leave them up but alas, we were told everything must come down off the walls! *sniff*

During our measurement math unit we measured our hands! Since it was March, I had to make it a rainbow!

And that is just some of the fun stuff we did in my classroom last year! This year it will be even better!

GINORMOUS TISSUE FLOWER TUTORIAL

I am still in the process of getting my room organized and ready for school. Once I got my bulletin boards up I realized I was running low on polka dot border for one side of a display. Hmm....what to do? So I decided to make a giant flower to cover up the edge. It should also liven the corner up a bit too!

To start off, I made three separate stacks of tissue paper with anywhere from 5-8 pieces of paper. I then folded them over, and drew large, medium, and small sized petals.

Next - I cut them out!

First cut out the large sized petals. Unfold them, and staple one at a time to the wall. If you don't have a wall you can staple on, then use hot glue! That always does the trick for me!

Continue stapling and layering the large sized petals. Scrunching as you go!

Keep on layering and scrunching. When you run out of the large petals, starting scrunching and layering with the medium sized ones.

Keep on scrunching and layering until all the layers are gone!

Next - cut out a circle of brownish tissue paper. I used a couple of sheets. Staple or glue in the middle of the flower and crunch the edges.

To give the flower more texture and interest use Spanish Moss in the center of the flower. I got mine at Hobby Lobby for a couple of dollars.

After stapling the moss - I realized I needed a stem! So I went to the handy dandy workroom and got some green butcher paper. FREE! I love using butcher paper because of that lovely aspect!

Do you like my lovely foot in the corner? Hehe! So I cut, rolled, and scrunched some green butcher paper, then stapled it along the edge of my bulletin board.

Hmmm...missing something. Perhaps some leaves?

I had to make the leaves lean to the left so I would have room on my bulletin board for math stuff!

And Voila! The finished product! A lovely ginormous flower to pretty up my classroom! I think I will make a couple more! Next up - some trees!

BIG LOTS SCORE!

I am always on the prowl for some sturdy storage! And boy did I ever score today! Big Lots is the store for teachers, let me tell you! I found some delightful bins that should stand up to some heavy duty storage. I plan on using the bigger ones for books and the smaller ones for manipulatives and such. The MAJOR find of the day was a beautiful chevron rug!  For only 19 dollars! I snagged that baby up right away. I am tempted to head back for another. I'm sure I'll find used for it someday, right?