Sprucing Up Boards and Blinds - Monday Made-It!

This Monday Made-It is all about sprucing up my classroom. First, the bulletin boards! Last year they painted all of our hallway bulletin boards black. I love it! Most of the time I don't even add background paper, just a border, the artwork and it looks awesome.

So as I sat in my room last week, dreaming of all the bulletin boards I can't put up (because the laminator is broken), I thought why not paint these bulletin boards black too... My Daily 5 bulletin board set and the Writing Center I bought from Mrs. Cupcake would look great with a black background, so I talked my hubby into helping. I am a messy painter and I had visions of paint all over the wall and floor and me getting into serious trouble! He did a wonderful job. I LOVE IT!!!!

Before - Front of the room.

Before - Back of the room.

After - Front of the room.

After - Back of the room.

While hubby worked on that, I tackled another eyesore in my room - the blinds. These roller blinds are HUGE and UGLY. I'm sure at one time they looked great, but now they are stained and dingy. In this picture they are closed for the summer, but I usually leave them half open to let in the natural light. Please excuse the mess!

Before - Blinds behind my desk area.

After - Aren't they lovely?

A little bit of fabric and black duct tape does wonders!

I LOVE THESE!

Okay, if you are in a similar situation, here is how I did it. My blinds were 4 ft. wide and I knew I kept them pulled down with about 3 ft. of the shade exposed. I went to Wal-Mart and found fabric. My first pick went along with my sports theme, but it was nearly $6 a yard (or $32 for my project). Um, NO! So I settled for this fabric on the clearance rack for $2 a yard. The fabric was 44" wide, leaving me with 2" exposed on each side of the blind...enter duct tape border. It is all the rage anyway, right? I used spray adhesive to attach the fabric and then added the duct tape...couldn't be happier with it! :-)

And of course, the kids had to be busy too! Here is their project - my math cubby shelf.

Before - Math Cubbies (found those baskets the other day $1 for 2 just the other day and was testing them out)

After - Black to match other things in my room.

Don't forget to link up with Tara at 4th Grade Frolics to share your Monday Made-It!

Have a blessed day!

Crystal