While most teachers and students are ready for the school year to come to a close, I'm busy "getting my craft on" in the form of preparing my school binder for August. I've visited Office Depot, purchased my binder, page dividers, and page protectors. Hobby Lobby and Michael's lured me in with various coupons (it was a conspiracy I tell you) and conveniently enough, school-themed scrapbooking paper was on clearance. A sign, obviously.
The pile:
My paper selection for the front cover:
Adding some ribbon and doo-dahs (er, "embellishments"):
Papers for divider pages, title blocks of polka dotted paper framed with photo corners:
The spine:
...and the finished binder!
I *really* need to get back to teaching!
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*I've discovered another awesome FOODIE BLOG! The Pioneer Woman Cooks is my new favorite diet destroyer- go, go go! Perfectly detailed photography and directions for recipes- hey, I said "go, go go!"
*The Graphics Fairy shares some wonderful ephemera- I can't wait to sort through the pages from her Victorian Alphabet Book to make one of my own!
*Laurie at Laurie's Charming Designs has miraculously erased my aversion to chalk (heh heh heh, I know, that was bad) with her beautifully painted plates, trays, etc. Of course I'm also a fan of her pincushions and am sorely tempted to ask if she'd transform my lidless sugarbowl into a pincushion for my future craft area...
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An offering for Q and A...you ask me questions, I'll answer. Pretty simple. Keep it clean or I'll put you in Time Out. Either comment here or email me: michaelek1(at)yahoo(dot)com
I love the idea of such a beautiful plan book. How long does it take you to do this? Do you start with just a basic three-ring binder?
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'll be moving from 5th to 1st next year. I'm betting you'll be hearing from me with many, many questions about the primary grades!
Hi there Jenny! This binder took me an hour, start to finish, though I've been collecting the papers, stickers and trim for a while now- just letting it accumulate. My "Inspiration" binder cover took longer since I was trying to make a nine patch square on the front with different embellishments. My recipe binder was time consuming only because I searched online for retro images to use on the divider pages. Both of the binders are in my blog archives if you want to take a peek. Yep, three ring binder with the clear slip in sleeve covers...and I'll probably end up making several once I figure out what grade I'll be in, etc.
ReplyDeleteYou're going to LOVE first grade! You can still get some "young" ones (you'll wonder how they made it out of kindergarten) but the MAGIC of school and reading is still there- and the kiddos are eager to please, laugh, and sing. I look forward to hearing from you!
Oh this is just the neatest thing ever!! I love it!. Laurie
ReplyDeletewhat do you use your binder for?
ReplyDeleteHi there! Thanks for visiting my blog! I use the large binder for a catch all of everything- my year long calendar, my class list, my "Super Star" interviews and Parent Surveys, copies of my initial assessment sheets, then my class assessment charts so I can easily check on my students' progress over time (bi-monthly "officially"), my notes and observations of students, school wide memos or announcements for future inservices etc. that might still be sent out via paper... it's basically my teaching dayrunner.
ReplyDeleteI use a smaller version for my sub binder with all the info a substitute teacher might need at a glance. It's probably more of a sub survival kit, now that I think about it!
Thanks for asking!