August Currently and Bulletin Boards That POP!

Good morning everyone!  I'm really excited to share my favorite bulletin board tips, but first I'm linking up with Farley for her Currently August linky.

Listening: I love Pandora, and I've been hooked on their Pop Workout station lately.  I love to work out to it, but it's also great for cleaning the house and working in the classroom.  I love how it gets me moving!

Loving: This one's pretty self-explanatory.  Since I've been out of the classroom since Thanksgiving, I've had a ton of time to plan and think about this coming year and what I want to do differently (or more!).  I've been so busy designing games and task cards to use with my new kids, and I'm so excited to see all of that hard work pay off.  I love when we're doing an educational activity, and they say how fun it is, or beg to play it again (I know everything can't be fun, but fun definitely has its place in the classroom.  If something can be fun and still educational, why wouldn't I want to make it fun?).

Thinking: I still have so much to do!  Thankfully, my mom drove up last night and she's going to be helping me work in my room today.  I still have quite a bit of stuff to move into my room from the garage, and she brought the truck, so we will be super busy today!  I love that she's able to come up and help.  It really makes everything so much easier :)

Wanting: Who doesn't want magical elves??  And if they bring me smoothies, too?  Sign me up!

Needing: I love these laminating pouches from Scotch.  I especially love how much thicker and more durable they are compared to "regular" lamination.

My B2S must haves:

1. 

A teacher binder!  Right now, I'm obsessed with this one from A Modern Teacher.  I'm just not sure if I want to shell out the money for her (beautiful!) version, or make my own.  I guess I need to decide pretty quickly!

2.

Like most teachers, I drink a ton of water every day, so I need a good water bottle.  Right now, my favorite is this one from Target.  I picked it up on clearance for $5, and I love it!  I don't have an ice-maker at home (boo!) and I love cold water, so my trick is to fill up one bottle completely and freeze, and fill the other up about two-thirds and freeze.  In the morning, I fill up the second bottle the rest of the way with water and I have cold water all day!

3.

My third must-have is a crock pot.  I love mine!  I usually prepare a few meals over the weekend and freeze them, so all I have to do in the morning is turn on the crock pot and throw them in, so I have a home-cooked meal waiting for me when I get home, and I don't have to cook at the end of a long day.  I usually freeze the leftovers in individual servings as well, so then I have my own "freezer meals" to eat too.

Now for my three favorite tips for beautiful and easier bulletin boards:

1. Use fabric for your background!  You can use a cheap flat sheet from Walmart or Target, or you buy yardage of fabric from places like Hobby Lobby and Joann's (both have teacher discounts and coupons!).  I have had the same bulletin board fabric for three years now and it still looks just as good as the day I purchased it.  The best part is you can throw it in the washer when it starts to look dirty and it's good as new!
2. Use push pins to hold up your background, borders, and bulletin board items while you get the placement down.  This has saved me so much time and trouble over the years because I'm sort of a perfectionist, and it will bug me all day long if my board is uneven.  Once you know where you want everything to go and it's all lined up, all you have to do is staple and remove the push pins and you're done!
3. Double up on your borders!  This makes a huge difference in the visual impact of your board.  Here's my favorite combo from this year:
   
   What are your tips for doing bulletin boards?