Sunday, September 23, 2012

Recycling is a HOOT

So, I'm sure you've noticed, but owls are EVERYWHERE. So I thought, why not make a compilation of lots of cool ways that you can recycle while making those cute little birds that everyone seems to love right now. So, here goes:

It's fall now, so what could be better than toilet tube owls? These are by Apartment Therapy.

How about some egg carton owls by My Owl Barn?

Go to Teachers Notebook for a free owl-themed recycling poster by Lucky Girl.

This paper bag owl pinata is just waiting for a fiesta! Tutorial is by Inspired Mama Musings.

Adorable owl-themed desk organizer by Fave Crafts

Love these TP Christmas Owls by Con M de Mujer.

This just blows me away. I want to try it right now! By Recycle Renew Reuse Mother Earth Projects.

These TP owls by Fun Family Crafts are so wonky and cute!

Go to Find Make Do to see many delightful created by Robyn Stewardson out of kitchen metal scraps.

And here's an owl door sign I made out of various recycled materials that is posted right here at The Green Classroom.

Don't forget - Recycling is a Hoot!


Sunday, September 2, 2012

Classroom Recycling Bins Giveaway!


Hey, guys! A classroom recycling center has been such a great experience in my classroom that I wanted to pass that on to another green teacher who really wants to educate his/her students in recycling and making the most of everything we have.

Sooo, if you head on down to the FlapJack blog, you will see that I am giving away one of these 3-bin sets to be used in the classroom as a recycling center. It's really easy to enter, and if you'd like more info. on the bins, just click on the image below.


As you can see, this system has awesome reviews. The winner will have it mailed right to his or her doorstep! And I already have two freebie posters on recycling that you can use to decorate, so the setup will be too easy!

Here's my recycling center. You can click on the image if you'd like to read more about what we recycle, although I think this year we are going to be able to recycle even more - yay!



Stay Calm and Recycle On!



Saturday, September 1, 2012

Upcycled Bulletin Board - Green Theme Day 7


My partner teacher gave me a bulletin board passed on to her from a teacher who left, and it was just what I needed. However, it was a little Raggedy Andy, so I googled on some ways to redecorate bulletin boards and decided to decorate mine pretty much redneck style.

What I Did:

1) Put masking tape around the inside edges (don't know why because I ended up covering it with fabric)
2) Primed the outside frame
3) Painted it by brush with acrylic paint
4) Sealed it with enamel spray
5) Used some left over fabric. I thankfully had two edges that were pretty straight, so I stapled those edges under the top edge and left-handed side edge.
6) I pulled the rest of the material taut to the other two edges and stapled like crazy.
7) I think you should use a rotary cutter and all that stuff, but I just used a razor to cut the remaining edges, and it worked pretty well!
8) I found some old red ribbon that was long enough to hot glue to three of the edges ad cover the staples. That was good enough for me!
9) Printed out some Avery labels with a cute design and added them to some green caps.
10) I hot-glued different sizes of green caps all around the border.
11) For a cute touch, I glued push pins inside of several green caps. We'll see how long they last!

 At Goodwill, I found a beige, pretty ugly wall basket. I primed and painted it, and I think it made a nice addition to the board.





I also had a double frame that I actually had painted and polka-dotted two years back. I added some decorations that tied in with my theme and will probably use it to display exceptional student work.

As always, stay GREEN my friends!