Heidi's Crafting Mecca

My classroom is finished and ready for the little ones to arrive on Tuesday. I have to admit, there are still a few small things that I plan to do VERY early in the morning on Tuesday. Just a few odds and ends. Marty said that it will never truly be finished as something like this is always a work in progress. True.



Thank you to all of you that posted comments and sent me emails about my classroom. I am really excited about the finished product this year. It has my creative vibe all throughout it. I hope that it is an environment that promotes learning, creativity and relaxation.



Allow me to show you around...



This is the Reading Reef (thank you mucho, Pat) where the I have my classroom library. It is labeled by Fountas and Pinnell levels as well as by themes. Thanks to this amazing site http://www.kellyskindergarten.com/Classroom%20Organization/classroom_organization.htm I was able to find some labels along with pictures for my library baskets. Thank you to this fine teacher who provided this resource!

This is a view of some of the children's desks in a group. To the right is a sink with cabinets. The long orange thing is a mesh holder (not sure of the actual name) from IKEA. It has holes along it...perfect for ocean puppets to peek out their little heads. The cabinet with the doors holds all of the art supplies! Crafts, creativity...exciting stuff. To the left of that is the Writing Center equipped with tons of writing activities and paper.
This is a view of the second group of desks as well as the table at the Writing Center. The far corner is the rug area. New York City is very big on the Workshop Model http://www.tqnyc.org/NYC052376/whatisworkshop_new.html of teaching. The rug is the meeting area where the teaching is done. It is one of the most important areas of the classroom as that is where all of the mini-lessons are taught to the children. (Yes, those are curtains on the windows!)
This area is where I will teach Guided Reading each day. Behind the table are coat hooks. I am not thrilled with all of their coats, etc. being exposed but this is an opportunity to teach them to be neat and organized. The bulletin board is "Behavior Beach" which is a behavior plan that I am using. (If you are a teacher and want to know more about this, please email me directly at fluteprincess619@yahoo.com)
This is a bigger view of the Reading Reef. Marty put orange coral and ocean paper in there. Hope you can see it. It's super cute!
This is the Math Center and another bulletin board in the room. I like to leave boards blank and decorate them with kid work through the first week. It helps to liven up the room and have the kids take ownership of the space.

My classroom is done! I am exhausted. I spent all night on the couch relaxing. I will post pictures of the finished room tomorrow night! Thank you for all of your kind words on my blog. I love reading all of your amazing thoughts!

Just a reminder that I am still offering my exciting NEW Postage STAMP in the Mail Kit!
Check it out here! http://heididavenport.blogspot.com/2008/08/october-postage-stamp-in-mail-kit.html Order one today!

I had this inspiration this summer and I spent some time thinking about a cool place in my classroom for my library and where kids can go to read. I thought about a place they can "get away" in a great book. I tossed around a ton of ideas. My final two were a rainforest theme or the ocean theme. Marty said he thought I would have more fun with the ocean theme. He was right! With that theme, I needed a special nook for the library. I asked some friends for ideas of what to call the nook. My dear friend, Pat, came up with the amazing name of READING REEF. I love it!


This is the sign that evolved over the last two days. I plan to hang this right outside of the READING REEF. It is hard to describe right now...I promise to post pictures.

I put this together while I was on the phone with my friend, Carla. I said "this thing just needs something" and it did. She told me to walk away and then come back and look at it.

I went into school today for just a short time to remove some of the excess furniture that was in my room. Marty convinced me that I had a TON of things to make to decorate the room and that heading home would be a good use of my time. He knows me TOO well. Here are the creations for the Math Center.


This is the sign that I will be hanging near my Math Center. I loved the funky number paper in the background. Like I said, I spent oodles of time in school so I have to LOVE my surroundings.

This cute octopus will be hanging from the lights above the Math Center. I loved putting the numbers on his arms! I look at this little guy and it makes me laugh. I cut all of the parts from my Cricut and use a variety of cardstocks and patterned papers. I don't really like primary colors in a classroom...I know, I am picky. So, my colors are a bit off the norm of what a lot of teachers use.

To say that I am excited to teach 1st grade would be an understatement. I taught 3rd and 4th grade over the last two years. I loved my kids (I had them for both grades) but something was missing. After a ton of soul searching, I figured out that I wasn't tapping into my creativity as much as I could. Teaching upper elementary in New York City tends to put a substantial amount of focus on test prep into the daily teaching. After talking to my principal, Ms. Nichols, we decided that it would be best for me to teach a lower grade this year. A new fire ignited in me and my enthusiasm level rose a lot.

I worked on setting up my classroom today. Tonight, I have been working on the "decor" of the room. I decided to go with an ocean theme. My friend, Eileen, calls it my Under the Sea theme. Marty said I should play Little Mermaid music but that's pushing it! ha ha! I am not a fan of pre-made teacher stuff. I love when teachers make their own things as it is an opportunity for expressing creativity.

I worked tonight on the very beginnings of the decor for the Writing Center. I hope you enjoy it!


This is a 12X12 sign that will be posted at the Writing Center. I used my Cricut Expression to cut the letters. It took a lot of time but I LOVE it! I figure I spend most of my waking hours in my classroom so I should enjoy looking at it!

To go with the ocean theme, this guy will be hanging with a ribbon above the Writing Center (from the lights). He is about 12 inches in size. He has rhinestone bling eyes. My friends would expect nothing less than that (right, Carla)!

This is the start! I am excited about setting up the room and can't wait for all of the fun activites that the Under the Sea theme will bring to my lil' ones.

I can't believe that I am about to start my 14th year of teaching. Although I have a few years under my belt, this is only the beginning of my 3rd year teaching in New York City. I taught the last two years at PS2X in the South Bronx. What an adventure it has been! This year, I am teaching 1st Grade. We officially get underway on Thursday with Professional Development but Marty and I went into school today to start setting up the room. I emailed my fabulous principal, Alexei Nichols, this morning and told her I was SCARED of all of the boxes that I knew I would encounter. She wrote back, "ha ha be in set up mode"...I knew I was in BIG trouble!


This is what my classroom looked like when Marty and I walked in the room. It wasn't quite as bad as I had imagined! Definitely LOTS to do!

This was after a lot of work. Mart and I pulled the big furniture out of the mix of stuff in the middle of the room. Things are starting to take shape.

This is the Writing Center and the Art Center (must have one of those)! Our school is covered in scaffolding right now. You can see it out of the windows!

This area will be a Math Center and the Science/Social Studies Area. I was really lucky to have lots of furniture to move around. I like using it to define areas in the classroom.

Another view...the windows are now behind me. I will update my blog each day to show you the progress of the room. I am making lots of great papercrafts to decorate this space and make it amazing for the kids. I will post those, too...after I take a nap! ha ha

These are 3 cards that I made today with some fun and funky techniques.
I guess when I look at them, they are a bit edgy!

Stamping with
Vellum and Pastels (Chalks)
Stamp the image on vellum in black ink.
Color the design on the back of the vellum using Stampin’ Pastels.
When you mount your vellum on dark cardstock, it helps to chalk with bright colors on the back of the vellum. This way the colors will POP!

Mosaic Tile
Taken from http://www.rubberstampsclub.com

Mosaic Tile - Swipe a piece of resistant (laser or photocopy) transparency with embossing, pigment or heat set ink. Add UTEE and heat, repeat 3 - 4 times. For added interest, sprinkle in glass beads, Ultra Effects, Mini Mosaics and a variety of UTEE colors in the last layers. When totally cooled, bend the transparency to crack off pieces of UTEE. These pieces can be added to another surface and collaged together into a mosaic using Wonder Tape™ , Liquid Pearls™ or Stickles™. For best results, lay down pieces of Wonder Tape and fill in between the pieces (mortor) with our Liquid Pearls dimensional paint or Stickles dimensional glittery glue.

Salted Background
Taken from www.splitcoaststampers.com

Press the lid of your dye ink into the pad OR squirt a few drops of re-inker into the lids of your stamp pads.Spritz the glossy cardstock with water using your spray bottle.Using the Aqua Painter™, pick up some color and smear it on the cardstock. Repeat with other colors. You can do squiggles, lines, swirls, or spots of color.
Sprinkle the cardstock with salt, then spritz again with water. The colors will blend a little more now.
Allow your background to set up, either by air drying or by using a heat tool.
Next, use your fingers or a paper towel to brush off the salt crystals. A slight haze of salty water will still remain on the cardstock, which you can now use as a fun background!