Chicka Chicka Book Boom Tree- Project 4

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Tree & Class Library

A couple of months ago I found a pin on Pintrest where someone had made a Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Tree for her classroom.  I LOVED the idea so I made one myself.  I adapted the leaves and added coconuts to my tree.

If you have seen the other project that I made this summer you will see a pattern with my colors. :)  Here is my tree and the instructions on how to make one yourself.

Materials Needed & Instructions:

1.  a 2x2 piece of wood
2.  a board for the base ( I used left over wood from the computer tables that I made)
3.  four L brackets and screws
4.  textured spray paint
5.  carpet roll 1 or 2 depending on the size you get.
6.  brown paper bags
7.  scissors
8.  hot glue gun or E6000
9.  old sports umbrella
10.  fabric
11.  stitch glue
12.  lots of pins
13.  safety pins (hang your coconuts)
14.  wire cutters (cut & shape your umbrella/leaves & cut the wire for the coconuts)
15.  Letters to go up your coconut tree!

Instructions:

Tree Trunk

A.  Use your L brackets to screw the 2x2 to your board.

B.  Textured spray paint for the base.  Sorry, I did not write the information down on the paint I used.  I looks like sand when it is dried.  See the picture below.

C.  Get a cardboard tube from the inside of a carpet roll.  I called a local guy who installs carpets.  He gave me two rolls for free.  :)

D.  I glued and duck taped them together.  I wanted to be able to walk under the umbrella/leaves without the danger of poking my eye.





E.  Cut the brown paper bag.  I got mine from Kroger.
F.  Turn the bags inside out and glue them in a "tube" shape.  You will need to see what fits your carpet tube.

G.  Place them over the tube.
H.  Once they are stacked to the top squish them down, add more bags, and it will look like the trunk of a coconut tree. :)

  

Leaves & Coconuts:

A.   Take the material off of a large sports umbrella.
B.  Trim the umbrella spikes/rods as needed.

** Special Note-  I place my tree in a corner against a wall.  The bathroom door is around the corner from my tree.  Take your umbrella to your classroom and place it where you want your tree to go.  You do NOT want to cut off to many of the metal bars.  I did, and my tree now has two umbrellas in it. LOL

C.  I cut a straw and tied it with wire to create a base at the tip of the leaves.  This was a big help to make sure the leaves were the same width apart.

D.  Cut your fabric & attach to the rod.  I used a lot of stitch glue and some hidden pins.

*** Special Note- I did not attach these longer pieces together.  Each wire left, after trimming, had a partner for the long pieces.  I connected these longer pieces with shorter pieces of fabric. 

Example:  I glues a piece of fabric between the purple and lime green pieces that you see here in the front of the picture.  The fabric did not hang down.  It was the length of the umbrella rods.

You will notice that my tree has long and short leaves.  This is what gives it the feel of the coconut tree.

 

E.  Cut out large circles in your fabric for your coconuts.
F.  Make newspaper balls and wrap the fabric around the newspaper.
G.  Use a trash bag twisty tie to close and tie the fabric around the paper.

H.  Tie a piece of wire through the trash bag tie.
I.  Tie a safety pin to the end of the wire and pin it to a leaf under the tree. :)

 

 



Letters on My Tree:

I found these foam glitter letters and the foam circles at my local Michael's craft store.  The best part is that they match the stickers on My Way Home craft project.  That was the first project that I made over the summer.

Letters on My Wall:

I traced and cut out these glitter letters from foam sheets that I also got a Michael's craft store. 



 

Full view of my tree, class library, and our word wall.

 

*** Special Note- Make sure you anchor your tree to a wall in your classroom.  This will prevent it from falling.

Built Three Student Computer Tables- Project 2

I teach Kindergarten Readiness in Rutherford County in the state of Tennessee.  Another KRC, Kindergarten Readiness Class, teacher had tables built for her classroom to fit her students.  We all have three student computers on large rolling computer tables.  I LOVED her idea.  So, I got her measurements and built my own. 

AND NO, I had NEVER built anything before. :)  I have refinished and painted old furniture before, but I have never BUILT furniture.  I have add these steps and what I learned in this process so you can build your own. :)

My personality is the color orange, many of you in education have heard the color personalities before.  I get an idea and dive right into it, and THEN I figure out how to complete the task.  :)  I did hit a few bumps in this road.  That is why I am writing this post.  Reading this will help you have an easier road ahead of you.

Here is the measurements and supplies needed to build these tables.  BTW- I could not have done this without the very kind a patient guy at Home Depot.  He helped me make sure we got the tables to the correct measurement. :)  He sat down with me and we built each table like a puzzle before I left H.D.  LOVED HIM!!!!!

My Table Measurements:

Top of tables = 24(w) x 22(h)   {Measure how much space your computer needs before you start this process}

Sides of tables= 19(w) x 22(h)

2x2 Bracings

4 leg Bracings & two bracings where the top and the sides of the tables meet.  I suggest you do this measurement with your wood and the person helping you cut your wood.  Mine were 19" & 20".

What Type of Wood Do I Use?

 I purchased MDF wood.  This is very strong and very smooth wood.  I did not want my little ones to get splinters.  The guy who helped me was able to use one sheet 49 x 97 to make all three tables. :)  $25.04 for the one sheet.  Not bad!

**Special Note- MDF wood can not get wet or it will warp.  Keep it dry while building it.  Don't worry about the wood you will protect it with a primer before you paint it.

I used 2x2 pieces to brace the inside of the the tables and to add plastic and felt floor protectors.

 I used scrap pieces of my MDF board for the bracing at the back of the table.  Make sure you leave room for theses bracing to go inside the wood.  You do not want your 2x2s to go to the edge of the table.  You can see how it fits nice and snug in the pictures above. 

Tools You Need:

*  Screws or Nails   {I had a drill and electric screw driver so I went with the screws} 

*  Drill or Nail Gun

*  Electric Screw Driver

*  Regular Screw Driver

*  Clips/Bracing ( Holds the table together while you drill)

*  Measuring Tape

*  Some sort of measuring device to measure if your boards are level

*  Dremmel (Round the corners of the desks)

*  Sander

*  Pencil

  Box of Screws under $5.00

***Special Note- After the tables are put together make sure you round off the corner of the table with a dremmel.  This will make the tables a little less pointy and sharp if a student hits it.

Priming & Painting the Tables:

Tools & Items You Need:

1.  Painter's Putty

2.  Putty Knife ( I started with one, but I wound up using my finger)

3.  Sander

4.  towel & hair dryer (I do not own a shop vac)

5.  Disposable painting tray

6.  Medium to small paint roller (You can re-use this item when you paint your tables)

7.  small foam edger brush.

8.  Paint Stirrers (1 per color and 1 for the primer)

  Paint rollers & Kit estimated $5.00

Priming Steps:

1.  You need to sand and wipe the edges of the board clean.

2.  Then use painter's Putty on the edges of the boards.  The pores of the wood are opened when it is cut by the saw.  If is VERY difficult to paint the edges.  This putty and the steps below make it MUCH easier.  I started with the putty knife, but the fingers work just as good.  See the pictures below.

3.  Spread the wood putty on all edges of the wood, and over any nails or screws.

  Small putty jar $5.48

4.  Once the putty dries on the edges sand them down lightly.  It should be a smooth edge on the tables.
5.  Wipe down or clean the sanding off of the edges.  I also used a hair dryer to get all of the small pieces.  I don't own a shop vac. :)
6.  Now you are ready to prime.
7.  Use a foam roller brush and small foam brushes for your hard to reach places.  THEY CANNOT BE REUSED.
8.   Allow to dry over night.


The Primer:
Your Primer CAN NOT be water based.  Make sure you tell the person helping you at the paint store that your wood is MDF.  I used the Zinsser product you see below.  I did some research to see what primer and paint could be used on this type of wood.  This was the recommended product.

  $ 17.98 gallon

 

Painting Your Tables:

Use new foam roller brushes and new small foam edging brushes.

You can use latex paint now that you have primed the wood.  It took 2 - 3 coats per table. 

Allow the paint to completely dry before you do a second coat.

 

My Paint Colors:

  $12.58 pint

All of my paint colors were the Behr product you see above. I chose satin paint since it is easier to clean. I spent quite a bit on my paint, but I wanted the tables to match everything the was going into my room.

Teal= Peacock Feather
Lime Green= Pepper Grass
Purple= Exotic Purple

I purchased all of the above items at Home Depot.


To see how I built my crates click on the picture below.

Crate Seats for the Classroom- Project 3

Crate Seats for the Classroom

I purchased my lime green and purple crates at Walmart and the teal crate at Target.

I purchased MDF wood for the crate seats.  You can find some that are cut down to a smaller size.  It took two of these at $8.57 each to make my three seats.  Again, I bought these items at Home Depot.

I suggest you take your crates in to get measured.  The gentleman who helped me measured mine to fit knowing that I would add fabric and padding. 

Items You Need:

1.  Crate

2.  Fabric

3.  Square foam - I found mine at Hobby Lobby for $4.99 a square.  The square just about fit my seat.  I had to cut some excess off, but I used it elsewhere on the seat and it worked perfect.

4.  Dremmel - My crates had a rounded corner.  I used the dremmel to round the corners of my wood.

5.  Ribbon (your handle)

6.  Staple gun

5 minute project!!

To see more images and instructions for the computer tables that I built click on the image below.

How I Go Home - Project 1

How I Go Home Organizer

Like many of you I have become addicted to Pinterest. My cousin introduced me to Pinterest in May of this year. I found two items on Pinterest that I really wanted to make over the summer for my classroom.

The first one I found was a display that a teacher made to organize and display how her students went home. I loved that she had ribbons and clothes pins to display this. I am sure like many of you, my students transportation changes constantly. Here is what I came up for my classroom.

I purchased most of these items at local craft stores. Now that I am teaching Kindergarten Readiness I have discovered my crafty side.

I purchased the following items from Hobby Lobby
* board
* acrylic paint
* ribbon
* paint brushes
* small sander
* wood transportation vehicles

I painted over the race car "fire" and pained the ambulance to make it a day care van. :)

I purchased the following items at Michael's
* sparkly foam letter stickers
* sparkly foam butterflies
* Small bottle of chalk board paint

To create the polka dots I bought the perfect "dot" brush. I really don't know what else to call them. This was a very simple and easy project. The easiest one of the summer. :)

You will notice that I do not have butterflies for our bus rooms. When school starts I will create butterflies with those teacher's names on them. This will help substitutes make sure my students go to the correct room for dismissal. :)


Reminder's Wall:

This idea came the kindergarten teacher across the hall from me.  We added our How I Go Home organizers to this reminder wall.
In this area I have several things posted.

1.  How I Go Home
2.  Related Arts Schedule
3.  Room Phone Numbers
4.  Small white board to write quick reminders.