I have been in school for nearly 9 weeks, but the classroom improvements continue!
As you know by now, I am teaching in a new building this year and I am lucky enough to teach in a classroom that is simply stunning (it was a collaborative project between myself and Melanie from Schoolgirl Style.) As I settle more into the classroom each day, I continue to “fine tune” a few of the details in the learning space. This week’s touch-up was a simple improvement of the bench in my classroom library.
The focal point of my classroom is definitely the library area. With bright book boxes, yellow silk gerber daisies, and the silhouette of a child swinging from a tree, it is such an inviting corner. I purchased an Expedit bookshelf and Dröna fabric bins from Ikea to use as a bench in the reading area, topped off with a pink chevron cushion.
The bookshelf-turned-bench is stunning but it needed a tiny little something to give it some extra pizzazz. At a recent trip to Michaels, I checked out the ribbon aisle and had a revelation! I bought my favorite stitched grosgrain ribbon in black and bright pink and was ready to do a quick little DIY!
I began by wrapping the black ribbon across the cushion and around the top of the bench, then securing the ribbon with a large bow. I did this 3 times across the shelf. It makes a bold statement and also keeps the cushion from sliding around as the students climb on and off of the bench to read.
Next, I wrapped the pink ribbon across the top panel on the front of each fabric box. I used hot glue to attach each end of the ribbon to the box’s side panels. This gave the bench the little bit of extra pop that it needed.
I loved my library bench before, now I love it EVEN MORE!
The bench for reading is wonderful and I adore all of the storage it brings into my classroom. Right now the bench is filled with all of my library books that still need to be sorted.
Have you discovered Vine yet? Its a new form of social media that loops 6 seconds of video. I created and shared the above video in Vine, along with a few others. I would love for you to follow me on Vine for extra glimpses into my classroom!
Want to see more photos of my classroom? Check out my previous big reveal!
Have a great week everyone!
