The Keys to My Future {Classroom}

I just got the email that I will be able to pick up the keys to my new classroom the first week in August!  Holy moly that's right around the corner!!  Last year I made a move to a new school and 185 days later I packed up everything again to make another change.  I'm so excited for another new adventure.  Even though setting up a classroom is a TON of work, I know there's a big part of me that loves it!  The organizing, decorating, rearranging, sorting...yep, it all makes me tick.  Here's a little encouragement for you as you get geared up to take on your classroom (or boxes)...

My new classroom is much, much smaller than my old classroom, which was much, much smaller than my classroom before that.  Maybe that's a clue that it's time to downsize?!?  Haha, riiiiiiight!  Moving on...

Here's a peek inside last year's classroom.

Reading corner

I found the 'READ' letters at Michael's and they fit perfectly with my color scheme!

This is our 'reading wall' next to the reading corner.  The, as I call them, 'bedazzled bugs' are one of my favorite finds.  They are the paper die cuts that you can find at most Dollar Stores.  I simply 'bedazzled' them with scrapbook paper that matched my color scheme.  How simple, eh?

This is the area where I spent WAY too many hours doing report cards.  Take notice of the adorable little bedazzled dragonfly and ant!

My HUGE perfectly sized word wall!  I {heart} that word wall.  My students could see it from anywhere in the classroom.

Welcome to our room!  Can you believe this is just one of the EIGHT doors I had in my classroom?!?

Our writing table.  I made this bulletin board using a roll out beach mat from, take a guess...the Dollar Store.

A view across the room.  I also loved the decor on the front of the cabinet.  It sure did make an ugly piece of furniture much more appealing to the eye!

Last year was my first year with this color scheme/theme (I previously had a jungle theme).  I plan to make several changes this year.  I just ordered these adorable hot air balloons from Oriental Trading Company.  The yellow one is going to be perfect! 

Ok, don't judge this one...You know when something looks/sounds so much better in your head than in real life, yaaaa, this color wall is one of those things...I loathed it all year!  'Creepy colors' was supposed to be a spin off of 'creepy crawlers' since there are bugs on the flowers.  Yeah, not so much!

This was obviously on my to-do list for this summer.  I'm hoping this is better...

I made these kites in 8 (I think) different colors to create a new color wall.  Now I just have to find room for them in my itsy bitsy new room!  

These kites are part of my Polka Dot Backyard/Garden Classroom Theme Set in my TPT store.

I was inspired by, and got many of my ideas, from the amazingly talented Melanie Ralbusky over at School Girl Style.

I haven't been to her page since I started this theme for fear that I would want to change mine again, and OH MY GOODNESS, she has some adorable new ideas!  Believe it or not, she has Monogram Art, just like the 'READ' letters I have in my reading corner.  Pop over to her page and check it out...but make sure you have a TON of time on your hands when you do because there's SO much to love!

My camera is charged and ready so stay tuned for pictures of my classroom for the 2013-2014 school year (which is currently in about 50 boxes)! ;-)