Swanky Magnetic Stations Boards

Ahhh, the beauty of a Winter Break, right? Having spent most of my break on vacation visiting the in-laws in Oklahoma, I've had ample down time. It's been so refreshing. I've spent time reading (including catching up on some of my favorite blogs), playing cards, and goofing around on Pinterest. All without feeling the least bit guilty because my house was a mess :) I LOVE being away, don't you?

I found this great idea on Pinterest for making magnetic bulletin boards using pizza pans. I don't know where I saw it first (and then neglected to pin...ah dang it). But here is a picture of the general idea:

Click here for my pin to Passionate for Paper Blog.

I ran out to the local Walmart to grab 5 pizza pans for $1 each.  Then, over to Hobby Lobby for chalkboard paint, ribbon and felt.  My sister-in-law, Wendy, insisted that I take pictures of each step of the process to show you exactly how to make it :) So we did.

 Here's a play-by-play of how this all came together. Enjoy the show :)

Step 1: Drill holes into the pan for the ribbon hangers

Step 2: Spray paint the boards with chalk board paint

Step 3: Make the felt flowers (Let me stop here to explain):
I found this idea on Pinterest (of course) for these cute flowers.

You really need to just click over to this link and watch her video for full explanation if you are really interested. It's easier to watch than for me to go "blah, blah, blah.blah.blah".  Scroll down to the bottom of her page to see the video.

Cut strips, fold strip over and glue, snip loop of strip every cm or so.

 

Roll up and glue as you go!

Step 4: After everything is dry, hot glue the flowers to the board and slip a ribbon through the holes:

Voila!

Here's how I plan on using these cuties:  

I will write the name of the literacy station on the top of the board (I only have 5 different stations per week...it's manageable for me) in chalk (the stations themselves change about every three weeks).  Then, each student will have his/her name on a magnet that gets moved from board to board each day.  It all sounds great in theory.  We'll see how it works in practice come January 3rd!  I already have a system of how they rotate in place, just not a cute visual for the kids to remember where they are going each day.

I will be adding more later about how I "do" my literacy Stations.  Look for that soon!