Saturday, July 20, 2013

My Teacher's Toolkit!


Last summer, I saw a bunch of pins on Pinterest of how to make a "teacher's toolbox". Every time I went to Home Depot and Lowe's, they were either cracked or sold out. I forgot about it throughout the school year, and vowed that this year I would find a better way to organize my school supplies in a way other than cramming them into my desk drawer...not as efficient as I'd hoped it would be!

So, last night, I went it search of my toolbox, and I found this at Home Depot: (click the picture to buy it!)

I love that it is gray! I was thinking I would have to spray paint it like some other people have, but that seemed like too much work with the constant rain the past few days. This matches my decor for this year...so I left it gray.

I went in search of the perfect labels for my toolbox. I saw PLENTY for sale and for free on TPT, but nothing that would match my room perfectly. I thought about just downloading some free ones and being done with it...but no, that would have been too easy :)

So, I sat down and went to work. Did I mention I started this at about 10:30 last night? Not that I go to bed super early, but I had no idea how long it would take! Glad it only took about 30 minutes for me to put these beauties together:

I sent them off to office max to be printed since it is seriously cheaper to print there when it is full color then at home, at least on my printer! They were ready this morning--and I was so excited!

The longest part was cutting them apart...I have never been so careful in my life! After using some double sided tape to attach them to the inside, I was left with this:

Oh. Em. Gee. I am in love!

I have put the labels in my TPT store and you can find them here. I included my labels, but also a set of blank editable labels just in case your needs are different than mine :-) In order to edit, all you need to do is insert a text box over the frame and type! 

If you decide to make one of your own, I would LOVE to see pictures!

 

13 comments:

  1. That is adorable and totally matches my classroom color scheme!

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    1. Thanks! I love when I find other people whose theme matches mine!

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  2. I just finished mine! I purchased my toolbox at Lowes so it was dark blue. Yep, painted it. Hubby thought I was nuts. I'm going to post about mine on Monday Made it with 4th Grade Frolics link up. Yours looks great. Sara B.

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    1. I wanted to do my post on Monday but I was so excited!

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  3. Love this! Definitely going to add to my summer "to-do" list!

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    1. Awesome, would love to see pictures when you finish!

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  4. I love this idea! I will definitely have to try it.
    Where do you keep your teacher toolkit in your classroom?

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    1. This is going right behind my desk on top of a bookshelf.

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  5. I purchased the same took kit as you and am customizing my own labels, however i noticed that the drawers are not deep enough for pens and pencils? Do you have a secret to this? I tried taking the lids off the pens and they fit better, but still don't fit length wise ...

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    1. I have the same problem. Maybe they only have 5 pens on hand at a time

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  6. I love this...I just made my own. If I wanted to spray paint mine black (I purchase it blue) do you think I have to sand it first or just spray paint it? Will it chip?

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  7. Excellent work on the labels! It was a good idea to send them off to the printers because those colors would probably drain your home printer dry. It would have been a waste to have printed half and need to scrap the rest if you ran out of ink. -Hoa @ Master Copy Print

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  8. Just searching for labels for my tool kit I just made- and the colors look perfect for what I am going for!! Thanks!

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