Tackling the Tree

     A few months ago, my sweet mom came up with the idea of building a tree in my classroom. It would be a focal point that I could decorate according to season or for holidays. When I was deciding my overall theme for my room, I came across the cutest little birds!

[You can find this classroom job set and other "Boho Birds" here.]

     When I was in pre-school, my teacher called us all her little chickadees, and I have remembered that to this day! I loved it when I was younger, and I wanted MY students to be my little chickadees. So my theme was decided...and the tree fit in perfectly! 

     Despite the lack of air conditioning in my classroom, I got straight to work by gathering long sheets of brown bulletin board paper. I rolled it up like a tube, then folded it in half to make a thick trunk for the tree. I wasn't able to attach it all to the wall at once, so I split it into two sections, taping them to the wall separately. 

#1

#2

     Next, I wrapped each of the two sections over with more brown paper, to make it a bit smoother.

#3

     I cut some pieces of brown paper in half to roll up for the branches. This was the most difficult part! I could not get the branches to look the way I wanted.

#4

 [ Also, note the little bird I added in the middle of the tree:) ]

    By this point, I was so tired of looking at brown paper. I added two large circle/oval/egg? shapes to give my tree some greenery. It finally started to look like a tree! 

#5

     Step six was the most tedious and time-consuming. I must have spent a combined 90 minutes standing at the die-cut machine with green construction paper, cutting out enough leaves to make the tree look full. It's a good thing I had speakers and my iPod, so I could listen to Brandon Heath radio while I was cutting.

#6

     The last step was spending some quality time with a stapler and a ladder! I attached the leaves individually, and voila! 

#7

     The tree is located in the corner of my room opposite the door, meaning it's the first thing you see when you walk in the room. It's located in my reading corner, next to two bookshelves and a big pile of colorful pillows for comfortable reading fun! 

Happy Saturday, 

Ms. L