DIY Fence Easels

If you are a teacher, homeschool mom, or home daycare provider you might be like me and get catalogs from school supply companies. I love those books. I look through them and day-dream about what I could get for my kids. One of the things that has always caught my eye was the fence easels. But those things are around $80 for ONE. And I mean one easel per kid. There was no way I could allow myself to spend that kind of money on it. 

I have been doing a lot of thinking since re-opening my home kidcare/preschool about what I could do with the back yard to make it more fun. I have been "window" shopping again online and in books. I found those easels again and my longing to have them increased. But as I looked them over I began to think in a whole new direction...

I can make those, or more precisely, my husband can help me make those. I printed out pictures of what I wanted, one of the single and one of the double just to see what we might need. I put the measurements on the paper so we could estimate how big they should be. Then off to Home*Depot we went.  

First thing we needed to look for was the backing to use for the boards. We were intending to make double easels. We found a large sheet of white panel board. John measured it and figured we could cut the board into four equal pieces and they would be long enough for three children to use per sheet. We asked the man that worked there to cut it. He was thrilled to do it. He actually ended up helping us come up with the things to hold it to the fence instead of having to make holes and finding hooks that would work. He found us large green clamps to put on each end and one in the middle. Plus right next to those were the small ones to hang the paper with. I was thrilled, they matched. 

We are able to use small sheets of paper or the larger ones. I have been so blessed because friends have saved used paper for me and we use the side that hasn't been used. This is one way we help save the resources God provides, our own way of recycling paper. 

We looked all over the place for something to use that would hold the paint while the children painted and had a really hard time. I had purchased these wire racks at Dollar*Tree a few years ago and thought we might be able to make them work. My husband was able to make it so easily. And they lift right off when it is time to bring everything inside.  

I found the Melissa & Doug Easel Accessory Set through Amazon* for under $27/each. They come with the four buckets for paint, four brushes, four bottles of paint, chalk pencil set (can be used on paper, or sidewalk, or chalk board), a large roll of drawing/paint paper, one dry erase marker and a dry erase eraser. I need to get more dry erase markers and will have to replace the paint as we use it. I purchased one for each easel. I got some cheap Artist Aprons to use until I can replace them with better quality. 

The shorter fence is perfect for younger children. The older children use the higher fence. These store very easily, too. They aren't bulky because the racks come off and stack on top of each other. The boards are stored standing up against the wall. I keep the clamps in a bag. My paints are stored on a shelf in the garage with other art supplies and outside toys. 

The kids love dry erase boards so this works out GREAT. No marker stink INSIDE the house and they get to have fun. They can draw pictures or even play Hangman, which is something the older kids love to do. 

Here is our supply list:

1-Thrifty White Panel Board (cut into 4 equal parts) $11.97

12-2"Spring Clamp Metal Heavy Duty (3 per board) $11.88

24-Mini Spring Clamp (6 per board, 2 per child) $8.88

4 wire baskets (1 per board) $4.00

Nuts and Bolts to attach the baskets with (he had them already)

Cost to make four easels for up to 12 children to use $36.73 plus tax (I saved myself OVER $900)

Here is another quick project I did. I took a oil pan and used Command Strips to stick it to my front door. We can use any magnets we want on the board. They make numbers and letters and even animals. We will be using this board for a lot of different projects with the kids.

The board itself I found at a auto supply store for $10. I had the Command Strips already. You can use Velcro strips if you have them. I just used what was available and I knew would work. 

Most magnetic boards that big are well over $25, if not closer to $40. So I saved quite a bit on that project, too. There are no sharp edges on it so it is totally safe for children to use. I got this idea (minus the way I hung it) from that great pin board! 

Until next time...blessings to you.

"Saturday" Projects On A Monday

So this isn’t Saturday but it feels sort of like one. On “project Saturdays” we get things done. Since this was a three day weekend, even for my husband, it took us a couple of days to get to those projects. On our actual Saturday we went to the movies and saw The Green Lantern. On Sunday we went to church starting at 8 in the morning and finished up at the apartments at around 12:30. We spent both afternoons just watching movies at home and resting.

Monday morning dawned and it was time to get things done. The weather was beautiful and cool. John got up early and mowed the lawn while I had a cup of coffee and got ready to take on the huge task of cleaning my room. Jennifer put my sheets in the washer then we started working on the piles of stuff that had gotten built up in my room and dusting. Once he was done mowing and taking a shower, John helped move the king size mattress and we searched under the bed for my ring. John found it towards the middle of the bed. Who knows how it fell that far under. I suppose when I was trying to get it with the back-scratcher it pushed it further under. I am just glad we were able to find it. It was a good way to get everything put away and clean. I love a clean room.

After cleaning the entire room and putting clean sheets on the bed it was time to move on to the next “project”. I got my kitchen back in working order with all the dishes done and put away. Then got John to help me hang a light over my new sewing desk, aka the old computer desk. Someone donated a children’s sewing machine that didn’t sell at our garage sale so I am going to use it to teach Jennifer how to sew. (Once she knows how, I will put it in the next sale and pray someone buys it.) We have a few quilting projects to do and I am going to let her help me with those. Plus some other minor projects sewing up some “wounded” stuffed animals and pillows. The two printer paper boxes and the basket under the desk are filled with fabric. I also have the fabric for several quilts in another container. 

I am going to attempt to get the quilts done in record time by sewing in the evenings after everyone goes to bed and in the afternoons on some days. Jennifer and I are going to have to work on our scrapbooking, too. We have much to get done in a short time. The reason these things need to get done quickly is not only that they have been sitting here waiting for years for me to do them, but also because we aren’t sure of the timing that we will move to East Africa. It looks like it will be soon, but only God knows for sure. The sooner we get this stuff done, the better it will be for everyone. 

Until next time...Blessings to you!

Saturday Projects

Our Saturdays are usually filled with projects that take more time than we have on a weekday. We used to have those types of projects EVERY Saturday but it has gotten much less often. We usually do spend it going to the grocery store and maybe going to a mission meeting. We rarely have a Saturday that isn't filled with something to keep us from resting.

This Saturday afternoon John spent his time putting up a new ceiling fan over our kitchen table. I have the best husband ever! Even though it was the last thing he wanted to do, he did it. "Love ya, Babe!"

There were a few reasons we did that. One was because the light hung down so low that he was always hitting his head on it if the table got moved over. That was the least of the reasons for changing it. He had been doing that for the last 12 years. The light that was up there used a bunch of tiny lights that were not always easy to replace and just not cost effective. And the dinning room is a large room that opens into the den and the living room. The air in those three rooms never seem to cool off. With this new fan it should help the rooms stay cooler in the hotter months.

One of our biggest challenges right now is saving money and paying down debt. We have done a great deal towards that in the last couple of years. But our war against debt and high cost of living isn't over yet. We still have a bit to go and we need to learn to live on even less than we already do. I will be posting about ways we are working on that and making sure I put the links and ideas on the page I have made for that. I hope you will help me with some ideas and links to add.

I am so excited about this new blog. It is my hope that I will be able to make it fun and a blog you will want to visit often.

Until next time...Blessings to you!