Crayon Containers and I'm Already In Trouble

My most-viewed post to date is my Classroom Reveal from last summer. And I seriously get at least 3 emails a day asking about items in this picture:

Even though I went back and added in links for all the products, I still get tons of questions about it. Mostly about the GladWare containers I use for the crayon boxes. Maybe that's because they have mysteriously disappeared from all the Target shelves and are nowhere to be found on amazon. Click the picture below to go to Glad's site and see for yourself.

This doesn't make me very GLAD...

Right about now I am kicking myself for allowing my students to take their crayon containers home with them at the end of last year. Soooo I gave up on finding these and started searching for an alternative. Like ALL SUMMER I have been looking for containers that fit my specifications.

Well, the planets must have aligned because I found these at the Dollar Tree! I had all but given up hope on finding anything and had gone into the dumpy Dollar Tree (you know, the one you avoid because they never have anything good) to waste time while waiting to meet up with a friend, and there they were!

They come in red, blue, and green and you get 2 for a dollar. Of course I just wanted the green ones to match everything else in my room but they only had 4 of those. I went to 6 other Dollar Trees looking for green but only one other store had them and they only had red. Not cute. So I went back today and bought the rest of them in blue and one or two in red (the red will be my last resort). If you find green and want to trade let me know.... Seriously. It will kill me if I have to use those red ones :(

They fit a pack of 24 crayons perfectly. 

They are skinnier than the other containers so they will take up less space in the caddies. Another bonus is that they are easier to open and close than the GladWare containers. A soap dish/container might be a good alternative but I couldn't find any that closed as tightly as I wanted.

PROBLEM SOLVED

(anyone else seen that annoying Western Sky commercial????)

In other news, I recently told you about how I have not been allowed to work in my classroom this week. The building was only open for "dropping stuff off." So I "dropped stuff off" for 2-3 hours on Tuesday, Wednesday and earlier today. Well, they finally caught on to me and kicked me out today. I totally would have gotten away with it too if the bookkeeper hadn't been delivering new workbooks to all the classrooms today. Way to make a good first impression...

"Who's the new second grade teacher?"
"Oh, she's that one who thinks the rules don't apply to her."

Whatever. It's better they figure out I am a trouble-maker up front. No use being someone I'm not... Here's what I managed to get done in my stolen time:

 These are my new book baskets. I used permanent vinyl to attach the student numbers. I don't know if I will store two to a cubby, but I kind of like that there isn't any room for extra junk. Plus that frees up more cubbies for me to use...

 I couldn't bring myself to throw away the numbers so I stuck them on the back of the baskets. They aren't perfect since I couldn't use the transfer paper to apply them but I'm happy with it.

 These are my new curtains. I gave my old flamingo curtains to a fellow flamingo-lover at my old school. I loved them, but I needed more and they no longer had the same fabric available.

 I'm using fabric for the first time on my bulletin boards this year. Still needs border.

 Stuff.

 More stuff. See some of my cute new crate seats?!

My new bookshelves :) freshly stained. They are the perfect height to fit under the chalk tray and were specifically made for my book baskets. No wasted space!

Come Monday I will be in my room like a MANIAC and there is nothing they can do to stop me. So there.