Purchasing classroom supplies and decorations is expensive {and these days, a lot of you are doing it out-of-pocket}! We love the idea of creating bulletin board elements on your own. Granted, there's always the time dilemma {as in, "I'm a teacher, I have none!"}, but these fantastic letter and border ideas from Katie Morris, art teacher and creator of the site, Adventures of an Art Teacher, can be created with the help of your kiddos - so they don't require too much 'extra' time!

Creating the Paper

There are several ways to make the paper needed for the letters and border...

• Place a sheet of art paper in the bottom of a large reusable roasting pan, inviting your kiddos to dip ping pong balls into liquid watercolor paint or thinned craft paint, then blow them around the paper with a drinking straw.
• In a similar vein to the project above, have students use marbles instead of ping pong balls, lifting the pan and tilting it in different directions to create colorful marble tracks across the paper.
• Using an inexpensive salad spinner, have your students place a piece of paper in the bottom, add a few drops of craft paint, and spin away!
• Have your kiddos explore marble painting with shaving cream and liquid watercolors {like this project at The Artful Parent!}.

Honestly, the possibilities are truly unlimited! Use whatever craft you can find that produces colorful paper prints {and, of course, appeals to your students}!

DIY Letters

Using the dried paper prints, trace a set of your bulletin board letters, cut out, and even laminate if you'd like. Voila! You've got yourself a set of 'new', dynamic bulletin board accents! If you don't want to take the time to make an entire set, just trace the letters that make up your message.

DIY Borders

Cut geometric shapes from the dried paper prints - squares, circles, triangles, etc. Mounting these cutouts onto pieces of construction paper or long strips of background paper {using all one shape or even a mixture of shapes}, you can create your own border! We're thinking large, complete board borders, but we also LOVE how Katie spiced up the elements on her board with 'mini' borders. [NOTE: This could also be a great project for your kiddos! Strengthens fine motor coordination, helps them review shapes, and offers a charming, non-matching quality to the finished product!]

Your boards will look spectacular with these unique, custom made elements! Have you ever made custom bulletin board elements? We'd love to hear about them so be sure to leave us a comment below or catch up with us on Facebook!