Just a Pop! :)

So I have been doing the Daily 5 in my classroom for two years now and am going into my third. Each year I have used the IKEA book boxes and needless to say, by the end of the year most of my students have TORN up those suckers! :-/

Well after searching in stores and all over the internet at first I was slightly skeptical of using ice cube trays because my first thoughts were they will tip over and thoser suckers are white...like the walls in my classroom...can we say BORING!?

Well after going back and forth looking at other options I finally came to the conclusion that I would use ice buckets at Wal-Mart for several reasons:

1) They are only a little over a dollar a piece $1.88 without tax to be exact.
2) After discovery they did not tip over with books in them.
3) I would not have to continually replace them on as large a scale as I do the IKEA boxes.
4) They are small enough to store on my book shelves, yet large enough to house some good books for students at read to self.

But, I was still left with a bit of a problem...THEY ARE WHITE. I found other colored boxes, but they were bigger width and height wise....but I took the plunge and got the boring white ice buckets. After some thought, I figured out a way to give my boring white ice buckets a pop of color and the solution was rather simple. No mod podge, no masking tape, no scrap book paper....no sir reeeeeee! How about some colorful contact paper to match my classroom theme???

This year I am focusing on the colors sky blue & limey green with polka dots and accents of Owls. Well, I found a roll of contact paper (limey green!) and added a strip of contact paper on the front and back of the ice buckets...since that'll be most of what you'll see when they're sitting on the shelf.

Contact paper was a good choice for a pop of color simply because it can be added and taken away with little to no effort; if I choose to change color themes OR if one of my tykes decides to rip it off. However I will have to teach my students to not pick or peel (YES it can be done)! :) Anyway, here's the final product! :)

The book boxes at the top are upside down...I just wanted to add some height to the picture!

Later on I will be adding my student's classroom numbers to the boxes, but I wanted to get an idea of what these book boxes will look like on a bookshelf. While they still have white showing, I think it makes the color on them that much stronger...and I might even use the remaining paper to line the shelves where they will sit!