DIY Classroom Decor Ideas




Create a classroom you love with my DIY classroom decor ideas. My DIY classroom decor ideas are all printable PDFs that can be printed in colour on white paper or printed in black and white on coloured paper, decor that you or your students can create to give your classroom a calm and welcoming look. All of my classroom posters are designed with a simple and minimalist look so that they don’t look distracting or busy. All posters are sized: Poster sizes are 8.5" x 11.”

I often laminate my classroom decor to keep it looking new for years to come.


Sometimes I rotate my decor on bulletin boards or hang the decor beside student artwork. 


Classroom decor helps to make your classroom more inviting and feel more like a community or home and less institutional



DIY Classroom Decor Ideas

  • Adding plants -real, fake or dried

  • Adding fabric on your bulletin boards or wall paper

  • Printing or design your own borders for bulletin boards

  • Choose a consistent colour palette to decorate your classroom

  • Hang student artwork

  • Hang printed posters

  • Arrange books by colour

  • Add decorative objects related to the topics you are teaching

  • Keep wall, bulletin boards minimal so they aren’t too distracting 


Calming Classroom Decor

I have created calming classroom decor with blue and white designs using the cyanotype process and botanicals.

Pine theme -classroom decor

Palm leaf theme classroom decor

Daisy theme classroom decor

Growth Mindset Printable PDF Posters


These posters are a plant theme with watercolour clipart added. There are 15 posters in colour and black and white versions in this growth mindset poster package.

Check out the posters here!


These growth mindset posters are great to hang in your room in September when you're teaching about growth mindset. If you are like me and you love having a lot of plants in your classroom these posters will really match your classroom decor and accompany your plant friends nicely.




Art Room Rules Posters

You can download my FREE Art Room Rules Posters here!  This set of FREE posters includes 3 different styles of rules for the art room in colour and black and white versions! 



Blue Paint Theme of Artist Affirmation Posters

Blue Paint Theme of Artist Affirmation Posters

Artist Affirmation Posters

Each of these sets of affirmation posters have a paint theme with paint splatters and paint brushes. Each set of posters includes different artist affirmations. These posters will look great hanging next to student art work in your art classroom. 

Check out the Rainbow Paint Theme - here!

Check out the Blue Paint Theme- here!

Rainbow Paint Theme for Affirmation Art Posters

Rainbow Paint Theme for Affirmation Art Posters

Painting With Kids - 5 Tips for How to Reduce the Mess and the Stress!

Painting with kids can be difficult and stressful! Here are 5 tips for painting with kids and how to reduce the mess and the stress! I have worn many hats including working as a teacher, a daycare provider, an art instructor, a camp counsellor among others. I have spent over 10 years of working with kids of all ages and teaching them art! During these experiences I have learned a lot of lessons for to keep art making/painting fun for everyone and not a messy disaster with hours spent cleaning up afterwards! Read my tips for painting with kids -5 tips for how to reduce the mess and the stress below!

Image from Styled Stock Society


Here are some tips for painting with kids! How you can reduce the mess and the stress!

  1. Reusable plastic tablecloth- protect your tables and floors! - I like getting thick reusable table cloths from the dollar store

  2. Plastic aprons and wear old clothes

  3. Take messy art outside - I have a whole bunch of art ideas on my Pinterest

  4. Teach kids how to clean up by breaking down tasks and showing them how

  5. Making cleaning easy - washable paint, tubs of soapy water


Helpful Links to Reduce the Mess when painting with kids

Watch the YouTube video for tips on reducing mess while painting with kids!

Watch the YouTube video on choosing the right apron here!

Art lesson ideas and activities on Teachers Pay Teachers


On my YouTube channel you will also find lots of kids painting tutorials to try!

Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel while you are there to see new videos that come out!


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Symmetry in Art


Symmetry in art is a great way to teach realistic drawing skills and math to your students. Or provide extra drawing practice to your kids. Symmetry drawing is fun and easy to do with symmetry drawing worksheets. Symmetry art can help refine art and drawing skills by completing a symmetry line drawing. 


Symmetry in art is everywhere and is a part of nature. Trees, flowers, insects and so much more are symmetrical. Kids can learn about botany and anatomy while drawing the other half of a symmetry in art worksheet. 


All you need is printed or photocopied page of my symmetry worksheets, a pencil and eraser. It’s that easy!


Kids love grabbing a worksheet when they finish their work early. Completing these handouts have helped them to improve their drawing skills and it provides them with a nice quiet and calm activity to do. They are very popular at the end of day or to help students settle after recess!

Benefits of Symmetry Drawing in Art

  • improve drawing skills

  • improve fine motor skills

  • students can learn patience and practice their sketching skills

  • rainy day/down time activity

  • can teach math through symmetry

  • students can learn about botany and insects through different themed symmetry sheets!

  • easy math, art or sub lesson plans

Who are symmetry drawing worksheets for?

I recommend using these worksheets with students in grades 4-8. I also have portrait symmetry drawing worksheets for high school.


In a free version of my best-selling insect symmetry worksheets you can download a sample of the product to test it out before you purchase. The insect symmetry handouts are great to incorporate in an insect unit, earth day activity, spring activity, early finisher activity, art or math lesson.


You can download the FREE Insect symmetry worksheets here! 


I have also made an 88 page insect symmetry line drawing package that includes 44 different insects that are on gridlines and some without gridlines. The gridlines make it easier for students to draw because they can count the squares as they draw to make sure their side matches up. These gridline sheets incorporate math and measuring nicely! The pages without the gridlines are a bit more challenging. 


You can check out the 88 page insect symmetry worksheets here! 


To learn about botany I have made an 88 page symmetry trees/leaves drawing pages and an 88 page flower/plants drawing pages.

Save 30% by buying the bundle!

Save 30% by buying the bundle!


I recommend students in grade 4-8 using these symmetry worksheets. If you like all three (the leaves/trees, insects, and flowers/plants) you can save 30% by buying the bundle - You can check out the bundle here!  



Be sure to follow my Teachers Pay Teachers Store to be informed of new products and new freebies - You can follow me on TPT here! 

Check Out My Most Popular Products

Symmetry Drawing Bundle for Grades 1-3

Symmetry Drawing Bundle for Grades 4-7

Symmetry Drawing Bundle for Grades 8-12

Symmetry Drawing for Grade 1-12


Buy More and Save with the Symmetry Drawing Mega Bundle !

Take a look at the bundle here!

Enjoy the symmetry sheets in your classroom or at your home!


You can follow my TPT store for updates here!


Related Articles

3 Benefits to Symmetry Drawing

Follow my Teachers Pay Teachers Store

Free Symmetry Drawing Worksheets!


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What is Teachers Pay Teachers?


What is Teachers Pay Teachers? TPT stands for Teachers Pay Teachers. It is an online marketplace where teachers and parents can purchase and download free products to help support student education. Resources in all subjects and grade levels can be found and they range in prices from free to $200 with most products being under $5. Find out more about what Teachers Pay Teachers is in this post!



At first, I felt guilty purchasing products on TPT to be used in my classroom. I tried talking myself out of buying a $4 presentation, worksheet and slideshow on a topic I knew nothing about.

When I though about it I ended up saving at least 6 hours to research the topic on early humans, make the slideshow, the worksheet, edit and format everything. The $4 was well spent and I feel a lot less guilt now spending a few dollars to pay for something that is going to make my job as teacher easier!

In my first year of teaching, I was teaching a lot of subjects and grade levels that I was unfamiliar with. Planning units became very time consuming because I was having to research and plan the content before teaching it.  TPT helps build up your bank of lessons, activities and ideas.



TPT is the first place I check before I begin planning because often I can find what I am looking for - for FREE!  Usually, I can’t make something as nice and as pretty either. 

TPT offers a variety of sales throughout the year. It’s a great idea to join their mailing list to get notified when there are upcoming sales. Their sales are often 20% off which means you can save even more on products that are already inexpensive! 


Something that I recently learned about TPT blew my mind! If you leave a review on a purchase you made (not a free download) you can actually earn credits to be applied on future purchases!  It’s a win-win - you help the seller build a trusted reputation and you give yourself a credit to use towards your next purchase! 


In my TPT shop, I am focusing on art resources because that is my speciality! I have products for middle school and high school art! 

Still curious about what TPT is? Visit my shop here and follow me so you can see new resources that I put out!

Check out some of my products here:  Click on any of the images if you are interested in learning more about the product!

Insect Symmetry - free download- click the image to download this freebie!

Insect Symmetry - free download- click the image to download this freebie!

Purchase Drawing Prompts for High School here - 30+ pages!


Even if you are not a teacher and you are a parent TPT is worth the look - you will be able to find activities, worksheets and more to help your child with a topic they might be struggling in!


Here is the link to follow me on TPT and check out my shop!

Related Articles

Symmetry Art

Drawing Prompts for High School

Donut Drawing

Tips for Painting with Kids


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Why I Became an Artist...

Why I became an artist…..I became an artist because I always loved creating things but more importantly I found art gave me freedom. Freedom to express myself - thoughts, ideas, interests and perspective on larger topics like the environment. And of course, freedom to do what I love. I like doing something I love each day and I feel so lucky to be given that opportunity.

Teacher's college was something I did because I knew I loved helping people from volunteering teaching figure skating to spending my summers working at camps. Art teaching, both in the classroom, my Teachers Pay Teachers store where I sell art teaching resources and on YouTube has been a way for me to combine both of my passions of teaching and art.

Teaching allows me to bring in a consistent income and it allows me to focus on my art and not have to worry about money but instead make the art that I want to make. 

Jackie Partridge

There are a lot of stereotypes about artists not making money. As an artist I want to break those stereotypes and prove that I can make consistent money on my art alone.


There are many different paths an artist can take and I like being in charge of that and choosing what applications or opportunities I want to take. Not every opportunity or decision is going to be the best for me or my art.  There is a lot of possibility in store for me and that is exciting! I enjoy being able to teach art in the classroom and online through my YouTube channel.

I have found with consistent work and effort it has been easier to make money as an artist and I know it will get easier and easier in the future. I continue to create more established systems like templates and ways to automate which will save me time and allow me to truly focus on art making.

There are many roles an artist takes on including being a writer, photographer, advertiser, marketer, promoter, teacher etc. I enjoy all the different roles of an artist and being able to do different things each day whether it is making art, writing blog posts, editing photos, updating my website, planning my Instagram posts or applying to art exhibitions. Read the 8 reasons of why I love art here!

With all the areas of my art business to focus on - I need to constantly remind myself that I must continue to make art and apply for opportunities to show my art and reach new people. 

I am lucky to be able to do what I love each day and get paid for it! 

acrylic paint palette

 

Each day is different, challenging and exciting!

If you would like to support my art practice - You can check out my art for sale here!

 

If you're an artist I would like to know more about why you became an artist and what you love about it. Let me know on social media so we can continue this conversation! Just click the buttons below ⬇️

why I became an artist

5 Tips for Still Life Painting - Paint a Better Still Life!

5 Tips for how to paint a better still life will help improve your still life painting! Painting a still life as a beginner painter can be difficult.

Especially when you are trying to make the painting realistic! I have written a collection of tips to help make this process easier!

There is also an assortment of videos on painting still lives from lemons to eggs and everything in between. You can check out those painting lessons on my acrylic painting for beginners YouTube channel

How to Paint a Lemon- watch this video to learn more: https://youtu.be/qdisde0rhRM

How to Paint a Lemon- watch this video to learn more: click here to watch!

Here Are Some Tips to Paint a Better Still Life:

  1. It helps to have your still life set up and arranged in front of you to paint, alternatively you can paint from a colour photograph -however having a real still life like a bowl of fruit or a vase of flowers right there will allow you to see all the tiny details.

  2. Map out your painting in a coloured stick of chalk. A still life is all about painting/drawing what you see. Draw your still life in a stick of chalk. If you make a mistake it will easily rub off -saving you paint and time! Using something like a pencil to draw on the canvas might still show through layers of paint and can be hard to erase.

  3. Exaggerate the highlights and shadows! Shadows and highlights on an object is what makes it look three-dimensional in a painting. You have the creative freedom to express what you see and convince someone that what you are painting is life-like. So darken the shadows and brighten the highlights to make them pop and stand out! A way of doing this is shining a light from a lamp on your still life which will make it more obvious where the highlights and shadows are making it easier to paint!

Bird’s nest still life painting - watch how to paint the eggs- here!

Bird’s nest still life painting - watch how to paint the eggs- here!

4. Paint in the direction of your object. This sounds obvious but a lot of beginner painters make the mistake of painting all objects with long flat straight brushstrokes. This ends up making round objects like lemons, apples and vases look flat and lack having a form. I have created a great short YouTube video to help with this- click here!

5. Remember to paint in layers and take your time! You don’t need to finish your painting in one sitting, taking your time allows you to add more details which helps make the painting more realistic. If you don’t like something you can paint over it -this is why I love acrylic painting!

Bonus tip:

If you are painting a still life over a day take a photo of it to ensure you are capturing the same lighting and that objects haven’t moved!

You can learn more about acrylic painting by checking out my FREE 16 Page Guide - 10 Mistakes Beginner Painters Make and How to Avoid Them!

 

I would love to see your still life paintings and give you feedback! tag me on instagram @jackiepartridgeart and use the #jackiepartridgeartclasses

I invite you to subscribe to my NEW YouTube Channel where I have new videos for beginner acrylic painters every two weeks!

- Check it out here!

Practice Painting a Still Life

How to Paint a Lemon

How to Paint Round Forms like Eggs

How to Paint a Pumpkin

How to Paint a Poppy

Want to improve your painting quickly? Try my painting coaching!

Follow me on social media by clicking on one of the icons below for more great tips!