My Summer Finds

You know its summer when your driving on a Saturday and the fluorescent garage sale signs are blinding in all directions. I love spending my Saturday mornings searching garage sales for treasures that I can use in my classroom. Most of my classroom books and furniture have been purchased for very little on my Saturday morning drives. There is even a science to my garage selling! If books are displayed on tables or in nice piles on the driveway, they are usually $1 or more each. But, if they are thrown in boxes JACKPOT!!! I have gotten hundreds of books this way for .10 or .25 each. My newest indulgence is called 2nd & Charles. This is a resale store that looks exactly like a Borders that sells everything, including children's books. My brother is the media manager of the store that is the first here in Colorado. Books range from $1-$3 for brand-new paperback and hardcover. I love shopping at 2nd & Charles for book sets. They even had an awesome sale this last week buy 5 children's books, get 5 free!

 2nd & Charles in Aurora, CO

I also like to use Craigslist to find the garage sales and classroom materials in my area. I was so excited to find this on Friday for less than $100...

Yes, this is a 30 slot cubby with matching plastic bins and rolling wheels. JACKPOT!!! Those of you that have ever looked up the price of one of these you know that it runs $400-$500 without the plastic bins. Now it will sit for a couple weeks in my boys playroom until I head back to the classroom for summer school. I am planning on using this for my kiddos mailboxes and use the plastic bins to hold their flashcards. I have also been wanting to find a mobile shelf that I can use this upcoming year for my Daily 5 Math centers. I have been searching Craigslist and garage sales the last couple of weekends to no prevail. I found the perfect shelf on the Lakeshore Learning website, but was not too thrilled about shelling out a couple hundred dollars for it. In comes my second home away from home...Target. I found this now perfect shelf today...

This black, metal shelf only cost $34 and I purchased the large, locking caster wheels for $12 to attach to the bottom. I place the shelves upside down so the "lip" will hold my plastic bins and games inside when I roll it back and forth in my room. I am also planning on placing a large pocket chart on the backside and two storage holders on the sides with binding rings to hold the response sheets to all of my games. The top shelf will house my Read to Self math books. I will post a picture once it is in my classroom and all set-up for my kiddos. Happy garage selling!!!