Notable Music Studio: The Final Touches

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

The Final Touches

Lessons in the studio start up again next week. I had a "kick-off" group lesson last Saturday morning. I kept it very low key and just had fun with the kids. We started out with a fun game to get to know each other since I have several new students starting. It involved M&Ms and some Skittles so it was a winner! Next I went through out new practice incentive - A Star is Born! and gave them their yearly binders. They were super excited about it which is great when I think about all the work it took to put it all together!

Then, because it was a hot and humid day, I popped some popcorn and put a movie on! We watched "Peter and the Wolf" and talked about what instruments fit can fit different animals.

There have been a few changes to the studio and a few additions that I thought you would enjoy seeing:

Chopin showed up! Every studio needs a bust right? I found this guy at a local goodwill store in Pennsylvania and get this...I only had to pay 89 cents for him! Yep! He was a real bargin. A bit of paint and he'll be looking really handsome, don't you think?

I also purchased these very festive, colorful file containers. Although I have business files for all my students, I wanted to have a folder or file for each of them that I could use to collect forgotten items, place information I wanted to give them, put worksheets aside for them, etc. This year my students will know to look for their folder each week. For example, all my Tuesday students look for their folder in the container labeled Tuesday. By matching the file folder to the color of the container, it makes it easier for me and them to get their folder back in the right container. I've already been filling them so it's making me VERY happy!

I've been looking for some attractive magazine holders to organize my music, theory books, etc. Everything I looked at was very expensive and mostly just plain ugly...until I found these at IKEA! They were $5.00 for 2! A far cry from the $10.00 and up for each one I had been seeing! I bought several of them. They are made of cardboard, but really are great and do the job very nicely!

I use these plastic boxes to store my camp material as well as holiday games, etc. throughout the year. The problem for me was that I have several and they stack nicely, but I always seemed to need the one on the bottom! I was trying to find a way for my husband (I'm always volunteering him!) to build me a unit with shelves.

Well....voila! I spotted this guy in a local Michaels - a bit pricey, but with a 50% coupon it fit the budget nicely. Now all those wonderful drawers fit nicely and slide right out when I need something! SO much easier!

I also found these fun knobs at a Hobby Lobby in PA. My husband thinks they look like eyes starring at you, but I thought they were fun so I changed out the knobs on my big music cabinet.

I also decorated the studio to match our "STAR" theme this year. I added a bit of glitter glue to some stars and some tickets found at my local teacher store and added them to my pennants as well as on the walls. I have a few more decorations to add and will hopefully get them up this week.