1. Never Lose A Marker
    Art teacher Dan Ng contributed this hack. Ng creates marker sets with their caps embedded in resin. He writes, “I started using these partway into last year, and the number of stray markers and caps I found on the floor dropped to basically zero!”

    Dan Ng built molds out of plexiglass and hot glue. He tested them to ensure they didn’t leak and poured the resin before putting in pretaped sets of markers. When the resin cured, he removed the plexiglass and reused most of it for the next batch. He shared, “I used 1 gallon of Art Resin, so over $100 for the resin, but I expect to reuse the system for years and just switch out markers when needed.” He did a Donors Choose fundraiser to cover the expenses. Other teachers have improvised similar equipment with laser printers or glued caps in a prebought item like this one at Amazon.

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  2. Matting Hack!
    If you need to mat artwork for an art competition or show, Melissa of The Speckled Sink blog has an excellent hack if you are using a mat cutter. If she wants a 3” mat, she tapes two 3” scraps together to form an L. She puts the L in all four corners of the mat board and traces the 90-degree angle. Now, you have your start-stop points on all four sides. “I made a few for my common mat sizes today and keep them in the box with my matting supplies. It’s also nice to help visualize each size with the work.” Check out her blog post on the topic here.

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  3. Bulletin Board Hack!
    Art Teacher Alyson Smith Nikolaidis shared an idea she picked up and shared from Teacher Hacks and Hauls. Take your Sharpie and color the staplers black to blend in with black construction paper backgrounds.


  4. Podcasts
    Art Teacher Chris Marie had the brilliant idea to play podcasts while her students work! Some ideas of art-related podcasts you might consider:
    The Great Women Artists Podcast with Katie Hessel
    Art Curious
    The BoldBrush Show
    Plein Air Podcast
    Who ARTed: Weekly Art History for All Ages
  5. Storage Solution
    Art Dale Mettam credits his storage idea to his school’s tech department. He writes, “I was talking to our Technology Guru, bemoaning the fact I couldn’t afford architect drawers, and she suggested clothing racks. Literally rotated my problem 90° and solved it.”
    The storage idea was created by using a two-layer clothes rack, pants hangers (the ones with clips), and 3-gallon generic ziplock bags (he uses some 5-gallon ones, too). He supplements some small drawers he has with this bag storage solution. The drawers and bags are numbered, so the student who has drawer 52 has bag 52.

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  6. Clay Hack!
    What do you students roll clay out on your tables? For me, it was always canvas. The potter at FB page called Clay by Stacia uses craft foam. She also shares that folks shared that you can buy it on Amazon under the name EVA in rolls you can cut down. She buys 2mm from Amazon. The best part is that it doesn’t leave a texture like canvas.

  7. Glue Bottle Hack
    Jessica Nicholson shared this in a Facebook group. She says she stole this hack from another art teacher group. I don’t know about you, but my least favorite chore in the art room is filling glue bottles. When my budget was tight, I always bought large glue jugs to refill the bottles. A bubble would form inevitably, causing a sticky mess from the glue overflowing. Nicholson recycles a large laundry detergent bottle with a spigot on the bottom and declares it is a “Game changer!”


  8. Brush storage hack!
    Art Teacher Jenn X Lynch Postma found these chopstick boxes. The bottom is removable, and they have drainage systems so brushes won’t sit in water, loosening the glue in the ferrules and ruining the brushes! They have a lid, too! I found them at Amazon.

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  9. Paint hack!
    It’s no secret that many vendors are cheapening their products. Paints that used to be thick and opaque are now thin and transparent. An old-school hack is to add cornstarch to your paint to thicken it, add body, and make it more opaque.
  10. Display space Hack!
    Art teacher Conrad Maag found some unused lockers and created a new way to display art in his school. The frames are made out of pressboard. He writes, “I use an 11×14 heavyweight paper (Blick w/c 135#), so I cut out two pieces of pressboard that are 13×15, then cut out the center of one, leaving a 1-1/2” border. I white glue three sides ONLY AT THE VERY EDGE, maybe 1/8” (any more, or too much glue that will spread out will make the frames too tight to slide artwork into). Leave the top open and use a paper punch to put a hole in the back top. Voilá!”

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