{Paper Organization on the Cheap}

I saw this WONDERFUL idea on Pinterest a few weeks ago and knew that it had to somehow work for me!

(USPS boxes turned paper storage)

It was just listed on a forum at the link above, so that's the best credit I can give.

Isn't this an uber-terrific idea??!

My first thought was scrap and art paper storage for my kiddo in our office area, but it just doesn't fit into my built-ins very well. However, my preschool classroom is low on counter space, and I find myself stacking materials and getting cluttered.

I made my own, and turned it into a "Monday-Wednesday-Friday" file cabinet for my classroom.

Now I can sort prepped materials, and the best part is......FREE!!! :)

I used spray paint and scrapbook paper that I had on hand.

I started by cutting one end off of each box, then using duck tape to secure them together. I figured that paint would stick better to duck tape than packing tape. Next I sprayed them with white primer.

I then actually sprayed it with red, but it just didn't cover as well as I would have liked. I decided to go with a basic black instead, since I knew I would be embellishing it a little with scrapbook papers.

I did 2 coats of black, and if you really look, you can still see some of the original markings on the box, but it's minor. I cut scrapbook paper and printed the days on cardstock, and adhered it to one side with sticky strip. I die cut the stars as an extra.

This will really help to keep my prepped materials organized and looking better, and I didn't have to spend any moolah.

What else can you come up using these freebie boxes?

Have a good one,

 

{Plastic to Pretty}

Hello to you! Sorry I've been MIA lately!  Life around here seems to be flying by, and I sure have missed the chance as of late to get creative. I haven't been able to post much, or even scour the craft world for all the wonderful ideas out there. I've found that lately I've been putting all of my creative energies into my Pre-K class, although I have a long to-do list of things I'd like to work on around the house. Spring 'sprung' up early 'round these parts, so I've been enjoying watching everything bloom and getting back on the mower. (One of my favorite parts of taking care of our large lot.) I haven't been able to spend as much time in there as I'd like to, but check out the view from my craft room:

Isn't that tulip tree gorgeous?? It's a wonderful inspiration (as long as you're actually IN that room, ha!)

So...here's a simple little project I whipped up recently. We have tons of little plastic baskets around our house. You know, the little white ones that come 2-3 in a pack at Walmart for a buck or two? They come in all shapes and sizes.

My daughter has a few around her bedroom, just to keep the little things organized and together. Her headboard has shelves on it, so she keeps a small one there with her nighttime 'necessities': chapstick, a pen, cortisone cream, and of course, a Fairy lipgloss. ;)  She uses another for her collection of bookmarks, and so on. I decided they needed a little bit of embellishment!

I chose some ribbon from my stash that matches her room  and just started weaving.

What a super easy way to make a tiny change and embellish a plain little basket!

I didn't cut a length of ribbon to start. I just started weaving, and then trimmed it at the end. On the first basket, I overlapped it where the two ends met and they naturally lay flat. You could add a touch of glue or sticky strip if you need to hold the ends down.

Cuter, no? And it actually 'hides' the boring contents a bit as well.

For the longer basket, I decided to tie the ends together in a little knot at a corner. I really like how that looks. Now I can picture favor baskets for birthday parties, little gift baskets for teachers and neighbors, and more.

An easy way to spruce up a very plain (but necessary!) item.

Thanks for stopping by, and for your patience. I've missed posting, and am looking forward to getting back in the swing of things!

Take care,

{Rainy Day Craft Box for Kids}

I'm fortunate to have a craft room with more than enough space in it for me (it doubles as a spare room, which is rarely used for company). It hasn't always been that way, but the last 3-4 years I've had that luxury and I love it! One thing that I still feel could be better organized though are the craft items for my daughter. Supplies, materials, and items that I wouldn't use for my own crafting but are better suited for hers.

When she was little, I had very little space for that type of thing. I don't have a photo, but I used a door shoe organizer. It was perfect to keep things handy for her, and no one knew about it. ;) Once I got a room of my own, I sorted her craft items into small totes that would fit onto my shelves. I labeled each of them, because they are filled with miscellaneous supplies. 

We go to them when needed, and otherwise they are neatly stored out of the way.

Lately though I realized that things were getting a bit messy in this area.

Apparently this age group (7-8 yr olds) receive little craft kits for every birthday or holiday. It seems to be the norm, and what ends up happening is we stuff them in with our craft supplies and they get forgotten.
 These are just a few of the little kits she has, that we inevitably NEVER get to because they just haven't been very visible or accessible.

We sorted them out, found an unused plastic container, (a file box we already had), and made a label for it.

  The file box actually works really well because it fits nicely on a shelf in her closet. On those days when she isn't sure what to do next, she can easily SEE it now and has the choice to pick one of her craft kits to fill her time.

Super simple way to keep these kits at the ready. (And hopefully get them finished!)

Anything to keep kid stuff organized and easier for them to get to independently is always a good thing!
Take care,

 

{A Fancy 'Bird's Nest'}

My kiddo started collecting Audobon stuffed birds last year, adding one more thing to hoard group of things to keep organized or displayed. They ARE pretty cool....they look like the real bird, have an info tag attached with all kinds of details about it, and when you squeeze them they make the real sound of that bird. So....when you have several, it's pretty interesting to compare their looks and sounds.

Until now, they have been kind of dumped in with other stuffed animals, just for a lack of having a place to display them well. She doesn't really play with them, but would like to have them on display somewhere.

I purchased a stuffed animal net from Amazon a few months ago, thinking this would be the perfect way to display the birds...out of the way...in a corner of her room. After searching everywhere for a net, the one I bought was actually 6 feet (!) in length, and even when I doubled it was waaaaaaaayy too big. It's now stuffed in a cabinet in the garage. :( The whole plan got put aside for a while until Thanksgiving break when I was telling my in-laws about it. I'm not sure why I never thought of this, but why not make my own 'net'?? DUH? How did this little shard of brilliance never enter my mind before this?

So today, this little display problem is finally solved, and I'm so happy with the results. I'm even happier that it was CHEAP. It is Christmas folks and the cash flow is on the down low, if you know what I'm sayin'!

Whatcha think?

This thing is actually fairly heavy, with 10-11 birds in it, so I think it would work great for any small stuffed animals in any little girl's room! Here's how you can make one!

YOU NEED:

2 yards of tulle (<$2/yard)

3M wire hooks

ribbon

rubber bands

scissors

I didn't take pics of each step because honestly, it's pretty simple. I just pinched each end in my fist, about the distance I thought would work for the 'net' in the middle. I wrapped a rubber band around each end where I had pinched it, to keep it in place and hold my 'net' boundary. I did NOT cut anything off the ends until I was all finished and had it hanging up, that way I could determine exactly how wide I needed it to be and wouldn't waste the tulle. I recommend doing the same!

Once you tie 'net' boundary on either side with a rubber band, take your ribbon and really tie it to your satisfaction. I tried a bow (which I'm no good at it and I'm convinced you need a degree in to make them perfectly), but that didn't go well. I ended up knotting my ribbon on either end, with longer strands hanging down. But go for it and by all means, if you're one of the lucky ones with a PhD in tying bows, have at it!!

Here's how I ended up hanging it on my 3M hooks. I just slipped my knotted ribbon over the hook.

Does that make sense? See how I gathered some of the tulle at the top of the rubber band, and didn't pull it all the way through? Once you have it hanging up, take your scissors and trim off the extra on one side (if you need to). My corner really wasn't too wide, so I had to trim off about 6" trailing from one side. Yours could be less or more, depending on where you decide to hang it.

That's all! Isn't that simple? I seriously don't know why in the world this didn't come to me before.

{Love} easy and cheap, don't you? (Not to mention that those birds are OFF the floor now!)

Let me know if you have any questions!

Thanks for stopping by!



{Pieces & Parts Drawstring Bag}

Whew! We are back from our amazing, wonderful, self-indulgent, downright FUN vacation to San Francisco. I'm finally winding down from the chaos that vacation brings, both before and after the trip, and I've been home for 5 days. Vacations will do that to you, no? When I think that this time last week I was in a state of bliss from the incredible day I spent driving the coast with my Honey, I want to go right back and forget about reality. But alas...reality is always here, even if we forget about it for a while. While I absolutely love my life, my home, and my city, there's just nothing like traveling.  I love this photo, because it captures exactly how I felt that day, and how much we both enjoyed our trip. Can't wait to go back!

Just a taste of the awesomeness (is that a word?) of Highway 1.

Now on to my project for today! (If you can focus your thoughts away from the crashing waves, the cool rock formations, the sea air, and the peace that comes from all of that.)

I was cleaning out my small linen closet a month or so ago. This is also where I store my vacuum cleaner, and I realized that when we moved in over a year ago, I actually took all of my vacuum attachments, stuck them in a plastic bag, and hung them on a nail in the closet. Yes...it looks very cool and is super-organized, as you might have guessed. (Wrong.) But that's what you do when you move in and things like vacuum attachments that you NEVER use need a home.

So in that cleaning moment, I decided to whip up a simple drawstring bag so they could STILL hang in that closet, only looking just a little bit better AND I would know what was actually INSIDE the bag once every 2 years when I have occasion to look for those things.

I came up with this drawstring bag:

I used scraps leftover from the Stick Ponies I made for my kiddo's birthday party this summer. I also used scrap ribbon for the drawstring. Now..I wanted it labeled somehow, but since I don't have the super cool Silhouetter or some other e-cutter, I improvised. I used a scrap piece of vinyl that I had left over from my Trick or Treat Photo Hanger . I cut it to the size I wanted, then printed out a label on white cardstock.

I pinned it down, and machine-stitched around it. Voila! Who says I need a Silhouetter? (Okay, I'm just trying to make myself feel better, but bear with me!)

Now my attachments have a home...a LABELED home...and they can live in their ne'er used state in happiness.

Don't you love easy, free projects? If I get to sew, I'm happy. How about you?

Thanks for stopping by!

{Organizing School Work}

How do you handle the mound of school work that comes home? I have only one kiddo, and I know I'm in the minority, so I always like to see what others do. There are tons of really cute and sensible ideas out there, so I thought I would share how we handle storing and keeping our school papers.

I start the year by keeping nearly EVERYTHING. And I mean everything. Unless it's a note for an event, it goes in this box:

It's a 12x12 scrapbook box that I got on sale for around $4. Don't worry...it's not the finished product. Although if you have ZERO time and 5 kids, it would be perfect...just cumbersome. :)

But I'm off-topic...so here's what I do next.

I keep everything in the box all year. At the end of the year, I go through everything and throw away A LOT. I keep about 25-30 important pieces of work or projects. All the newsletters and extra paper that has a blank back, we stash in our scrap paper pile in our office. 

Then I gather these supplies:

legal expandable envelopes with velcro or a cord

packing tape

computer/paper

I make up some labels listing the school year, my kiddo's age, the school, the teacher, and the location. You can use large labels for this, but honestly ours are stored in the attic. (We have a really cool walk-in attic that we go in and out of weekly, so we can access these anytime. Not a traditional attic.) I have found that labels in attics (over time) tend to peel with the variations in temperature, so I always use cardstock and packing tape instead. It just works better for me.:) It looks like this:

I add all the work I'm keeping, adhere the label, and file them in this nifty tote.

I love crate ideas...but that just means dust and crud to clean off for me, although they are so cute. A file box is another great idea, but maybe I keep too much, but we would fill that rather quickly. So this is our method, and it works great!

Thanks for stopping by,

{Sorting Paper Scraps}

As a stamper and scrapbook gal, I struggled for years with the best system for maintaining (while still using) my paper scraps. I looked for ideas everywhere, but really nothing I tried seemed to actually work for ME. I found that I saved them, but then never used them. A friend of mine once suggested just using ziploc bags, and as rudimentary as it sounds, I actually did that for a while. I tell you this because the ziploc bags then inspired me to step up a bit. I started doing this several years ago and it has been perfect for me!

I purchased this scrapbook paper organizer at Walmart a few years ago for $4.95. It's about 15" x 15" or so.

It came with little file tabs. I sorted my scraps into color groups, then...(and prepare yourself here)...

I went VERY high tech and took a permanent marker to some return address labels.

Can you tell how academic, precise, and creative this method was? ;)

These are sort-of the color groups I chose, although I actually ended up changing a few. Black, brown, and grey each have their own file, and there's one just for neutrals (tans, creams, and whites).

Then I took 10 seconds to painstakingly adhered my labels to the file tabs.

It created the perfect place for paper scraps of ALL sizes.

It sits below my table, to my right, within arm's reach. I go to it ALL the time to pull scraps. It's really never snapped shut, and I find that I actually USE my scraps with this system. It's been working for me for several years now....which is good, since it took me so long to put together. :)

Hope this helps you get your own paper scraps organized. Best $4.95 I've spent for my craft room!

Have a wonderful day!

I'm linking up!