Family Craft Supply Storage

As the mother of two elementary-aged children and a crafter myself, one thing we have a lot of in my house is craft supplies! When we moved to our new house, one of my top priorities was the re-organize our craft supplies in a way that made sense for our family and how we use things, taking into account how much older (and therefore more capable and independent) my daughters are now at 11 years old. I still have more to do to get everything the way we want it, but today I'm sharing my progress so far- I'm really happy with our new setup!

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When we first moved in I was hoping to use our hallway closet- presumably intended to be used for linens- as our centralized craft storage closet. But once I started organizing everything I quickly realized there was no way everything would fit! So I shifted strategies to sort our craft supplies into categories: items only the kids would use, items we would all use, and items only I would use. The common items I kept in the hallway closet, the kids' items I put in the girls' shared play area closet, and my remaining items I'm not quite ready to share yet (mostly my planner stickers and washi tape) in my room. 

The kids' craft storage is actually half of the master bedroom closet. Our new house doesn't have a specific "play room" like we had with our old basement, so we designated the master bedroom to be half one daughter's bedroom and half shared play space. One side of the closet is my daughter's clothes closet, and the other side is now the storage for their toys and craft supplies:

The girls have a lot fewer toys now, so a lot of the bins in the bin organizer now hold craft supplies, and some of the spots in the hanging shoe organizer have additional craft supplies as well. The majority of the supplies, though, are stored in the IKEA bins on the rails that we attached to the back wall of the closet. I cut out pieces of clear contact paper and wrote on them with permanent marker to create simple labels for the bins that we can change out whenever we need:

The hallway closet has a lot of the specific categories or projects that we use together, like sewing tools and fabric, paint and glue, tie-dye, beads and jewelry making tools, and scrapbook paper. For categories (like paint and glue) or specific projects (like tie-dye) I grouped them in clear bins with labels on the front so we can all see what's inside and find what we need. 

As a scrapbooker I have a bit of a paper problem and had an absolutely ridiculous stack of paper pads that were getting bulky and difficult to sort through in the drawer I had them in before- I knew I needed a way to store them vertically to make it easier to look through everything, and I knew I wanted to consolidate everything by color and coordinating sets to make it easier to find what I want rather than flipping through every single paper pad, especially since I had a lot of pads that I had used up a lot of the sheets. These clear paper organizers have been a game changer! For the paper pads that have specific coordinating patterns I like to use together, I took out the remaining pages and put them in a bin together where I can more quickly see the paper inside. For the rest of the paper, I took everything out of the pads and reorganized them by color. It is so much easier to find what I need now, and for the girls to use it as well (this video shows a quick tour around both closet spaces, and a closer look at the paper organizers)!

There will definitely have to be a part 2 to share more of my craft storage- I still have more to do to set up my personal craft supplies in my bedroom/ office space as well- but I'm really happy with how things are coming together so far. Our new setup makes so much more sense for our family and how we use things now! 

Do you have any craft supply organization and storage ideas you love? Which supplies do you find most difficult to organize? Leave your suggestions in the comments below!

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Schedule Dashboard for Teacher Planners

My schedule this year looks nothing like it ever has before, and keeping track of where I'm supposed to be when and doing what has been an unprecedented challenge! This planner addition has been a life-saver for me this fall and it has proven to be even more versatile than I ever imagined.

This year because we are on a rotational schedule where we see the same 2 grade levels for 3 weeks and then switch, my schedule is the same every single day, and I'm essentially teaching 2 lesson plans each day. So while I don't need to re-write my lesson plans for every single 2nd grade class with the same lesson plan, I do need a way to keep track of what my schedule is- I am teaching both full distance learners on zoom and in-person cohorts simultaneously, and going into different rooms around the building on a cart.

Rather than writing out my schedule each day, I wrote out the times, locations, and formats (in person, online, or both) for my classes and printed 2 copies front and back, laminated, and hole punched it so I can keep it in my planner and move it from week to week to reference. I've also been using it to keep track of my schedule during the day by sticking it to the side of my cart with a magnet. Double duty! Having it as a reference has saved me many times.

Here's a video showing it in more detail:

If you have a crazy schedule this year like mine, I highly recommend this simple DIY- I've found it so helpful! If you're looking for the planner printables I use, you can find those here. Looking for more tips and ideas for teaching in a hybrid model? You'll find lots more posts on this page:

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The Power of Positive Visuals

I'm not much of a touchy-feely person. I tend to be skeptical of anything that seems fluffy or ignorantly positive. But I have come to appreciate the power of positive visuals and the influence it can have on my mood and motivation in a very real way, and today I wanted to share some of my favorite ways to incorporate them simply and effectively into my daily life.

It all started with a quote that really struck me. I knew I wanted to be reminded of that thought often, so I stuck some paper inside a dollar tree picture frame to make my own dry erase board, wrote down the quote, and hung it by my front door. When I came across a new quote, I erased the previous one and wrote down the new one.

When I moved into my new house, I was looking for easy ways to decorate my bedroom and make it more colorful, and picked up a scrapbook paper pad with colors that coordinate with my bedding. In that paper pad were a few pages with large quotes, and one of them had both a great message that I wanted to wake up to, and was visually appealing as wall art. So I modge-podged it onto some cork board and hung it on the wall in my bedroom:

As I started playing around more with my planner decorating, I started incorporating other pieces of scrapbook paper and stickers with inspirational quotes that I anticipated I would need to be reminded of that week. I even made some of my own (see them here) that I printed, cut, and glued into my planner. Since I look at my planner multiple times every day, I figured I should use the space to help keep me in the right mindset!

All of these are very simple but have had a positive impact on my mood and mindset as I go through my day- it's amazing how powerful a simple image can be!

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Fresh Start 2018 Challenge: craft supplies

Welcome back to the Fresh Start 2018 Challenge!

This is week #4 of my weekly series this month to try to give my home life a bit more of a New Year's kick in the pants while dealing with the reality that school is back in session and I do NOT have the time or energy for a full-on deep clean/purge. I'm making an effort this year to find small but impactful ways to make my home a priority during the month of January. So far I've tackled closets, purses, and the car. This week's focus: craft supplies!

If you haven't already, I hope you'll look through all of the "fresh start" posts and maybe get that extra motivation you need to do a little cleaning up! It has been so helpful for me to stay motivated by picking a manageable task each week and keeping myself accountable on Instagram.

It's no secret that I love crafting. I love making things to use or decorate around the house, decorating in my planner, or just creating art for the fun of it (especially with my daughters!). Because of this hobby, I have quite a collection of stickers, washi tape, scrapbook paper, pens, and more. And that's not even counting all the art supplies my daughters have!

This week's fresh start challenge: purge and organize all of the craft supplies!

This is a 2-part process: step 1 will be to get rid of supplies we're no longer using. I know I have some old washi tape I've had for years that is all stuck together and doesn't work. My daughters have old markers that have dried up, tiny pieces of broken crayon, small scraps of paper that never get used, and random stickers from grocery stores and dentists that nobody has touched for months. The first step to giving our craft supplies a "fresh start" is to go through and get rid of all of that! Hoarding isn't helping anyone.

The 2nd step is to get everything that's left re-organized. I have to confess, I have collected enough additional sticker books and washi tape rolls that I need to revisit my organizational system- yikes! I currently have several things just floating around aimlessly in my drawer, which means it's hard to find what I need when I want it, and I often forget about things that I have.

If you're joining me in organizing your craft supplies, you'll want to create an organizational system that works for you and the supplies you have. If you need some ideas, here are some of the systems I've used in the past:

Want to join me in this Fresh Start 2018 challenge? I'm going to be posting a photo on Instagram on Sunday of what I accomplished for the challenge this week. If you want to join me, share your own pictures and include #FreshStart2018Challenge in the description. You don't have to stick to any schedule either- join me any time! The goal is to get a cleaner, more organized home without the guilt or stress.

This has been a great way for me to force myself to set aside some time to clear things out and clean up without feeling overwhelmed. Here's to a fresh start this new year! Click here to sign up for the Organized Chaos newsletter!

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Craft Supplies for Home Decor: paper cutouts

I hope you've been enjoying my little series on using craft supplies to make easy, cheap, home decor! Today I have a few simple projects using paper cutouts. I've used paper flowers for all of these, but if you go to your local craft store you'll find paper cutouts / die cuts in all different shapes and colors (or of course you could make your own). These are all great ways to spice up boring things and add a personal touch to your space :)

First of all, if you're not sure what I'm talking about when I say paper cutouts or die cuts, here's what I'm talking about:

I often find them on clearance in craft stores, and there are always different seasonal sets, like fall leaves, or even different animals (which would be so cute for a kid's bedroom or playroom!).

The first project is one I've shared before: adding some flowers to the top of push pins. For these, I took 2-3 flowers in different sizes and layered them on top of each other, putting a tiny blob of craft glue in the middle of each one to attach them. I love these! They add so much color to my bedroom wall. Click the picture to read more about that project:

The next two projects are new (and I'm more than a little excited)! I recently updated my daughters' bedroom in their requested fairy garden theme, so I pulled out the paper flowers again for a few projects :)

The first was simple: add a longer pull to the ceiling light switch! I tied some string I had on hand around the short metal pull that came on the ceiling light so that it hung down low enough for the girls to reach. At the bottom of the string, I attached 2 layered (as in the previous project) flowers, sandwiching the string, with a little gemstone in the middle of each flower. Isn't it adorable? And so much easier for little hands. The girls can't stop turning the light on and off ;)

You may have noticed the second project in the photo above: DIY flower bed canopies :) I got these plain bed canopies from IKEA and, as before, made a whole bunch of layered flowers with the tiny gemstones in the middle. Then I used the same craft glue to sandwich the net between two sets of flowers (so that they look nice from the inside or outside).

Aren't these fun? And so easy :) I hope these ideas give you some inspiration for your own projects. Have you used die cuts / paper cutouts for any of your own home projects? I'd love to hear your ideas in the comments! And if you haven't already, be sure to check out my previous posts from this series on using washi tape and scrapbook paper for DIY home decor ideas :) Want more? Sign up here for the Organized Chaos Newsletter and I'll send ideas and resources straight to your inbox!

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Craft Supplies for Home Decor: Paper

Scrapbook paper has got to be one of my favorite things! And it is wonderfully easy to use in so many different projects, even home decorating. If you missed it, last week I shared my favorite ways to use washi tape for home decor. Today we're talking about my favorite home decor projects using paper! These are all easy and budget-friendly, so I hope you'll give some of these a try!

I've shared quite a few home decor projects using scrapbook paper over the last few years! Most of them are what I call "functional art", meaning they serve as organizational tools, but because of the pretty paper, they're also decorative! ;) Here are some of my favorites (click on the picture to visit the post and see how I did them):

1. Dry erase organizers

2. Magnet boards

3. Corkboards / wall art

The other project I want to share with you is not mine- it has been on my list of "future projects" for a while now but I'm waiting until I can finish a few other projects first: drawer lining! For kitchens and bathrooms I plan to put clear contact paper over the top of the scrapbook paper, but for other places you can just use the paper as-is. So fun! There are tons of tutorials on this project, but this one from "In My Own Style" is my favorite:

That's about it for home decor projects using paper! I hope you found some new, simple ways to personalize your home. Have you done any home decorating with scrapbook paper? I'd love to hear your ideas in the comments! :) 

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Craft Supplies for Home Decor: Washi Tape

Raise your hand if you've ever used craft supplies as home decor! I've found that many craft supplies are also perfect home decor items- they're generally cheaper than buying pre-decorated items, there are infinite color and pattern possibilities, and in most cases they're easy to change out if you're renting (or just flaky). Plus if you're like me and already have a craft supply obsession, this just gives you another excuse to buy more pretty things! ;) Today I'm kicking off a series on using craft supplies in the home with my favorite item: washi tape!

I've actually shared quite a few ideas for using washi tape in the home already, so I'll share those posts below for you to see more detailed ideas. But the applications are probably pretty obvious: washi tape is a great cheap and temporary way to add colors and patterns to almost any surface. And of course you can use it to attach things to other things, like hanging (light-weight) pictures on the wall. Click on the images below to see some of my favorite projects:

Disclaimer: some of these posts are OLD! No judging my beginner photo skills from years ago! ;)

Washi Tape Gallery Wall:

Mail Sorters:

I hope you found inspiration for some new home projects! How else have you used washi tape in your home? I'd love to hear your ideas in the comments below!

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Managing All Your Kids' Artwork

If you have young children at home, you know that there seems to be an endless supply of artwork floating around, and no matter how many times you organize and purge more appears almost instantly! I always struggle with staying on top of the mountain of drawings because I want to appreciate the pictures my girls are making, and I want to make sure I'm saving a few choice pieces from each stage of their lives to look back on later, but the sheer quantity makes it difficult to find the time to sort through everything to find the ones to keep. Plus it can often be really hard to throw away something made lovingly by a 4-year-old! Although I won't say I never have piles of pictures all over my house anymore, I've come up with a system for managing all of the artwork at our house that has been helping me to keep everything more manageable.

To be honest, I don't really have time to think about what to do with all those pictures during the week- I empty out any pictures that they make at school and make one big pile for each of my daughters with all of their artwork (I do go through and take care of any paperwork that comes home on a daily basis though). Once a week (sometime over the weekend), I go through the pile with each of them to put everything away.

I essentially give my daughters 3 options for their artwork: display, dispose, or store. 

One of the key elements to making this system work is having several options for places where we can display any artwork that they want to have up. It needs to be easy to change out the artwork but also have enough space to display several things at once. I've come up with two spots in the house where we display their artwork (one in the basement and one in their bedroom). If you want to read more about either of those systems, just click on the pictures to go to the respective posts where I've described them in more detail:

The second key element is, of course, a method of storing artwork. I didn't really have anywhere for the girls to keep artwork they wanted until recently (mostly because they weren't old enough to understand the concept). After reorganizing my own closet, I was able to free up two under-the-bed sweater boxes to put under each of their beds. I told them those boxes were theirs to keep whatever they wanted- basically they are their "treasure boxes". However, I made it clear that they could only keep whatever would fit in the box and no more, so they would need to choose wisely (and may need to get rid of something else if they want to add to the box and it's already full). So far they have been very good about choosing only the most important items to keep in their box, and they have also been asking to occasionally rotate things that they have displayed in their bedroom with other things they had in their box, so I know they aren't completely forgetting what is in the boxes.

Of course the final element of the system is throwing out some of their artwork. I often will take a picture of pictures to share with family and friends beforehand (I've posted a few gems on my Instagram recently), but the girls and I are all learning to let go of a lot of those drawings that they didn't put a lot of time into instead of holding onto them forever and letting them pile up.

Having this system has made it much more manageable for us to sort through the piles of artwork and find a place for each one. I'm also hoping to go through everything that's in their boxes and on display once or twice a year to see if there's anything that's ready to be taken out of rotation. Hopefully this will help us keep everything under control, while still being able to enjoy their creativity, for the next few years!

What do you do with all the artwork your kids create? I'd love to hear your ideas in the comments!

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The Family Calendar: a fun family project

Last November I shared the new family calendar that I was planning on using with my daughters, and how I wanted to use it. Although I still love the ideas that I had at the time, in reality I wasn't able to keep up with it like I wanted (I had planned to print photos from the month and use it as a scrapbook- I just haven't been able to keep up with printing pictures to use etc). Instead, the blank calendar that I made for that purpose has become a monthly family activity that is not only fun but helps the girls anticipate the upcoming events in their lives. Read on to see how easy and fun a family calendar can be (and there's a free download link if you want to make your own blank calendar to use this way)!

As many of you know, I am a planner girl. My planner not only allows me to maintain sanity as an elementary music teacher, single mom, co-parent, and blogger/entrepreneur, but it also is my hobby. I have always loved scrapbooking since I was little and I love using colorful (albeit cheap and still mainly functional) craft supplies to decorate my planner (you can see some examples in my "plan with me" videos on my YouTube channel). 

Although I tend to save my planner time for when I have the house to myself, the girls have figured out that it is something I love to do. One day it occurred to me that it would be fun to do something like I do with my planner together as a family project, so I let the girls pick out some washi tape, stickers, and pens from my craft supplies and we decorated the page together, labeling all of the events that applied to their lives like birthdays, field trips, and other family and school events.

I've been so happy with the results! It is so much fun for me to share my hobby with my daughters, and I love seeing my little mini planner girls choosing coordinating items from my stash and deciding where things should go. 

Besides being a great opportunity for family bonding, the calendar is very helpful for the girls to see when things are coming up now that they have a better sense of time (they're now 4.5 years old), especially for one of my daughters who struggles with transitions and thrives on structure. And, as it turns out, it is still going to (sortof) serve the purpose I intended as a way of memory keeping- the pictures they draw and the stickers they use will be so much fun to look back on as the years go by!

This is a great way to combine quality time with the whole family, monthly family meetings to go over the upcoming month's events, and art projects all rolled into one. Have you ever considered something like this for your family? There are so many benefits to this project that I had to share! If you want to make your own, you can download a free copy of the same blank calendar I use here- I'll be updating the calendar for free each year so if you want to make one for next calendar year, you can re-download towards the end of the year.

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Kid's Artwork DIY Display

One of the greatest challenges of parenting school-age children is managing all.the.papers. It is incredible how many pieces of paper travel with us from school to home each day, and my kids are only in preschool! I shared recently how I plan to take control of the paperwork that comes home from teachers- lunch menus, field trips forms, and more- in my purse this year in this post. Today I want to share my solution for displaying all of the artwork that my daughters bring home!

It is amazing how much artwork my daughters create at school. I've created a system to sift through all of the artwork and figure out what to display, what to throw out, and what to store (and where to put the ones we store) but I'll share all of that in another post. In our house, no matter how much we sort and put away, we still have a lot of artwork to display, and not all of it is on a sheet of paper! In my old apartment, I had a few oversized clothespins stuck to the wall to display their artwork:

I love this system because it is easy, cheap, fun to look at, and allows me to hang lots of artwork at once so I can display new art the kids bring home, and deal with old artwork later when I have time. When we moved into the new house a few months after the girls started preschool, I knew we needed an upgrade because 1) they now had a lot more artwork they wanted to display and 2) they were bringing home sculptures and other 3-D stuff that I couldn't hang from a clothespin.

So here's what I have now (in the basement, which I have set up as the playroom):

I was so happy when I found some more oversized clothespins AND these wooden cubes on clearance at Michael's last fall! The colors are perfect, and the cubes allow us to display their 3-D stuff. They new clothespins are actually bigger than the old ones, but I don't mind. It actually makes everything look more eclectic.

I love this wall now! It is so cheerful and fun to look at, and my daughters love seeing their artwork displayed like this :) You can find similar clothespins and cubes at several different stores- I've seen them at Walmart, Target, Michael's, and other craft stores. Now is a good time to look for them on clearance as well- they put these out for college and back to school organization, so check out your local store soon if you think you want to try setting this up for yourself! You can also get some plain clothespins, which you could paint any color you like, here and different colored cubes here if you can't find them in stores.

How do you display your children's artwork? I am loving my new display area and can't wait to see the girls bring home this year!

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