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I know I’m not the only mom that has taken advantage of the bargain prices on school supplies in late summer, but then manages to not know where on earth any of the stuff is by January. (Or October)
After thoroughly cleaning, purging, and taking stock of the school area, I found various caches of school supplies, and some half-broken pencil boxes with motley collections of broken crayons and buried child-sized scissors. Sick of the situation where people never know where to find OR return commonly-needed items, I turned to Pinterest for inspiration and that got the ball rolling.
This door leads to our coat closet, and this side of it faces the right side of where all of our work stations/desks are for the boys. In other words, all they have to do is turn their little heads to the right and their gaze shall fall upon this beautiful scene:
All you need is one of those inexpensive over-the-door shoe organizers. I got a clear plastic one. You can even order them from amazon*. Boom!
As I started filling each section and figuring out what would make sense for where to place items (for instance Sharpies: Up top.) I decided on some modifications.
I didn’t want crayons to mark up the surface of the organizer and make it look junky.
I didn’t want scissors and sharpened pencils to poke holes in the bottom of the pouches.
I didn’t want to have kids up-to-their-armpits trying to dig out crayons from the pouches.
I had a stash of clear containers from the bulk section of Whole Foods. They fit perfectly into the pouches, and solved the problem of potential pokes as well as made items like crayons, markers, and colored pencils portable. Now a child can help themselves to the container, take it to their seat to use it, and then return the whole thing. Perfect!
I also save parmesan cheese containers (they are perfect for childen’s banks, bug catchers, and a zillion other things) and those also fit nicely and worked well for certain items.
If I hadn’t had these plastic containers handy, I could have used clear plastic cups that could have been obtained inexpensively from a discount store or yard sale, or even canning jars. If you look around at what you’ve got available, you may find that you have a free solution to your needs without having to buy anything.
My children are all old enough to not go berzerk with overuse of school supplies, so I’m comfortable with leaving everything out where they can help themselves. I love it that now that the supply sales are here, I can easily see that I already have more than enough crayons, but could definitely use more pencil-top erasers. I won’t be buying stuff we don’t need.
As you can see there is plenty of extra space. I can see that these pouches could also be useful for additional art supplies, craft supplies, math manipulatives, flash cards, and other small items that need to be kept track of and made available to the children regularly.
I’m a visual person that really likes to see my stuff. With all the bright colors and the ease of keeping it organized, I feel like this will be handy, practical, and easy to keep up on.
We have used this system for a few years now and it continues to work so well for us. Clean up is so easy since it is obvious where everything goes, and it is never a mystery as to whether or not we have binder clips/colored pencils/tape/paintbrushes. Our shoe organizer has held up really well and still looks great!
*Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
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I think that is genius using the hanging shoe storage for your school supplies.
Kathleen
Blogger’s Pit Stop
Oh, you combined two of my favorite things – organizing and repurposing! I love it. And, like you, I stock up on discount school supplies. With 3 kids we need them, but I also donate many of my sale scores. Thanks for sharing at the #ThisIsHowWeRoll Link Party. Pinning now.
Wait, you mean my house is not the only one that eats pens and glue sticks? ha ha! Clever idea. Thanks for sharing on #FridayFrivolity
This is such a neat idea – and I love that you’ve put the markers, pencils, etc in cups first. 🙂 #FridayFrivolity
Best idea ever! We use these shoe organizers to store craft supplies – everything is easy to see and get at, and I can put things like glitter and acrylic paint out of my 7 year old’s reach, lol!
Great idea! We need to do something with our art and school supplies. It often makes me crazy. Thanks for linking up with Funtastic Friday.
Such a brilliant idea! Thanks for linking up to #justanotherlinky xx