Pretty Paper-Covered Paper Keepers

It's the beginning of another school year...which means we're all being inundated with insane amounts of paper coming home from school with each of our tiny people...every...day. Homework, graded papers, PTA flyers, info. on extracurriculars. I'm not the "keep everything" kind of mom. I look at the graded papers, give the appropriate acknowledgement, and then {BAM!} into the recycling bin it goes. But, there's still quite a lot of stuff that has to be kept. Fund-raising paperwork, classroom newsletters w/ important information, and the weekly letter books being brought home by the Kindergartener, to name a few. So it quickly became clear that I really {needed} someplace to put all of this....stuff... Enter my $5 solution.

I started out with a set of magazine files from Ikea. I went cheap and bought the cardboard Flyt version...a pack of 5 for $1.99. Being cardboard, they're not completely sturdy...but being cheap I can afford to replace them in a year if I need to, and I do think they'll make it through at least one school year, so I feel pretty good about it. The sad truth, though, is that they're not all that pretty. Enter some pretty scrapbook paper I picked up at Hobby Lobby.

First, I cut each piece into a 5 inch wide strip ~ thus leaving plenty of extra paper to wrap around the side.

You can see that the paper didn't make it all the way to the bottom of the magazine box, so I had to get a bit creative to make sure all the cardboard got covered.

For some of the boxes, that meant overlapping the paper (b/c it was 8 1/2 x 11). I strategically placed the overlap...you'll see why in a second.

For other boxes, I cut the paper (12x12) into 2 pieces and left a tiny white band that matched the spot of the overlap on the other magazine files. I knew I'd be covering those spots over later.

I put a layer of mod podge (of course I did!) on the cardboard, then carefully placed the paper where I wanted it and pressed down to get the paper as smooth and bubble-free as possible. Once the fronts were done, I put some more mod podge along the side of the magazine file and folded the extra paper over the edge.

When that was done, I took the left-over paper and cut 2 inch wide strips, which I then used (again with the mod podge) to cover over the spots where the paper was either over-lapping or cut.

I think the coordinating papers make the boxes stand out...and make them a little bit more {fun}, too.

I popped them onto the shelves in my craft room, and now I have a spot to corral all of that insane paperwork that comes home week after week. So far, so good!

My apologies for the crappy photos. The hubband got a new computer, which means I've now got his old one (which is still far better than what I had before) & it's not compatible with the prehistoric version of photoshop I own. I'll be upgrading soon ~ elements 10 comes out in october! until then....all I've got is Paint. UGH.

I {LOVE} it when a plan comes together...

If you're anything like me, keeping the house tidy and staying ahead of household clutter is a constant battle. It has been my goal for a very long time to have my home in a constant state of 15-minute company readiness. And for a very long time I have been failing...{spectacularly}. I've heard all sorts of tips (just do a little bit every day...) tried various kinds of schedules (bathrooms on Mon, bedrooms on Tues, etc.) and even signed up for FlyLady....which only resulted in a crapload of e-mails flooding my in-box and me spending ridiculous amounts of time deleting, responding and trying to unsubscribe.

After several failed attempts and a whole heckuva lot of frustration, I am beyond {thrilled} to say that I have finally found something that works for me. And I'm going to share it with all of you!








The idea for this type of chart came from this post at Jen's IHeart Organizing blog.

The basic idea is to figure out what household tasks you need to do on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual basis, and put them on a handy-dandy little chart. Obviously, what goes where is going to depend on your own family's specific needs. For example ~ we are a 2-dog family, so vacuuming really {has to happen} every day or we're dealing with dog hair tumbleweeds. It ain't pretty. If your home is pet-free, vacuuming once a week might suffice. Figure out what works best for you, and go from there!

Also, you'll notice that the tasks are pretty simplified. The words "Wipe down Kitchen" and "Clean Bath Counter" are simplified versions of what I really probably need to do. But it's awfully hard to wipe down a counter when there's stuff on it...so clearing it all off and putting everything away is implied. I did this for a couple of reasons. 1 - Hopefully I can get to a point where the counter is usually clear to begin with, so wiping it down is all I need to do. And 2 - It's important (at least I think it is) to keep the number of items on the daily list down to a manageable amount. There's nothing more demoralizing that feeling like you're failing every day because you can't get to everything on your list. I put the {bare minimum} on the daily list ~ the things that will make the most impact if I don't get them done on a daily basis ~ and then I do my best to get to those things every day.

There are so many {fantastic} things about this chart. I love that it keeps me on task on a day-to-day basis, and that I have a visual reminder of what I've already taken care of and what I have left to do...especially when it comes to some of the monthly and quarterly items. Let's be honest, here. Things like dusting ceiling fans and vacuuming registers...those are the kinds of tasks that I'll put off until the job is so disgusting that I feel the need to shower after I've finished. I love knowing that things aren't going to get that far-gone again! I love that using this list will most-likely help our appliances work better and last longer, because I'm being reminded to take better care of them! My most favorite thing about this chart is that, because I popped it into a page protector, I can mark items off the list with a dry erase marker, and erase the marks when it's time to start over again...so I'm not re-writing the same things over and over again, or wasting paper by having to print it out again and again.

Now...I didn't make a printable of this to share with you all, because it wasn't {my} idea. If you love this idea, but you're not so handy with the computer and what-not, you can head over to Jen's blog and follow the link to her Etsy shop. She has all sorts of amazing and wonderful {goodies} in her shop ~ check-lists, logs, calendars ~ you name it, she's got it. Everything she offers is reasonably priced, and {pretty} to boot.

As for me, I made my own printable in Photoshop & had it printed at Costco (b/c we don't have a color printer at home). I have found that a few of the tasks on the list need to be shifted from daily to weekly or vice-versa, and that there were a few items that I wanted to add to the list, so it's still a work in progress. Not a big deal ~ I'll just keep working off of this one until I have a new one printed.

So, there you have it! I'm not saying it's {perfect} ~ I tried to allow myself a "day off" last week and it took me a lot longer to get everything back in order than I thought it would ~ but it's a major improvement over where I was before I started and I feel like it's something that I can stick with long term. I hope it works for you, too!

TGIF!

Happy Friday, Everyone! :) As usual, I highly suggest that you head over to Tatertots & Jello & check out all the awesome projects and ideas that are being shared. It's {always} worth the trip!

A Happy Scrappy Wreath

Have you seen all of those {adorable} crayon wreaths all over the web? They're so cute & happy & back-to-schoolish. I had everything I needed to make one of my own ~ the wreath form, the ribbon, and a few boxes of brand new crayons. But I just couldn't {force} myself to "waste" those perfect crayons on a wreath that would hang for a matter of minutes on the first day of school ~ because I have no place to put it inside, and the crayons would melt on my front door.

I still wanted something colorful and {lively} to put up in honor of the start of the school year, so I came up with this....






First, I dug around and pulled out some t-shirts I was going to be donating to good will, along with some fabric {scraps} and some bits of ribbon that I had laying around.





I started out by cutting the shirts into 2 - 3 inch strips, and then cutting the strips into sections that were about 4-5 inches long. I stretched them out a little and tied them around the wreath form.





I threw in some strips of scrap fabric (which needs to be longer b/c it doesn't stretch) and ribbon to add more texture and interest, and tried to be as random as I could with placement. I moved the strips around as I tied them to make sure that the wreath form was covered as much as possible, placing some of the knots at the inside of the wreath, some at the outside, and some in the middle, too.





And a reminder of the the end result!





I'm pretty happy with it. It's bright and cheerful while not screaming BACK TO SCHOOL! ;) It came together pretty quickly, too. It's really a great use for scraps, and it would be super cute in specific school colors as a teacher gift, or in more holiday-specific colors - like black and orange for Halloween... Hmmmm... ;)