Our New School/Craft Supply Organization
Organization is apparently not my thing. Try as I might, I just can’t seem to stay organized! This presents an assortment of complications, one of them being I can never find what I’m looking for. This is especially true for school and art supplies. Things seem to get buried in the bottomless pit of “organizational methods” that I’ve tried (and failed at) before. And after Stacie’s guest post last week, I was motivated to get things organized around here…well at least the school supplies anyway.
This is my new favorite organizational tool:  an over-the-door shoe organizer! A comment from Kate on Stacie’s guest post last week tipped me off to this idea and it is pure genius! I got my shoe organizer at Lowe’s for $12, but you can also buy them here.
There are two main things I love about this: Â (1) it is clear so you can see exactly what you’re looking for and (2) it doesn’t take up any space…it just hangs on the back of a door! We have it hanging on our pantry door because we usually do our art projects in the kitchen. Our art supplies are literally 2 steps away and arranged in a way where we can see what we have! I feel like doing a happy dance.
If you’re interested in seeing what supplies we have in our “organizer”, click on the two pictures below to enlarge.
Here are the top 3 rows:
And the bottom 3:
I was so excited about out how organized I was feeling…I tackled my two junk drawers as well! Aren’t you proud, Beth?
On to the rest of my house…or perhaps I’ll just read a book instead. ;)
I love these plastic shoe organizers! they come in so handy, we had them on the back and front of a closet door when we lived with my dad and organized the baby outfits in each pocket, and used them for so many other things
Looks great! I love organizing =)
Hi Jenae!! I just bought that shoes organizer at K-mart and used it for my girls’s bows. Then I copy Motherhood on a dime from your last post the other kind of shoe box which I got from Wallmart for $1. Thanks for the info.
Now I want to show off my bow organizer ! I also got an idea for weekly chores from http://motherhoodonadime.com Thanks STacie!
Share the link, Anna. I’d love to see it!
okay,Jenae, I will need to buy another one for the girls’ bathroom. Is it okay if I posted a photo on your facebook? let me know if not,I will remove it.
This is a great Idea Jenae. I am thinking about doing this in my pantry. I have no room for anything anymore!
Okay, you’ve sold me. I need one. $12 at Lowe’s. I’m so there.
Hello Kama, it is cheaper at K-mart
I found them at Big Lots for $8 – but you have to be careful because the one I go to has 2 different brands and one is much more durable than the other.
I have one for school/craft supplies and I also have one in my laundry room for all of the misc. items that would normally go in a junk drawer or get knocked off the shelves easily (i.e. stain remover, mesh laundry bags, excess fabric softner sheets etc. I also keep the sunscreen and bug spray/wipes there since that’s usually the route we take to go outside and play.) I love how hidden they are- no one ever knows they’re there unless I show them.
I had to stop myself from humming the “Hallelujah Chorus”! I’m CONSTANTLY being attacked by things falling off my laundry room shelves. Such a good idea!
Inspired is more like it Jenae! I love it!
brilliant! I have quadruplets & having 4 of EVERYTHING for school was STRESSING ME OUT! So hard to keep that much stuff organized! I love this! LOVE it! TFS!
What a great idea! I’m buying one .. or two of these today so I can get our craft supplies organized!
Love this idea! I will have to give it a try! Question…my kitchen pantry door is a fold out style that you can’t hang stuff on. Could I do this in a bathroom? Do you think the heat and moisture from showers would dry out markers?
I use 3M Command hooks to hang mine. I have one hanging inside our coat closet for hats and gloves and will be adding one to our office closet for art supplies.
What a great idea!
I am SO going to copy this great idea!
Teacher Tam’s Educational Adventures
It looks fine! Thanks for sharing. You sure have a lot of craft supplies!
This is fabulous! I was just looking at the idea in the Lowes magazine too. I’m thinking we need to get one for all of the winter stuff: hats, gloves, and more. Maybe when winter is over I can just roll it up and store it away. Thanks for sharing your awesome ideas everyday!
That’s a great idea! We use the shoe organizers to keep track of hats, gloves, scarves, sunglasses and umbrellas. Much better than digging through a big bin to find matches; you can see exactly what you are looking for. I may be making more use of these shoe organizers for other things now!
Here is a thought for your brilliant idea :-)
Turn all your markers lid down, so that the ink flow towards the nib. Use gravity to keep your markers fresh :-D
(That’s what we do, LOL!)
What an excellent idea! Thanks!
Looks good! We actually use the same method for storing our cloth diapers on the inside of a closet door. Those things are great space savers.
What a fantastic idea!!! Right now our craft supplies are in the creepy unfinished basement in drawers. I’d love to have them organized and close to where we’d use them! I do have a different style of shoe hanger organizer that I use in my daughters closet to hold extra crib sheets, hair accessories, etc. But hadn’t thought about using the same system in other areas of the house. I love to organize and can’t wait to give this a shot!
I never knew they made dry erase crayons! Off to look for some now.
I love these shoe organizers – We have 1 that stays with our suitcases so that we can take it on vacations with us, I put all of our toiletries in it when we arrive at the resort (was VERY handy this last winter when we took a cruise – 5 people in a small cabin & no storage, it was perfect!). I also have one in every bathroom for my girls hairbrushes, bows, clips, headbands, etc. Thanks for the art supply idea!
I love this idea. I loved being organized, but this is an idea I hadn’t thought of. I struggle with keeping all of our homeschool/craft supplies organized. I’ll be heading out to the store today! Thanks:)
This can also be used to put all those little hot wheels cars.
What a GREAT idea! We might have to try that! :)
I’ve seen this idea before & have wanted to use it but never got around to it. BUT now that we are moving, it will be so easy to get things organized right off the bat
We did this! It has uncluttered my dining room table. I want to put one behind every door.
Thanks so much,
Caterina
This is amazing!!!
This was so inspiring that I got started in my children’s room last week and I have been working hard getting it organized. Thank you!
Wow! What a great idea. I thought it was so awesome that I featured you on my blog today! I’m still new enough that I don’t have a graphic to share, but when we get done, I’ll be sure to link it for you!
Here’s the blog entry:
http://www.ithinkicanmoms.com/2011/10/kids-supplies-yeah-i-got-this.html?spref=fb
So smart! Thanks for sharing! :0)
Cute idea. I don’t have alot of doors in my small house but I do have of of these shoe holders on the back of my craft room door. I use it for my punches & love the accessability of it.
posted this great idea to our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SecularHomeschoolSociety. We are going to do this in our classroom. We have run out of cubbies and this will make finding everything SO much easier!!! Such a fab idea!
Thank you! Thank you! I am going out tomorrow to buy a shoe organizer and fill it for the coming school year.
Thanks for this great idea. Shared it on my facebook page today!
Love this idea! What did you use to write on the plastic? I want to get one Today
Jenae, I love this so I featured it in my blog post about organizing your craft room. You can check it out here: http://www.favecraftsblog.com/your-must-have-craft-supplies-list-for-kids-how-to-store-craft-supplies
Best,
Jaclyn
I took a shoe organizer, hung it in my kitchen and put the dry soup pouches, mixer beaters, Dry dip/salad pouches, etc. in the pockets. It has saved me a lot of room in a very small kitchen and very handy. I also found small, hanging type shower caddys with pockets and attached them to the inside of my cabinet to put other pouch type items and instructions/warranties for appliances.
That is such a great idea!