Tap, Tap, Tap…Is this thing on?
I took quite the blogging hiatus at the beginning of summer. Our family spent a week in Disney World, and I have been soaking up all the time I can with my kids. When I realized it was mid-June (and then late June), I decided to kick it back into gear! There are so many things I want to get ready this summer, and there is so little time in the day. I have a couple of DIY projects going on right now, but I was too excited about this one to wait.
I'm been eyeing these teacher toolbox organizers since they started popping up around Pinterest last year. This morning, I decided that today was the day! (Full Disclaimer: I definitely did not come up with this idea. It is all over the internet on fabulous teacher blogs. I believe the original creator is Create.Teach.Share.) I scoured Pinterest to make sure I got everything I needed and decided what exactly I wanted to do. Did you notice the 5+ different versions I pinned this morning? If not, start following my Classroom Organization board!
We went to Lowe's, and I got two different organizers. I share a classroom (more on that later), but I have a small office of my own where I have a desk and files, primarily so that I can conduct our Talented & Gifted testing in a nice, quite place. Last year was the first year I had two different “homes,” and it was so hard going back and forth between the two. So, I decided I needed two different organizers–one for my office, and one for the classroom. It was a total necessity, right? Right.
They started out dark blue, which just wasn't going to go with the labels I had in mind, so I picked up a couple cans of spray paint, and before I knew it, my sweet hubby was transforming the dark blue into light blue (“wait…this is already blue!”) and purple goodness.
Wedding vows should always be a little bit different when marrying a teacher. They might include words like “Pinterest Project,” or “laminate,” or “cutting,” or “heavy lifting.” What would I do without him?
Anyhow…then, I got busy making my labels. The original designer of the toolbox is Create.Teach.Share, and she uses scrapbook paper and labels (which she provides on her wonderful, lovely blog.) I didn't have the patience to cut out multiple things, so I just used some Ashley Hughes argyle digital paper and Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah‘s frames and threw some KG Fonts on, and had myself some bright labels. You can have them for free by clicking the link below.
Click here to snag the labels for free. |
The designing and making of the labels took me longer than anything else. This was a super quick project! I printed the labels out on card stock and then stuck them into the drawers (I used tape after reading all the different ways people did it. You can't see it, and it took mere seconds to assemble each one.)
That's it! Done!
Then I stared at it, and really, really wanted to go to Office Max to get some new supplies…but I resisted. I know the messy drawers full of paper clips and staplers are still waiting for me back at school, and I'll just have to wait to organize them into these beauties!
If you haven't already made these, I highly recommend it. Super easy, super cute, and I know it's going to be a great organization tool.
I'll be back in the next couple of days with my first Washi Tape project!