Organization Station

That title makes me think of…….conjunction junction, what’s your function.  In case you can’t tell by the School House Rock reference, I’ve got school on the brain.  I can hardly believe it, but school starts in 8 days for us!  This year, I’ve got a big time 2nd grader and get ready for this……my baby starts kindergarten!  Yes, I’m going to cry.  I just about cried during her 5 year old physical at the doctor’s office today.  It just goes way too fast.

With the start of another school year looming over my head, I had to address this situation.

That would be the “homework/art supplies cabinet” in my kitchen.  The kitchen is where it all goes down in our house.  Homework and art projects are typically done at the kitchen table so keeping all of the supplies in there just makes the most sense.  Obviously this cabinet had seen better days.  Or had it?  Regardless, with not one but two kids in “real” school (no offense to the preschoolers) this year, I had to whip this cabinet into shape.

Late one night over the past weekend, I pulled everything out……

and sorted it into 2 piles – keep & discard.

I believe we had something like one meeeeeeeellion coloring books.  Most of which had been colored page to page.  The girl likes to color – a lot!  It was time to purge; good thing she was asleep.

I put together a homework caddy (Target dollar section) for Thing 1 and Thing 2.  I think having their own supplies will make homework time a little easier.  There is still plenty of space to add flashcards or reading words that their teachers may send home.

I even put together a “mommy’s supplies” box with a plastic pencil box we already had.

I recycled a couple of tomato sauce cans for some other art supplies.

I used some cork tiles on the inside of one of the cabinet doors.  I had to cut them to make them fit, and I wasn’t crazy about the look of the seam.

I decided to cover the seem with some left over scrapbook paper and add one of my favorite Seussisms.

Hopefully this will help me do a better job of collecting box tops as well as function as a good place for spelling word lists and the like.

Here’s the new and improved homework supplies cabinet!

So. Much. Better.  I use double-sided tape to line the back of the cabinet with scrapbook paper (Hob Lob – 30% off sale) just for a little added fun.  My thought is if it looks pretty I’ll do a better job keeping it that way.  Let’s hope so at least!  The wire shelf (from Walmart) gave that side of the cabinet much better function and will help to keep our coloring book hoarding tendencies under control.  😉

The cute Seuss buttons were a Target dollar section item.

I command taped them on the containers.

The manila folder underneath is for homework packets.

Okay, so just for fun, here’s the before.

Now, we’re almost ready for school to start.  I just need to grab a box of tissues, and I’ll be all set.  What about you?  Are you getting ready to send your kids back to school?  Anyone else preparing to send your baby?  Oh the waterworks – never fails!

* Linking to Savvy Southern Style, The CSI Project