Organizing Arts and Crafts

One of the most difficult things for me to organize has been the arts and crafts. You want certain things available to them that they can pull out anytime, but some things need to be monitored, such as paints and play dough. I created this cabinet to keep all their arts and crafts supplies in. Still, Emily would toss things in there haphazardly, as kids do, and I would constantly have to go through what was good and throw out what was bad. Plus, allowing them to get to the crayons would give them access to untouchable things, as well. ( I have “Do-A-Dot” Art on my walls as a result!)

Here was my solution:

1) I used our Computer Armoir that we no longer use for the computer anymore. (But even shelves will do).

2) I bought these snapware containers for $6 at Big Lots. You see, each container snaps to the other, so it is not easily accessible to my girls. Each thing is separated and organized, yet you can use the height space here. If you pull one thing out, that is the only thing you pull out, and you can easily and clearly see what is in each container.

3) At the bottom you can see I have the coloring books and pages at their level of accessibility. This way, while they can color all they want, they can not get into the supervised arts and crafts.

4) There is a drawer at the bottom with things like pom-pom’s and googly eyes. They are in individual ziploc bags and can be pulled out easily. Again, this is not something they are really allowed to play with alone, but they do not seem to bother them. If they did, I would use the smaller snapware containers to hold them.

These snapware containers come in all sizes. You can follow the links in this post to see the containers, but as I stated earlier, you can get them cheaper if you are willing to look. I got mine at Big Lots.

… And no, I get no commission for suggesting these snapware containers to you. I am not an affiliate. They are just a great product that has solved a problem for me, and I wanted to share. Happy organizing!