Organization: A year's worth of homework

With two boys in school now, there are lots of homework and art project pages filling up the bin I set up in the office. Now that the new school year has started, it was time to decide what to do with last year's stash. Once I saw this, my decision was made:

Source: remodelista.com via Claudia on Pinterest

One evening a couple of weeks ago, I sat down and photographed everything I wanted kept for posterity. I did save a couple of projects from each of my boys, and the memory books their teachers had made of the whole school year. I know, I'm a sucker, and we'll see how those fare in a few years, but for now I am keeping them.

I got a coupon for a free poster print at Walmart, and I found super cheapo poster frames for $6 each, so my project ended up costing around $12 total.


We are redoing this particular corner of the playroom/office, since my husband likes my computer better (better graphics card, yeah!) and now never sits at his desk, so this corner is going to be the media/recharging station/printer/etc. area, but for right now I really like my boys' work up there.

My favorite paper goods store

Every couple of months I try to head up to Paper Source - I am lucky enough to have one 20 minutes away, and I just love their array of delicious papers for all sorts of paper crafts.

I've used their peacock paper on the back of my office tower, used it as artwork in my bathroom, and made tons of scrapbook pages and cards with it.

I recently got this notebook for my purse. We keep our calendar online but when we're out and about and need to schedule something, this will certainly come in handy.



I love everything lavender and these will be great to freshen up with during the hot days of late summer.



I call my youngest my little monkey, and he needs a new backpack for kindergarten :D


A new water bottle for my oldest to take to school?


I'll keep you updated on what I end up getting!

My new little office

Ever since my youngest was born and his room went from office to nursery, my husband and I have had our office space in the playroom.

It gets messy. Dinosaurs go everywhere, and seem to have a fondness for being on my desk and under my chair, so that more than once I have nearly toppled backwards because one of the wheels got caught on an ankylosaurus. Furthermore, my desk was so massive that I couldn't reach all the way to the back of the desk and things that got put there were, inevitably, forgotten.

Knowing well that "the bigger the purse, the more you stuff in it", I decided to get a smaller desk. I ended up with an IKEA desk, and I LOVE it. It is small but with all the space i need, and it is a lot more manageable for my needs.

Since I had some extra space, I appropriated a white shelf tower from my youngest's room. No more diapers and wipes for him, so it became mine, all mine!!! But I decided to pretty it up with some peacock paper I saw at my favorite paper store, Paper Source.As much as I would like my office to look like something out of Martha Stewart or Real Simple or something, it is simply not my style.

I love color. The more the better. Up on the shelf above my desk I have turquoise, green, hot pink, red, brown, etc. There is a mini album my husband made for me on my second Mother's Day, it is from my oldest, telling me all the ways I have been a good mommy to him. I love it and read it all the time. My darling dad watches over me every day, I made a collage of pics of him and his sweet smiling face keeps me company.

I recently made a family binder with some tips from Simplify 101, and that rests on the right, underneath the paper station with current mail I need to address, etc. I also have a weakness for cute notebooks, so there are about 2 (or 7) back there.

On the tower itself, lovely IKEA baskets corral items, below is my spray paint shelf and finally a couple of paper boxes and a magazine file. The item on top is the egg crate from Anthropologie, it holds some of my everyday jewelry.

So that is my new office area, messy and colorful, like my life. I love it, aside from the fricking ankylosaurus that still plague me ;D

Working on a project . . .

that is tall and currently not very colorful, but with the help of a little bit of this:I hope to make it rock!

Stay tuned!