Lately, we’ve had a problem area in my office. The little area dedicated to the boys coloring supplies. We’ve got a drawer of coloring books, stickers, markers, crayons, and scissors.
And a big pile of papers on top. Oh, and a dollar thrifted hippo with three broken crayons stuck inside.
And every day, several times per day it drives me crazy. Usually crayons are scattered over my desk top, tiny paper clippings on the floor, and pieces of tape stuck to almost everything. So, I did a quick clean up. The drawer divider wasn’t working well to hold supplies. Instead, I stuck everything in a small Ikea planter and a candle holder.
The coloring books are still inside, but without the divider, we’ve got room for the stack of papers. And a Grinch. Christmas just isn’t Christmas without a Grinch. Or a semi-cute, semi-creepy thrifted man boy bust.
He was cute, only two bucks, and hand crafted back in 1972. Ben saw him just after I sprayed him white, but still finds him creepy.
How do you store your kids’ art supplies? Please, please, someone, anyone! tell me you have a method that works. I’m not sure how this will go. I like letting my boys create as they wish, but I’m about to keep everything out of reach so they have to ask. Help!
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looks awesome! I pretty much do the same thing that you do with the girls art supplies. I love the man boy bust, it turned out so cute in white and I don’t think it’s creepy at all…the original color maybe just a little. Merry Christmas to you and your family!
I have a metal bucket of crayons/markers and a stack of coloring books that they can get to any time (in the linen closer just off the kitchen) then the big craft supplies (glue, stickers, scissors, etc) are in bins on a higher shelf in the same closet so I have to get it down for them…or veto 😉 I love the bust-it looks much less creepy in white.
We can’t keep ours within the kids’ reach. With four, ranging in age from two to nine, we’ve just had too many accidents,and too much clutter/mess. We don’t really keep many coloring books (they go through them quickly if they get them for Christmas, Easter, etc.), but we keep our kitchen table covered with a huge sheet of butcher paper from a giant roll, and keep small Ikea tin buckets on top of the fridge, one for crayons, one for markers, one for scissors and glue sticks, one for pencils, and then an extra for messy things like stickers. The kids can color on the table, supervised, but once they’re done, everything goes back up, except the paper, which stays until it’s too used up to color on. Bonus: If they draw/color something I want to keep, I can cut that piece out and stick it in their memories box before I toss the rest of the paper. Clutter free’s the way to be 😉
Sounds like my house with paper clippings everywhere and tape stuck to everything. My daughter has an obsession with tape! I use the Ikea planter at home too and I don’t think the bust is creepy in white 😉
I keep coloring books and construction paper in a magazine basket under the desk, out of sight but still reachable by little hands. It works perfectly. Pencils are in a milk glass cup on top of the desk, and crayons & markers are in a black basket thing located on a higher shelf so that my 2-yr old doesn’t get artsy without supervision. We have a framed art collage in the office nook for their creations, a yard-stick-with-clothes-pins-glued-on art holder in my older daughter’s room…actually she has two that meet at a corner in her room hung on the wall so she can fill it up with art, plus a large bulletin board in our laundry room for more art, notes, and school lunch menu.