Introducing: Make-It Monday!

Alright, friends and strangers!! Here it is--a summer long of what I'm calling

"Make-It Monday"!

You all know that I'm all about making your life a little easier, so each Monday, you'll get a taste of some "crafty-ness" the kids and I have been up to. I decided to post on Monday so you'll have time to get your act together...I mean...your stuff together so that you and yours can work on it during the week. Look forward to your comments and questions and pictures of your work as we get started...

Speaking of getting started, I thought we'd start today with a little info about supplies. Here are some things that are currently working for us:

Storage: We have a closet in our kitchen, intended to be the pantry, but used instead for storage of all things crafty (and a lot of other stuff to)! Each bin is labeled and some are put in kid's reach and some are strategically, well, not in kid's reach!

A closer look at a few things:

These are vertical files that I bought at Target for a few bucks each. They house our coloring books, activity books, and notebooks--I love that they are all in one compact place!

And, these, are holding crayons.

Each kid has one labeled with his/her name, they're easy to grab and even take places if needed. These are old Crystal Light containers, if you're wondering, and the shorter one is a sample size of baby formula covered in shelf paper.

One other essential in our house when it comes to crafts is what we've termed our "Junk Basket". It's an appropriate name because that is exactly what is there--junk! Stuff we'd otherwise throw away, but instead save knowing that in there somewhere is the potential for craft magic to take place! Some things that are in ours: toilet paper and paper towel rolls, bottle caps, cereal boxes, egg cartons, tissue paper, shelf paper that I no longer need, an oatmeal carton, an old formula container...this is such a green idea, don't you think? One other use for the junk basket: at times I pull it out with no craft in mind, the kids just play with the junk, making up their own games, or just adding the junk to a current toy to give it a different twist.

Is that enough to get your creative juices flowing?? To wet your crafty appetite? Stay tuned--next Monday--an actual craft!

What about you? What has worked for you in storage, display or practical day to day when it comes to creativity with your kiddos??