Homework Organizer Crafts Project for Parents and Kids to Declutter Paperwork

How to Make a Homework Organizer to De-Clutter School Paperwork

My kids had their first day of school today. I spent the entire day cleaning and organizing the house because after an entire Summer of kids being at home, the entire house was a cluttered mess. After I finished de-cluttering my kitchen, I realized that as soon as the kids get home, my kitchen is going to get cluttered again within a week. Why? Because with school comes tons of school papers … homework, tests, crafts, artwork, notifications, and so much more … and all of these papers will pour into my house. I never know what to do with all of quickly growing stack of homework and school papers. I am afraid to throw things away for fear that either my children or me will need that paper soon. So I decided that I would create a school papers organizer. This school paperwork organization system is the craft that I will share with you today.

Crafts Materials Needed:

Cereal Boxes and other boxes in various sizes

Scissors

Glue or Glue Stick

Tape

Contact Paper

Wrapping Paper  or Construction Paper or Tissue Paper or Decorative Papers

Sharpie Markers (or other Permanent Markers)

Wipeable Markers

Step 1 – Planning Stage

The first step is to plan out how the boxes that you have will fit together to hold school papers and possibly folders and what ever other items that you will want to store in this schoolwork organization box. Cereal Boxes seem to be the perfecgt size to hold paper, but all cereal boxes come in many different shapes and sizes, so please make sure that looseleaf paper will fit in your cereal boxes too.

When you know where you want the boxes to lay, then loosely keep them in place by making tape loops (as seen above). This will hold the boxes in place long enough to tape the boxes in place more securely later.

Step 2 – Tape Boxes Together Securely

Now, first of all, painting tape wouldn’t have been my first choice, but my kids are always stealing my tapes, so this blue tape is what I was stuck with. After you have loosely secured the boxes together with tape loops, then you can take tape and tape everything together more securely. You can see above that I didn’t go overboard, I just taped where tape was needed.

Step 3 – Cover / Wrap Your Boxes with Colored Paper

Now it is time to cover your boxes with colorful paper. I have four kids, and I decided to use a different color for each child. I also tried to keep in mind what colors my boys would reject as being too girly. Attach the paper with glue or glue stick.

Step 4 – Cover with Contact Paper

Now you can start covering the homework organization box with contact paper. The reason we are doing this is so that you can leave notes to each of your children…or they can leave notes to you. I also like covering the box with contact paper because it laminates and protects the surface of the box from spilled drinks and other liquids. Since this will be in my kitchen, I wanted to make sure that the surface was protected.

Step 5 – Label with Permanent Markers

Now you can use Permanent Marker, such as a Sharpie marker, to label the boxes. I put each of my children’s names on each of the boxes in big bubble letters to show each of them which box is theirs. Below my children’s names are notes to my children (or notes from my children to me) that is drawn on with a wipeable marker. Every day we can wipe off the wipeable marker to leave new messages to eachother. I wrote out on the middle box to show where they should pick up notes and papers that need to go back to school. You can set up this however you feel would work best for your family.

An extra that I decided to add to this project was to pick up 2 wipeable boards, which I picked up from the dollar store. Oone  is an empty wipeable task list and one is an empty wipeable calendar. I used hot glue to glue each of these to the side of the box. But really I could have just drawn the calendar and task list on the contact paper.

Good Luck. You might also like the last 2 blog posts that we did – How to Paint Your School BookBag … How to Use Sharpies to Decorate Your School BookBag

Here are More School Book Bags Crafts

Here are More School Book Bags Crafts

Decorate Your Binders and Notebooks Crafts

Decorate Your School Lockers

Make or Decorate Bulletin Boards / Tack Boards / Cork Boards

School Work Organization and Homework Organizers Crafts

How to Make and Decorate School Book Covers Crafts

Technorati Tags: organization crafts, school organization crafts, paper organization crafts, paper organization, school organization, organize schoolwork, organize homework, organization for kids, how to organize, back to school crafts, back to school, back to school activities

How to Personalize Your School Bags : Draw on and Paint Your BackPacks

How to Personalize Your School Bags : Draw on and Paint Your BackPacks

Last week I wrote about my daughter’s backpack and how I personalized her backpack by drawing on it with Sharpie markers.  Sarah loves the way I customized her new school book bag and is very excited to start school tomorrow to show off her new backpack. My oldest son, Ben, also wanted me to customize his new school backpack. The one thing that I didn’t like about the way Sarah’s backpack turned out is that the marker’s colors didn’t show up on the background color of her book bag very well because the bag was too dark. Ben’s book bag is black so I knew that I had to either paint one part of his bag white (so I could paint or draw on it) or paint on canvas and glue / sew the canvas on to the bag. I decided to do the latter. I had some extra canvas in my basement and I decided to put it to good use.

My son Ben LOVES Legos. The kid does nothing but build with Legos.  So a few weeks ago I started painting a Lego City mural in his room. It is huge so I haven’t gotten very far on it yet, but I decided to draw a Lego Superheroes backpack to go with his new wall. I copied above an image of his partly done mural (it is going to be on 3 of his walls so I need to get busy).

You don’t have to be a an artist to paint and or draw on your backpack, but if you or your child loves to draw, then this book bag painting craft will be even more fun for you or your child. Nobody else will have the same exact knapsack as you…it will be a great keepsake to keep for years to come. It would also be neat to make a different personalized backpack every year so that you can put all of your special projects from that year in your personalized book bag from that year. This is how I went about making Ben’s backpack.

Step 1 – Planning Stage

Since I knew that my son wanted a Lego Superhero painting on his backpack, I knew that I had to see if these Lego Minifigs even existed. So I did a search on Google Images for ‘Lego Superheroes’ and found many great images to draw for my son’s personalized backpack.

Crafts Materials Needed:

Book Bag / Back Pack

Canvas (if your backpack is too dark to draw on)

Pencil

Eraser

Sharpie Markers (or Permanent Markers)

Acrylic Paints or Fabric Paints

Hot Glue or Needle and Thread

Step 2 – Pencil and Then Pen Draw Your Sketch onto Your Canvas or Book Bag

Get your book bag or canvas out and draw your sketch onto the bag in PENCIL FIRST.  I was able to draw these from looking at the pictures that I found, but if you are having problems…then you can get a really cheap projector off of eBay or from a toy store.  With a projector, you can trace images very easily and this allows anyone to be able to make excellent drawings.

When you are sure that you like the way your design looks, then you can use a black sharpie to draw out the lines permanently. The thicker and darker the lines are drawn, the sharper the design will look. Take a look at Marvel Comics to see what I mean.

Step 3 – Color in Your Designs on Your School BackPack

Now that your sketch drawing has been outlined in a permanent marker, you can start painting with acrylics or fabric paints. Don’t paint to thick and try to smooth out all of your painted lines. After you have painted everything in, I suggest that you re-outline everything with black paint with a nice thick black line. This will make your illustrations “POP’ out at you. You can also put the highlights in the painting like I did with a few white highlights (just lines or slight smudges).

When you are finished, set your painting aside and let it sit out to dry (somewhere out of reach of animals and young children.) If you painted directly on the surface of your backpack, then you are finished. Once it dries, you can wear your backpack. If you painted on canvas, then we are going to need to attach that to your backpack.

Step 4 – Attach Your Painted Canvas On To Your Book Bag’s Surface

Once your painting has dried we can attach it to your book bag’s surface. All book bags are different so you will need to decide where to attach it. However, on my son’s backpack, there was a large front zipper compartment that the painting fit on almost perfectly. You can either use hot glue or needle and thread to attach the canvas to your bag’s surface … or you can do both to make sure that the painting stays put. I decided to just use hot glue. I tucked in the edges of the canvas as I was gluing it to the bag’s surface. This was a little tough to do around the curved edges, but I took my time and it looks like I painted directly on the surface of the bag…and that is a good thing. Make sure (if you are using glue) to glue all of the canvas to the bag, not just the edges. If you are sewing, make sure to find a thread that closely matches your child’s painting / bag.

Good Luck! Also check out my Daughter’s Customized Backpack – Decorated by Drawing on it with Sharpie markers

Here are More School Book Bags Crafts

Here are More School Book Bags Crafts

Decorate Your Binders and Notebooks Crafts

Decorate Your School Lockers

Make or Decorate Bulletin Boards / Tack Boards / Cork Boards

School Work Organization and Homework Organizers Crafts

How to Make and Decorate School Book Covers Crafts

Technorati Tags: painting bags, paint bags, painting backpacks, paint backpacks, paint school bags, back to school crafts, back to school, back to school activities, backpack crafts, back pack crafts, book bag crafts, school crafts, decorate backpacks, decorate book bags

Personalize & Decorate Your School Book Bags / BackPacks with Sharpie Markers

Personalize Your Backpacks by Drawing on and Decorating Your Book Bags with Sharpie Markers

My daughter, Sarah, wanted to make her school backpack to look extra special this year. As a Mom who loves to draw, I figured that I would put my talents to use and brainstorm with her to find out what sort of pictures I should draw on her backpack.You don’t have to be a an artist to put together a personalized backpack, but if you or your child loves to draw, then this book bag decoration craft will be even more fun for you or your child.

Step 1 – Planning Stage

Being a very girly girl, Sarah wanted flowers, hears, and a lot of cute furry animals. I put a sketch together for her (as you can see below) and she loved what I put together for her book bag project. Before you draw on a your school book bag, take a scrap piece of paper and plan out your backpack’s design.

Crafts Materials Needed:

Book Bag / Back Pack (light-colored book bags work best)

Scrap Paper

Pencil

Eraser

Sharpie Markers (or Permanent Markers) or some sort of fabric paint

Step 2 – Pencil and Then Pen Draw Your Sketch onto Your Bag

Get your book bag out and draw your sketch onto the bag in PENCIL FIRST. When you are sure that you like the way your design looks, then you can use a black sharpie to draw out the lines permanently. The thicker and darker the lines are drawn, the sharper the design will look. Take a look at Marvel Comics to see what I mean.

Step 3 – Color in Your Designs on Your School BackPack

Now the fun part, either use fabric paint or colored Sharpie Markers to color in your designs. Have fun. You can darken the black outlines and make them thicker to make each illustration stand out more.

Also Visit Next Week’s Post – How to Personalize Your Child’s Backpack by Painting and Drawing on The Bag

Here are More School Book Bags Crafts

Decorate Your Binders and Notebooks Crafts

Decorate Your School Lockers

Make or Decorate Bulletin Boards / Tack Boards / Cork Boards

School Work Organization and Homework Organizers Crafts

How to Make and Decorate School Book Covers Crafts

Technorati Tags: back to school crafts, back to school, back to school activities, backpack crafts, back pack crafts, book bag crafts, school crafts, decorate backpacks, decorate book bags

How to Make Keepsake Boxes to Keep Little Treasures Craft Activity for Kids

How to Make Keepsake Boxes to Keep Little Treasures Craft Activity for Kids

I remember when I was a little girl, I really wanted to have my own keepsake box. There were so many things that I collected such as stones, shells and dried flowers.  There were little cards, little pictures and a few little treasures that I received from friends and family alike.  All of them had no where to really go in my room and I begged my mother for a wooden keepsake box.  Of course, with the demands of day to day life, my mother constantly forgot to purchase me a keepsake box and I never realized that I could make one myself.

That was until I got older. Then I realized that a keepsake box doesn’t have to be big and it doesn’t have to be wooden.  It can simply be a small treasure box that keeps the most important things you find.  This craft is one of those treasures.  It is easy to do and even preschool children can make their own keepsake box for their countless treasures and what is even better, it appeals to both boys and girls.

You can make the keepsake box as a present or keep it for your own treasures and you can personalize it in whatever way you want to.

Keepsake Boxes for Little Treasures : How your Child can make a Keepsake Box that is Personalized and Fun

Gather all the Craft Supplies That You Will Need:

• Magazines (You will want the glossy pictures for the box)
• White Glue
• Paint Brush
• Box (I found mine at a dollar store but you can use a shoebox or a packing box.  What you want is a box with a lid)
• Scissors

1 – Flip through the magazines and find all the pictures that you will want.

2 – Cut them out and try to avoid using straight edges so the finished product has more of a collage effect to it.   Also make sure that you cut out more pictures than you need.

3 – Once you have everything made, take a small plastic container and mix the glue with a little bit of water.  Basically, you want to make a paste that is similar to paper mache with it so the glue should be watery but not to the point that it loses its color.

4 – Now that you have everything ready, start with the first side of the lower box and arrange the pictures the way you want them.

5 – Carefully glue them into place by adding a touch of glue to the bottom with the paint brush.  Seal the edges by running the paint brush filled with glue across the surface of the pictures and also across the box.

6 – Set it aside to allow time to dry. While you are waiting for the first side to dry, begin the lid.

7 – Repeat the process of laying the pictures out and then gluing them.  Make sure you seal the edges by coating the top of the pictures and lid with the glue.  Set aside to dry.

8 – Once the glue has dried on the one side of the box, repeat the process until all four sides are finished,allowing them to dry in between each step so they don’t get pulled off or stuck to other surfaces.

9 – When the box is complete, fill with all your treasures or give as a gift.

You can also use these little boxes as gift boxes for anyone.  People will love the idea and will treasure them just as much as the gift inside.

More Crafts Online That are Similar to This Crafts Project for Kids

Crafts with Boxes for Kids

Even More Crafts with Boxes for Kids

Cornerstone Crafts: Treasure/Jewelry Box - Popsicle stick treasure box or jewelry box that stands up well over time.  This project can be done as a gift for others (i.e. Mothers Day), or as a box for your own child to play with.

Virtual Kids’ Crafts: My Treasures! Box - They may have been marbles, rocks, treasures from the gumball machine; just about anything. But, there was nothing more fun than removing each treasure to look at it over and over again.  Today you’re going to create your own treasure box. You can use what you have around the house or you can purchase supplies from me and complete one like my daughter, Michele’s.

Give Your Next Gift in a Treasure Box! -  For kindergarten writers, all this glue squeezing and letter-practicing are invaluable kinesthetic boosts for early literacy.  Little hands need these workouts, and little kids also get a huge boost out of the shine and pizzazz they’ve created.  Expect an enjoyable time making it with your child, and then give it as a gift to a family member once you’re done.

Eco Friendly Crafts for Kids – A keepsake storage box which uses birthday/Christmas cards and a shoe box.    Children love to have secret boxes of their own and this one makes use of what would otherwise be waste.  There are three R’s to recycling and all the entries in our Green MacGyver eco friendly crafts for kids series will recognize the importance of “REUSE”.

Make a Credit Card Mailbox – My toddler LOVES getting the mail. He also loves pretending and putting stuff into holes/slots/crevices etc. To satisfy both of these hobbies, we made a little credit card mailbox!

Cardboard box castles - There are many ways to build a castle with children. Once I already made a small cardboard toy castle with my kids, but this time we wanted something more impressive. For our castle we collected cardboard boxes of different size, and toilet paper tubes. Using those building blocks, paint and some colored paper, we created this castle with floors, round towers, windows and a cone-shaped roof.

I Love to Create Kids: Recycled Craft Challenge! – Hey, Parents!  This week, I Love to Create is about getting your kids’ creative juices flowing. Kids love a challenge, so why not give them a crafty one?  With just a few supplies combined with some kitchen discards,  you’ve got an activity that’ll keep ‘em guessing…and recycling!

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