Tag Archives: box

Awesome Photo Storage!

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 I love pictures! No matter what they’re from, who they are of, or where they were taken, looking at pictures is definitely one of my favorite things to do. Almost every time I go home to Pittsburgh, my family and I end up bringing out the box of old photos and just sit for hours going through them and telling stories. Last time we went through them I even stole some and took them home to scan so that I can have digital copies also 🙂

Like this one for example. Wasn’t I the cutest baby?!

Anyways, for Christmas last year I got a pretty nice camera, the Olympus Pen Mini, and I’ve been trying to take lots of pictures at holiday parties and family events because when I have kids I want them to get excited about rummaging through a box filled with old photos too! But I’ve decided that maybe instead of an old, beat up box, I’ll store my pictures in really pretty photo boxes!

I got these at AC Moore, 5 for $10. I thought it was a pretty good deal. They had all different types of patterns and colors but I chose these, pretty much because they were the easiest to grab. AC Moore always has some kinda deal going on with photo boxes so if you’re ever in the market to buy some, check with them first.

For this project I also used #6 envelopes, some mod podge, some labels I made on my Cricut, and of course all my photos!

I used #6 envelopes because all of my pictures are 4 x 6 and the boxes don’t hold 5 x 7 photos unless they’re laying down. I ended up cutting off the top flap of the envelopes because they just got in the way.

After all the flaps were cut off I glued my labels to the front of the envelopes. You don’t need labels, I just figured it would look prettier this way.

Now all you need is your boxes and all of your pictures!

This is the fun part. You have to go through all of your pictures and group them into categories or events. For examples, I grouped all of my Christmas pictures together, all of my trips back to Pittsburgh, and so on and then I went through each category and sorted them by year or event. If you have lots and lots of photos this could take awhile so break it up into groups.

Once you’re done put them in an envelope and label the envelope with the Holiday and year or the event and location.

And that’s it! If you have tons of pictures you can designate a box just for holidays or just for vacations or birthdays or you can just label the box with a specific year and fill it with New Years, Valentines Day, 4th of July, Christmas, etc for that year. I hope this helps with some of your photo storage needs!

Happy Monday!

 

 

 

 

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Organizing on a Budget – #7

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Storage crates/boxes are one of my absolute favorite things! They make everything so much more simpler to find and store. This week at Target they have storage crates on sale for $3! you can store anything and they even hold letter size hanging files which is awesome.

I have a ton of magazines in the bottom drawer of my white storage set that I’m in the middle of throwing away but any time I would open that drawer all of my binders on top would fall over so I used one of the storage bins to help me out until I can get rid of the magazines. I really like it because I can store my binders on the their sides and it’s easy to see which binder is which and also easier to just grab and go.

It’s also really great storage for under the sink in my bathroom. I can store cleaning products in one and feminine products in the other and it saves me a lot of room in my bathroom closet for all the other junk that’s taking up too much space.

This would also be a really good item to store all the sports equipment that you may have in your trunk for the kids like baseball gloves, basketballs, soccer balls and pads, etc. It would also be a great storage bin for magazines, which I should really think about since I’m trying to move all the magazines from my storage drawers. Normally, I try and find an alternative product online so that in case there isn’t a Target near you then you can buy the product off Amazon or something but I didn’t have any luck finding a similar product for a comparable price. Sorry 😦

Btw, sorry for leaving the blog hanging the past couple days. I was out of town late last week and then just been a little busy this week. I’m trying to re-re-arrange my office area again. Yes, I said re-re-arrange. Looking for a big desk or craft table and having no luck but I have a few projects coming up that I’m excited about and excited to share with all of you!

Ask Kate! – #1

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I received an e-mail from a woman that is having some trouble organizing  a drawer in her kitchen. This is what she had to say:

“I have this one drawer in my kitchen that contains everything but the kitchen sink.  It just so happens I also have a flatware tray in that drawer that holds my silverware.  This drawer contains everything from cash, credit cards, coupons, garbage bag ties, receipts, keys, pens, hair ties – I could go on and on ……

 Anyway I’m embarrassed when guests end up having to grab a fork and end up seeing all that mess.  The only thing that keeps me from cleaning this drawer is that all of this stuff has nowhere else to go.  That’s why it’s in there in the first place!

 Help me!”

Well, Mrs. Anonymous, it sounds like you have successfully combined your silverware drawer with your “kitchen junk drawer”. I think every has got one of those (EVEN ME!), but you need a solution so that you can gain back your silverware drawer. The easy (and dumb) solution would be to simply move all the junk to a different drawer so that your silverware drawer is free of clutter, but we’re not going to do that! We’re going to find an organized solution  for all that mess.

This is kind of what I imagine your drawer looks like right now:

(I know, I know, my sample drawer is actually a sample basket, but it works for now)

1) Let’s start with the cash and credit cards – It’s not a good idea to leave loose credit cards and cash  in a drawer. It’s 10x easier to misplace! I would recommend keeping that kind of stuff in your wallet or getting a small change purse to keep cash, cards, and ID’s so it’s not just hanging out in a drawer waiting to get lost. For example, I had a small change purse laying around, so it could be something like this:

2) Coupons & Receipts –  I get coupons every time I go grocery shopping and I never know what to do with them. Some coupons you know you may use and others you know you WON’T use. It’s best to just throw the ones you know you’re not going to use away. You need to keep the remaining ones organized. Remember those $1 accordion file folders from Target that I told you about in Organizing on a Budget #1? The smallest size would be perfect for keeping the coupons and receipts handy and organized. If you don’t have one of those, just use an envelope and label it “Coupons” and “Receipts”. This way everyone in the household knows after they come home from the store with new coupons and receipts that they now have a designated space!

 3) As for keys, I would get a small basket that you can leave on the counter top somewhere nearby. Not in the middle of the counter top but in a corner or against a wall. Put the keys, the coupon and receipt envelopes, and the change purse or wallet in this basket. It’s very accessible and not cluttering up your silverware drawer and not taking up too much space on the counter. I use a small basket on my bookshelf near the door for keys and stuff so I put the examples together to give you an idea:

4) Hair ties & pins – Hair accessories belong in bathrooms and on vanities. There’s many ways to keep hair ties and bobby pins together. I just recently got small glass candle holders 3 for $1 at AC Moore and I use them in my bathroom to hold my hair accessories.

If you have tons of hair ties and bobby pins use a mason jar or even small decorative boxes. Whatever works for you or whatever you have laying around!

5) Pens – They are easy to keep together. You can use a mason jar, a tin can that you’ve washed and possibly decorated, or a cheap box like the ones I picked up at Target in the $1 aisle.

I hope that this has helped you, Mrs. Anonymous! Get back your silverware drawer and get rid of that clutter! All of the solutions I’ve mentioned are easy and the supplies you need to do it are either extremely cheap or things that you’ve got around the house already. Being organized isn’t always about everything matching and looking perfect, it’s about functionality. Remember THAT, Martha Stewart!

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If you have any questions about organizing a drawer, a bookshelf, a corner, a room, or whatever it is and you need some inspiration or some simple solutions, let me know and I’ll do my best to help!

E-MAIL ME AT KATE@COORDINATEDKATE.COM