School Paperwork Solution!

Some of you may know, I used to have a blog called [just had] A Bright Idea where I focused mostly on interior design & decor and some DIY-ing. When I started Style Oyster, I wanted to incorporate those things along with my love of fashion and all things, well, stylish. Unfortunately, leaving that blog for a new url posed it's challenges. I lost the readers I had acccumulated over the 6 months of having the blog as well as the content...but wait, that content is NOT lost! Thanks to Blogger, I was able to move it over to Style Oyster. However, it was a little outdated (the wording in some, etc.) and of course the pictures were all tagged with my JHABI logo (and a few with even older blog logos than that! I had some name change issues...) I am putting this paragraph here as a preface to these posts because even though they are from the past, they are still projects that took a long time and are dear to my heart and I didn't want to lose them when I officially take my old blog off the Internet. So I apologize to those of you who have followed me since [just had] A Bright Idea, as you will be experiencing some deja vu, but I know some of you are new and this may all be new content to you. So bear with me, I plan on posting these once a week until they are all on Style Oyster. Thank you so much, and I do hope you enjoy. xoxo

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If you're like me and you have a child that brings home endless amounts of papers each day from school, then you might also be like me in that you have random piles of it all over (neatly stacked, at least!) I can't believe the amount of worksheets, drawings, etc that come home with him.

I read a very cute blog everyday called IHeart Organizing - some of you I'm sure have heard of it. Anyway, the blogger, Jen, is excellent at organizing and always finds cute, stylish ways to do it. I came across a post of hers earlier this week where she showed what she does with all three of her boys' schoolwork that she wants to keep.

They each have their own file box sectioned off by grade - in each folder she files her favorites of their artwork, crafts, tests, report cards, etc. Unfortunately, it would be too hard to keep it all, but this solution definitely helps to be able to hang on to more of it for cherishing later in life. Each folder had a paper with a picture of the child from that year and their teacher's name, etc. Jen even offers the same printables she used for her own on her website. I snagged hers up, but edited them with fonts and details that were more "me". Thanks, Jen for your awesome website and sharing your ideas with the world. You are helping to make my life so much easier!

Here is how my project turned out - I did one each for Tanner and Breckin! It will be so fun to look back through these with my husband and the boys as the years go by.

First, I got 2 blue plastic file boxes ($7.97 each at Walmart):

I figured plastic would stand the test of time, and the handle makes it easy to tote around when pulling it out

I stuck a personalized label on the front of each box:

I got some manila folders and file hangers (already had both of these) and I printed out these covers & labels for the folders:

And here are some pictures of the finished project:

You can see I pulled out my stash of kept projects from Tanner's daycare and Pre-K years

I just LOVE it.

I figured this top compartment would be a great place for ribbons, medals, etc...

I am so glad I have somewhere to immediately stick Tanner's schoolwork and Breckin's daycare projects each day. I will definitely keep those loose piles to a minimum now!

How do you tackle the school papers? Would something like this help you?