Easy DIY Duck Tape Storage Bins with Printable Labels { a Target Dollar Section Craft }

This is a super-easy craft that I did almost a year ago.  I got the bins and most of the solid and patterned duck tape from the Target Dollar Spot.  Having seen these bins in other colors in the Target dollar section recently made me remember that I never did share this project with our readers.

What made me decide to make these bins was the fact that our children are little hoarders.  You would not believe me if I told you some of the strange things we've found in their beds.  I finally realized it was a losing battle to keep their beds free of their most cherished books, toys, and random things.  These storage bins were the best solution I could come up with for our twins, one who sleeps on the top of a bunk bed and the other in a loft bed.  The twins would be able to keep some things in their beds as long as they could be stored neatly inside these bins.

Easy Duck Tape Craft Project:  Decorated Storage Bins for Kids

SUPPLIES NEEDED:

square or rectangular plastic storage bins

patterned duck tape

coordinating solid duck tape

washi tape

printable labels (provided below)

scissors

Step 1.  Print the labels below or make your own to print out in the fonts and colors of your choosing using any text or graphics program.

TO PRINT:  Be sure your printer is on and ready to print.  Click on the image below to enlarge.  Then right-click on the image and select print.  Use your browser's back button to return to this page.

Step 2.  Cut out each label you will be using for your bins.

TIP #1:  Remember to leave enough room around edges for the washi tape frame to overlap with your label.

Step 3.  Using your patterned and solid duck tape, create one, two, or three stripes on the front (the side on which the label will be) of the bin.  You can get as creative as you would like with the colors and widths of your stripes.

TIP #2:  For a neater appearance, start your tape on the inside wall of your bin, where the side and bottom meet.  Then be sure to wrap the other end of the tape around the outside bottom of the bin with at least 2 or 3 inches.

Step 4.  Position your label at the center of the front of the bin and secure it in place with a frame of washi tape.

That's it!  These colorful bins would be perfect for your child's room or playroom.  You can change this craft into something more elegant for your own bedroom, craft room, or living room simply by changing the prints and colors of duck tape and washi tape you choose and the font on your labels, and even the type of bins you use.

Want to try this easy craft?  Pin it for later . . . 

New Personalized Lunch Boxes from ISeeMe.com!

Thank you to ISeeMe.com for providing a personalized lunch box for our back-to-school giveaway prize. All opinions expressed are my own.

Back-to-school is an exciting, but hectic, time of the year.  No matter the age of your child, you really must label everything.  To add a little fun to going back to school, ISeeMe.com, an online retailer known for its creative personalized books and gifts, has introduced their new personalized lunch boxes in 8 colorful designs for both boys and girls.

The lunch boxes from I See Me are made of safe lead-free tin.  Personalized on multiple sides, your child will be able to easily discern his or her lunch box from all others.  Aside from the personalization, my favorite feature of these lunch boxes is the chalkboard surface built into the inside of the lid.  You can write reminders, encouraging notes, or even draw silly pictures for your child to find at lunchtime.

Of course, these personalized lunch boxes can be used for purposes other than bringing lunch to school.  See my post on alternative uses for lunch boxes for some fun ideas.

Each I See Me lunch box retails for $29.95 and are hand wash only.  It takes approximately 2 weeks to receive your lunch box via standard delivery, so it is best not to wait until the last minute to place your order.  Visit ISeeMe.com to view all 8 new lunch box designs, as well as other personalized items for your child.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck in the drawing!

This giveaway is open to U.S. entries only. You do not need to be a blogger to enter, but you must have a valid email address and be age 18 years or older. A random number drawing will be held shortly after the contest closing. The winner will be announced here and will be contacted via email. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours, a new number will be drawn.

Regain a Sense of Organization Using Playroom Labels

Thank you to Kidecals for providing complimentary product samples for us to complete this toy organization project. All opinions expressed are my own.

I am a firm believer that everything should have a place and that, if I go through the trouble of making sure something has a place, then our children should be able to clean up their toys 100% at the end of the day.  Unfortunately, they just do not seem to grasp that logic.  For example, a couple of years ago, my husband and I bought a basic wired baker's rack type shelving and filled it with plastic bins about the size of shoeboxes plus some larger ones.  We helped the children separate their toys into each bin and felt pretty great about how organized all their small toys were.  This feeling did not last long though . . .

It did not take long for us to realize that our children were not putting the toys back in the right bins even though they could see what was inside each bin.  At the time, we just tried to police it, which was exhausting.  Now that our 6 year old twins can read, I am able to clearly label each bin, so that they cannot claim to put something in the wrong place accidentally.

Today's Project:  Small Toy Organization

SUPPLIES NEEDED:

Plastic Storage Bins (shoebox size or larger)

ProMart 3-Tier Smart Carousel Organizers

Custom Playroom Labels (2 sheets per carousel)

Step 1.  Make a list of items you need to keep organized.  Then visit Kidecal's Playroom Labels product page to create your labels.  Each sheet of labels comes with 6 large labels to use on the plastic bins and 12 small labels to use on the carousel organizer.  Each field corresponds to a label in the preview, so you can see what the final labels will look like.  If you are really organized, you can color code your labels so that all red labels belong to one child and all yellow ones belong to another.  (I am not that organized.)  These labels are both dishwasher and laundry-safe, so they will work on both smooth surfaces and on fabrics, such as canvas.

Step 2.  After you have assigned a toy category for each plastic bin, carefully place the larger labels on the correct bins.  If you need to reposition them, you will need to remove them immediately before the adhesive sets.

Step 3.  After you have decided what should go in each pocket on the carousels, place the correct small label on each pocket.  Try to plan ahead.  For example, it seemed to make more sense to put the Barbie dolls on the bottom tier since they were the tallest of all the small toys.

Step 4.  This is the toughest part of this project.  Get your children to put everything in the empty bins and pockets.  I think if they do the work of finishing this project themselves, they may be more motivated to keep everything organized.  (Of course, this is just a theory.)

The things I liked most about these Playroom Labels are that they are easier to read than any labels I've ever made with a label maker, I could be as specific or as general as I wanted with the labels (ex. Action Figures vs. Star Wars Figures), and the labels stick amazingly well on fabric, even on the extremely wrinkled canvas pockets.  Each sheet of 18 custom waterproof and laundry-safe labels sells for $15.00 plus there is Free Shipping on all orders.

To find more unique label products, including chalkboard decals, keycals (keyboard decals), "from the garden of" labels, "from the brewery of" labels, and mustache labels, visit www.kidecals.com.

Holiday 2011: Box4Blox Lego Building Block Storage and Sorter in One

I think the word “Lego” means “ancient ninja foot trap”. Man, there is nothing worse than stepping on a Lego.

We have been using just about anything we can find to store the kids' Legos, anything from baby wipe containers to cardboard boxes. We store our Legos by committee. We even bought some official Lego plastic bins, but somehow they never quite all make it into wherever we are storing them at the moment, until now.

We were given the opportunity to try out the Box4Blox Lego Storage Organizer.  Now we have a storage bin that actually makes it fun to put away our Legos! The Box4Blox is a series of stacking boxes that sifts and sorts your Legos in size categories. The kids love to sort their bricks so clean up is actually fun. Far fewer Legos get missed now, saving our tender feet.

Each section has a finer grid at the bottom that only allows the smallest bricks to reach the bottom tray. The system works very well, only a few oddball parts don’t filter through well. It only takes a few shakes for all the Legos to settle in the appropriate trays. Our twin preschoolers have an easier time finding their parts now as well.

The Box4Blox Lego Storage Organizer is an excellent product. It is rare to find an item that is not only practical and very functional, but fun as well. I want to mention that the Box4blox Lego Storage Organizer is not made by Lego, but works perfectly with all Lego (non-Duplo) blocks. This is a win-win product.

The Box4Blox is made in the U.S.A. and is available online only on Amazon.com.  Currently, this product is selling for $39.95 with Free Super Saver Shipping.  This truly is a unique product that cannot be found locally and would make a great gift for a Lego-lover of any age.


Thank you to Box4Blox for providing a complimentary product sample for us to base this review upon.

Guidecraft Espresso Bookshelf plus 5 Storage Bins

It has been a long process, but we have been slowly ridding the living room of toys over the past few weeks.  Of course it would be unrealistic to make the living room completely toy-free, so I decided that this Espresso Children's Bookshelf and the Set of 5 Canvas Storage Bins from Guidecraft would be the perfect thing to store a few toys and other things in the living room.

The reason why these shelves are perfect is because they have the look of classic furniture that blends in well with the rest of our living room furniture, unlike the mismatched storage we previously used.  Although this is classified as a child's bookshelf, it is a roomy 31-1/2"W x 24"H x 11"D, similarly sized like a standard 2-shelf bookcase.

Like with all the Guidecraft furniture we own, this bookshelf is sturdy and of very high quality.  It only took my husband 15 or 20 minutes to assemble it.  The set of 5 canvas bins, which fits this bookshelf perfectly, are actually sold separately, so you only need to have them if it suits your needs.

Click here for my tutorial on how to make these canvas bin labels.

To view the entire Classic Espresso furniture collection, which includes a desk, vanity, toy box, play kitchen, and more, visit www.Guidecraft.com.

Good luck in the drawing!

Organizing Toy Trains, Cars, and Other Vehicles

With three children in the house, two of them being boys, we have a vast amount of trains, tracks, and die-cast cars.  For the standard die-cast cars, we actually put them in a single layer on boot trays and slide those trays under our sofa.  For specialty cars, we tried sorting them into different baby wipes tubs and shoe boxes, but my children did not always feel like searching for the right container to put each vehicle back where it belongs.  In the end, everything gets all jumbled together and put in the wrong places.  The same goes with our different sets of trains and train tracks.  They need to be organized and stored separately.  I tried using shoe boxes in the train table drawers, but again, everything ended up all jumbled.

When I first was offered the opportunity to try the Neat Containers storage system, I thought I would be using them on my closet shelves.  That is mostly how they are advertised . . . for shoes, hats, and small accessories.  Then I had the idea to put this system right on top of our train table.  Our children like building their train tracks on the floor because they have more space and the track can be easily accessible to all 3 children.  The train table turned into a place for our daughter to color . . . well, we have a regular table for that.

The Neat Containers come stacked with the tops, which are clearly marked, and bottoms separated.  All you need to do is separate each piece and hinge each top with the matching bottom.  You must use a minimum of 5 containers across.  Watch this video, which demonstrates how easy it to assemble the Neat Containers system . . .




The kit I used is the Large Neat Containers Combo Kit.  It was so easy to put together after watching the instructional video on the website.

(Click any photo to enlarge)

One thing I love about these containers is that they are perfectly see through, so I do not need to label each pod.  This is especially helpful for households with children who cannot yet read, like our twin preschoolers.

I have found the Neat Containers pods to be especially good for displaying any specialty vehicles that children like to collect, such as all the various Chuggington engines, Disney Pixar Cars and Cars 2 die-cast vehicles, and Automoblox.

Each Neat Containers pod does slide out just like a drawer and can be completely removed while the rest of the system remains intact.  How well the pods slide in and out is directly related to how much weight is in each container.  Empty pods just want to all slide together because they are so light.  Pods that are too heavy do slide, but not as easily.  A single layer of die-cast cars seem to be the perfect weight for each pod to slide in and out with ease.

To learn more about the various Neat Containers kits and add-on packages, visit NeatContainers.com.  You can also view a variety of demonstrations of their products by visiting the Neat Containers YouTube Channel.


Thank you to Neat Containers for providing a complimentary product sample for us to base this review upon.

5 Alternative Uses for Unused Lunch Boxes

From year to year, children's favorite characters change quite often.  As a result, parents are finding themselves treating their children to a new backpack and lunch box or tote almost every year.  So, aside from donating them, what can parents do with the unused lunch boxes?  I began thinking about this when the twins were sent these bright and cheery Chuggington Lunch Kits.  They attend half day preschool, so there is no need to pack lunches for them.

Since I was brought up to reuse as many things as possible, I made it my mission to think of alternate uses for these lunch boxes.  My children love Chuggington, so I did not want to just put them in the closet for a whole year until kindergarten started.

(Click any photo to enlarge)

Here are 5 practical ways to make use of unused lunch boxes . . .

1)  A Snack Tote - When the twins attend their big brother's soccer games, we always have to bring a small snack for them and bottles of water.  Instead of throwing everything into the outer pockets of our son's soccer bag, the twins could carry their own snack using one of these lunch boxes.

2)  Store On-the-Go Toys - Use a lunch box to store toys the children like to take with them often, whether it be for a visit to their grandparent's house or for a long car ride.  Then each child can just grab their already-filled lunch box and head out the door.

3)  A Pretend Play Picnic Basket or Suitcase - When presented with the opportunity, a child will just take an idea and run with it.  Offering your child a lunch box to use as a picnic basket, suitcase, or briefcase will offer them many possible scenarios for pretend play.

4)  A Library Bag - Most lunch boxes are large enough to hold small to medium sized children's books.  They would make great library bags for carrying borrowed books to and from the library.  Also, young children would feel such a sense of independence to be able to carry their own books.

5)  A Shoe Bag - A lunch box would be the perfect size for carrying your little one's ballet, tap, or jazz shoes.  There would likely be room leftover to fit a skirt, a dance shrug, and a bottle of water.  I wish I had thought of this before I spent $20 on a shoe bag for my daughter.

Do you have other ideas for more ways to use unused lunch boxes?  We would love to hear about them!


Thank you to Accessory Innovations for providing complimentary product samples for us to base this article upon.

Review: Faux Leather Rectangular Storage Ottoman for $79

Last month, I had this idea for better Lego Duplo blocks storage by using a rectangular storage ottoman that has a built-in tray. Well, we have been able to test this idea out for 3 or 4 weeks and, so far, I have to say it is working out rather well. In fact, I had not realized how much I missed having the convenience of a coffee table until we added this ottoman to our living room configuration.

This faux leather ottoman measures a roomy 35-1/4"W x 17-3/4"D x 17-3/4"H. The padded top makes it a comfortable bench for extra seating. It is perfect for sitting on to play video games because it leaves a path for other members of the household to walk behind, rather than being forced to cut in front of a player who is sitting on the sofa. The top flips over and becomes a sturdy tray that nestles right into the ottoman securely. It is a great place to put a drink and a snack because it has a lip all around to contain accidental spills and it wipes clean easily. This ottoman has a solid wood frame that can easily hold the weight of an adult. I loved that it came ready-to-use straight out of the box.

(Click any image to enlarge)

The top has two sets of handles. One pair is two faux leather handles that are used to lift the top out of the base when the top is wedged into the base padded side up. It is only meant lift the top slightly so you can get your hand around the edge. Our first grader, who is strong enough to flip the top over on his own, actually broke one of these handles because he was using them to lift the whole weight of the top. The second set of handles are cutouts at each end of the tray and allows you to lift the top when it is tray side up.

We use to have our Lego blocks in two large utility storage drawers and one storage cube. Everything fit inside this ottoman with a little room to spare. This even includes all our larger pieces, like train tracks and other specialty parts. The tray even offers the children a flat surface on which to build.

I think this Convenience Concepts Broadway Storage Bench (or something similar) would be a great way to store any toys you would like to keep out of site. It is a constant struggle to keep our living room from looking like a playroom. This very nice looking storage ottoman put us one giant step closer to keeping our living room adult-friendly.

Currently, you can purchase this ottoman on CSNStores.com for $79 with Free Ground Shipping.

This product was partially purchase with a gift certificate from CSN Stores, which I had received as a thank you for participating in a past CSN Stores campaign.