little artsy crafty organization!

i only have 1 kid [so far] who is only 2 years old, and already it's so easy to feel like all the toys & art supplies & little tiny things are taking over the whole house. i'm such a nut for organization that this only proves to fuel my fire for pretty organizers. and if they can be made totally cheap or almost free, then even better!

even though there's something great about a huge bucket of crayons just waiting to be dug around in...
[gotta love all the smudges & fingerprints!]

i've noticed if they look messy, k is more likely to make a mess with them [ie: finding great joy in chucking them across the room rather than coloring with them. & we had our first coloring on the walls incident this week. eep.] and as she gets bigger, if they look messy before she even starts using them, she's much less likely to clean them up in a nice way & keep them nice for next time.

enter the internet & its wealth of genius bloggers who are making incredibly cute organizers for just such a problem! here are the ideas i'd like to steal for our little artiste in the making:

who can resist anything color-coordinated, especially if it's this bright & fun? definitely not me. this montessori-inspired tin can color-coordinated crayon holder [by mom's crafty space] is super easy to make & so colorful!

i seriously love this pbk knock-off spinning organizer [by the crafter's file box] made with a lazy susan & brightly colored mini buckets [honestly, you have me at 'mini buckets' for just about anything!]. i've seen these little brightly colored buckets at target bunches of times & have always wanted a reason to buy a whole stack of 'em! another great idea i saw was adding a bigger one in the middle so there's a place for paints & sticker books & staplers & those awesome little kiddo-safe scissors. love it!

martha's tin can caddy seems perfect for bigger stuff like markers or paintbrushes or rulers etc. & even has a handle for easy transportation to & from your workspace & again, is made out of super cheap materials like recycled cans!

how cute would all these little caddies look lined up on a shelf waiting to be pulled out to make little kid masterpieces? i always believe that pretty sorters & organizers make you want to put things away if only because it looks so nice & makes things so easy to find later when you need them. it's a self-fulfilling prophecy- if everything has a home, it's easy to put everything in its home & be totally organized! yay!

i'm not gonna lie, i'll probably have to make all three. [i may or may not already be saving mandarin orange cans for the crayon one.] i'm already picturing them in my imaginary kiddo-friendly craftspace. now if only i can pass on this obsessive organizational ferver to my kids...