Frugally Organizing School/Art Supplies

I've always had such a difficult time organizing all of our crayons, markers, art supplies, paper clips, etc. in a way that provided quick and easy access when needed.  I stock up on school supplies for the whole year when they are cheap in August.  Because of this, I sometimes have a lot of certain items, too, which makes storage hard.  

Oh, and I really don't have any money to spend buying fancy pants organizers and such.  So.  Dollar Store to the rescue!  It took me about 2 or 3 months of buying a couple tubs whenever I had leftover money in my grocery envelope at the end of the week.  Slow and steady.  I'm okay with that.  

I have a lot of great space in these cabinets in my hallway.  I purchased 9 small, square tubs for most items, including crayons, markers, colored pencils, scissors/pencils, pipe cleaners, beads, stamps, and stickers.  

Total: $9

I purchased 9 long storage tubs for things like sensory tubs (currently pinto beans and cloud dough), play dough, paints, free art supplies, and medicine storage (I know, not kid stuff, but we store it in these cabinets, too).  

Total: $9

On the very left of the middle shelf in the top picture, you'll see a cute little magazine holder.  We use it to store all of our coloring books.  It keeps them tidy and is easy to grab down when all the kids want to color.

Total: $1

In the very top picture, you will see our puzzles organized on the right of the middle shelf.  Click HERE for the post on puzzle organization (there's a pic of it just above this. too).  In total, I bought 8 pouches.

Total: $8

For all the little things, including paper clips, safety pins, push pins, staples, etc., I bought these tiny little locking & stackable containers.  I actually found these at Office Max for $.50 a piece.

Total: $4

And finally, to label all of my tubs and buckets, I used word strips that can be found at the Dollar Store as well.

Total: $1

I already had a couple buckets that I used to store things like glue and foam sheets.

In total, I was able to organize this entire space for $32.  Everything has a place and can be easily found.  If possible, I always prefer tubs with lids to buckets because they can be stacked.  Since Ellie (5) can read, she likes being able to pull out exactly what she needs/wants.

I LOVE this space now, and for the first time in YEARS, I can actually find what I want when I want it without having to dig all over a big open cabinet space.