Liam is just starting to get into arts and crafts now that he is two years old. I had a basket where I kept the chalk for our kitchen chalkboard (it is on the side of a cabinet and goes all the way to the floor so he can draw on it, too), but once we started accumulating more items, I realized that we needed a better way to store everything.
I have a ton of mason jars that I’ve used as vases for various parties, so I decided to use a few of them to store our chalk, pom poms, pipe cleaners, craft sticks, and crayons (I like the chalkboard crayons, but used on paper – if he draws on the table or wall, it cleans up much easier than regular crayon).
I decided to store them on top of his play kitchen because he can’t reach up there, and it looks pretty in a room that we are in all the time. At his age, it’s better if he doesn’t have unlimited access to art supplies, as he still needs some supervision with some of these items.
How do you store your art supplies?
grapefruit / 4717 posts
So cute!
apricot / 377 posts
This is Brillz! Thanks for sharing. I’m going to file this away in my home organizing file for later use, when my little one is old enough for crafts.
hostess / wonderful persimmon / 25556 posts
That’s smart!! I may steal this idea.
We put up (all from Ikea) a Bygel rail http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50072645/ and hooked up two of these Fintorp tins http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50221481/ over her play table in the kitchen. They hold crayons right now but will hold markers when she gets older, I think.
kiwi / 511 posts
I have a bunch of crayons in old diaper wipe plastic bins. I also put puzzle pieces in them too. Even though we buy just the refills at BJ’s we almost always get another bin in the refill box so I just keep using them for other things. They are great to store small toys too.
blogger / nectarine / 2600 posts
This is a great idea! So simple and easy! I need to do this
blogger / nectarine / 2600 posts
@mediagirl: Love this too!
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
Not in glass, that would be a disaster waiting to happen in my house.
I use storage bins from Martha Stewart via Home Depot and ArtBins from the art supply store.
blogger / grapefruit / 4836 posts
Great idea!
blogger / clementine / 998 posts
Did you make the play station the jars are on?
blogger / pomegranate / 3201 posts
@Mrs. Chipmunk: No, its a play kitchen from ikea.
blogger / pomegranate / 3201 posts
@looch: mason jars are actually really study, but I totally understand where you’re coming from. Liam can’t reach these right now, so we’ll see how it’s going in a few months when he can.
GOLD / wonderful apricot / 22646 posts
great idea!!
blogger / nectarine / 2687 posts
uhh…ours are all dumped in a big art bin!
this looks SO cute, though and I definitely might have to try it!
blogger / pomegranate / 3491 posts
So cute!!
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
@mrs. tictactoe: yes, agreed, but they shatter if they are broken, which is a no go for me. I just can’t be sure I get all the little bits off the floor, you know?
blogger / persimmon / 1398 posts
This is adorable! We store our art supplies in plastic bins from Target. Both my boys are rough and tumble, so the storage has to be as well! It’s a shame since these are waaaayyyy cuter!
blogger / nectarine / 2010 posts
Cute! I use all the glass jars that we used as vases for our wedding.