It’s that time of year again! Time to purge and organize all the crap sweet gifts from family and friends!

We have an entry table that doubles as toy storage. It’s part of the expedit series from IKEA and I love it because it deceptively holds a lot of stuff without being obnoxious. We had the plastic bins which were super pricey and fell apart after a month. (UG) Then we got the baskets (seen below) and while I think they are very pretty, they are $17 each!! Then I discovered standard .99 cent bankers boxes fit perfectly. AND they don’t go up to the top so you are able to fill it up with more oddly shaped items. But they are boxes, so it looks like you still have some unpacking to do. Nothing a little paper can’t fix…

You’ll need: Bankers box, 12×12 pretty paper, spray adhesive, razor blade, glue, craft letters (optional)

1. Spray the heck out of the front of the box with the spray adhesive and adhere the paper to the front. Standard 12×12 scrapbooking paper just fits the width of the box and overlaps a bit on one end of the length. Since I lined my paper to the bottom I had to cut a few inches off the top. OPTION: fold the excess paper over and glue.

2. From the inside, cut lines (as seen below) on the paper inside the handle. You can use scissors but a sharp razor blade works best!

3. Fold and glue inside the box.

4. Finish by labeling each box with the child’s name or with the contents of the box. I did a bin for each child, one for blocks, and one labeled “lost & found” for all the crap items left at our place after parties and playdates.

This is so versatile! Cover the front of any cheapie box and make it look rad. For more narrow shelving turn the box sideways. You can even use fabric! I think all the boxes covered in the same fabric would be great! Or even using coordinating scrapbook paper and no letters for a neat art piece effect. I plan on doing something like that since this table is basically in our living room and eventually moving these boxes to the play room.

As you can see, my children are doing a great job of keeping organized with their “new” bins…

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