If left untamed, art supplies (your children's or your own) can take on a life of their own. Even if you have a designated cabinet or closet, they still seem to creep, crawl, scatter, and sprawl all over the place — but, you can get organized and you can do it for FREE! Look no further than your own recycle bin to get started.
For all of the following, check out some alternatives or some ideas for storage:
Paint Pots
single-serve yogurt cupsjar lids
soda bottle caps
mini Play Doh containers
egg cartons
Paint Brush Water Pots
single-serve yogurt cupslarge Play Doh containers
tin cans (be sure there are no sharp edges!)
Paint Brushes:
store wet brushes in an altered yogurt tubstore dry brushes in an old silverware tray
Markers, Crayons, Colored Pencils
plastic fruit containers (clamshells)shoe boxes
Coloring Books and Magazines
turn a cereal box into a book and magazine holderPaper
for a paper tray, cut out the front and one end piece of a cereal boxto make a storage tray system, cut off only one end of several cereal boxes and stack them
Scraps
plastic fruit containers (clamshells)shoe boxes
Bits and Bobs (Beads, Googley Eyes, etc.)
spice jars (please only use plastic spice jars for younger kids!)baby food jars (again, only plastic for the kiddos!)
old or unused tool box or tackle box
Finished Artwork
line dry artwork with a hung piece of string and binder clipscreate a custom art clip rack
store completed artwork on a clip board
roll up finished art and store it in a cardboard tube (from paper towel or wrapping paper)
To Protect Surfaces
an old shower curtain or curtain linera vinyl placemat
newspapers or grocery store circulars
an old t-shirt or men's button down dress shirt works well as a smock
If you're organizing for children, keep in mind not to over-organize. The fewer containers there are to put things away, the easier it is for them to clean up... and therefore, the more likely it is that they will clean up (hopefully).
What have you reused for the sake of art? Share your ideas below!
