All week long I am participating in Boy Mom Madness, a fun blogging event featuring 15 boy moms blogging about all things boy, with a new theme each day, leading up to a big link party and giveaway on Friday. Yesterday was all about boys' bedrooms {and I shared my
tips for designing a boy's room that will grow with him}, and today we are talking about organizing for boys.
Little boys are loud, crazy, and fun, and they have a lot of toys that require storage and organization. But my two little men {Beckett - 3 and Cooper - 22 months} also seem to be real little gentlemen at heart - so polite, charming, and compassionate. And as little men, they also have all sorts of adorable little accessories - from hats to ties, and from belts and suspenders, and watches to sunglasses.
When we designed
Beckett's "big boy" room, we added an installation of 24 metal airplane hooks on the wall above his bed. The hooks serve both art and function, as we use about half of them to display Beckett's collection of hats. But, until now, all of his other gentlemanly accessories have just been tossed in a shallow drawer in his closet.
A few weeks ago, while shopping at Michaels, I came across an entire display of
Make Market branded denim craft supplies. The part of me that entered college in the late '90's and had a denim comforter in my dorm room isn't sure how to feel about denim making a big come back in the home decor world - but as a boy mom, I am excited for all the fun craft possibilities.
As I browsed the denim products, the first thing that caught my eye was a denim pocket garland. I started brainstorming ways that I could use the pockets to create storage for small accessories in Beckett's closet. I ended up coming with two different DIY storage solutions for all of Beckett's accessories - one using the denim pockets, and the other using denim ribbon and a leather belt.
DENIM POCKET ORGANIZER
SUPPLY LIST:
18x24 stretched canvas {I used stretched linen; Michaels also has stretched denim}
Denim Garland(s) {each garland has 8 pockets} OR back pockets cut from old jeans
Scissors
Fabri-Tac Permanent Adhesive
Command Picture Hanging Strips {the velcro-type strips}
Out of the packaging, the denim pocket garland looks like this... with a cute striped ribbon that holds them all together.
I laid them out on my linen canvas, and decided I would like the look better if the pockets were not attached to one another.
I cut between each pocket, and then trimmed off the excess ribbon.
After cutting the garland apart, I laid out nine denim pockets in three rows, and used Fabri-Tac to glue each pocket to the linen canvas. I applied a solid line of glue around the back edge of each pocket, then "scribbled" the glue back and forth across the center for added adhesion.
The Fabri-Tac dries quite quickly, so you have to work pretty fast. Press down around the edges of each pocket while the glue is still tacky to help smooth out any wrinkles and ensure that it sticks well.
Once all nine pockets were glued to the canvas {about 10 minutes}, I was ready to hang the denim pocket organizer on the inside of Beckett's closet door, using Command {Velcro-like} picture hanging strips.
Here's what it looks like on the door before I filled up the pockets...
I'll show you pictures of the pockets all filled up at the end of this post, but first, the tutorial my second organizer.
DENIM & LEATHER ORGANIZER
SUPPLY LIST:
18x24 stretched canvas {I used stretched linen; Michaels also has stretched denim}
Roll of wide denim ribbon {from Michaels}
Denim clothes pins {1 package, from Michaels}
Command clear backed small hooks
Scissors
Fabri-Tac Permanent Adhesive
Command Picture Hanging Strips {the velcro-type strips for hanging the canvas on the door}
I begin by gluing two rows of denim ribbon across the canvas about an inch from the top, again, using Fabri-Tac.
I wrapped the denim ribbon around the edges of the canvas, and then trimmed off the excess in the back.
Next, I buckled the belt, and then cut it just past the end of point where the belt overlaps itself.
I wanted to put some kind of books through the belt holes, and after looking at a lot of options, I discovered some Command brand hooks with clear backs that worked perfectly.
The beauty of these hooks is that they are hinged, making it easy to fit a hook through each belt hole.
I placed hooks through all four belt loops, then added the clear adhesive strips to the back of each and positioned them on top of the denim ribbon. I used Fabri-Tac to glue the back of the belt to the denim ribbon, and then trimmed of the excess belt.
I specifically chose to position the belt so that the hooks would all be on the right half of the canvas. This left open space on the left side of the canvas for more storage. I thought about simply adding a few more denim pockets down the side of the canvas, but instead, I ended up purchasing a package of small, denim covered clothes pins and I glued six of them to the left side of the canvas.
Like with the denim pocket organizer, I again used Command picture hanging strips to affix the linen canvas to the inside of Beckett's closet door. Here's what it looked like empty.
I placed the pocket organizer low on the closet door where Beckett can reach it himself, and the belted organizer is on the upper half of the door where only mom and dad can reach {for now}.
The denim pockets of the lower organizer will be able to store all sorts of small accessories over time, but right now, the pockets are filled with his sunglasses, watches, and and bow ties. I also tucked a couple of clip on ties in to the pockets, as well as an extra pair of shoe laces for Chucks.
I love the look and the function of all those denim pockets, but I think the books through the leather belt holes might be my favorite aspect of these two DIY organizers. I hung from the hooks Beckett's belt, his suspenders, a tie, and the bow tie he wore as the ring bearer in his Uncle's wedding.
Beckett loves greeting cards {he calls them "little books," and he's insisted on keeping our family Christmas card and his birthday cards on his dresser since December. The denim covered clothes pins now provide the perfect spot to display these cards!
I just love how these two back of door organizers provide a place to store all of Beckett's small, gentlemanly accessories and create storage in a spot that was previously unused. I also LOVE the way the linen canvases, denim pockets, and the leather belt tie in perfectly with the menswear inspired design of his bedroom.
Looking for other ways to keep little boys organized? Here are some of my other organizing projects you might be interested in, and below you'll find links to Oh Boy Organizing posts from all of the other bloggers participating in Boy Mom Madness! {The links won't appear if you are viewing this in email format}:
VISIT THE OTHER BLOGS PARTICIPATING IN
BOY MOM MADNESS FOR LOTS MORE BOY ORGANIZATION TIPS:
Let's get social!
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