three {part 2}

while the paint was drying on the bookcase & shelves i moved onto designing the boxes where the shoes would live.  these particular boxes i see all over, target, osh, lowes, k-mart etc.  they are awesome, inexpensive and come in so many colors.  i have used them all over my house {look for future posts} & with the genius brain of my mother, have figured out a way for a label to adhere.  i chose the black boxes for this room because i thought they looked a little more formal & i loved them with the dark gray of the bookcase.

my 2 little guys do not read yet so i thought the best way for them to identify which bin was theirs was to add a picture of them.  i printed out 3 black & white photos and using double sided tape, taped them to brightly colored scrapbook paper.  i then fed them through my xyron label maker to laminate them.

*side note:  the xyron was a birthday present to myself last year & i have used it so many times, it's paid for itself.  it is amazing! it laminates & makes just about anything into a sticker  or a magnet.  i cannot say enough about it!  the day i brought it home i took a picture and pined it onto pinterest.  the next week i got an email from xyron thanking me for pining it & they sent me 3 free boxes of laminate, sticker & magnet supplies!  so cool.

so i cannot take credit for the method of adhering the labels... that was all my momma.  because i always laminate my labels, they tend to be too slick to stick to most surfaces.  i tried hot glue, tacky, elmers & gorilla glue.  they would just peel off.  my mom's idea was to use a hole punch on the corners of the labels, then on the actual box, make a small hole & put a brad through! brilliant! they work perfectly & look so finished.


now i could have been done but i was so inspired by the inspiration photo, that i wanted to add some more color to the bookcase.  using paper from the same pad that the pictures are backed on, i chose 4 different but similar patterns, also very brightly colored.  i covered the back of the bookcase & each of the 2 shelves.  i just used regular elmers glue.

it fit perfectly behind our front door & i don't mind our boots neatly stacked next to it.  doesn't the paper look so cute?  i could not have been more pleased!

we decided that the hubbs shoes are way too big for a bin & he doesn't really mind anyway, so the 4th bin is for me {i just haven't added my pic yet lol}  we are now going into week 2 with our new system... i cannot believe what a difference it has made!  no tearing through a huge bin only to not find a match plus the kids LOVE it & love using it.  i must admit i have a few more pairs of shoes {ummm, like 50, ouch} that live upstairs in neat shoe boxes in my closet, but this bin is for the shoes i wear everyday ie. flip-flops, converse, toms etc.

how do you keep your kids' shoes?