DIY School Organization Center & A Sewing Contest!

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School starts for Maggie next week. She attended the same school last year & even though she was only there 4 hours a week, she came home with hundreds of projects & papers. I organize most of my life online, so having Maggie come home with tons of “paper reminders” & forms threw off my organizing! I was always misplacing forms, forgetting when my next day as “snack mom”, etc. Also, I loved seeing all of Maggie’s adorable artwork, but stared running out of room to display it. I wanted a place in the house that we would always have room to show off her latest project.

After much thought, a little sewing & a lot of hot glue, I came up with this:

This is our new School Organization Center. It’s located on one of the doors in our kitchen. The board on top is cork board, but it’s also magnetic. I found it at Joann’s.

To create the board:

Place the board on top of 1 yard of Waverly fabric. Cut the fabric so you have a square that is about 2 inches bigger, on all sides, than the board. Then, folding over the corners, use hot glue to secure the fabric to the board. Let it dry & then use magnets & push pins to display art & school reminders!

Next, I needed somewhere to put all the papers that get sent home from school. I figured I could also use it to keep birthday invites Maggie gets, ballet school info, etc. I wanted something that would hold a lot, but also be able to hang on the door with the board. I ended up sewing a pouch, the way I would normally sew a bag. I used a similar pattern to make Trick or Treat Bags last year. You can visit this post for more picture details on the pattern.

To Create the “Paper Pouch”

Supplies: 1 yard Waverly fabric, sewing machine & thread.

How to:

– Cut out 2 pieces of fabric. To measure the size, I placed a piece of construction paper on the fabric & added about 2 inches on all sides.

– Pin & sew the fabric to the felt – right sides facing in.

– Cut 2 strips of fabric approximately 10-12″ long & 5″wide.

– Fold the strips in half right sides facing in. Sew open side & bottom. Leave the top open, turn inside out & sew top. These are your handles.

– Sew them onto the bag, turn the bag inside out & you’re done!

To hang the pouch & the board, I used 3M Command Hooks.

Inspired to sew?

In honor of National Sewing Month & Waverly’s 90th anniversary, Jo-Ann Fabric is hosting a Waverize It! Facebook contest! The grand prize is $1,000 in Waverly fabric & a $250 Jo-Ann gift card.

· To enter, transform anything – from apparel to floormats to e-reader/tablet covers and more – through sewing with Waverly fabric

· Then, take a photo of the project and upload it to the Waverize It! contest form on Facebook for the chance to win $1,000 in Waverly fabrics and a $250 gift card to Jo-Ann Stores

· Deadline to enter: September 22, 2013

· Visit the Jo-Ann Facebook page at the following URL to enter: https://bit.ly/waverize_it

It’s also a lot of fun to click “view entries” & see what others are creating!