So. It's the end of the school year. Maybe you've found yourself with a vast collection of artwork, stories + notes, and other paper goods from your kids that you have no idea what to do with. Well, lucky for you, I have a solution. Enter: the memory tote!
It's super easy to put together and makes it even easier to keep everything you want to save organized. KEY WORD: everything you WANT to save. This isn't a free pass to just shove every paper you've ever received from your kiddo into the tote and call it a day. You'll still need to take the time to sift through all those papers and pick out the ones you really want to keep - maybe even enlist your child to help you determine which are the most special.
Anyways, back to the creation of the tote! You'll need some kind of file folder bin. I like this clear one, because I love seeing the fun colored file folders peeking through, but really any file box will do. I wrote my kids' names in permanent marker on the bins to keep it simple, but you could really fancy with it and use a cricut to make pretty labels if that's your thing. You could also add some fun ribbon to the tote handles as well.
I used these file folders with built in tabs so that I could print labels on sticker paper to slap on. I designed the labels on Avery using template 5366. I picked a cute font and typed up my labels. I chose to do one for first year, toddler years, preschool, and then kindergarten through twelfth grade. Then I printed them on clear sticker paper and printed it! You could also just purchase the Avery labels that match the template to make it super easy too.
I highly suggest lining up all your file folders in the order you want them in the tote first, and then going through to add the labels on if you choose an assorted file color pack like I did. I had to reprint my labels like three times because I had to keep changing my file order to keep my color pattern going. Oy!
Add in the papers you've taken the time to sort through into the corresponding file and that's it! Now when the next school year rolls around, you'll be ready to take on collecting those precious works of art in a super organized way!
Let me know if you decide to make your own memory tote! I'd love to see how yours turn out!