My Pretty Letter Tray

I need an overwhelming amount of paper-sized stuff (printer paper, card stock, felt) for all my crafts and craft kits. Trying to keep it organized is really, really hard work. Especially when my kids try to steal the fifth shade down in the mountainous pile of orange card stock.

Really, child? You can't use a light orange piece of card stock that's on the very top of the pile? No? Your jack-o-lantern requires the shade of orange that will inevitably cause a paper cut avalanche when you pull it out? Awesome.

Really, I don't care about that. What it comes down to is this: I freakin' LOVE containers.

So a few months ago my local Red Cross advertised an office supply giveaway on Freecycle. And you know how I love The Free. It was supposed to start at 8:00 a.m. I got there at 7:55 a.m. and no joke, there were about two things left. Some people really like free stuff and they really don't feel the need to follow the rules. Follow the rules, people! 8:00! Dang!

Anyway, they were giving away this hideous HIDEOUS! metal letter tray. I looked at this ugly thing and visions of paint and Mod Podge danced in my head. And I might have fantasized just a little about the organization that would follow after I prettied it. So I grabbed it and held it in my loving arms as fast as I could. As if I believed someone else would want it. No one wanted it. No one! Sad, sad, little paper tray.

"I will conquer you, Ugly!"

Anything that is hideous and made of metal needs Spray Paint! Right away! So James painted it white for me (Thanks, Honey!):

It's almost as if your eyes can rest a little easier now, isn't it?

And then I went to JoAnn's Fabric Store and found this paper:

And I cut it up and Mod Podged it on the sides of my letter tray:

And then I Tacky Glued on some pretty brown ribbon:

And with all my other paper containers, you can't really see it, but I love it anyway.

It just makes me happy. Because I'm totally the person who throws my body to the floor and rolls around like a dog in absolute heaven after the carpet has been professionally cleaned. Same kind of thing. I go downstairs for no other reason than to gaze at the organizational beauty.

And it matches my file cabinet and my bulletin board. I love it!