Bookshelf Chaos!

Wednesday, June 18, 2014
I am an Astrobrights Color Expert. All opinions, as always, are my own! 
Do you have bookshelves that look like these? If so, keep reading.     If not, I'm jealous!
One of our summer plans was to get this shelf organized. I mean seriously, it is a MESS! We can never find the one book he wants to read and we usually do a bulk book return squeezing books in where ever we can. This shelf is our last stop before bedtime and we really do not think about it outside of that time! Shameful, I know! If this were my classroom, I would go bananas!

So where to begin? After putting it off for days, T and I finally starting pulling books and sorting. Summer reading is a priority for our family. As a first grade teacher, I like to practice what I preach! 
As piles grew, we decided we needed bookshelf markers. We wanted the markers to be bright and colorful, but also sturdy. We decided to use our Astrobrights card stock. We discussed what pictures and words to put on each marker. This was such a fun conversation to have with my 5 year old.  He picked the color for each marker, too! He chose orange for holidays "because it is like Halloween" and pink for Jan Thomas "because pink is silly." T has now linked those colors to the books and now even if he can not read the words, he will be able to replace the books! The colors really pop on the shelf and it looks pretty neat, too! This is also the same system I use for organizing the professional reads in my classroom! 
The books are organized and will be easy to replace thanks to the shelf markers. I know that having T help with this project is what will likely make our organization stick! That's one way we #colorize! I'm also happy to report that since we can actually see the books, he is reading new titles and meeting new characters! That's a summer reading success! 
I'm not quite ready to turn my home into my classroom with bins and labels, but I am absolutely ready to draw my son into the world of organization with color! 

If you would like a copy of our shelf markers, you can download them HERE for free. It was an easy project that brought color and organization to our home....just like Astrobrights already does in my classroom!

Speaking of classrooms, Astrobrights is preparing for a HUGE back to school contest for teachers called #colorizeyourclassroom. From July 7-September 12, teachers can share a photo of how they Colorize their Classroom at Facebook.com/Astrobrights. So save the date and stay tuned on Instagram, Facebook, Tumbler, and Twitter for more information! 
    
When you share pictures, be sure to tag #colorize or #colorizeyourclassroom so we can learn from your creative ideas! 

What will you be colorizing?

16 comments

  1. Great idea! I need to do this with my son's books. Thanks for sharing! #typeaparent

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    1. It will make your life a little easier, I promise!!

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  2. Nice! My kid's books are a mess...and they get piled up at the end of the bed too. Yikes!! #typeaparent

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    1. Fingers crossed this will last! Since he was involved in the process, I've got high hopes! Here's to raising readers! :)

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  3. Very clever idea! My husband spent a bunch of time one night, alphabetizing our 4-year-old's book shelf. I told him that would never fly... the books would end up in the wrong places for sure! It hasn't been as bad as I imagined (somehow!), but it still gets all jumbled up. But we didn't think of making little markers like this. That would probably help! Thanks for sharing your great idea! #typeaparent

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    1. Holy cow! I did the same thing when our son was a baby! It was the teacher in me!! I couldn't even stick to it though! :) I hope you guys will try the markers....the brighter the better!

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  4. Cool idea. As a homeschool mom and Library Book Sale Addict - I'm sure you can imagine what my bookshelves look like. We had to specially build them out of pallets. LOL :)

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    1. Helloooo fellow book addict! This is one of our FIVE bookshelves! I.have.a.problem. I'm passing on that problem to my son, too! I'd love to see your pallet bookshelves!!

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  5. We organize ours, but I bet these colored cards would help identify where everything goes for quick access! (While adding a bit of brightness!)

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    1. Exactly! We need quick access in this crazy house! We are on day 4! So far so good! :)

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  6. Love the idea! I am so artsy that organization becomes a struggle for me. I am honing these skills with the family though.

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    1. I can relate! My problem is that I can organize it but am not the best at maintaining it! Hoping this will help me (and the fam!)

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  7. Fantastic idea..I have "started from scratch" several times in my life and then just given up and let be a mess. This sounds and looks like it will last. I really life the bright colorful card stock instead of flimsy tabs or papers. Thanks

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    1. I hope so! We just put our books back in the right spot! We are on a roll! The card stock is absolutely the way to go! The colors are fun, too!

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  8. Such a great idea. We have several bookcases throughout the house and they need some organization! Love your idea to use cardstock. Thanks for sharing this!

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  9. This looks great and actually sounds fun. I think you doing this with your son is such a great idea.

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Thank you for your comments. Words matter. :)

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