Easy-Peasy Book Holder

So today I had an amazing find! When we bought this house last summer, the old ladies who lived here left a lot of stuff when they moved out. Most of it is in a shed in the back yard, so since I was putting in the air conditioners today (Please, summer, get here already so I can use them!) I stumbled on some fantastic stuff!

A picture frame with no glass, an old story book, a frosted glass globe from a ceiling light, some rope, clothes pins, and burlap! I have so many exciting crafts planned, but first on to today's mini make over part one.

Em home schools and has had some difficulty in claiming a space for school. She was using the dining room table, however it proved to be too much of a distraction - Jay loves to ride in his plastic car around the island in the kitchen, and you have to pass through both rooms to go from the living room to the bedrooms or the bathroom. Also, it appeared the allure of the TV was a bit much for her at times as well.

Our den has a built in desk and it is usually piled up with crafts, toys, books, and junk the girls don't want to put away. I have been going through each room of the house systematically attempting to recycle, donate, upcycle, corral, or trash the constant flow of junk that seems to continually threaten our home. The den was pretty much last on my list, being that it is out of the way of the rooms we use every day (and the ones company sees, hehe). Frankly it seemed a bit too over whelming and I had other places to clean first, but giving Em a place she can work is now a priority.

First of all, I cleaned all the junk out of the room. It took three garbage bags! One bag for DI, one bag for recycling, and the last bag was split between garbage and craft items we didn't need anymore that I donated to the church.

Second, I looked at the walls and tried to figure out something fun to do there. We had STACKS of board games that Jay had gleefully pulled apart and lost pieces to, so I grabbed my trusty hot glue gun and assembled as much as I could of the game boards, then hung them on the wall.

I wasn't thinking about showing the step by step when I did these so there are no "in progress" pictures, but basically it was just an act of a girl and her glue gun. Very easy-peasy.

Now, Em needed a place to keep her school work where it was organized and safe. I saw this idea on Pinterest somewhere, but evidently didn't pin it but I did remember it. It's really easy though!


First, you need a cereal box, then you need ModPodge, a craft knife, scissors, ruler, black marker or pen, and cool paper/pictures. I measured up 3 inches on the corner of the box, then made a mark. Then I took the ruler and lined it from that mark, across the cereal box, up to the top corner.

I repeated this step on the other side, then connected the two lower lines with one straight line across the thinner end of the box. Then I took my handy craft knife and followed the lines, slicing the box apart.

I cut off the last box tab left then went back with scissors and evened out all the edges so they were smooth. Next I cut some of Em's favorite pics out of this old book I found in the shed:

...then added ModPodge to the backs and pasted them onto the box. I also used some cute scrap book paper Em picked out, then put a label at the top so she could write her name on it. The finished project:

Now Em has the perfect place to keep her school books, and a place to work in peace without Jay and Bea bothering her. I am going to keep working on the den, and promise I will add pics of the room as it continues in its transformation.

Have a great weekend!