School Paper Craze with Professional Organizer, Cathy Gammill!

I hope everyone had a great weekend! Mine was super busy which explains why I am just now getting around to posting. This week is all about organizing. So if you have OCD traits like I do, tune in.

I am soooo excited about having my first guest blogger today: Cathy Gammill, professional organizer extraordinaire! She is a dear friend of mine and today I've asked her to talk about getting organized amidst the back-to-school craze.

Here's Cathy...!

Hi Palmer Home readers!

It's Cathy from Org-N-Ize blog. I am so happy Kricia asked me to share some ideas to help you with the mound of papers that seems to never end as the school year begins. So stick with me because I have a surprise for you {shriek}!

First things first...when your kids get home from school each day (and after you give them each a hug!), go through their backpacks and pull out any and all papers. Anything that needs YOUR attention (i.e. signature), place in a red file folder (Take Action!).

Now what to do with all the other papers?! Here's where I sort of had a break down in organization: I would dump all of the important things (report cards, school photos, artwork) into a photo box - week! Needless to say, I needed a better system quick!

That's when I stumbled upon Jen's idea at IHeartOrganizing.

First, file the relevant, current papers in a slot or bin such as this:

Then for the other keepsake items that I knew could be put away, I purchased four file boxes (one for each kid)...similar to this from Amazon and placed 13 file folders in each one (kindergarten through 12th grade).

Now for your surprise! Wait for it...

FREE PRINTABLES!!! Super cute labels for your files! Thank you Jen!!! I love these so much I actually re-labeled my folders :)

So here are two more ideas that I feel are worth sharing and the first one is actually one of my favorites !

1. Go to your local pizza joint and pick up some new, unused pizza boxes, These are perfect for storing oversized art. They are sturdy cardboard boxes that fit under your bed for storing! Some places may even give you a couple...yes for FREE, especially if you're like us and give them a fair amount of business!

2. And finally, there's the Schoolfolio. It is definitely the "cadillac" of paper and artwork organizers. It is a little on the big side, but it is one awesome product that if you're willing g to invest in and you have the space to store it, has the best archival quality.

Hope this helps! Now it's your turn. Let us know your favorite tips for organizing kids' papers! Thanks so much Kricia and Happy Organizing!