If this weekend’s craft project does not identify me as a total type A personality, I don’t know what does. Even my mother gave me a look that said “How did I create such an anal-retentive daughter?”
You see, I saw something like these on a blog recently:
Etsy seller Paper Party Design Co
How neat! My little munchkin will likely receive clothing in all sizes between now and shortly after he arrives, and well, all baby clothes look small to me. I can’t yet visually distinguish the difference between 0-3 months and 3-6 months. Closet dividers like these would be a great way to keep his adorable little onesies organized.
The thing of it is, the nursery’s closet is already well organized into four sections with rods. So in theory I could put one size in each section. But that would be too easy and not nearly as much fun, right?
While at The Container Store on Friday I spied these ready-made dividers:
containerstore.com
I came thisclose to buying them. At $10 for five at The Container Store, and $15 (including shipping) for five from Etsy, I thought they were pricey and wondered if I could make them myself for less money. After all, I had cute scrapbook paper left over from another nursery project, some Mod Podge, and my trusty label maker. All I needed were blank dividers, so I bought five of these for a total of $4.95:
containerstore.com
To be honest, I think that $0.99 is too much money for a little piece of plastic that probably cost less than one penny to produce, and you may find them cheaper elsewhere. But I was already at the store, so into my basket they went.
Cutting the paper to fit in between the raised edges was a bit tricky and required me to borrow my dad’s compass. Like, the kind you use in geometry class, not the kind you use while hiking. I’m sure it would be possible to create a template on the computer, too, but I decided to go old school with this project.
I started with a sheet of scrapbook paper that had a graph paper print on the back (5 for $1 at JoAnn on sale), and used the first one as a template for the rest. It took a little trial and error to get it right. Well, mostly right. The final outcome is not perfect, but remember, they’re hanging in a closet. My anal-retentiveness only takes me so far.
After cutting out all the circles, I adhered them to the plastic dividers with Mod Podge using a small foam brush. I’m not convinced that this is the best medium for adhering paper to plastic, because when the dividers are bent to put them onto the rod the paper buckles a bit. I’ve already added a little double-sided tape to some to ensure the paper stays in place.
Finally, I used my label maker to do what it does best – make the labels. I pondered printing out the labels on card stock so I could use fancier font, and had to remind myself yet again that these are going in an already well-organized closet so there’s no need to go crazy.
It took me about an hour to do the project before leaving the dividers to dry overnight. Cute, huh? These would be a good project for an adult’s closet as well.
The rest of the scrap paper is being used on another clothing organization project that I started this weekend, which I will share later after we finalize the nursery’s furniture layout.
Now that I’ve let you in on my overly-organized ways, how do you organize your closet? By size (fat jeans and skinny jeans!), color, season, or something else?
Love them and love your anal retentiveness!!!
This is such a good idea!! I want to do it for my clothes… shirts, skirts, dresses, etc
neat idea.. just be forewarned that baby clothes sizes vary GREATLY from brand to brand. 0-3 in gap is not the same as 0-3 in gerber. I tried organizing D’s dresser drawers by size and found that she didn’t end up wearing some of her outfits because they were too small by the time I thought she would be ready for them. I should have held them up and compared the actual size of the clothes rather than relied on the label.
Thanks Jen, that’s a great tip!
Great idea! I love the patterns on the paper too. What a fun (and helpful) project. You guys are getting so much done before the baby is born. I’m impressed!!
I love that you broke out the old-school compass! These came out great. You just gave me an idea for the baby shower that I am planning!
Too cute! And yes, it DOES make you a total type-A, but that’s OK.
And I adore Janie & Jack…and I don’t even have kids!
What a cute idea! Great project.
Those are the cutest things! They look like little CD’s. Your hyper organized personality will come in handy when the little man arrives. Babies have a way of making life a little more chaotic. At least you won”t have to worry about his closet being disorganized.
Cute idea. And Erin @DomesticAdventure has a great idea for an extra baby shower gift. Although I’m compulsive, I doubt that I’d make dividers for my own (adult) closet.
This is great! I was wondering where to buy those plastic closet dividers. I didn’t find anything that matched style-wise to our nursery, and I liked the idea of making our own. But also we’re expecting twins and so “preemie” isn’t a size that’s on many of the default store-bought ones yet many twins go through a preemie period; we’re assuming ours will and have bought a few preemie outfits. So I’m off to copy your diy idea – thanks much for posting!
I loved your tutorial! So cute and such a great idea when you’re getting all those baby shower gifts in so many different sizes!
The blank closet dividers can be purchased at store supply warehouse online for $0.29 each. You can also buy the dividers with the sizes on them which will be covered with paper for as low as $0.22 each.
My 3 Boys share a closet! This is a great way to divide it as well : )
It’s a cute idea, I never bothered with dividers, just put them on the rod by size and called it a day. You do need to watch the sizes of the clothes, cause not all are true to the same size, like Carter’s sleepers are a bit small for 9 months I noticed.
Truth be told – the dividers were most helpful when my son was first born because people gifted us clothes in various sizes. Now that he’s older (15mo now!) and his growth has slowed, the clothes in his closet are the ones that he’s wearing now and the too-small stuff is packed away. I’m thinking of making more dividers to sort the various styles, though (short-sleeve/long-sleeve/overalls/pants).
Leah– great suggestion! I went to store supply warehouse online and cannot find the dividers. Maybe I am typing in the wrong keywords. Would you be able to post a link to the dividers? Thanks a lot!
http://www.storesupply.com/search.aspx?query=dividers
Could you not make your own plastic circle hangers using recycled plasic lids from tub food containers or something? Just a thought, haven’t tried it yet.
Great idea! I am so making these; it will make my life so much easier
I shared your idea on my blog today: http://www.themombot.com/crafting/2012/02/10/link-love-organization-2012
When I first looked at these i thought you had covered old CD’s with scrapbook paper. Do you think that might work? Think they would cut smoothly? Could maybe cover cut edges with some of that neat new designer tape they have out. May give it a try………………Thanks for this and all your clever ideas!
you can find the plastic pieces on ebay for very cheap!!!
I have not done this particular project but work with glue all the time. The trick is to sand the plastic surface to provide something the glue can adhere to. It does not take very much. You could even use a nail file to do it.
This is very cute idea i’m thinking about doing this tonight,.. i think it would be fun to do this with old cds and decorate them with the paper you get for your kitchen cabinets and drawers=)
This are VERY CUTE! — I did this, in the 1980′s, with plain cardstock and a marker. Your’s quite possibly can be passed down to your grand children, LOL
What type of Mod Podge do you use? Matte or Gloss?
I organize my closet by type of clothing ie tops skirts dresses then I put them in order by color and each color by season so all short sleeve are before long sleeve pretty anal I know
My daughter bought some of these at Hobby Lobby January/February 2013 for approx $4.99 less their 40% coupon so not much spent for cute ones