Organize school papers on the refrigerator door

So we’re a few weeks into the school year. Is anyone else also buried under a pile of papers already?!? I’ve got papers to fill out and send back. I’ve got weekly homework that needs to not be lost. I’ve got amazingly beautiful artwork done by my eight and ten-year-old. I also have a refrigerator door that seems to be disappearing beneath the small forest that has been attached by magnets. There is an upside — I can find everything better when it is stuck to the refrigerator. Add it to the pile on my desk and I’ll probably get around to it sometime-ish. I decided now is a good time to organize school papers on the refrigerator door. We haven’t even gotten that far into school, so I know that more papers are coming.

I’m not really great at throwing things away, except when I’m stress cleaning. Then I tend to throw away everything, important or not. My kids have inherited the hoarding gene. It’s hard to disagree with the idea though. I mean, I probably do need just about all of those papers. That is what my file cabinet is for though. The hard part is the artwork. I cannot tell you how to decide what stays and what goes. You are on your own with that one! I can help you organize school papers on the refrigerator door though. It is way easier than you might think.

How to organize the refrigerator door

I bought a set of Kidecal name labels for each kid as part of our back to school shopping this year. These labels are pretty stellar. They are small, colorful, and really, really strong. The combination of being thick and being plastic-y means that you would have to be trying to destroy them.

I decided these would make perfect refrigerator magnets, similar to the bottle cap magnets I made for my handmade Christmas gift guide.

First, I took everything off of the refrigerator. I quietly hid all the papers that are supposed to be going back to school on my desk and set everything else aside. Then I was able to see just how dirty my refrigerator is, so I gave it a good cleaning. I made just two magnets per kid and declared that each child could put two items on the refrigerator. Everything else needs a better home.

Name label magnet DIY

Supplies:

• clean bottle caps
• 1/2-inch round disc magnets
• super glue
• Kidecal name labels – You could, of course, make your own or buy them somewhere else. These are really handy though and they fit precisely on a bottle cap.

Instructions:

This is really pretty simple.

Stick your label carefully onto the top of the bottle cap and smooth it out.

Flip the cap over and use a dot of super glue to attach the magnet in the middle. Let it dry for a few seconds.

Your magnet is ready for the refrigerator. Repeat for as many as you need. I did not coat my finished magnets with anything. These labels are really sturdy on their own. If you want to mix up some clear coating for print-at-home labels, try my homemade mod podge recipe.

Now my refrigerator looks all nice and neat. The kids have agreed to not save everything they ever do. And I have agreed to get those pesky forms filled out and turned in.