Homemade Card Storage

Have you ever seen the Friends episode where Monica has the secret closet?  If not you should watch this scene from youtube.  It's hilarious!

I have my own similar not so similar but kind of like the closet situation in that episode.  I call it the "everything-that-I-don't-care-to-find-a-place-for" drawer because things that I don't feel like organizing at a specific time get tossed in there only to be buried and found at a much later date.  It is a little embarrassing to admit that I have one of those drawers, but doesn't everyone?  I guess I should give you a sneak peek into what it looks like...

One item that lives in the drawer that is begging to get out is my homemade cards.  I can never remember what cards I have, what cards I need, and when I need to make more.  So I started to brainstorm on what I could do and how I could find (or make) a new home for my cards.

It was pure luck when I came across the post from Delightful Order.  Not only did it fit all my needs, but it was practical and would be cute to display around the house!  Perfection!

Lucky for me, my best friends mom gave me the exact same box that DaNita from Delightful Order used for this project.  I have been struggling since March to figure out what I wanted to do with the box and I finally found a great use for it!

The first thing I did was make labels on my computer (thank you powerpoint!).  I sort of borrowed the design from Delightful Order and just changed the colors to match the color palette I wanted.  After they were printed I waited about fifteen minutes just to make sure the ink was dry and then laminated the labels.  I used some laminating paper that I bought months ago at Target then cut out the individual labels into squares.  I also made dividers out of regular colored card stock and a birthday reminder sheet to glue to the top of the box.

After looking at the labels I knew I didn't like the square design they had.  I wanted something a little different and I was falling in love with the scalloped look from Delightful Order's labels.  Since I didn't have a scalloped punch I tried using my cricut but that was a complete disaster.  Luckily I had printed out another copy of all the labels so I was able to see if the scalloped cut worked without ruining my newly laminated labels.

(I did not take a picture of this step.  I was too busy getting frustrated because plan A was not working out the way I wanted it too) 

Once I bought the scalloped punch I was able to finish my project!  Now all I have to do is make some cards to fill it up!

So what do you think?!  I'm so happy I found a practical and cost effective way to store all of my handmade cards.  The whole project only cost me $5.00!  Chris was pretty happy with it too.  The first thing he asked was whether or not I shared the finished product on my blog.  He knows me so well...