Favorite Things Friday - Scrapbooking Boxes

Can you see the blue and green and clear boxes? These are the ones...

I am an organization seeker. As you know, I am currently involved in moving my clinic area from storage area to storage area at work, and my home space is suffering as a result. I've got lots of stuff, and it is taking over my life. So...

Today's Favorite Thing? Well, my favorite storage container, of course! Scrapbooking Storage Boxes!

I don't know if you are a scrapbooker, but I have dabbled a bit in my life and have all of the accoutrements that go with dabbling - large decorative papers, fancy scissors, glue sticks, etc. What does this have to do with music therapy? Absolutely nothing!

I was looking for some storage for my visual aid components - places to keep my bulletin board die-cuts and other visuals - and I had a couple of these boxes sitting empty in my craft space. I started filling up the boxes with that stuff. Then, I needed a box for a short-term music therapy situation and decided I would try a scrapbooking box for that situation as well.

I was surprised at how well it worked. The box itself is 13X13X4 inches. I can fit a classroom set of rhythm sticks and shaker eggs inside or a classroom set of sound shapes and mallets or any file folder sized visual aids or many children's books or dry erase boards and markers or the iPod and the portable speakers. With judicial planning, I can take quite a bit of stuff with me in one of those little boxes.

When I found out that we were moving towards more itinerant music therapy this past year, I realized that these boxes would be the only way I could organize what I needed to take with me to each location. I bought six - two clear, two blue, and two red - for myself and my interns. Each one of us has a specific color so we can easily pull our boxes out of the stack. Inside I placed a plastic document envelope velcroed to the lid of the box and added some additional velcro for a place to put a pen and pencil. This system has worked very well for the past year. 

By the way, I get my boxes at Michael's, the craft store. I always wait until they are having a good sale, and then I swoop in to buy these boxes up!

One of my favorite things.

Now, are you thinking that I only use these boxes for my clinical materials? Oh, silly reader, of course NOT! The box helps to corral many of my materials, but not all - I am always also lugging around my guitar, another bag for the larger instruments, and often a cart of stuff as well. The boxes help to keep things in one place, and I have done sessions with only the box and the guitar.

Ah, scrapbooking boxes. One of my favorite music therapy things.