For Binders: just buy some stretchy head bands and wrap them over the front cover. They can store pens, pencils and notes easily. How cute is that?
For Flower Pens: Buy any fake (I bet you thought they were real!) flowers with a stem and wrap floral tape around the pen to keep the flower in place. Never lose a pen again!
For book marks: Post It Note book marks: cut craft foam any size you would like to use for a bookmark. Then tear off a few Post It Notes and cut them to fit within the space. Glue the back of the last Note onto the craft foam. Punch a hole at the top and run some yarn through and ta-da! You have an easy way to mark your books without bending the pages. Just use one of your Post It Notes to highlight where you were. You can even jot a note on the note...clever!
Ribbon book marks: This is the perfect book mark if your kids tend to lose them! All you need to do is dig in the junk drawer and find a paper clip. Tie a long piece of ribbon on the paper clip and then attach the paper clip to the binding. Genius!!
For book covers: Why not get creative? Brown paper bags still are the leaders but let's jazz 'em up a bit. Decorate your bag with a picture of a pet or you (if THEY are still young enough to find YOU cool). Then protect it with our at-home laminator fake-out. Use clear contact paper to protect them even more and hold those pictures on there. Just put the contact paper over the last layer and you just found yourself a groovy way to keep everything neat and protected. OR use a road map and fake-out laminate that. Great for history or geography ONE MORE TIP...Buy labels in varying colors...one for each kid. Then put that label on the binding of the book. That way you can know without opening it whose!
