Fred and Cissy: In praise of peach boxes

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

In praise of peach boxes

Last week Kirsty put out the call to people on the My Creative Space page to blog about their top tip for staying creative. I've been thinking about it, and I think that I've come up with my answer (more of that tomorrow), but in doing so I was reminded about the importance of time management in the whole creative endeavour. I've spent way too much time over the years looking for things that I know that I have, and earlier on this year I adapted a storage idea I've been using for the kids toys for years: peach box drawers.

I love peach boxes. I wait for peach season because of the boxes more than the fruit. I've been meaning to dedicate a post to them for some time:

They're strong.
They're a uniform size.
They're stackable.
They have holes you can use as finger pulls.
(If you paint them) they look great.
Things look instantly neater when they're put in them.
They last better than plastic.
When you're done with them you can recycle them.
They're free.

Brilliant!

Here's how I use most of our collection at the moment:

(The one draw-back that I found was that I can't quite get two across into my craft cupboard, hence the mess to the right, but more of that tomorrow too.)

I first brought peach boxes home from the supermarket about 5 years ago, and am pleased to report that they're still going strong despite continuous use. I have (and still do) use them for the kids toys. Originally I took photos of the toys which they were supposed to contain, covered them with contact, and tied them on between the holes in the boxes. In theory that meant that the kids could put their toys away properly. In practice it made it easier for me at least! I'm a bit gentler on my boxes, and for my labels I folded plastic A5 sheet protectors and attached them to the boxes with double-sided tape. I made sure the slot in the top was accessible, that way I can change the labels when I like.