My first kiddo has just started school and I needed a place to keep all of her art projects, progress reports and other papers. Her and I will be able to look back at it someday (and maybe show her own kids how smart she was!). One of my mom friends showed me a school memory box made out of a file box, folders and a cute print out for each year, so of course I had to try to DIY and it turned out really well. You can buy one on Etsy for about $50, but this came out to be about $25 for me. (Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.)

The Box

The box is a simple plastic file box I found at Target. They have the same box at Staples and Amazon. It can hold either legal or letter size folders. I chose to use the legal size. 

The Files

I found the recycled multicolored hanging legal size folders on Amazon and I had some leftover after I hung all of the school years in the box. They came with tabs for labeling, but I ended up printing out label stickers to stick onto the label using the Avery 1/2″ x 1-3/4″ Blank Rectangle Labels. I can add the labels file to the dropbox folder for easy printing for you.

 

Yearly Update Printout – with free printables through dropbox

I created this printout in Word and added a dropbox file link that includes all of the years in the school memory box. The picture area is 4×6, which is standard and your local drugstore or Target should be able to print it. I glued this onto the file folder with the coordinating year. My plan is to edit and print them as the years go by, so I don’t have to write anything in by hand. The PDF files are included in the dropbox link so that you can print them all at once and write the answers in by hand as the years go by (this way you don’t have to download the fonts).

Fonts

These are the fonts I used in the Word files. You will need to download these in order to get the same look:

• Preschool – 2nd Grade: DK Cool Crayon
• 3rd – 8th grade: Scribble Box
• 9th-12th grade: Youth Touch

 

Vinyl Name Cutout

I used my Cricut with the October Twilight font to cut out a sparkly vinyl to adhere to the front of the school memory box. It was about 9.5 inches in length. THIS ETSY WEBSITE can create a custom name decal 9.5 inches long and if you chose font #9 it will look the same! They will provide you with instruction on how to adhere it to the surface of your project. THIS IS NOT MY ETSY WEBSITE. I don’t have an Etsy site!

This was the first time I had ever used sparkly vinyl, and it was tough for me to transfer it to the box. Because this was so difficult, there are a few wrinkles. I am still trying to figure out what transfer tape and vinyl works best. If you have any suggestions please let me know! 

I hope this helps with all of your organizing! Good luck and message me with questions!