The art cart
It might have taken all of 2020 to finally give in to the “art cart” trend, but here we are with a new art cart that we love. This art cart was gifted to us by Santa (hence the bow). My little ones, three and one, fully enjoy having this in our house. I enjoy it too because it is an easy way to organize a lot of our art and craft supplies and it can travel from room to room or easily be put away when it’s not in use.
The art cart project started with finding a durable, nondescript cart – I used this Simple Housewares cart from Amazon because of it’s high ratings. It is white with three shelves, and it rolls.
The top shelf, as with margaritas, is probably my favorite. The best and most functional part of the top shelf is the lazy susan style caddy with removable sections – the Creative Caddy. An alternative to the colorful one we purchased is this acrylic one with removable sections from the Container Store. The removable sections were non-negotiable for me because they allow more control over what supplies we get out and both of my kids can have their own container of crayons or markers. This caddy also fit perfectly into the shelf of the cart (**make sure you measure your cart shelves before choosing your containers**).
The supplies included on the top shelf are two 12 packs of washable, ultra clean Crayola markers, two 64 packs of Crayola washable, ultra clean crayons, one 24 pack of Crayola Silly Scent Twistable crayons, the Melissa & Doug Deluxe Happy Handle Stamp set, one 5 pack of Lakeshore washable ink pads, and a pair of kid-friendly scissors.
The second shelf holds all the paint supplies and paper. The caddy on this shelf was one we already had for art and craft storage (from the “dollar” section at Target), but it worked perfectly to hold our paint supplies on the cart too. The paint supplies are two Crayola jumbo washable watercolor sets from Lakeshore, washable paint with the Melissa & Doug Large Paint Brush set, and one set of twelve Lakeshore Kwik Stix – Tempera Painters. The Kwix Stix are a favorite, neater than paint, but more fun than a crayon or marker. I also plan to add a few kid-friendly paint pallets to this shelf (we’ve been using our muffin tins). For the paper, we like any and all construction paper and a roll of butcher paper (taped down with painter’s tape) for big canvases on the table or floor.
The third shelf holds our craft and play supplies. The caddy on this shelf (purchased with the other caddy from the “dollar” section at Target) is a great storage space for our Play-Doh. Play-Doh does not last long in our house, so I ordered a 24 pack of 3 oz Play-Doh jars. I also purchased a set of dough tools from Lakeshore and these are easily another favorite in the cart. The other three containers (found in person at Michaels – I can’t find them online), hold Lakeshore’s Jumbo Colored Craft Sticks and Pipe Stems – Set of 100, and a large collection of Scratch & Sniff Stickers and Colored Dot Stickers.
All in, the art cart project cost about $220.00 and took several hours to put together, from ordering and assembling the cart to sourcing the supplies and creating an organization plan. I highly recommend starting with the cart. Then, with the measurements of the cart, purchase the interior organization containers. I also found it helpful to think through the items we use the most and how we use those items (e.g. I need two crayon containers to keep my kids happy) to best organize the cart.
Happy arting and crafting!