Do you see that cutesy little organizer in the middle of my tables? That little item has saved me countless transition hours this year, especially during math time! You know how you need a specific set of colors for workbook pages? Kids keep this organizer organized! When we have math, they can easily go for the colors needed, then put them back when finished.

What will you need in the way of supplies so you can have them for your very own?

Buy metal fruit cups in large quantities…IF you can find them! I found mine at Big Lots for 1.00/per 4 pack.  You will need at least 32 cups without lids and labels to make the holder for the crayons. My suggestion if you cannot find the short cans with the pop lids would be vienna sausage cans with pop tops.  They are still low profile so the crayons will stick out above the top.
The board they are screwed down to is approximately 2.5 inches wide by 26″ long, but you can line up the cans and get an approximation yourself.  My hubby is a retired shop teacher, so this was not hard to do, but you can as easily have a Home Depot associate to cut boards into the lengths you need.  He used 3/8″ sheet metal screws (very little ones) to secure cans to the boards. 

The boards are painted with acrylic paints from Walmart or Hobby Lobby.  You need to do two coats to have a glossy appearance.  Here is my assistant painting my boards and helping papaw with screws. 🙂 (the other assistant liked carrying the entire organizer around)

The cans were easy to “mass” paint by using the bright Krylon spray paints in all primary colors.  These cans were about 4.00 each, so 32.00.  I still have a lot of paint left that will work for other projects in the future.

To begin the year, I ordered the triangular Crayola Crayons.  These are marvelous for establishing grip with beginning kinders! I highly recommend!
Here is a list of everything needed for this project:
32 or 40 cans (vienna sausage cups or fruit cup-size cans)
1 each of red, orange, green, blue, black, purple, and brown paints
4 or 5 long boards (I put the cans very close together)
Acrylic paints in the colors you want to assign to your four tables
3/8″ sheet metal screws and drill (husband or boyfriend to put together is totally optional–put your big girl pants on and try it yourself!!!)

That’s it! Email me if you have questions.  I love to talk about projects I have done. 🙂