I’m not a very creative person. That’s all there is to it. I wish I was creative, but I’m not. Even when I think I’m coming up with an original idea, it always turns out that someone else has already thought of it. (Like in Junior High when I “invented” shoes with sponges on the bottom for cleaning the floor and then found out Pippi Longstocking had the same invention!) So I steal other people’s good ideas.

I first heard about rain gutter bookshelves on Jim Trelease’s website. I loved the idea so did a Google search and found this tutorial.

I did come up with the fun idea of painting on them to spruce them up a bit…but not only am I not creative at all, but I am certainly not artistic. Good thing my talented grandma was in town for a visit. She painted some adorable flowers on the shelves and I think they turned out great!

A close up of the painting my grandma did on the bookshelves.

The idea behind the bookshelves is that children will be more apt to read books when they can see the covers (this is how bookstores get us to buy books-we see the cover and get interested).

I also plan on putting some in our playroom close to the ground, so my 10 month old can reach his board books and have easier access to them.

I really just followed the tutorial…my main tip is to have them cut the rain gutter for you at Lowe’s or Home Depot. They are 10 feet long and I had them cut down to 5 feet. It made it much easier to transport and then I didn’t have to cut them down myself at home! My cost for all the supplies (enough for four 5 foot bookshelves) was around $60.

This post is part of the Mom’s 30-minute Blog Challenge on Steady Mom.

Growing up my mom always made my brothers and I write thank you notes…I didn’t always enjoy it so much at the time, but now I’m really glad she instilled that habit in me. And so of course, I’m planning on having my own kids write thank you notes of their own. They’re a little young to write their own, but I have Charlotte sit with me and “help” me write the notes, and then she colors a little picture on the inside of each one. I think it’s important to get them in the habit at a young age so that they learn writing thank you notes is just “what you do.”

I made these thank you notes and Charlotte loved them (what 4 year old girl doesn’t love a picture of themselves???) and the recipients loved them as well.

If you know me, you know I’m not too crafty, so anything I make is usually pretty simple. All you need for these is some blank stationary, black photo corners, and a picture. I used pictures from the birthday party that we were sending thank you notes for. Simply cut your photo down to the size needed and attach it using photo corners.

Affordable, meaningful, and simple!