Minecraft Desk Organizer

Having raised three boys, I know full well the many challenges that can come with homework and school. Back in the ’90’s elementary school teachers would give out different colored ‘cards’ when the student was in trouble, the color indicative of the gravity of the offense. With our youngest, I could’ve wallpapered his bedroom – and a few others – with the massive amount of cards he brought home.

Nothing malicious. “Off task” was the norm. “Talking” was probably the most common issue.

His son, my grandson, just started 2nd grade and his dad passed this ‘wonderful’ trait on to his son. Telling his mother that Santino will eventually grow out of it is little comfort to her – I know that all too well – and even though I’ve had tons of talks with Tino, I realize it’s really up to him.

But I’m still Gramma and it breaks my heart to see him upset when he gets in trouble. Before he completely detests school, I wanted to make something that he would love, something associated with his schoolwork.

Have you heard of Minecraft? Good grief, the child is obsessed with the game. I thought Legos were bad but this is a whole new level. And while I don’t get it at all, the game is full of simplistic icons, making them super easy to replicate.

Of course, if your child or grandchild isn’t into Minecraft, you could easily change the theme to their favorite obsession. All you need is a couple of boxes. Large cereal boxes are wide enough to hold binder paper. A small box that will hold cardboard tubes makes a great pen, pencil and marker container. You’ll also need some spray paint and Duck tape to hold everything together.

Note: I chose to paint the boxes but I got the idea from Aunt Peaches who covered the boxes with tape alone.

I originally planned to paint the boxes with camouflage, especially since I found matching Duck tape.

There may or may not have been a Happy Dance in the Walmart aisles that day.

However, upon googling Minecraft icons, I saw that the main guy, Creeper, is a bright kelly green.

And that, my friends, is the extent of my Minecraft knowledge right there.

I cut the box tops off which left rough edges so I folded the Duck tape over each one.

The fact that the camo tape doesn’t match the kelly green boxes is troublesome . . . to Gramma. I’m betting Santino will have absolutely no problem with the lack of color coordination.

Now, this thing is an ORGANIZER and the object is to help keep him ORGANIZED, therefore I wanted all of the boxes to stay together.

I dunno about you, but me and Duck tape . . . well, we don’t have the best relationship in the craft world.

Ah, but painter’s tape? We get along just fine so I used the easy-going blue stuff to anchor the boxes . . .

Then put the unwieldy, sticky stuff over the top of his small space in your office.

If you don’t have such relationship issues, go ahead and forgo the painter’s tape. *shudder*

For Creeper’s face I used these labels I picked up at the dollar store a while back. You know, those I-have-no-idea-what-I’ll-do-with-this-but-I-gotta-have-it dollar store items.

If your DS doesn’t have them, a black permanent marker would work fine too.

I marked the squares on the back of the labels then cut them out.

To make Creeper’s face you basically need 3 squares of the same size and one rectangle.

I placed the ‘nose’ first, then each ‘eye’, and finally the mouth after I notched the bottom.

(I started making a diagram a few minutes ago but then I realized that I didn’t make the face exactly right. Do you think he’ll notice? Maybe. He’s a sharp kid. But I’m hoping he’ll still love it anyway.)

I found some magnetic memo holders in the back-to-school section at Walmart in assorted colors. So I just painted them the same green and marked the face with a fine tip marker.

I also grabbed a green pencil holder and cut smaller labels for the face.

Now . . . will this desk organizer all of a sudden change his behavior at school? I doubt it. (I raised 3 boys, remember?) But it might help. Who knows?

At the very least, he’ll have a daily reminder when he sits down to do his homework that his gramma loves him beyond compare.

And for that, I’ll wrestle with Duck tape any ol’ day.

Colleen

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