The more I work on this blog, the more I realize that I might, in fact, be a tiny bit of a challenge to live with.  True story.  I’m the queen of “unfinished projects, but let’s start something new anyway”.  I have lots of piles all over the house.  Things I’m working on… Things I’m gonna work on…  Things I’ll never work on, but haven’t gotten rid of yet… and I’m fairly content in ALL of the chaos.

And because I am married to a man who approaches life in a completely opposite way, I am continually impressed, overwhelmed and blessed by the depth of Tyson’s grace for me. He is neat and orderly and likes to see things thru to completion before starting something new.  He loves me despite my crazy and that just makes me want to work harder to clean up my act.

Don’t get me wrong, when you visit our home, you’re not walking into an episode of “Hoarders”.  But my ability to have things more organized in our home, has LOADS of room for improvement.

Case in point… when I left abruptly last month to visit my mom, my man was surrounded with loose ends to take care of and me trying to navigate him through it all from 1200 miles away.  At one point, he was just trying to find a pen in the workroom and me knowing which unmarked box that I store them in just seemed so clearly inefficient.

Sure, he could’ve just searched in the different boxes, but there comes a point where you’d like to grab a pen and get back to the greater task at hand.

So it’s time to get some things labeled.

Look who learned to play with FOTOR this week.  Thanks Gilit!

I decided wood stained, chalkboard tags would be perfect since I’m loving both right now and they would be easy to relabel down the road.

Tyson cut me 4″ wood pieces to stain with Minwax in Dark Walnut.  I also found and wanted to try out these Chalkboard Labels by Martha Stewart and a Chalk Marker to write with.

I was curious how these products would compare with standard chalkboard paint and chalk.

The chalkboard labels are a nice alternative to working with chalk paint.  They are easy to use and gave me a crisp, clean edge that I’m always hoping I’ll get with paint.  I didn’t try out actual chalk on these labels and I want to soon.

While the stain dried on the wood pieces, I cut the labels to the size I needed and wrote out the names for each box.

The pen worked really well on the label, but it definitely doesn’t behave like chalk.  Once it’s applied, it’s not wiping off.  That’s fine for this project, but noteworthy if you are expecting your chalk marker to work like chalk.

I added the labels to the stained wood and then attached velcro to both the tag and the fabric box.  This will give me flexibility to adjust the tag placement and move them around if necessary.

We went with a neutral color palette in the workroom and the labels fit in nicely.

Hopefully, anyone can now come in and easily find glue, tape, pens, or stuff to take notes with.  Tyson isn’t a crafty guy, so he probably won’t be looking in the first box, but if he’s looking for something tiny and random, it just might be in there.  Gotta keep the guy guessing on some things, right?!

Have you tried out chalkboard labels or chalk markers?  Is labeling things and organization second nature to you? Have you realized that the way you do things might not always be the easiest way for those around you?  It’s definitely enlightening.

PS.  For those that are curious, this is not a sponsored review.  I’m just sharing what I discovered with these products in our home.

Also, this post is being linked to Thrifty Decor Chick.  For more on the party check it out here.