Get organized with nifty family file

It’s always a mystery in our house how sports notices, medical release forms, newsletters and party invitations seem to disappear just when someone needs them. This year, keep tabs on important papers with this easy-to-make family-notice catalog. You’ll be able to keep school and family notices sorted and in one place. Best of all, you’ll have the satisfaction of feeling organized.

Here’s what you’ll need:

•Cardboard tubing from gift wrap, cut 12 inches long.

•Colored, adhesive-backed paper

•9 1/2 -by-12-inch pocket folders (a different color for each person in the family)

•String or twine

•Masking tape

Cover the outside of the tube with the adhesive-backed paper. Help your child cut a length of string after you calculate the total length needed. It should measure 2 feet for each folder you use, plus 1 extra foot. For example, for four folders, you’ll need 8 feet of string (4 times 2), plus 1 extra foot, for a total of 9 feet.

Tape one end of the length of string to the inside edge of the tube. Wind the string lengthwise around the inside and outside of the tube, in one opening and out the other. Keep string taut as you go, leaving a 1/2 -inch space between lengths of string.

If the string gets stuck inside the tube, use a ruler to push it through.

When you reach the end of the string, tape it to the inside edge of the tube.

Let each family member pick a folder and write his or her name on the front, decorating it if desired. Add more folders for categories such as “community events,” “coupons” or “home-repair information.”

To attach folders to the tube, gently slip one folder at a time under a string and position in place so that the string lies along the folder’s crease. Now your catalog of folders can stand upright on the counter to make it easy for family members to slip their papers into the pockets.

Stuff paper into the tube, leaving the top 4 inches empty to create a convenient pencil holder.