Inspired by the elegant showers hosted for us years ago, we have hosted countless showers ourselves. After years of accumulating decorations and supplies, our collection became overwhelming, especially after four of our five children got married! We decided to tackle the mess and organize for future church events.

Step 1: Gather and Sort

We brought all of our shower decor tubs from their various places (home, church closet, storage) to an empty classroom and sorted items into categories like table runners, votives, serving pieces, vases, centerpieces, etc.

Step 2: Create a Storage Space

We repurposed some unused shelves to create a designated storage area. Everything found a home in either a tub or on a shelf. Lastly, we assembled items like tiered trays that were difficult to see when stored in boxes.

Step 3: Inventory

We took photos of each item and created a detailed inventory in Google Drive accessible by both of us. Even our tablecloths! And yes, that did seem to take forever! We measured and labeled each tablecloth round/rectangle with the dimensions.

This project has been a long time in the works. And of course, we could kick ourselves for not taking a BEFORE photo. Not that the room was horrible but like many church workrooms, it can easily become a catch-all place for donated items, or items left scattered about after large events like VBS and things can get out of hand quickly. We wanted it to be more user-friendly and aesthetic when you walk in.

To encourage our students to independently verify their answers, we've implemented a simple system. Each worksheet has two stickers on the back: one for teacher inventory (topic/number) and another labeled "Answer Key #___."  A duplicate worksheet with the same labels is placed in a protective sleeve within an ANSWER KEY notebook, arranged numerically. This streamlined approach allows students to easily locate the corresponding answer key. As we expand our collection of worksheets, this system remains adaptable and efficient.