Bradley’s favorite word is “shoe.” He says it over and over, many times a day. As soon as we patter down to the kitchen in the morning, sleep still in his eyes, he grabs two shoes and brings them to me. “Shoe,” he says. Sometimes they’re a matching pair, sometimes they’re adult shoes. The kid loves to go outside, and he loves his shoes.

We have been really fortunate that many friends have passed on their own toddler’s shoes. Most of the hand-me-downs that we have gotten have been in great shape, or are even brand new. Church consignment sales have also been a good source of shoes.

In fact, I have only purchased two pairs of toddler shoes so far. One was for a dress-up event at Pat’s work, and another was because we were traveling last fall and he started walking so well that he tore through his socks. That pair lasted approximately two weeks before the child threw one away. (Seriously?! That’s like putting $20 in the waste basket!) Another thing toddlers are interested in, apparently, is the trash can. I decided then that I would not spend a lot of money on this kid’s shoes. (At least not yet – I worked in middle school. Boys these days spend more money than girls on their designer tennis shoes!)

Organizing

Corralling his shoes has been another obstacle. (Who am I kidding. Keeping all of our shoes organized is a growing challenge.) We keep our most-used shoes by the door and don’t wear them while in the house. That pile explodes every other day and then I have to cart a bunch of shoes back to bedrooms. I know some people build shoe storage near their front entryway, but we don’t even have a coat closet, much less a place for storage. However, we are working on that and I hope to have an update there soon!

Bradley’s bedroom is very small, and the closet space is proportionately tiny. Currently, his shoes are stored underneath his dresser.

The “trays” that they are contained in are actually just two old inexpensive IKEA Ribba frames that were sitting unused in our basement. They still contain photographs I bought from a vendor at Eastern Market a long time ago.

All that I used for this “project” was 3 pieces of scrapbook paper and Mod Podge. I trimmed the edges to roughly fit the back, then glued on the paper.

I gave the paper a couple of top coats of decoupage for a little shine.

After it dried, I did need to trim the edges with an Exact-o knife in order for it to fit back in the frame.

And voila! A clever and crafty way to store baby shoes without breaking the budget.

How do you store kid shoes? Please share your tips! Also, what brands of shoes are you a big fan of these days? We have gotten super lucky with some second hand (new!) See Kai Run sandals and sneakers that Bradley loves. Anyone still mourning the closing of Stride Rite stores? Who is keeping their fingers crossed for a great sale at Gymboree (who is also closing a ton of stores)?