My Chaotic Joy: DIY File Folders

I was inspired by the January 2012 issue of Better Homes & Gardens magazine to get some really pretty folders, ones with great design that inspires and not plain old manila. The caption of the folders photo in the article referred me to The Container Store's website. I headed on over, and saw that a set of three folders was $5.99. Plus shipping.

Now some of you are saying, Hey, six bucks. That's not bad.

But I think, Hey, six bucks. That's a whole meal at suppertime for my family most days.

I had a few untouched pages of pretty 12x12 cardstock left from a card project a while back. And that got me thinking I could do my own folders on the really cheap, for about 20 CENTS each.

And yes, I know they don't look exactly like the store-bought ones. But I like them, and they're really cheap. Here's how I did it.

I did a set of three folders. For three folders, you need six pages, two of each design. Unless you want to mix it up and have a front and back design that's different. Up to you. The other necessities are tape (I used clear packing tape) and something to measure and cut with. If you don't have a paper cutter, a ruler and scissors work just fine. I also had scissors, not pictured because I forgot to put them in the photo.

Place the two pieces of cardstock design side out, so that the white side is in the inside and the print is showing on the outside pieces. Pull off a piece of tape longer than the paper. You can trim the excess off after you've carefully sealed the edge. I did not cut any length off the paper, as 12" is great for filing 11" papers.

On the opposite side of your tape seal, you will cut the folder so that it is 9" wide. This accomodates 8.5" papers nicely.

When cutting, you want to make sure that you allow for the tab, so don't cut all the way to the edge of the paper. Allow about three inches on the end for the first tab. Place a white sticky label (if you have one) on the paper left at the end, and then trim with scissors around it. Makes for a custom fit. I used the sticky labels as a guide for making the other two folders with staggered file tabs. You can kind of see the second folder (polka dot) behind the first folder. In the picture below, I've already taped the second folder at the bottom and lined up the bottoms of the two folders so that I know where to place the file tab.

After placing the label, I make the 9" wide cut up to the point just before the tab label, leaving a little edge. To finish off the label area, I use scissors to carefully trim around the label on both sides. The second and third tabs are a little trickier, since you have to cut the edge on both sides of the label. I think it's at this point that a pencil, ruler and scissors would work better than a paper cutter.

If you're really lucky, you'll have an extra special (supervised) helper using the paper cutter when you don't want him to, and generally causing chaos.