Have you ever heard of a milestone tote? I hadn’t either until I saw it given as a baby shower gift and I knew I had to figure out how to put one together for my own girls!
Why do you need a milestone tote?
Very quickly into my parenthood journey, I learned that I needed some sort of system for keeping all of the cards, keepsakes, crafts, certificates, health records, and everything else organized!
My solution was creating a milestone tote. A milestone tote is a helpful place to store all of the childhood memories and keepsakes. It will save you time and keep things organized.
This post will show you how to make a milestone tote that can be used to keep your child’s memories and keepsakes organized! Plus, it’s also relatively inexpensive to create!
You can even save time and money by doing this project with a friend or making milestone totes for multiple kids at once.
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Supplies Needed to Create a Milestone Tote
First, you will want to gather or order the supplies you need to put together a milestone tote. It is worth investing in quality items so that this tote will last forever!
Tote Box or File Folder Box
First, you will need a file folder box. This is the most important part and it’s worth investing in a quality box since this tote will be used for many years to come! I bought this one and it works perfectly and it comes with a lid!
Child’s Name or Monogram
You will want to personalize the box for your child. There are many different ways to do this! I used my Cricut machine and some vinyl to cut out my child’s monogram.
If you don’t have a machine that can do this, just order a custom name sticker from Etsy. Many are only a few dollars and can be completely customized with your child’s favorite colors, etc.
File Folders
Next, you will need folders to go inside your milestone tote. I ordered letter-size hanging file folders to fit my tote box. There are so many different cute file folder options out there to choose from!
I ordered some basic ones in pink and grey to use. They also came with the tabs which was a bonus!
File Folder Tabs
If your file folders did not come with tabs, you will need to order those! Be sure to double-check that they will fit the size of your folders! Most tabs will come with labels to slide inside!
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How to Make a Milestone Tote
Let’s do it! Now, that you have all of your supplies it’s time to put together your milestone tote.
Create Your Milestone Tote Labels.
First, you need to decide what labels you want your folders to have. These are the labels that I chose:
- Health Records
- Documents
- Cards & Letters
- Baby
- Toddler
- Preschool
- Kindergarten
- First Grade
- Second Grade
- Third Grade
- Fourth Grade
- Fifth Grade
- Junior High
- High School
- College
There is no right or wrong way to do this! Just think about how you’ll use this box for years to come and what items are worth keeping! It’s totally up to you!
You can print the labels from your computer on hanging file folder labels and slide them straight into the tabs or just handwrite them.
Put the labeled folders into the milestone.
After you have decided on a labeling system, put the labeled folders inside the tote box. Be sure to put them in the correct order.
Add your child’s name.
Add your child’s name or monogram to the front of the box where it can easily be seen. Chances are this box will be stored on the shelf of a closet, so you want it to be clearly labeled.
Start sorting.
Congratulations! Your system is now in place and you are ready to start adding items to the folders. Here are a few of the items that may be added to your milestone tote:
What to Put in a Milestone Tote
- Cards and notes from family and friends
- Birthday cards and letters
- Special craft projects
- Meaningful school assignments
- Report cards
- Class and school pictures
- Printouts from doctor appointments
- Notes from teachers
- Certificates for extracurricular activities
- Newspaper articles
- Souvenirs or maps from family trips or vacations
Please note, I don’t recommend keeping important documents like birth certificates and social security cards in this box. Those items should be stored in a safe or another secure place.
Other Keepsake Items
If you order the same tote box that I did, you’ll have plenty of room to include other special or keepsake items in the box too. I also use this box to store each child’s baby book, their first birthday book and any special clothing items I want to keep.
Other Organization Ideas
Love to organize? Check out these other posts to help keep your child’s things tidy:
Best Barbie Organization and Storage Ideas for Kids
Share with a Friend
Know a friend who would love to learn how to make a milestone tote? Please share this post with them or you can use the image below to pin to Pinterest! Thanks so much! You can also shop all of the needed items to create a diy milestone tote box in the LikeToKnow.It App!
Now that you know how to make a milestone tote, I would love to see your finished project!