Water Bottles

Last summer for my oldest son's birthday party we had a little camping theme. I found these water bottles to use as party favors at the dollar store and of course had to label them. After the party when we still had these water bottles lying around for my boys I realized that it really was quite handy to have them labeled  and here's why:

See, my kids have a tendancy to pull a new cup out of the cupboard each time they need a drink and I found myself washing so many extra dishes because of this (especiallly in the summer time when they are all home more) and so I picked up a couple of pink ones for my girls,  added their names  to them and found that it has been a GREAT solution to minimizing the cup usage in our house. The kids can easily see which water bottle is their's and just use the same water bottle all day long. And the greatest thing is, I've run those suckers through the dishwasher multiple times and the names have all stayed intact.

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Pardon Our Dust...

while we make some exciting new changes to the look and functionality of this blog.

Thanks to some exposure on Pinterest, and a large boost in business,  I've been encouraged to get a bit more serious about all this vinyl business.

Part of this change will occur on this blog.

But the main change will occur on my new site and company, www.organizeables.com set to launch March 2012.
I'm combining a real passion of mine (a never ending quest to be more organized) and my vinyl all into one happy little company.

We have been working HARD over here getting ready for the launch, so please be sure to keep checking back for the latest updates.

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Tune In

For my first radio talk show:
http://www.wbcl.org/

I'm super excited!

And it all starts tomorrow at 10:10am EST

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Pantry Organization Update

I first blogged about my pantry bins about three years ago.

Since then I have added to my collection and thought I'd update the pictures here as well.

I know it might sound silly to think that looking in my pantry makes me happy, well really giddy on a frequent basis (I'm strange I know).

But it seriously does! 

It is one of the few places in my house that almost always stays cleaned. 

And it is one place that I have prized being organized in because it is something I use EVERY SINGLE day! 

Now I didn't just alphabetize these bins for the picture or for your viewing pleasure (although they are wonderful to look at, don't you agree?).

This is really how they stay in my pantry.

Ask any one of my kids.

There is a method to my madness, hang with me.

See, when I first did the tubs, I found I was constantly looking for which tub I needed because when the tubs were pulled from the pantry and then put away, they never landed in the same spot. 

Drove me crazy.

And so, I alphabetized--quite a simple solution!

Now, I (and more importantly my kids) always know where to

1. Find the tub

2. Return the tub.

Trust me. If there is anything you purchase from me--I would most highly recommend these labels.

And as a side note (for those interested) I purchased the tubs at none other than good old Wal-Mart  (Mainstays Cereal Dispensers) for around $4 a piece. (which again, was why it took me a couple of years to build my collection) a good price in my estimation and well worth every penny spent.

Now as I mentioned in a previous post, a few weeks ago we did some re-building in my pantry to make utilize my vertical space. 

Which also meant I needed to make a trip to Ikea for a few different shaped tubs.

I found these for under $2 a piece (well the cereal ones I found at Costco for $10 for the pack of 3) and I love how they complement the rest of my pantry.

I prefer see-through tubs and was so excited when I found these ones.

Happy Organizing!

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Hair Accessory Storage

Taking a break from vinyl here...

just wanted to share how I keep all those bows organized for my three cute Girlies.

Yes, I know I have entirely way to many, but did I mention I have three girls?? 

I also know that I didn't think of the idea (I saw the idea originally one some hair site).

But I still wanted to share how it works for me.

Hopefully it gives all you moms of girls some ideas to make it work for you too!

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BULK STORAGE

I have a large family. Which I absolutely love and purposely planned :) And part of having a large family means that we go through a LOT of food.

Now, back in the day, I could get away with just keeping my two small pantry sized flour and sugar tubs right in my pantry for easy access--I rarely had to refill them. However, now we fly through that stuff much quicker--and I've found that I have to refill them much more frequently then I once did. 

Now I've always had these bigger buckets that I use to store some food and grains for a rainy day. But do to lack of storage in my house I had to keep them stored in one of my kids closets and each time one of my smaller tubs ran out, I had to trek upstairs, pull out the tubs re-fill the smaller tubs, and then put everything back into place--big huge pain! 

So a couple of weekends ago, I took it upon myself to re-vamp my whole pantry to make for some easier storage. Now I don't have a super small pantry--you can walk in it--but I wouldn't call it exactly large either. But in order to optimize the vertical space in it, I had my hubby remove the bottom shelf and re-hang it above the tallest shelf (wish I had a picture to show). I can not believe how much larger my pantry seems now! I FINALLY have room to keep some of my bulkier tubs at the bottom which makes it much, much, easier to re-stock my smaller tubs. And still have all the same shelving space.

I so wish I had done that 4 years ago when we first moved here.

Lesson learned.

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Lunches Made Easy!

As I've mentioned before, I have 5 kids. Three of whom are currently in school. I have tried about every method I can think of to make packing lunches for them less of a chore for me (anything to simplify right?) and this is the system that has worked the best for us. And so, I share :)

First of all, if I haven't mentioned it before I am obsessed with these pocket organizers. Obsessed!

They are so perfect for organizing so many other items (in addition to shoes). And if you're short on closet space, as I am, then it's a great solution!

Anyways, back to the lunches...this is how our system works:

Sunday night either the hubby or myself makes a few sandwiches (enough to get through mid-week so they stay fresh) and stores them in this awesome cupcake holder that I picked up at Wal-Mart for about $4 years ago.

It stores great in the fridge!

Then, if you look closely at the picture, you can see that I have designated 3 rows to each of my school aged children and of course labeled them with vinyl for the corresponding days of the week (T-F). I didn't label Monday because Monday's lunch goes straight into the lunch box and into the fridge Sunday night.

On Sunday, (well--that is at least the day it's supposed to happen) the idea is to then stuff each pocket with snacks and drinks. It changes from week to week, usually just whatever I have on hand.

Then, small zip-lock bags are packed with fresh fruit/veggies and stored in my fruit keeper in my fridge.

Now the hubby and myself are done until at least mid-week when sandwiches need to be replenished.

The kids know to grab a sandwich, stuff from their pouch, and a fruit/veggie each day for lunch.

Makes for MUCH easier mornings---that is when we stick to it ;)

Now a few things (just to keep it real here) to note are that yes, my two year old has recently discovered how to reach those snacks and I often find her getting into them...something I'm working on.

And two...if I were to label it again...I would probably just color code each row for the kids, rather than label each day of the week.

Overall though--I love this system and would love to hear about your ideas on what works for you!

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Laundry Ideas

Labels for everything Laundry!

I especially love the labels on the sorting bins. Makes it easy (in theory ;)) for the clothes to be pre-sorted before the wash.

And, of course, some fun wall-art!

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