Container Organization

Please welcome my guest, Rebecca from D and R Tabb, to the blog today.  Rebecca is talking about my favorite subject, containers of course!  Talking about containers never gets old to me, especially inexpensive ones.  They are the best!  And they make me deliriously happy too :)

Containers bring me inner peace.

If I had not been a toddler in the 80s, I would probably have sold Tupperware.  Things have a way of growing legs and spreading all over your house. From the shoes you kick off at the door, to the bag of groceries you bring in from the car, to (my personal unfavorite) the junk mail that multiplies no matter what you do.

Here are a few of the containers that I have bought or re-purposed that make my Type A self say, “Ahhh…” when I see them in action.

Since I have long, skinny drawers in my bathroom, these white baskets keep things corralled. I can’t fit a third organizer in the back so a few items are roaming free back there. Although it may not be a perfect fit for everything I need, I saved money by using containers I already had.

My new favorite way to organize bobby pins. This is an old first aid travel kit that is a little bigger than an altoids tin (which also makes good container for bobby pins).

I threw away several old spices during my 7 Days of 7 Throw Aways week and I re-purposed this one to hold toothpicks.

This basket was just sitting in a closet and I now use it to house bathroom essentials we keep on the counter.  I really don’t like clearing off the sink to clean it every week. So this basket is amazing because it holds a lot, is nice and sturdy, and I can just pick up the basket and move it when it’s time to clean.

An old container for sprinkles holds our headphones.

This red table in our entryway serves as a place to keep shoes, keys, papers, and mail until it is sorted and filed.

What containers in your house can be re-purposed to make your life easier?

Rebecca is a former educator turned stay-at-home mom (for now). She loves exercising, reading, and blogging about her adventures as a wife and new mom at D and R Tabb.

 

 

Shoe Tree Organization

So I bought a new friend, a lovely new shoe tree friend.  She was only $20 in a discount store (Fields for those of you in Canada) so I just couldn’t pass her up.  These go for a lot more in specialty organizing shops for sure.  Besides she called my name when I walked by and I could tell she was lonely.

I originally thought I’d put her in my bedroom closet for my dress shoes because there wasn’t any room in my entryway closet.  However I’d really rather have all my most frequently worn shoes in the entryway closet as that’s where I need them as I’m walking out the door.  It just makes sense.

I forgot to take a before picture of the entry closet before I got started but here is an old picture.  However see those empty shelves on the tall white shelf?  Well just imagine them stuffed full of shoes instead because that’s what ended up happening.  With 5 people in the house and a daughter that now wears the same size shoe as I do, shoes were everywhere.

The shoes were piled up on top of one another and it wasn’t ideal because shoes would get pretty dirty that way.  So I removed the white storage unit (I haven’t quite figured out what to do with it next) and added my brand new shoe tree instead.

Better right?  We also did some shoe purging as well which definitely helped :)  I’m using the shoe tree to hold mostly mine and my daughter’s dressier shoes for now.  I love that it spins around for easy access!!

Unfortunately there’s a kicker though.  This shoe tree is supposed to hold six pairs of shoes per ring for a total of 18 shoes all together.  However I found I couldn’t fit all the shoes side by side without them bunching up and overlapping one another.  So I had to leave a space between each pair which meant I could only get four pairs of shoes per ring for a total of 12 pairs of shoes.  Still a decent amount in a small space though so I am happy with it so far.  If you were storing all small kid’s shoes on it you could definitely use all the spaces I’m sure and store more.

You’ll notice that we also store shoes in different ways on either side of the shoe tree.  We have the shelves on the left which hold quite a few and then my shoe organizer that hangs from the bar on the right.  Whew, 5 people generate a lot of shoes!

Do you use a shoe tree in your house?  What do you think of it?

What’s in Store? The Piece Pouch on sale now!

I’m very excited about this week’s product in my shop.  It’s a set of 4 Piece Pouches on sale right now for $21.00 (plus right now you can get sitewide free shipping…bonus!).  If you’ve never heard of the Piece Pouch it’s a fantastic line of organizing bags that can be used for all sorts of organizational fun.

These bags feature a clear, see-through front in a 12 gauge poly-vinyl that is sturdy yet flexible and easily wiped clean.  The back is made with 100% woven polyester with a polyurethane covering that resists dirt, wear and tear.  The hook and eye closure keeps items secure.  They are available in two sizes, small and large and the uses for this product are limitless.  Anywhere you have a “collection” of things in your home that you would like to contain to keep them organized in one place, these bags would be perfect for.  Also fantastic for traveling.

I use the small size to hold my son’s books in our vehicle so they don’t get wrecked and stepped on.  They can be used for snacks, games, toys, crafts and the list just goes on and on and on.  In addition, the expanding sides means you can fit in even more!  Having everything in one place not only keeps items protected but it also means you won’t waste time searching for what you need.  For instance these bags are ideal for keeping “projects in progress” organized and how nice would it be to have everything you need to complete the project all in one place.  Grab and go!

In fact you could even use one of the large ones to create a babysitter bag for your teenager like I did.  You will not be disappointed with the durability and versatility of this product.

For more information and to buy now click here.

Happy organizing!

PS:  Unfortunately Opensky only ships to US addresses at this time :(

Menu Plan Monday ~ May 7/12

Hi everyone!  First I want to apologize if you experience difficulties trying to access my site on Mondays.  Due to the higher traffic Bluehost puts me on the naughty list for awhile.  I need to move to a dedicated server or something like it but the idea of all the technology knowledge that task might entail totally freaks me out and I’m having trouble getting the help I need.  Hopefully it’ll all get figured out soon and in the meantime I thank you for your patience.

So last week my husband loved the Slow Cooker Honey Ribs.  This was a real treat for him because I don’t cook ribs up very often.  Talk about easy to make though.  Throw them in to the slow cooker and cover them with the sauce.  Walk away for 4-5 hours.

and dinner is served:

I also made some yummy muffins this weekend.  I got the recipe from my friend Angie over at Echoes of Laughter.  They are 6 Week Bran Muffins with Chia Seeds.  You can keep the batter in the fridge for up to six weeks if you want but I just cooked them up all at once (makes 4 dozen) and then freeze them already made.  I just find that to be easier.  Also I used coconut oil in place of the shortening which could be why mine look so different from Angie’s.  Or it could be because I really messed something up…TOTALLY possible!  :) Thankfully they still tasted delicious!

Last week I asked you “what is one thing you do to ensure menu planning success week after week?” and I loved all the answers.  Here are some of them below and some I’ll save to post next week to hopefully continue to inspire you! :)

The only way I’m successful planning is if I look at the family calendar before I start planning. Then I know which nights someones not home, when we need a quick dinner, etc…. @ Jeri

I try to think about our schedules, the types of food that we like to eat during the season it is (very little heavy meals in the summer, etc) and have a bunch of go-to’s for when whatever reason I need something really fast & easy instead of the planned meals or we eat out way too much.  @ Divas Cuisine

We ensure menu planning success by having a rythym to our meals. I have a lot of simple, frugal, healthy staples our family really enjoys, and I make only 1-2 new meals each week to keep things fresh. @ The Cheapskate Cook

I make sure it’s meals that I have most of the staples for and I also make sure to take the time to plan it before my shopping day. I also consider that by the end of the week I’m more tired so I need easy meals and plan my complex meals early in the week. @ The Life of Us

My number one tip about successful meal planning is to be realistic. Plan for busy days, and don’t try to fit in all new recipes, or a bunch of fancy meals. Know what is going to work for your family’s tastes and time constraints. Because more than likely if it’s too much, then you’ll give up. @ Serving Joyfully

One thing that I always have to remember when menu planning is to be flexible. Just because we say “Pizza Night” is Friday, the world is not going to crash down if something comes up. @ Behind the [Kate] Ball

I plan each week with what I already have in the house- that’s the key to keeping the food budget down and reducing waste. So each week I’m shopping for staples and the sales that will be fore the following week. @ An Oregon Cottage

Have a great week everyone!!

My Weekly Menu:

Monday:  Ham and Cheese Quiche

Tuesday:  Pizza Grilled Cheese

Wednesday:  Coca Cola BBQ Roast Beef (in slow cooker) served with rice and broccoli

Thursday:  Leftover buffet

Friday:  Creamy Caesar Chicken Pasta Bake (so excited to try this one!)

Saturday:  Oven Tacos

Sunday:  YOYO (you’re on your own!)

WHAT’S ON YOUR MENU THIS WEEK?  JOIN US!

Menu Plan Guidelines, banner selections and recipe helpers are here.

More family favorite recipes here.

One of my favorite menu planning resources:

 

The Great Garage Clean Out Challenge ~ Week One!

So who’s ready to organize their garage???  In case you might have missed it, check out what The Great Garage Challenge is all about here and then come on back to join us.  At the end of today’s post you’ll find a linky so you can link up to your post showing us the before pictures of your garage space or even your shed if you don’t have a garage.  Then for the next two Fridays you can come on back to link up your progress with the final link up taking place on June 1st.

So I’m going to start this post by admitting that the idea of organizing the garage really doesn’t get me fire up at all.  Ugh…it’s so painful don’t you think?  I guess it’s because it’s usually heavy dirty work and I have to manhandle things I know nothing about it…like tools and bits and parts and bolts.  Blah, blah, blah.  I don’t really care what it does, I just want it put away.  I also can’t go great guns on the garage like I would like to because well it’s not my space.  It’s my husband’s space with my husband’s stuff.  Lots and lots of stuff.  Out of respect for him though, I can’t just throw it all away and call it a day.  Oh no, I have to go slowly bit by bit so as not to stress him out which eventually stresses me out.  How many of you can relate to any of this?  Thankfully my hubby isn’t totally resisting the idea and even took a whole truck load of stuff to the dump earlier today, woot woot!  We’ll take another load tomorrow and that in itself will make a huge difference.

So we are going to go through the great garage clean out following my handy dandy PROCESS steps.  Today’s steps involve Plan & Remove.

Planning:

This step involves taking a moment to evaluate our present system to decide what it is that is currently working and what isn’t.  This is valuable information so we don’t end up wasting time doing busy work trying to fix what doesn’t need fixing.  We need to review the challenges of the project, including budget, and how we might work around each of them.  We need to think about how we use the space and plan it out accordingly.  Don’t skip this step.  Sit back and take a look around.  What do you see?  What do you want to change?  How are you going to make it happen?

Here are some more specific planning questions to use:

1. What do I want the purpose of my room or area to be?
2. What do I need in or near the room to serve that purpose?
3. What can I remove from the room?
4. What problems do I see with the room?
5. What organizational tools might solve those problems?
6. What habits need to change to solve the organizational problems?
7. What kind of a budget do I have to create the organized room of my dreams?
8. What kind of a timeline is necessary to organize the room?
9. What is my plan of action?
10. Who can I ask to help me with this?

Think, think, think.

Try not to fall asleep.

Or get too comfortable.

Try and stay focused people!

Remove:

This one is an often ignored step.  I always highly recommend removing everything from a space in order to start from a clean slate and to make the sort process easier.  It’s much more effective than shuffling everything around.  However sometimes when we are tackling large spaces with limited time this isn’t always practical.  As you know I am working with Sharon from Mom of 6 to help her with this challenge and this is the question she had for me today:

It will literally take us an entire month of finding a couple of hours here and a couple of hours there to get this project completed.  Any advice for me on this? Does it work just as well if I divide my garage into sections and empty a corner at a time and work on just one area first? Or should I start by trying to just get items out of my entire space that I know we won’t be keeping and call for some donation pick ups first?  The one thing that we did do was to move all of the bikes out of the garage and a few other things too….but it has already rained on them for several days in a row now-which is not ideal!

No, having your stuff sit around outside for long periods of time isn’t a great idea.

Absolutely if you know there are things you definitely don’t want or need any longer do get rid of those things first.  This will help you free up some space to work.  That’s why I “suggested” to my husband that he do a dump run first thing.  This removed some bigger pieces that were taking up space making it easier to get around and easier to access the things that are important to keep.

When time is an issue or indoor space with which to spread out is limited than yes certainly working in small sections is better than nothing for sure.  Try to clear yourself a sorting space if you can as that will give you somewhere to work.

Be sure to go over and check out Sharon’s post this week to see the plans she has for her space.

If you have a garage that could use a bit of an overhaul, considering linking up with us below.  We’d love to have you join us, let’s do this thing!  What are the challenges you are facing?