Organizing extra tin foil, plastic bags, etc.

After a much-too-long hjiatus, I'm back. Sporadically. It will have to be enough! SO let's get back to it! :)

If you've been around for any length of time here on the blog, you know very well that I love to get a good deal. I shop sales, use coupons, stockpile (not in an extreme way though), yada yada yada. And one of the items I always seem to have an excess of are ziploc bags, tin foil and the like. In our kitchen, we have a drawer dedicated to these items and all of my essentials fit in there just fine. However, there isn't room for my non-essentials (i.e., parchment and wax paper) or for my excess items. So they would just get thrown onto the bottom shelf of our {invaluable} walk-in pantry like this...

Extra wraps and bags - what a mess!

Mind you, they were kinda working here in the sense that there was room for all these extras, but it was just always such a mess. And they would never stand up straight and it was just annoying and obnoxious. So I picked up the following at Walmart for less than $8...

I used the "wrap rack" and the "cabinet rack" from this set of 3 and hung them on one of the free walls in the pantry and... TA DA!



Organized boxes look so pretty!



It was such a quick, simple and inexpensive fix, but oh so wonderful! Now it not only looks so much better, it "works" better. Not to mention that I've now freed up some space on the shelf for something new! :)

Side note: this is the same rack set that I used for organizing my cleaning supplies in THIS POST. I really like how versatile it is!

How I store my sheets

How do you store your sheets? Do you fold each sheet individually and then put sets in piles? That is how I used to do it. And my closet looked like this...

Piles of sheets

Not necessarily terrible, but not the nicest looking pile either - don't you agree?

Then I discovered the "pillowcase method" (as I like to call it). Here is the dealio...

1 - Fold the flat and fitted sheets from your set as you normally would. {Wow, those are some wrinkly sheets! LOL} {Oh, and yes, they will stay that way - the 3 yr old doesn't care if her sheets are wrinkly} {Ok, you got me - the sheets on my bed look the same exact way} {Hello, my name is Kyra. I am a non-ironer of sheets}. {And clearly I don't even bother to get them out of the dryer and folded soon enough to prevent wrinkles. Such is my life. Sue me.} Ok, so anyway... fold each of your sheets however you like to fold them.

Lay out your folded {terribly wrinkly} sheets

2 - Take a pillowcase from the set and open it. Slide in your first folded sheet into the lower half of the pillowcase.

Slide the folded sheets into a pillowcase

3 - Slide in your second folded sheet on top of the first. Add any extra pillowcases.

Peek a Boo!

4 - All of your sheets should be in the lower half of the pillowcase. Fold over the top half of the case to create a nice little neat package.

Nice little package!

5 - Admire how much nicer your linen closet looks now!

Much neater now! I love organized sheets!

The nice thing about this method is that when you want to change the sheets on a bed, you just grab your nice little packet and carry it easily to your bed. No searching for missing pillowcases, no juggling of crazy fitted sheets that want to pop open when you look at them funny... just a nice organized packet of linens. :)

Niiiiice! :)

What do you think? Better, huh? How do you organize your linens? Do you use my "pillowcase" method? {'cause, after all, I invented it you know} {and you probably owe me some sort of commission or royalty or residual check if you do} {heehee - I think I need to get more sleep!} {maybe the wrinkles in my sheets are disrupting my sleep??} {OK, I'd better go schedule this post and get to bed!} 

{  :) }

This project was featured! Thank you! Please be sure to check out these amazing blogs (and their parties!)

Linking up to these aprties (also see linky tab above):

Not just a housewife
Someday Crafts
Organize and Decorate Everything
The Frugal Girls
While he was Napping
A Little Knick Knack
Truly Lovely

Polish the Stars
A Bowl Full of Lemons

This project has been submitted to The CSI Project: Organization Ideas Challenge

Hanging a Wire Rack for Cleaning Supplies {Improvisation}

Like most people, we keep a lot of cleaning supplies under our kitchen sink. Needless to say, our under-sink area is a little out of control. I don't know why we have so many different bottles of cleaner, but we do. {And, yes, THAT weeding out project is a task/post for another time}.

In the meantime, I really wanted to figure out a way to corral at least a few of those bottles - the ones I use the most - into a more easily accessible location. My first idea was to install one of those sliding basket thingies on one side. However, due to the configuration of the garbage disposal on one side and some pipes on the other, I am unable to make a sliding basket fit. GRRRRR.

See those low-hanging pipes in the way of a drawer? Sigh.
(and yes, I know... too many supplies - I need to weed)

Then I remembered seeing (somewhere out there in blogland - sorry, can't remember where) that someone installed a hanging rack of sorts on the inside of their pantry door. I think that blogger had placed things like aluminum foil and plastic wrap in theirs, but I figured that sort of rack would be a great idea for my bottle situation. So I ran out to Walmart (where, I admit, I rarely go because the closest one gets so RIDICULOUSLY crowded) and bought a pack of wire organizing wall racks thingies. (Sorry I forgot to take a photo of the package and label - bad blogger, I know). The packet included 3 wire racks of varying heights which could be attached with screws to a wall or door. I think it was less than $5, if memory serves.

When I got home I was so excited to get the rack hung and organize a few bottles of cleaner! Yay! Well, imagine my disappointment when I realized that the screws they provided were way to long for my thin cabinet door.

Yeah, these screws are NOT going to work.

I suppose I could have tried to find some shorter screws, but I really didn't think it would work either because the door itself is actually really thin (even thinner than the edge trim seen above). Not to mention, that the rack was actually a smidgen too wide for the way the trim fell on the inside of the door. (kinda hard to explain that part, but the rack wouldn't lay flush against the door for where the screws wanted to go)

So then I thought... how about HOOKS??? Yes!! I could HANG the rack! So I pulled out this pack of hooks I had bought to hang some calendars in the girls' rooms.

Command hooks originally bought to hang calendars in the kids' rooms.

I placed one hook at the edge of the trim on the inside of the cabinet and repeated on the other side.

The lips of the door trim originally posed a problem for hanging my rack - but not for these hooks!

Then I just hung up my rack! And, voila! If you look closely, you can see where the top outer edges of the rack are overlapping the lips of that trim in a way to prevent it from being able to screw in flush. But now with my hook improvisation, it is perfect!

Perfecto!

I am able to fit my 4 bottles of Shaklee Basic H in the rack (yes, I recently decided to give this stuff a shot after seeing so many bloggers rave about it - so far, so good). I love that the bottles are so convenient to get to now!

Nicely organized and easily accessible!

Hooks... who-da thunk it?

Not a bad improvisation, if I do say so myself! :)

Have you ever come up with some great work-arounds for an organization problem??

Linking up here:

Tidy Mom



Organizing the Kids - Toys Edition

**Be sure to enter my Clinton Kelly Giveaway HERE!!**

It's amazing how quickly toys can multiply. You buy one small set of Fisher Price Little People and the next thing you know, they've moved in their entire family, all of their friends and their weird cousin's traveling circus.  And when you're not looking, they travel... from one room to the next. Personally, I think the Matchbox cars are giving all the toys joy rides whenever us grownups turn our heads.

Or have you ever been walking casually across the living room only to suddenly be screaming out in mortal pain as Mr. Potato Head's eye stabs you in the foot? How about spraining your ankle on that plastic orange that just appeared on the floor out of nowhere? Or perhaps you've sat down on the wrong end of some miniature action figure from the latest Happy Meal? And don't get me started on the blocks... or the dishes... or the Barbies!

They're everywhere!!!

Well, with two young girls in our house, we are overwhelmed with toys. {Seriously, I don't know where they all come from!} So in a small effort to try and organize some of the chaos that is our playroom, I bought one of these when they were on sale at Target.

Closetmaid 8 Cube Organizer

Along with it, I bought 6 of these Fabric Drawers in different colors. 

Closetmaid Fabric Drawer

Now, any "normal" person probably would have left it at that and just ensured that the drawers were used. But, I'll admit it... I'm not "normal". I love to organize things. I reallllly love to organize things. Drives the Heela crazy. He's on the opposite end of the spectrum. For example, his filing system consists of something like this... "Oh here is an empty spot that I can shove this piece of paper in. There. Done. Oh is this the napkin drawer? Eh, that's ok." Drives me bonkers. But I digress...

Where was I? Oh yes, fabric cubes... In order to really make the storage system effective I figured the kids would need to know where the Little People or the blocks or the Barbies were. So I decided to label the cubes. But given that they were only 2 and 3-years old at the time, I knew that just using words wouldn't work. So I decided to add {pictures}!

I divided the toys into groups and then took photographs of each set.

Blocks

Purses and Dress-Up

Little People

Baby Doll Clothes

After printing out the photos, I encased them in those self-laminating sheets to ensure they wouldn't get all mucked up by grubby little toddler hands. Then I attached each photo to a cube using self-stick velcro. That way, I can change out the contents of the cubes as their toys change and just replace the photo.

Self-Stick Velcro enables easy change out of photos when necessary

Lastly, I used my label maker to add the title of each cube so they (maybe!) could learn the words too.

Added labels to help associate words with pictures

Now the kids can find what they want easily AND they can clean up effectively too since they know exactly where these toys are supposed to go!!

Other toys are housed in plastic bins to the left of the unit - also labeled!

For the record, if you decide to use a standing unit like this (or have any furniture in your house that is tall and narrow) and you have young children, please please please be sure to attach the unit to the wall. I will admit that we had a quite a scare one afternoon when Boogey tried to pull Noah's Ark off that top shelf and the whole unit toppled over!! Thankfully, she somehow avoided being hit (or worse, crushed!) but it scared the bejeezes out of her - and me! That very night Heela attached the unit to the wall with one of those special safety straps. Please take my advice and spend the 5 bucks - it is worth it!

The girls actually like being self-sufficient so this system works great for them. And I love the little victory of semi-cleanliness and organization!!

Wow! This post was highlighted by Laura at "I'm an Organizing Junkie"! Thank you!

This project has been submitted to The CSI Project: Organization Ideas Challenge

Linking this post to these parties (also see "Linky Parties" tab above):
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Organizing the Kids - Dishes edition

So with 2 kids who are only 15 months apart (who annoyingly need to eat 3 times a day!) (jk!) we have always had TONS of bottles, sippy cups, "big girl" cups, bowls, plates, spoons, forks, etc. etc. etc.  For those of you with kids, you know how quickly all of these plastic items can TAKE. OVER. YOUR. LIFE! 

We've always kept all of this stuff in a cabinet. And as much as I tried to keep it organized, it was always in this general state of disarray...

Bowls and (some) Plates by the stove

Cups, (more) plates, utensils and who knows what! over by the sink

WOW! That is just scary!!

(I'm so embarrassed!)

Not only was this "system" a mess, the fact that everything was up high meant that the girls couldn't be self-sufficient and get their own dishes ready for a meal. Obviously this hasn't been an issue for the past couple of years, but now that they are getting a little older (almost 4 and 2 1/2) I figured they should be able to get their own dishes and utensils. So I cleared out one of the drawers in our island and then headed to Target. (ok, ok, I didn't actually run out to Target that day - things just aren't that easy in our household! LOL But I was there a few days later for something else so I checked out the organization section at that time!).

I found these containers and knew they would be perfect! I think they're supposed to be used in a storage cube but knew they would be fine for me, just the way they were.

When I got home I put them in the drawer (which is really more like a sliding shelf since it is so shallow). NICE!!

The narrow one in front JUST fits which is actually kind of nice since the tight fit keeps it from moving which then keeps the bins in the back from shifting back and forth when you open and close the drawer.

(ok so I'll admit that the drawer stayed empty like this for about 3 days)  (*sigh*)

Then I finally moved everything the stuff they use the most out of the cabinets and down to the drawer. And.... TA-DAAA!



(Semi) Organized! Yay!



Now the girls can go to the drawer and get their own dishes. No more "I don't want THAT cup!" or "That is the wrong color spoon!" or "Why does SHE get the blue bowl?!?". Now they can help themselves to the color/style/shape they want and hopefully make everyone's life a little bit easier. 

Bwahahahaha! 

But it is worth a shot! ;-)

This project submitted to THE CSI Project Challenge: Organization

Linking up to these parties (also see their buttons at the "Linky Parties" Tab above):
Somewhat Simple
The SHabby Chic Cottage
Its so Very Cherry
A Little Knick Knack
Remodelaholic
Under the Table and Dreaming
Organize and Decorate Everything