Recycling And Organization All In One

Not long ago I read some great advice on organizing your home. It said not to try to tackle everything at once, but to identify the trouble spots and deal with them one at a time.

I've been putting that advice to work, and my most recent little organization effort turned out great. One of my dresser drawers had become a repository for all of my necklaces, which I kept mostly in travel cases because I had no good way to store them. I couldn't find a jewelry holder I liked that fit my budget. Most of what I found were jewelry trees, which weren't tall enough to hold some of my longer necklaces, and wouldn't hold very many pieces.

So I made my own.

I started with this:

It's an old bulletin board that we no longer use. Nothing fancy about it.

To make my jewlery holder I spray painted the frame with some metallic paint I had left over from some previous project. Then I used spray adhesive to attach some scrap fabric to the cork. I finished the edges with some ribbon I had on hand, so there was no need to hem the fabric. Finally, I pushed cup hooks into the cork to hold all of my necklaces.

And here's the final product:

Pretty nifty, isn't it? It only took about 30 minutes to make. I have decided to add another row of hooks at the bottom of the board and move some of the longer necklaces down. The extra room will also mean I don't have to hang too many pieces on any one hook.

My only cost was the cup hooks. Now I've regained one of my dresser drawers and said goodbye to tangled necklaces!

Another alternative would be to wrap cork squares in fabric instead of using a bulletin board. I think I may make a few of those as part of a calendar organization center that will likely be my next project.

© Trippin' Mama 2010

"Hoarders" Here I Come

First let me say that I truly, truly appreciate all of the people who think of us when they have kids' clothes and toys that they are ready to pass along.

However, thanks to others' spring cleaning and generosity, my living room is ready to be featured on an episode of Hoarders. Seriously. My odds of getting crushed to death or losing small child in the clothes in my house have tripled in the past week.

I would show you pictures, but I'm too embarrassed. Or I can't find my camera. Your choice. This blog is a democracy after all.

(OK, it's not. A benevolent dictatorship, perhaps. Though if you all want to vote for something or prod me to do a particular post, feel free. I might just be feeling benevolent. *grin*)

Anyway, in between episodes of sick children I have been sorting through clothes and trying to organize them. I have given up on sorting by season AND size and just gone straight to size. When my guys outgrow what fits now I'll dig out the next size up and go from there. It's the fastest way to get a handle on this pile.

I could put the next size up in our closets, but after I recently sold clothes at the multiples sale, I used all of our extra closet space to hold all of the clothes I'll be selling in the fall and next spring. It all has to be on hangers, so I'm trying to save myself some time and effort down the road.

So, I've stored everything in my new favorite item: the Space Bag! Well, bags, in my case. But they take up way less room than storage totes and fit under beds, under the futon in the basement, on high closet shelves. Why they even make a nifty coffee table! (Kidding about that last one, but I've been tempted.)

I can stack several bags in the space one storage tote would take up. Plus, I can open them, empty them, fill them up with different sizes and use them over and over. Definitely worth the money.

I'm hoping that the fact that I own the Space Bags offsets the potential to be viewed as a hoarder. It does, right? Right?

If you don't hear from me for a couple of days, send help. Just tell them to look under the piles of clothes in my living room.

© Trippin' Mama 2010

Boy Boxes?

Hey, guys! Those are the new toy boxes...

Isaac, Sam and Alex ~ January 2010

I honestly did not pose the boys for this picture. They have always liked to climb into our toy boxes and baskets, and these are a lot bigger than our old ones, so they are even more fun. Basically it's like having a cardboard box to play with, and what kid doesn't like a cardboard box?

I bought these canvas totes at Lowe's last week and I love, love, love them. Clearly the boys do, too!

The totes are sturdy with metal frames inside and best of all, the canvas is attached by heavy duty Velcro, which means you can disassemble them and throw the canvas in the washing machine. Gotta love that feature.

At $9 apiece, they weren't exactly cheap, but well worth the price. I've seen similar totes elsewhere for $20, so I was happy to snag them for less than half that. I bought four thinking that if they survive playroom duty, someday they will make great bins for catching backpacks and school papers for all four kids.

© Trippin' Mama 2010

When It Rains, It Pours

The title of this post is not a reference to the weather, though it has been raining all day today. Nope, this post is about Murphy's Law.

First the oven went on the fritz. I don't know what happened. We ran the clean cycle, which worked great, but then it showed an error code and now the fan runs constantly because the oven "thinks" it's on, even though it's stone cold. We had a repairman out the other day, and the repair won't be too costly, but we need to wait two weeks for the part to come in. Shoot, we could have babies in two weeks! Ironically, the oven went out about the time I started getting a friend to organize volunteers to bring us meals post-babies' birthday. Don't worry, it will be fixed before we come home from the hospital!

Then this morning the credit card company called to check on some suspicious charges. I was quite confident that my husband had not spent $209 buying clothes online from American Eagle, nor more than $100 downloading music from Napster (though that was more likely) so I had to have them cancel the card and issue us new ones. I'm thrilled the credit card companies catch this kind of thing now, but not so thrilled to be sans the primary credit card we use for a week. Our credit cards are just a convenience for us, which is what makes it so inconvenient!

Finally, I went to my 10:30 a.m. eye doctor's appointment. When I waddled in the receptionist said, "Oh, are you Christy?" Followed by, "I meant to call you this morning. Your insurance carrier will only allow you one eye exam a year, and you aren't eligible for your annual exam until tomorrow. Sorry I miscounted."

Oh, no problem. It's not like I'm more than 7 months pregnant with triplets and getting around with all the grace of a crippled elephant.

Don't worry, I thought it rather than said it.

So, I'll be going back tomorrow. I'd prefer to go on a weekday since it won't be so crowded, but I don't think I'm in any position to be putting things off any longer than necessary.

On the plus side, it was a productive day in terms of sorting through the last of the craft things, cleaning out the china cabinet, and going through some high school and college memorabilia. I'm nesting vicariously through my mother. I sit and decide what stays and goes and she reorganizes and fills the Goodwill boxes. I think we're just down to the pictures now.

Speaking of pictures, I'm sure I should take photos of the neatly organized and labeled craft and sewing supplies, memorabilia boxes, children's clothes and kitchen cupboards. Things may never look this good again until the kids all leave home!

The Cavalry Has Arrived

My mom and dad arrived last evening, and we wasted no time today in starting to get things in order around here. Although I watched my mom go through everything in the kitchen and reorganize so we'll have room for 40 baby bottles, formula and other assorted baby items.

Dad and Jeff started to build the cabinets in the playroom so we can create some storage, a place for my sewing machine (wishful thinking, but a girl can dream), and some cupboards for the toys that are undoubtedly going to take over our world!

Closets are getting cleaned, baby clothes and crib sheets are getting washed and put away, and things are generally starting to come together. It's starting to feel like this place might be ready for babies sometime soon!