I want to introduce you to one of my favorite things:
A SHOE ORGANIZER
Shoe organizers, the kind that have pockets and hang from your closet door, are fantastic! They can certainly be used for pairs of shoes...but around our house, they are used for so much more!
I should almost be a little embarrased to admit how many of these I have in my house, but I have one in every single closet in my house (except one)! Let me tell you the uses I have put these amazing shoe organizers to. Granted, as my life has changed, I have done re-organizing and changing here and there, but I'll give you a few ideas. *Note: there are different sizes you can find, so some have more pockets than others! The above pictures are some pictures of how my mom uses hers. She labels all of her pockets so you can see where to put things. Hers includes seasoning packets, jello, soup mixes, drink mixes, dip mixes, and any other types of things that don't have a home.
1. My Boys Room: I have stored things (depending on my needs at the time) such as socks, shoes, slippers, swimsuits, lotions/creams, pacifiers, nail clippers, brushes, combs, blankets, crib sheets (I roll them up and stick one or two sheets in a pocket), disposable diaper bags, burp rags, hats, bibs, gloves, extra bottles, toys, onsies, medicines (my older son can climb onto the bathroom counter, and can open the medicine cabinet. He cannot get to the top pockets of the organizer, also if I don't want him to know that the medicines are in there, I line the pocket with a paper or cloth so that he cannot tell what is in the pocket), play dough, etc.
2. My bedroom/Bathroom: burp rags (I like to have some in my room too, since my baby is still pretty small), shoes, t-shirts, socks, underwear, etc. If it is in my bathroom: make-up, hair-spray, gel, any other hair products, brushes, combs, my flat-iron, blow dryer, lotions, face-wash, moisturizer, curling irons, hair ties, headbands, washcloths, hand towels.
3. My Living Room: Shoes, socks, gloves, hats, bubbles, umbrellas, sidewalk chalk, slippers, toys, bike air-pump, hats, my work-badge and stethoscope and scissors (I'm a nurse), blow-up pool items (floaties, balls, etc), small blankets to toss over my baby's car seat.
4. My kitchen. I have multiple ones in my kitchen, so I will give you a few ideas.
a. Baby bottles, bottle liners (if you use those type of bottles), bottle brush, baby food, bibs, pacifiers, baby spoons, sippy cups, baby treats (like the puffs, individual baggies of cheerios, biter buscuits, etc), individual little bottles of juice and/or water.
b. SNACKS. I have one entire organizer designated for snack items. I rotate things through, I just can't stand having all the little individual bags of stuff, or granola bars always laying around. But in the box, they take up so much room in the cupboards. So, I keep things like: granola bars, raisins, 100-calorie pack snacks (or make your own individual baggies of cookies or crackers...saves money!!), anything that comes individually packaged (personal bags of chips, goldfish crackers, marshmallows, granola bites, etc), trail mix, nuts, dried fruit, etc. I generally don't fill quite the entire thing with snacks, so I might also add other things. For example, right now I also have baby food in some pockets, and playdough in some pockets.
*If you don't want to buy individually packaged snacks, do it yourself! My two favorite things to use are baggies....and baby-food containers. I save and wash all the little plastic baby food containers I get. They are the PERFECT size for some nuts or trail mix, and are great to pack in your loved one's lunch!!
c. Other: (this is the one where I need my mom to upload her picture....her's looks much better than mine!) boxes of jello, boxes/packages of rice or noodles (like rice-a-roni or whatever), seasoning packets (taco seasoning, gravy mix, anything that comes in a little pouch/packet), nuts, coconut, empty baby-food containers, spices or seasonings, small bottles (liquid smoke, cooking spray, molasses, tobasco sauce, if you buy shortening in the cubes like butter).
A SHOE ORGANIZER
Shoe organizers, the kind that have pockets and hang from your closet door, are fantastic! They can certainly be used for pairs of shoes...but around our house, they are used for so much more!
I should almost be a little embarrased to admit how many of these I have in my house, but I have one in every single closet in my house (except one)! Let me tell you the uses I have put these amazing shoe organizers to. Granted, as my life has changed, I have done re-organizing and changing here and there, but I'll give you a few ideas. *Note: there are different sizes you can find, so some have more pockets than others! The above pictures are some pictures of how my mom uses hers. She labels all of her pockets so you can see where to put things. Hers includes seasoning packets, jello, soup mixes, drink mixes, dip mixes, and any other types of things that don't have a home.
1. My Boys Room: I have stored things (depending on my needs at the time) such as socks, shoes, slippers, swimsuits, lotions/creams, pacifiers, nail clippers, brushes, combs, blankets, crib sheets (I roll them up and stick one or two sheets in a pocket), disposable diaper bags, burp rags, hats, bibs, gloves, extra bottles, toys, onsies, medicines (my older son can climb onto the bathroom counter, and can open the medicine cabinet. He cannot get to the top pockets of the organizer, also if I don't want him to know that the medicines are in there, I line the pocket with a paper or cloth so that he cannot tell what is in the pocket), play dough, etc.
2. My bedroom/Bathroom: burp rags (I like to have some in my room too, since my baby is still pretty small), shoes, t-shirts, socks, underwear, etc. If it is in my bathroom: make-up, hair-spray, gel, any other hair products, brushes, combs, my flat-iron, blow dryer, lotions, face-wash, moisturizer, curling irons, hair ties, headbands, washcloths, hand towels.
3. My Living Room: Shoes, socks, gloves, hats, bubbles, umbrellas, sidewalk chalk, slippers, toys, bike air-pump, hats, my work-badge and stethoscope and scissors (I'm a nurse), blow-up pool items (floaties, balls, etc), small blankets to toss over my baby's car seat.
4. My kitchen. I have multiple ones in my kitchen, so I will give you a few ideas.
a. Baby bottles, bottle liners (if you use those type of bottles), bottle brush, baby food, bibs, pacifiers, baby spoons, sippy cups, baby treats (like the puffs, individual baggies of cheerios, biter buscuits, etc), individual little bottles of juice and/or water.
b. SNACKS. I have one entire organizer designated for snack items. I rotate things through, I just can't stand having all the little individual bags of stuff, or granola bars always laying around. But in the box, they take up so much room in the cupboards. So, I keep things like: granola bars, raisins, 100-calorie pack snacks (or make your own individual baggies of cookies or crackers...saves money!!), anything that comes individually packaged (personal bags of chips, goldfish crackers, marshmallows, granola bites, etc), trail mix, nuts, dried fruit, etc. I generally don't fill quite the entire thing with snacks, so I might also add other things. For example, right now I also have baby food in some pockets, and playdough in some pockets.
*If you don't want to buy individually packaged snacks, do it yourself! My two favorite things to use are baggies....and baby-food containers. I save and wash all the little plastic baby food containers I get. They are the PERFECT size for some nuts or trail mix, and are great to pack in your loved one's lunch!!
c. Other: (this is the one where I need my mom to upload her picture....her's looks much better than mine!) boxes of jello, boxes/packages of rice or noodles (like rice-a-roni or whatever), seasoning packets (taco seasoning, gravy mix, anything that comes in a little pouch/packet), nuts, coconut, empty baby-food containers, spices or seasonings, small bottles (liquid smoke, cooking spray, molasses, tobasco sauce, if you buy shortening in the cubes like butter).Now, you have to make sure that you get the clear plastic ones, so you can see what is in each pocket. My favorite place in the past has been to buy them at Rite-Aid. You can also find them at Walmart, Target, or anywhere like that. The last time I bought one at Target and Walmart it seems like they were about $7 or $8. If you are looking for a smaller one, for a narrow closet or for only a few things (the one in my bedroom that has only burp rags, and a few small things), you can find them at the dollar store! Just decide what you want to put in them, how many you need, and start organizing!! How easy is that?
