Have you even been greeted with a view like this?
If you have kids, this may be a familiar sight (actually, having it all contained in a tub could be a welcomed sight). In my case an organizing strategy I thought for sure would work was turning out to be more trouble than it was worth. In every organizing journey, there will be time you realize what you are doing is not working.
When you are faced with an organizing “solution” that just isn’t working for you, don’t panic! Take a moment to assess what the problem is.
Once you have a clear idea of the roadblock, you can begin looking for other options instead of remaining frustrated that things aren’t working. True the idea may have been a great one (or may have looked so pretty on your Pinterest pin board), but if it’s not meeting your needs, it’s worth it to find another solution that fits.
In this case, what wasn’t working was the rubber bands. We have a container for our games, but I was expecting rubber bands to securely contain the nice stacks of playing cards.
The problems:
- my girls are still too young (and alright sometimes too lazy) to make a nice stack of cards
- it takes too long to put the cards away- the easier it is to clean up the more likely it is to get done
- rubber bands are hard to work with for little hands
- the rubber bands always wind up breaking
When faced with an organizing challenge, my favorite strategy is to look around your home for an item you can repurpose. The perfect answer for me is a plain ol’ sandwich bag.
Reasons this solution may be a better choice:
- I already have them
- The kiddos can throw the cards right into the bag for quick clean up
- They are cheap and easily replaceable
Slap a mailing label on the plastic bag and you have a quick solution to tame unruly playing cards. You could craft up a label on your computer to print out and add a little pizzazz if you are so inspired.
In my case, a sharpie scribble is about all the time I want to spend on this tiny organizing project. Knowing and following your priorities can be a major breakthrough in time management.
You can also use left over plastic packaging. This one is from a gift collection of lip glosses and fits playing cards perfectly.
If you are a true game lover and plan to have your card games played generation after generation you could invest a little more time and effort into your game storage.
This example from Jazzie and Tahlia uses the box top logos as labels and these, sadly now discontinued, Ikea containers. You could also use pencil boxes or an old baby wipes container.
While we are on the subject of plastic sandwich bags…
Plastic bags are perfect for organizing outfits for travel. I layout the outfits out, including socks and undies and put the whole outfit in a gallon plastic freezer bag.
Is there a particular area that has you stumped? Share with us in the comments and we’ll brainstorm a solution together! Your question may even become the feature of a future post!
I love ziplocs for so many reasons! I am a summer camp counselor and one of the best things that I saw for packing was when the parent packed the kids clothes in the outfit baggies! I work with the littlest kids (6-10 yr olds) and it’s fantastic! I especially love the idea of putting them back into that bag when dirty because it is so flippin difficult to maneuver a garbage bag full of dirty clothes into a suitcase! And try having to do it 6 times over (and roll up their sleeping bags too!)
Tip for those with little kids or kids with fine motor difficulties: the bags where you just pull the little slidey thing across the top work so much better than the ones you have to line up and squeeze just right to get it to stay closed. I’ve worked with kids with special needs who can’t yet seal those but they can use the slidey thing.
I love the idea to use the bags with zippers! That would work great for my 4 year old who can’t seal bags yet either. I am so glad to hear a “pro” has had so much success with ziplocs for packing. Thanks for sharing!
I just subscribed to your blog and am so excited I found it! In the last several weeks, I’ve decided to become the early-rising, organized person that I want to be.
You have great, simple ideas that totally jive with the way I think. 🙂
I’m having trouble coming up with ideas on how to store/organize my pantry items (flours, sugar, dried beans, etc). I have no pantry so am just tetris-ing things onto shelves and counter tops. And I’m brainstorming ideas for what to do with my coffee cup collection. Any ideas?
Congrats Daniella on your new road to organized living! I would love to help with your pantry in anyway I can. I just sent you an email but as far as storing dried goods, I would always look for clear rectangle or square containers. They take up less room then round containers.
Hmm, coffee cup collection? I would love to see a picture to get a better idea of what you have. Would hooks work in your space? Kind of like this cabinet:
Source: realsimple.com via Autumn on Pinterest