Shout out to plastic bins!

Without plastic bins, my house would look even worse than it does! Someone asked me recently what my organization "scheme" was. Apparently some people organize with baskets, others are label freaks. I am a plastic bin girl.

In my younger years, before kids, I used to have an entire room dedicated to sewing and crafting and general packrattery. After 4 moves in as many years, as well as the addition of my angel and all of her stuff, it was time to pare down. I bought some clear plastic tubs for crafting materials, and have been striving to keep only the stuff that will fit in the bins. I have one filled, to the brim, with paint and painting supplies. Another contains Sculpey clay and molds, while a third holds cards, stencils and pretty pens. The fourth holds my sewing do-dads (bobbins, thread and what-not) but my sewing machine is separate, as well as any fabric for a specific project. The exception to this "bin" rule for crafting is my knitting paraphernalia. I do loves a good yarn sale! I try to keep it organized in my bedroom, though I could probably open a small yarn shop with my current stash. These days fancy yarn costs about 6 dollars a skein, so when I find them for two bucks, I tend to stock up.

Aside from crafting, I've also found plastic bins invaluable for holiday decorations. The husband seems to believe that most people have roughly two boxes of Christmas decorations and that's it. Well...I have ten Christmas boxes. The benefit of the plastic bins is that the stuff inside stays clean and dry, they stack really well in our storage shed, and you can get them in different colors for different holidays! My Christmas ones are mostly green, my Halloween/ Thanksgiving boxes (yes, plural) are black and orange and the Easter boxes are clear.

We also use plastic tubs for toys. My kids don't have a toy box, they have several. This helps keep the My Little Ponys out of Barbie's household and vice versa. The goal is to only have one type of toy out at a time, which works most of the time! (Sometimes the Ponys need a Lincoln Log corral.) But my favorite tip, stolen from one of my teacher cousins, is the Lego blanket. Most people with Legos know they are a serious PITA to clean up! (Pain In The Ass) And anyone who has ever stepped on a Lego knows the pain of not getting every single one. We designate a smallish blanket (we use an old baby blanket, but my cousin was using an old bedsheet) and all the Legos HAVE to stay on the blanket. (When I see them off the blanket, I take 'em away) When the playing is over, you just pick up all of the corners of the blanket and drop the whole thing into a plastic tub. Done.

One thing is certain. If we ever build our own house, and the husband would like that, we are having a "Mommy's room" for sewing and crafting. Mostly so I have a space to stack all of my plastic bins!

Happy organizing!