Organizing Kids Clothes

Last year, when the world shut down to flatten the curve my baby was 7 months old and wearing 9 month clothes ... then suddenly he shot up to 12 month clothes! Kids tend to do that. Clothing stores were closed and so were second hand stores. Only the big box stores were open and I did not want to drag my 3 kiddos into that chaos to find my youngest some bigger clothes. I decided to order him some jammies online to get him by until things opened up.  The selection was terrible and I had a hard time finding his size. So weird. I ended up ordering a few pairs from Target, Walmart, and Children's Place and having everything shipped to my house (side note, I love Target's drive up option but there was nothing in his size at the 2 Targets 30 miles from my house. Again, so weird.)

Then I waited ... 

And squished him into too small jammies.

And waited ... 

It took 4 to 6 WEEKS to get his jammies! I only ordered 6 or 7 pairs!  Seriously, one month of stuffing him into too small jammies and hoping the seams would hold. Let's be real, it was a minor inconvenience but still annoying. I save everything from my oldest to pass down to my middle but my little guy doesn't get the luxury of having a bin of clothes just waiting for him to grow into. 

But, why not create a bin of next sized clothes for him (and my oldest)? 

Brilliant! 

Now my little man is in 2T, we moved states and I've found an amazing online used kids clothing store called Mommy and Me Resale (go check it out and like them on Facebook).  I have no affiliation with them but ordered all the 2T jammies when he grew again. 

Things are open here, but when he shoots up to the next size over night again, I want to be ready. I like to buy used first because I can get better quality clothing for less and with 3 kids (and me not working) that's important! We save money where we can. When I see a great sale or something adorable I'll get it and put it in his bin. 

We have a great thrift store here called Deseret (there was one in Sacramento too but this store has a larger selection!). All of the kids clothes I've bought are less than $4 - you can't beat toddler wranglers for $3 or the cutest Levi's for $4! We also have an awesome store called Kidz Again - they have a huge selection of kids clothes! I got the girls some fancy dresses just because they were on clearance for $1! They wear them often! 

Back to the bin ... I made a chart to track what we have so it doesn't become a bin full of short sleeved shirts (you can see we currently have 8 yet no jeans or shorts). I can see at a glance what we have and what we need! I taped it under the lid to keep it handy. 

I also took a picture to keep on my phone so when I am in a store and see a great deal on his size I can check to see if we need it or if we are set on that item (another way to save - not buying too much). 

Hopefully, this will keep me a little more organized! Yeah for that! What do you think? Do you do something similar? 

Drawer Organizer

This was our first or second project when we bought our house.  Our drawers are big and our drawer organizer was small ... not a great look!  

Every time we opened the drawer this is what we saw ... or worse!  

So, off to Home Depot to pick up some boards!

I'm very visual so I cut up some scrap wood to figure out how I wanted to arrange it.  Tape was not cutting it.  After a million back and forth texts with my amazingly patient husband, 

I settled on our design. 

I cut up the boards, glued them together and used the drawer to make sure everything would fit perfectly.  

We used our clamps as spreaders and left the drawer to dry overnight.  

We did not glue to the drawer, I wanted to organizer to come out without damaging the drawer.  

Look at that - It's amazing and so so simple!  

This is where we left it until last week.  It looked nice and was functional but the knives kept sliding until the organizer (since it wasn't glued to the bottom).  Annoying!

So, another trip to Home Depot and my handy hubby cut down a thin sheet of plywood using our amazing Kreg Jig Rip Cut (seriously, this thing is amazing!).  

We glued and clamped and let it sit overnight.  

The finished product!  It's amazing and was super simple to make!  

On a side note, it you have kids you need these forks and spoons!  They are made right here in the US with recycled milk jugs.  They are sturdy, cute, and easy to replace when the toddler accidently throws them away or the school aged kiddo forgets them at school.  We seem to loose a lot of spoons ... seriously, where do they go?  They have plates, bowls, and cups too but we only have the forks and spoons and we love them!  

Anyway ... back to this amazing organizer ... it matches the inside of the drawer perfectly and is super functional!  

LOVE!

This is how it usually looks!  Empty.  How do we use all of our utensils every single day?  I'm searching for a new set ... or 4!  I have a set in my Amazon cart, but I don't like not being able to see and feel them in real life before I buy them.  Maybe in another 6 months that drawer will usually be full!  

Shared Closet Makeover

We moved to a new state during a pandemic and we are so happy we did! 

The girls share a room and unfortunately our old closet system (Ikea dressers as built ins which I loved) wasn't going to work.  So, to the drawing board.

 

Pretty standard closet, but it is small - not a walk in and on the small side.  The bypass doors mean the dressers would not work because of the width (their old closet had no doors) and if we were to get smaller dressers there would be lots of wasted space.

Big sister side on the left and little sister is on the right.  

Please note these sisters are not this clean, I had just cleaned their closet.  

I decided to try a simple tower system and used this tutorial from Shanty to Chic with a slight modification.  The plans call for one tower at 42" but you can only get one tower from a sheet of plywood and there would be so much left over, so we decided to shorten the tower to 40" and get 2 towers from one sheet.  I also wanted to add a shelf, but I messed up and only added one extra shelf instead of 2 - oops!

We do not have a table saw, nor do we have room (in the budget or the garage) for one, the Kreg Jig rip cut has been amazing so far!  We bought it from Lowes and a super friendly employee brought it right out to me! 

Added the face frame and painted white.  We removed the baseboards for a more built in look (and let's be real so the kids can't shove stuff in the gap and get it stuck).

Added a rod between the towers and their hanging space almost doubled!  

We've I've been folding shirts since we moved and the 3 year old likes to pull them all out while getting dressed and "Can't fold them." so that was getting old. Which now that I am typing it doesn't even make sense because she literally wears her swimsuit every. single. day.  

I love that they can reach the rods to look at what they want to wear and help put away their clothes!

Big sister on the left and little sister on the right!  Much better use of space!  I have a few more small changes but I'm calling it a makeover! 

We had the rod, brackets, paint, primer, finishing nails and a few random screws - so this makeover only cost $55 for a sheet of plywood (man, plywood is expensive!).  

Big sister is growing out of her clothes - I need to get her a few more things.  And ... yes, that is a batgirl costume in her closet ... she loves to dress up!  If you have a great place to get good quality costumes (they get lots of abuse) for a great price please let me know!  

 Little sister has 2 different sized clothes in here because she is growing ... going to take out the 3T right now!

What do you think?  Tips for keeping your kids organized?

Spice Cabinet Organization

Our spice cabinet was a mess - full and cluttered. 

One day I decided to clean in up and organize it.  I took everything out:

And realized I need something to hold all the spices I buy in bulk.  I thought it would clear up some space the containers could go on under the 2nd shelf instead of on the first shelf. 

So, I had my friend's amazing hubby cute me some scrap metal to the right size. 

Put it in.

 

 And put the shelf on top. 

 

 I picked these magnetic spice tins up at Cost Plus World Market.  

They are 5 for $9.95 online or $1.99 a piece in the store (which is the exact same price). 

 

 The lid is clear which is perfect to the see pretty spices!

I bought a bigger version from Ikea a while back for office supplies and I love them.  So, if you want a larger size (wider but shallower) - go with the Ikea version.  

 I filled the tins with spices and labeled them.  Temporary not so pretty label, but it works!  Now I don't have a bunch of bags and clutter in this cabinet and I can find what I need. 

 So neat and organized now!

Another idea would be to glue magnets on the bottom of spice jars.  Or the top, you choose.  Same idea, but would be perfect if you have containers for your spices already. 

You could also use the tins on the side of your microwave or fridge - would make a nice display if you have a variety of spices.

That is how I organized my spice cabinet in just an afternoon.  Looks so much better!  What do you think?

How do you tackle the clutter in your kitchen cabinets?