Taming the kiddo clutter

Wendy at the Shabby Nest is having a
Taming the Kid Clutter Linky Party!
And who doesn't love a blog linky party? I will have to say I lurk and check out everyone else's ideas but this is the first time we have linked any of our projects and it is just in time for the Grand Re-opening (is that even the right phrase? Re-launch?) of our Tuesdays blog. These aren't official Tuesday projects but are some that we felt would fit the party.

I would never profess to having tamed the clutter beast on the whole (far from it) but I think I have conquered in a couple of key areas. Art Supplies and Hair Accessories. If you live in a household with 3 daughters, the before mentioned items seem to multiply like rabbits. I was pulling my hair out to keep track of everything and keep it neat. My kids couldn't manage the previous systems and it was always just a big fight. So, I decided we needed to take care of these things in plain sight and not worry about being unsightly. I think out in the open is OK if it is executed well.

Hair Accessories
I have a very small bathroom that serves as my guest bath and my kids bathroom. It has next to no storage. I had tried and tried to keep everything under the counter with bins and rubbermaid drawers but it was just such a pain to see what we needed and get it put away. I could do it, but the kids were bad and I want them to be successful at keeping order...at least try.

Seriously. Not even a drawer. Barely better than a pedestal sink.

This idea came from She Does Hair and works perfectly for me. It is a clear over the door shoe holder - I got it at Wal-Mart. I sorted hair ribbons and accessories by color and keep them in a ziplock bag so I can pull a bag of the color I need. Several pockets hold sprays and gels and detangler, another for brushes and combs. I have one pocket just for large hair elastics and one for basic hair clips. My oldest goes to a uniform school so I have two sections full of Red and Blue that is easy to reach. The bottom sections hold assorted scarves and headbands. The green box is a small craft organizer that holds the tiny ouchless rubberbands and bobbypins. (Oh yes...and the hooded towels hung at kid height behind the door. )

This is how I decided to store all the pretties - the flowers, boutique clips, that sort of thing. We have a lot of these. (And this isn't even all of them - I think some are in their bedroom.) It is a 1" ribbon with a piece of 1" elastic sewn to either end creating a stretchy circle of ribbon that is slipped over the medicine cabinet door. Then we can keep the pretty clips neatly stored and ready at a glance.

Here is a view of the inside to explain the elastic concept. A couple other things I noticed when I took this picture: 1. I have a couple of out of season clips (these happen to be Halloween) attached to the inside. 2. There are some post-it notes with hair styles written on them. These are actually a couple of years old from when my daughter was in Kindergarten and wanted her hair done the same way every day and I quickly jotted down some styles and made her pick a new one every day to add some variety to life. We don't really need them anymore (There used to be 15 or so) but I think a list of favorite styles would be a nice addition.

Art Supplies
I don't know about your kids but mine seem to live at the kitchen table coloring and drawing. We had seperate bins/boxes/tubs etc. for the various implements and it was just out of control. So, I decided we needed to do this easier. This is a scrapbook supply tote that I picked up at Joann's for about $8 with my coupon. I used Target Dollar Spot buckets to hold assorted supplies and filled the outside pockets with additional tools - scissors, glue, glue sticks, ruler, etc. (This is actually what I gave my nephew, Molly's oldest, for Christmas and he loves it.)

This sits out during homework time and one of the outside pockets is the perfect size for phonogram flashcards that we (used to) use every day with my older daughter and are starting to use again with my 5 year old.

6 months after setting up this tote, it is still working for us. This is usually out on the table but this is where it gets put away at the end of the day. My kitchen is small but it was worth it to me to clear one shelf of a cabinet to keep all their art supplies. (I think there are a couple cheerios on the floor. Keeping it real...)

Thanks for visiting!! Check back in with us to see what us Sisters have been up to - we just posted two projects before this post after a little hiatus. We get together once a week or so to work on craft projects together, make jam, bake, whatever inspires us. We aren't that original but try to give our own spin to the projects we find around blog land. We took a little time off during the holidays but are back in the saddle again. Welcome!

Oh, and say a prayer for our 18 year old cousin Neil who is in critical condition following a car accident in New Jersey January 23, 2009. We just adore this dude and his mom and sister are avid followers (it is currently a small exclusive club) of our Tuesdays blog! Thank you so much!