Organized: sewing bag and craft closet

First, this morning, I woke up to the sound of my children giggling while Abigail read books to Brady. It's a good way to wake up. 

I tackled a much procrastinated task to clean out my sewing bag. It had scraps in there from 2008. Seriously. Actually probably every scrap SINCE 2008. Also, every button (that comes with a new item of clothing) I've ever gotten. I might be the best person on the planet about saving every single one of those suckers. 

I unloaded every single scrap and thread and needle. 

Meanwhile, Abigail found herself surrounded by paper and thought it would be a great idea to draw all over our kitchen floor. Baby girl, the world is not your canvas. Boundaries. 

She cleaned it up just fine though. And found so much joy in cleaning it up, I actually told her she wasn't allowed to clean anymore because it was my turn. Now I'm worried she's going to think our floors are like a giant dry erase board. 

I got out all my quilting stuff. My mil is coming over tomorrow for hours of quilting fun. We've set a deadline and are going to have my quilt finished in two weeks... maybe three... for buffer.  I started this quilt at the beginning of 2012 and worked on it all during my pregnancy with Brady. And not even once since then. He's probably not going to be impressed tomorrow and will likely cry constantly for not being on my hip 24/7 but it's okay. 2014 is my year. And as my offspring, that kid is roped in too. It's gonna be an awesome quilt. 

And now I'm armed with an organized sewing bag. 

All day Abigail wanted to build a house with books. She just kept stacking them and I was so confused with her plan u til she explained it and demonstrated it to me. Basically like building a tower with face cards. But somehow we built this on our first try and called it good. Hopefully waddles does not have claustrophobic tendencies. Also, I really need to take down that crib. 

I started working on this armoire in our playroom where we keep cards and keepsake letters and stationary and scrapbook stuff and Abigail and Brady's doctor journals (and accompanying papers). I have a lot to purge but today I just separated things so when I get some time, I can pull out a bin to work on. 

My strategy for organizing containers for our house is I only buy two kinds. Those large gray totes (all in the same size and color... Except the three Christmas ones) and these little clear bins. The big gray totes are the cheapest for the size and are readily available at Walmart where I shop all the time. These little clear bins are 88 cents and also readily available at Walmart. Everything stacks well and automatically matches because they're all the same. Also, should I find that I need a fourth bin for my closet and I only have three, I'm not up a creek because "I got these on clearance and they only had three and don't carry them anymore."  And if I want it that second, it's easy to borrow a bin from another area of the house. I use these currently in my kitchen, bathroom, kids closets, master closet, hall closet, basement, craft armoire, and probably even more places that I'm just forgetting right now. I like that they're small so they limit what I can put inside. Instead of being tempted to throw all of our outdoor stuff in one big container, I have to limit myself to a bin for ski goggles and gloves, a bin for ski hats and beanies, a bin for rain ponchos, etc.  It's working even better than I'd imagined. And everything just stacks better and looks cleaner without all these random cardboard, post office, clothing boxes and cookie tins. 

Also, bath toys aren't just for the bath. 

And thank goodness for Brady who regularly takes four hour naps... Especially when he does it on days like today when my body feels like it's going to break and I forgot to actually put dinner in the oven and left it sitting on the counter instead. Then at least I can say "my kid took a four hour nap for me."  And my optimistic three year old is sensitive enough to see my frustration and say "We're having a sad day today. Lets have a better day tomorrow!"  Warms my heart.