Creative Christmas Ornament Storage

I love buying Christmas ornaments every year, and think I have enough ornaments to cover at least five trees!  As I was throwing out a plastic container from Costco that our apples came in, I realized that it would make the perfect storage container for some of my Christmas ornaments!

I was so excited to try it out...

and sure enough, when I placed the round ornament balls into the plastic apple container, they fit perfectly!

These containers were FREE and were a great way to recycle what would have otherwise have gone in the trash.

Plus, the apple packaging took up a lot less space than the three boxes did that the 12 ornaments came in (four ornaments per box).  It's a win-win!

So while I was putting the apples in the fridge, I saw an egg carton, which got me thinking again...  I pulled out my smaller ball ornaments, and they were the perfect fit too!

Each little round ornament was nestled safely inside each hole in the egg carton, and the egg containers stack so nicely on top of each other.  You could also wrap each ornament inside of the carton for an extra layer of safety.

Hopefully this helps you with putting away all those Christmas decorations.  It's an easy way to save money, save the earth, and save your ornaments from getting broken!

If you're trying to get organized this new year, here are a few of my favorite orgainizing solutions that have ehlped me organize my life that you might be interested in...

I love to rip out the best recipes and tips from my favorite magazines, and this system is how I like to organize and store them so that I can find them again in only a few seconds.

Are you are drowning in piles of your kids' artwork and school work and can't figure out how to store it all but feel guilty throwing it away?  Yeah, so was I!  Here is my favorite method of saving and organizing my kids' artwork that is so easy!

Those silica gel packets that you get inside your shoes, purses, vitamins, etc. are great to save!  In this post I tell you why, and TONS of readers have commented with some great ideas on how they use them, too.

Happy organizing!  DO you have a great tip that you use to keep organized?  I'd love to hear it!

If you liked this project, please follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Bloglovin', and Instagram.

xo, Laura

Peppermint Tub Scrub: Pinterest Pick of the Week

This week's Pinterest Pick of the Week is an amazing tub (or sink, shower, whatever) scrub, brought to you by none other than my idol, Ms. Martha Stewart.  This cleaning recipe is nontoxic, green, only uses 3 easy ingredients, and smells absolutely divine.  I am a big sucker for peppermint, so this cleaner was perfect!

I despise cleaning the bathtub and shower, and put it off as long as I possibly can because of the obnoxious strong chemical smells of the cleaners I used.  When I am pregnant, I won't even clean the bathroom, I make my husband do it for fear of those harsh chemicals hurting my unborn babe.

When I mixed up this peppermint cleaner and started using it, I found that I actually enjoyed cleaning the bathtub!  Yes, I am totally serious!  After cleaning the tub I moved on to the rest of the house to see what I could scrub with my new peppermint concoction.  It worked extremely well, and I will be mixing this up every time I clean the tub or shower!

The three easy ingredients: liquid soap, peppermint extract, and baking soda.

You'll need:

1 tsp. liquid soap: This could be any liquid soap, like dish soap.  (I used the amazing Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Castile Soap, which works extremely well, and smells divine!)

Few drops of an antibacterial essential oil: Choose from peppermint, rosemary, eucalyptus, or tea tree, which all have antibacterial qualities. (I used peppermint, again because of the smell)

1 C baking soda

Mix it all up with a little water so that it makes a smooth paste.

Add the soap and essential oil to the baking soda, and mix.  Add a little water at a time and stir to make a smooth paste.  That's it!!

The finished tub scrub!

I hope you enjoy using this green, easy, nontoxic peppermint tub scrub as much as I do!  You will love the smell, and how easy this great cleaner is to make.

And if you'd like to check out my other pins on Pinterest, you can find me here.  You can also see my boards and pins by clicking on the Pinterest icon in my sidebar.  Are you as addicted to pinning as I am?!?

Happy scrubbing!

XO, Laura