Kids Daily Outfit Hanging Closet Organizers + Free Printable

They say necessity is the mother of invention, and necessity sure prompted this little idea of mine!

Starting next week, I have three of my kids going to three different schools, as opposed to just one school last year- ugh.  I'm terrified of being late to the first school, and then being late to the second and third schools.

I am trying to find any and every way that I can shave time off our morning routine to ensure that all children are to school on time, and I have the perfect way that I know is going to help me out, and will hopefully help you out too!

Daily outfit closet organizers for your kids' clothes!

On Saturday or Sunday I'll go through my kids' clothes with them, and we'll pick out their outfits for the WHOLE WEEK, and then hang up the full outfits together.  In front of each outfit will be these cute hanging chalkboard outfit organizers that I created as a free printable for you (and for me!).

No more digging through the baskets of clean laundry in the morning to find an outfit for school.  No more non-matching outfit choices that kids love to sneak out of the house wearing.  No more of your kids trying to wear the same outfit twice in a row.  And that stained shirt your kid loves to wear?  Not anymore!  

All outfits are ready to go and easy to grab.  Just hang the top on one hanger, the shorts/pants/skirt on another hanger, place the cute hanging outfit organizer up in front of the outfit, and they're good to go- literally!

I am still brainstorming how to add socks, hair bows, and accessories to the outfits, too, to make mornings even easier.  I'm thinking I'll make (or buy) some cute little bags to hang on each hanger for each day.

I made a FREE printable set for you to download- one set has blue text, one has pink.

Download one of two ways:

•  As a 4x6" download.  Every dayof the week is a 4 x 6" jpeg that you can upload to any photo printing site and have printed on photo paper.  I printed mine at Costco, and for two sets it cost me a whole $1.60, so only 80 cents per set!  Just click on the links below.

MON Blue

TUE Blue

WED Blue

THU Blue

FRI Blue

MON Pink

TUE Pink

WED Pink

THU Pink

FRI Pink

• As a 8 1/2 x 11" PDF.  Each set is two pages, and you can print at home (will take a lot of black ink for the chalkboard), or take it to Staples or Office Depot and print both pages for around $1.

BLUE Set of Hanging Organizers

PINK Set of Hanging Organizers

You could also laminate these, too.  

You wouldn't believe how excited my kids were to get their sets!  I was very pleasantly surprised.

Do you have any tips on how to make the morning routine go quicker?  I'd love to hear them!

If you liked this idea, I'd love for you to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Bloglovin', and Instagram.

xo, Laura

Linking up Here:  Craft-O-Maniac, C.R.A.F.T., SNAP!, Ginger Snap Crafts, Tidy Mom, 30 Handmade Days, Whipperberry, Tatertots and Jello, A to Zebra Celebrations

6 Tips for Organizing Your Home

“This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group™ and Home Depot & Rubbermaid, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #AllAccessOrganizers  http://cmp.ly/3/8vNxcO.”

This summer my husband and I gave ourselves the goal of organizing every single closet, cupboard, and drawer in our home.  We are both very organized people, and truly LOVE to organize (and reorganize) our living space to make it function the best that it can for us.  We have spent literally thousands of dollars on plastic containers (just ask our friends and family) to better organize our home, and we are always on the lookout for new storage solutions.

That's why I was so excited when I learned about Rubbermaid's new All Access Organizers.  What's different about these containers is that not only do they easily stack, but you can see AND access the contents of the containers without ever unstacking them!  What a concept!  No more unstacking piles of boxes to get to the one you need. You can open the container up by pulling down the clear drop-down door in the front, or by lifting up the lid on top.  I bought mine at Home Depot.

We recently switched some rooms around in our home, and the boys' room closet needed to be re-organized.  It was so much fun starting with an empty space, and using Rubbermaid's All Access Organizers to create an organized and well-functioning closet.  I even found an often overlooked storage area that I utilized, and will be sharing with you later in the post!

Here are some of my favorite tips for organizing your home:

1.  Have a place for EVERYTHING.  When everything has a place where it belongs in your home, then it's easy to put it away, and even easier to find it when you are looking for it!  Isn't it so frustrating to try and find something that you know is there somewhere, but you just don't know where?  This simple tip will solve that problem. Take a look around your home and see what is constantly cluttering your home.  Does it have a place where it goes?  If not, make one!

My son loves sports, and we are always finding random balls around the house.  I used one of the large Rubbermaid All Access Organizers to store his footballs, basketballs, and soccer balls, and now it's easier than ever to have him put away his own sports equipment because he knows exactly where it belongs, and can see through the clear door to know where it goes.

2.  Use Plastic Containers to hold and contain smaller items.  I love using plastic containers, especially to store small things that might look cluttery sitting out.  It makes your closets, cabinets, and storage areas look neat and clean and uniform.  Containers also keep the dust out and can help protect your items.

My son LOVES his Legos, but I don't love stepping on them.  Vacuuming them up is even more painful (do you know how much money I have invested in Legos?!).  To solve this problem, I put all those little tiny Lego pieces into a Rubbermaid All Access Organizer, and now I don't have to worry about getting them stuck in my feet!

3.  Label everything!  One of my favorite things in the world is my label maker.  I love to label all of my storage containers so that I know exactly what's inside without even having to open up the lid!  If you don't have a label addiction (or even if you do) then Rubbermaid All Access Organizers are perfect for you!  No more lifting up the box to see what's inside- you can see right through that clear window up front!  Now there's no more excuses as to why your child can't put his things away, because there's no more heavy boxes to unstack.

4.  Utilize awkward, unused spaces.  Feel like you are running out of room?  Many times all it takes to find more storage space in your home is for you to take a look around with fresh eyes and a new perspective.  I will use storage space wherever I can find it!

When I was organizing the boys' closet, I noticed that the space under the crib wasn't being used at all.  Back to Home Depot I went, to buy two more small Rubbermaid All Access Organizers.  I came home and added baby wipes to one container, and diapers to the other.  Now the diapers are out of sight, and I cleared up some valuable space in the closet!

5.  Don't over stuff your containers. Just because everything is nice and organized, that doesn't mean you can overfill and stuff your container.  This will cause more wear and tear in the long run.  Keep your containers nice, neat, and organized.

6.  Evaluate your current storage situation.  Is your system working for you?  What part isn't working for you?   How can you fix it?  Does everything have a home?  If the answer was no to these questions, then it might be time try a new system.

Although I used the All Access Organizers in a closet, they would also be a great storage solution for a playroom, laundry room, garage, or anywhere that you need storage!  I love how they transformed the boys' room into a great functioning, organized space!

To keep up with all of the organizing fun, you can check out Home Depot and  Rubbermaid on Facebook.

Happy organizing!  ;)

xo, Laura

How To Organize Your Childrens' Art and Schoolwork

As the end of the school year approaches, moms everywhere are bracing themselves for the mountains of art, school papers, and awards that their children will inevitably bring home.  Neat and organized spaces become home to cluttered piles of papers that represent a year's worth of work to your children that they are not willing to part with.

Sound familiar?  I truly used to dread all of the papers that came home at the end of the year.  It was bittersweet, because I love looking through my kids' schoolwork and art, and yet I can't stand clutter and piles.  What's a mom to do?

I came up with an easy way of storing and organizing my kids art and schoolwork that is fast, fun to look through, and easy to keep up with and store.

It's very similar to the method that I use to organize my ripped out magazine pages.  It's very straightforward and simple, and yet has made such a difference in keeping my kids' papers and artwork at bay!

Supplies:

• Binder
• Tabbed Sheet Protectors
• Regular Sheet Protectors
• Magazine holder, storage box, or another holder to store artwork

Step 1- Collect & Store

First, you need a place to hold and store the papers.  These papers might include artwork, school papers, awards, invitations, letters, ribbons, doodles, letters, etc.- anything that is important to you and your child will be stored here temporarily.

Here are a few examples of some things that I have kept over the years...

Self portraits made by my kiddos...

Cute little doodles...

A letter to Santa that my daughter wrote when she was starting to not believe...

Special awards that my kids have received...

Some of my daughter's first faces that she drew when she was three- the bottom right one is Charlie from "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."  Love.  See how I fit four small pictures onto one page?

Favorite pieces of art...

Memorabilia.  Embossed metallic handprints that I created for my kids in 2007...

 

Diary Entries for important events, like the birth of our son...

To temporarily collect and store the art, I use metal magazine holders, and I have one labeled for each of my children, and one for my husband and I.  As my children bring home work, we decide together if it's something that we should keep or throw away.  We keep their best work, special awards, my homemade birthday party invitations, letters to Santa and the Easter Bunny (make copies so they're not suspicious), special cards or letters, etc.

Again, anything that is your child's best work or is meaningful to them and/or you.  It's also nice to just keep a sample here and there of their work to see the progress they make throughout the year.

As the art and memorabilia come in throughout the year, be sure to date them (if there is no date on it already).  I like to write the date and how old my child is, usually on the back of the paper so it's not taking away from the art or work.

Step 2- Label & Organize

Label your tabbed sheet protectors.  I labeled mine like this for each child:

• Birth-Preschool (or EAK or Kindergarten)
• Preschool (or EAK)
• Kindergarten
• 1st Grade
• 2nd Grade
• 3rd Grade
• 4th Grade
• 5th Grade

Etc... My oldest is in 5th grade, so that's as far as my binder goes ;)

I used Avery Protect 'n Tab Tabbed Sheet Protectors to label each of the different sections. These tabbed sheet protectors are perfect because the tabs stick out past the other sheet protectors so that you can still see them when your binder is put together.  I bought mine on Amazon, after searching high and low for something like them at all my nearby office supply stores.

These Avery labels are printable, but I just used my trusty label maker to make small labels that I stuck onto each tab- they fit perfectly!

I also used some Avery Martha Stewart sheet protectors I bought at Staples that have pockets that hold 4 photos.  Although I keep separate scrapbooks, I like to add the 4 photos behind each divider, so we can remember what each child looked like when they made their art.

Step 3- Add the Art & Papers

Place the artwork, school papers, awards, etc. into sheet protectors.  This is a great time to edit the work that has been sitting in the magazine holder.  Since you can't keep everything, decide if it really is worth keeping, and then either toss it or proceed.  I typically fit one page into each side of the sheet protector, but if there is a stapled booklet that I want to keep, I'll just stick the whole thing inside.

Sometimes a favorite piece of artwork may be too big to fit into a sheet protector, like my son's Cat in the Hat picture.  In that case, I will trim it down to fit, or I will cut it in half, and place one half on one side of the binder, and the other half right next to it, so you can still see the whole picture.  

I like to keep special little notes and doodles that my kids write and draw, so when they are smaller, I just use an archival glue stick to adhere them to a piece of archival card stock.  That way I can save on space and fit a few different things onto one page.

Keep up with it and enjoy it!  

Once the binder is initially created, it is really easy (and neat) to keep up! Just slide the work right into the binder as it comes home, and you're good to go!  My kids LOVE to look through their binders and reminisce about their art and work.  It's a great way to point out to your kids how much they have grown and progressed.

I love this method because it is so easy to keep up and keeps all of the papers nice and neat and organized chronologically.  And I love that I can still keep much of my kids' and my favorite work of theirs without feeling guilty because there are no messy piles!

So what do you think?  Do you struggle with what/how much of your kids' work to keep, or how to keep it organized?  Will you be giving this method a try?  Leave me a comment and let me know!

And do you love to keep ideas, recipes, or inspiration pages that you rip out of a magazine?  Check out how I keep my magazine pages nice and neat and organized.

I hope this helps you to get and stay organized!  It sure has helped me :)

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

xo, Laura

Linking Up Here: Lolly Jane, Sugar Bee Crafts, Craft-O-Maniac, I Heart Naptime, Skip to My Lou, Craft-O-Maniac, A to Zebra Celebrations, Lil Luna, Ginger Snap Crafts, Someday Crafts, Snap Creativity

Pallet Storage Cart On Wheels

Today I have a great idea for you that my husband came up with a few months ago...
adding wheels to a pallet!  

There are many reasons why wheels are a great addition to a pallet, but here are two big ones:

Easy movement of storage containers.  We have a big basement with many plastic storage containers and shelves, but this pallet is a great way for us to stack these plastic containers on, and they are now easier for us to move.

Keeps your containers and items off of the floor, which helps keep them safe from flooding and pests, and any dirt or dust that may be on the floor.

This rolling pallet cart would be perfect to use in a garage, basement, or shed.  This cart would be quite amazing in a storage unit, where many things are stacked up high, and hard to get out without unloading all of the things in the front.  If you had a few of these carts, you would save lots of time and work by just rolling out the boxes in the front!

This project is also WAY less expensive than buying a rolling cart, which is more than double the price of the wheels we used (which is all we bought for this project), AND it holds twice as many boxes, because it is wider than a traditional rolling cart.  We spent about $10 for the wheels.

Supplies:

• Pallet
• 4 Wheels
• 16 Screws
• Drill

Directions:

Turn pallet upside down and place one wheel in each corner evenly.  Screw the wheels into the wood.

And you're DONE!  

Wasn't that easy?!  Now instead of moving piles of containers or boxes, all you have to do is roll them away!  It's such a simple concept, but is so brilliant at the same time.  I'll tell my smart husband you said thank you ;)

Hopefully this will make your life easier, just like it has ours!  Thanks for reading!  Stay tuned for future additions to this project...

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

Please share and pin!

XO, Laura

Linking Up Here: Sugar Bee Crafts, Lil Luna, Someday Crafts, House of Hepworths, Somewhat Simple, Tatertots and Jello, Craft-O-Maniac

6 Uses for Silica Gel Packets- Don't Throw Them Away!

You know those little white packets that come in the box with your brand new heels?  I used to toss them in the trash, but my brilliant husband asked me to start keeping them, and he has found some great uses for those silica gel packets!

Silica gel packets are used to absorb moisture and keep things dry, so they are ideal to reuse throughout your home where you might be worried about excess moisture.  Here are a few places we have found these packets to be useful.  Just make sure that you keep these out of the reach of children!  They are not to be eaten.

 6 Uses for Silica Gel Packets:

1.  To save your cell phone from water damage.  True story, I recently dropped my iPhone in a pot of boiling potatoes while trying to multitask.  (OK, I was on Pinterest while making dinner.  I'll admit it.)  I dropped my phone in the boiling water, quickly pulled it out with a spoon, dried it off, removed the SIM card, and put it in a Ziploc bag filled with silica gel packets that we had stockpiled.  I left it alone for a few days, and was shocked to find that it worked perfectly!  Supposedly this works better than the rice trick for saving your cell phone, just try to restrain yourself and not turn it on until a few days later because it could cause an electrical short and ruin your phone.

2.  To help keep photos safe and free from moisture.  Another true story.  I am a scrapbooker, and pulled out one of my scrapbooks from a few years back to find the date of a family event, when I noticed that some of my scrapbook pages were wet!  I have spent countless hours on my little masterpieces, and was not thrilled to find that one of my kids had probably spilled water, and it had dripped down into the sheet protectors and onto my pages.  My hubby air dried all of the pages, and was able to salvage most of the pages and embellishments from the affected scrapbook pages. Now each of those pages have a silica gel packet in between the two pieces of card stock in each sheet protector, just to absorb any excess moisture that might still be hiding in the paper. (We will eventually remove them, because I am unsure of the archival quality of silica, but for now I am okay with them being there short term).

3.  To keep collectibles in mint condition.  If anyone in your family collects stamps, baseball cards, coins, etc., it's great to add some packets in with your collectibles to make sure they stay moisture-free.

4.  To keep important documents safe.  Whether you have important documents (birth certificates, social security cards, etc.) stored in files in a desk, cabinet, box, or envelopes, you can add a few packets of silica gel to keep them protected.

5.   To use in each container in your basement, garage, or storage unit to absorb excess moisture.  We use them everywhere in our basement!

6.   To help preserve your ornaments and Christmas decorations.  These get pulled out of boxes only once a year, so using silica gel packets in your Christmas boxes is a smart idea.

Okay, I'm adding a few more tips thanks to you readers!!  Keep the good ideas coming!

7.  Reader Roberta left a great comment on Make Life Lovely's Facebook Page...

"I bought an old book from an online bookstore that reeked of a musty smell.  I put the book in a bag with baking soda.  It did nothing.  I put it in a bag with several gel packs and voila!  Smell is all gone!"

8.  The Feral Turtle commented that you can reuse these packets once they are full of moisture!!  She says "We save our silica gel packets too!  They will collect moisture and quit working, though, so we regenerate them in a 200 degree oven for about two hours and store them in an airtight Ziploc bag until we need them."

As you can see, there are so many different ways to reuse silica gel packets, and I know there are tons more that we haven't even thought of yet!  Do you keep these packets?  Do you have any more ideas about how or where to use them?  Leave me a comment and let me know!

You might like to check out these FREE storage solutions for your Christmas ornaments using materials that you would normally thrown away! 

Did you know that you can reuse baby food jars for TONS of cool projects?  Here are just a few…

Bake a beautiful rainbow cake right inside those baby food jars!  I show you how here. 

You can also use those jars to make make a lovely wood vase and candleholder.

Did you know that you can make a beautiful iPad case for free?  Here's how I made my award winning case using a cardboard box from Costco and my daughter's old skirt!

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

Please share and pin!

XO, Laura

How to Organize Lego Instruction Booklets

If you have kids, then you probably have Legos.  And if you have Legos, then you probably have Lego instruction books floating around your house, getting bent and torn and lost.  I have a solution for you!

I have four kids, and massive amounts of Lego sets, so my husband and I came up with this method of keeping our Lego instruction books nice and neat and organized.  I've noticed that my kids play with their Legos more, now that they each have their own organized binder of instruction booklets.  Pretty cool little bonus!  This method also can be used to organize other toy booklets as well, such as Lincoln Logs, etc.  So here's what you'll need...

Supplies:

• Binder
• Sheet Protectors 
• Page Dividers 
• Labels or Label Maker (optional)
• Piece of 12x12 Card Stock (optional- for cover)
• Letter Stickers (optional- for cover title)

Step 1:

Remove staples from a Lego instruction book, and cut straight down the middle fold with scissors.  Place each instruction page inside its own sheet protector, making sure to keep the pages in their numeric order.

At first my husband and I laminated each page of some of our books, but after paying $50 at Office Depot for only a couple of books to be laminated, we decided to change our plan.  Now we use the sheet protectors instead,  which are actually easier because you don't have to punch the holes in the pages like you did with the laminating.

Step 2:

Insert all of the pages inside a 3-ring binder.  Label a page divider with the name of that particular Lego set, and insert divider into binder.  Done!  Couldn't be easier :)

Such a simple solution, but it makes such a big difference to have all of the instructions in one place, where they aren't getting torn and ruined and lost. 

I made 5 binders, because we are kind of Lego fanatics over here.  Here are 4 of the 5...

For my son, I made a Lego City binder, a Lego Hobbit/Lord of the Rings binder, and a Star Wars Legos binder.  I found some Lego card stock at Joanns, so I used that for the covers, along with some yellow letter stickers I had in my scrapbook stash for the title.

For my daughter, I made a binder for her Lego Friends.  I used a piece of light purple glitter card stock for the cover, and then used some letter stickers for the title.

I also made a Lego Duplo binder (cover not pictured) for all of our Duplo sets.

And here is the busy boy at work with his new binder.  I hope this project will help you feel more organized, like it has for us!!

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

XO, Laura

Linking Up Here:  Tatertots & Jello,  Creative Blog, The 36th Avenue, Whipperberry

DIY Reusable Chalkboard Labels + Giveaway!

Happy New Year!!  I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a great start to 2013.  You may have noticed that I took a week off from blogging to spend some quality time with my family.  I am excited to share many more projects and crafts with you this new year, and want to start off with a great organizing idea I came up with.  Now that the Christmas decorations are all put away, my husband and I are on a mission to organize and thoroughly cleaning our house, and it feels GREAT!

I have a lot of Pottery Barn sea grass baskets in our home to organize our things.  I love how durable they are,  but I don't love that there isn't a place to label them.  I am in love my label machine, and feel kind of sad when a container doesn't have a label on it.  Yes, I am totally serious. SO, I came up with a way to label my baskets so that I (and the rest of the family) can remember what goes inside each one.

Reusable Chalkboard Labels!  These are easy to make, easy to erase, and can be relabeled and reused.

Wanna' make your own?

You'll need the items pictured above, plus a hole punch, chalk, and some twine, ribbon, or string.

1.  Punch holes in your chipboard shapes.  I  had some chipboard in my scrapbook stash, so I used those, but you could also use wood rounds like I used for my wood advent calendar coins, or thick cardboard or anything else that is durable enough and can be hole punched and painted.  Be creative!

2.  Paint the chalkboard paint onto your tags following the manufacturer's directions.  I used Martha Stewart Crafts Chalkboard Paint, because I am a sucker for anything that has Martha's name on it :)

3.  Label your tags by writing onto them with chalk.  Make a mistake?  No problem, just erase with a slightly damp paper towel.

4.  Measure the twine, jute, or ribbon to your desired length, cut, and string through the hole in the tag.  Tie tag to your basket, and tie a knot.  DONE!

Now stand back and admire your amazing organization skills!  After I finished the kids' baskets on their  bookshelf, I realized I had more baskets in my kitchen cupboard, so I labeled those.  Then I remembered I had more in the laundry room.  Then the entertainment center.  So I went a little label crazy, and I'm loving the results.  I hope you give these Reusable Chalkboard Labels a try!

AND, because I love Martha Stewart and I love labels, I'm giving away a mega set of 16 packages of Martha Stewart labels, all to one lucky reader!!  (This is not a sponsored post, I bought all of these labels myself because I love them and want to share the love :)

Here's how to enter the giveaway:

1.  Leave a comment below telling me the one area in your home that needs to be organized the most.

2.  For a second entry, you can follow Make Life Lovely on Facebook and post a link to this giveaway (or to your favorite post on Make Life Lovely), and leave a comment telling me you did so.

3.  For a third entry, follow me on Pinterest and pin any project on Make Life Lovely, and leave a comment telling me you did so.

Easy enough, right?

This giveaway will close on Sunday, January 6th at 11:59 pm.  The random winner will be announced on Monday, January 7th, and will be sent a lovely little set of 16 packages of Martha Stewart labels.  Think of all the fun you could have organizing with all those labels!

If you need more organization help, check out my post on How to Organize All Those Ripped Out Magazine Pages that you know you have lying around ;)

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

Good luck, and happy organizing!!

XO, Laura