Plastic Lids, Potatoes and Wading Pools Have This In Common

Potatoes, wading pools and plastic lids are all super stars when it comes to usefulness and easily done.  Easily done means no crazy ingredients or weirdness. Those are the two requirements that must be met for any tip to get my attention. They all passed the test with flying colors.

I know for sure I will never look at a plastic lid the same way again. A bag of potatoes will become a staple again in my kitchen. And I guess I'm just speechless when it comes to the wading pool.

Potatoes on Overtime

• Dye your hair darker with potato water. Dip a comb in the water that potatoes were boiled in and then comb through hair. To speed the effect and help set the darker color, dry hair in the sun or a blow dryer. Heat is what we are going for here. I have had success with putting on a shower cap. The heat coming from my head is trapped which intensifies the effects of dye.

• Black paint is made by baking potatoes until they are completely dried out and black. Grind thoroughly with a mortar and pestle. I bet there is a setting for that on a fancy blender or maybe food processor. I don't have either so it's up to you to let me know by leaving a comment. Add enough linseed oil to form a paint like consistency. I never have enough black paint.
• First aid kit inclusion as a compress after an accident. Boil a potato for a warm compress. Put that boiled potato in the refrigerator for a cold compress.
• First aid kit as itch relief. Salt a thin slice of a raw potato. Rub on hives or insect bites for itch relief.

Plastic Lids Do Double Duty

• Use the caps from spray paint cans to organize the screws, nails and other small find-me-not items that scatter about. Attach caps to a sturdy bottom so it's easily removed or maybe just setting them down in a drawer is just as good. An easy trim if they are a little too tall.  
• A three or four inch plastic lid from a tub of butter with an X cut into the center becomes an impromptu ponytail holder. The same plastic lid and the same X slid onto the handle of a paint brush becomes a shield to catch accidental paint drippings that can cause havoc.
• Rim down and placed over a drain makes a plastic lid a sink stopper.
• Be on the lookout for those lids that will be a perfect fit on a magnifier, binoculars or camera lenses. I really like this idea. I'm on the hunt.
• Plastic lids can be cut and used as stencils. Hey, haven't we heard that a potato... no wait, I'm thinking about a raw potato used as a stamp. Never mind. But this is a good one to remember.

Image by Pixabay

Wading pools are not just for keeping cool in the summer, but for looking cool too. Obviously, just look at him. So cool. Even though the price was right when I saw wading pools on clearance a couple of months a go. I could not figure out where to store my bargains until next summer, so no deal. Until now. I might even  buy a wading pool at full price when summer gets here

During the summer months fill with fresh cold water from the hose for your feet. Toddlers will love to swim in them and when your back is turned so will the birds. Filled with ice, they make a great cooler for drinks at your next party. Or corral toys and other yard stuff laying about.

Here's where my mind is blown. A new approach. I missed it plain and simple. An easy fix to my problem, couldn't see it. Completely missed it. I think two or three wading pools would be fun and functional in the summer.

During the winter months wading pools become storage containers for what ever fits into them leaving enough clearance to slide easily under a bed. Out of sight. This is a personal favorite of mine. Wading pools can be used in several different ways all year long, useful multiplied. Fairly inexpensive and available for purchase just about anywhere during the summer, easily done.

I think I have seen quite a few wading pools thrown away at the end of summer, either in a dumpster or setting beside the road for trash pick up. You betcha I'll be watching out for them now. And when buying a new one probably gonna consider how sturdy and dimensions.
Wading pools could be super useful for those long tubes of wrapping paper. And what a great organizer. Portable and stocked with everything needed on Christmas morning for Santa's helpers.

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Resources:
Images from Pixabay.com
1991 Reader's Digest's Practical Problem Solver 

Investing Money and Lots of Time, Start Saving Now

First, let's talk containers; tubs, baskets, boxes, crates, whatever it is you choose to sort and/or store your belongings.

• For short term storage, cardboard will work just fine.
• Plastic is the best choice when storing for the long term.
• clothes should not be stored in dry cleaning bags.
• storing precious photos in frames is a no-no.
• Label laundry baskets for presorting.
• Place a container in or near the most cluttered area of your house.  Items that belong in other rooms go in this container.  When you exit the room, take items (or entire basket) and deliver them to where they belong.
• Baskets placed on tables to hold assorted paraphernalia is always a good idea.
• pens, pencils, tape, remote, glasses...
• Turntables ("lazy susan") in kitchen cabinets will help keep things organized.

You may need to get caught up before you can start using the ideas above and more below.  So, here's how I would tackle the overload.  Guess what's first.  Oh come on!  You know this.  That's right, CONTAINERS!

Start out small.  Tackle one shelf or one drawer per day.  Try doing one room in one week.  Set your goals and achieve them!  Don't forget to reward yourself with every achievement.

• If you have more than one of an item, keep the best; discard the rest.
• Weed out your photos by first sorting them by people, time frame, or event.  Keep 10 to 15 of the best photos for each category.  Throw away the remainder or give them away to someone.
• Select a few of your old cards and crafts.  Find a way to honor and enyoy them.  This is what scrapbooks were made for.  Your kids might want to keep something they made for you when they were young.  If not, you can toss the rest.
• If you add something new to your closet then get rid of something old and unused.  Balance!
• Designate one day per month for organizing your home.
• Once a month evaluate your "someday" pile and fix it (pay to have fixed) or throw it away
• Make regular donations to charity.
• Set up areas for clutter producing activities like opening the mail.
• files labeled; 1) need action  2) to be filed  3) read later  4) outgoing
• Other clutter producing activities include; indoor gardening, crafts, paying bills, gift wrapping.
• proper tools for activity, trash can, stay current on tasks

REMEMBER!!!

Everythng you buy is an investment of not only your money but also your time.

• clothes must be laundered, dry cleaned, mended, donated
• knicknacks have to be arranged, dusted
• toys need to be picked up, stored, cleaned, fixed

While your shopping, mentally add this extra "cost" to the purchase price of the new item.  You'll buy less and save money and time, lots of time.

 

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Everyday Items Can Help Get You Organized

Have you noticed how expensive plastic organizers and totes are getting.  What's the deal?  Is there a shortage of plastic?  I have some other ideas to make use of some items you probably have around the house.  If not, I bet a thrift store near you has just what you need at a bargin price.

1. Egg cartons will work for storing golf balls.
2. A 3 tiered wire basket normally used for holding fruits and veggies in the kitchen could be put to good use in a closet for socks, belts, underwear, hats, gloves, scarves.
3. Fishing tackle boxes are great storage for jewelry.  Organizing craft supplies comes to mind too.  Art students and makeup artists have relied on them for years.
4. Don't want to forget a tried and true favorite, the icetray.  They'll keep really small items sorted and ready for use like screws, bolts, paperclips, tacks, pins, change.sette tape cases are ideal for keeping headphone cords safe and tangle free.
5. Cassette tape cases are ideal for keeping headphone cords safe and tangle-free.

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"Junk Bunkers" Are Not Our Friends

That's what Don Aslett is saying in his new book, For Packrats Only.  I found this article on one of my favorite sites, tipnut.  Let me know what you think, friend or foe?

What’s a junk bunker? Anything that creates space for more unnecessary stuff. Example: you need maybe four knives in a kitchen to do everything you need to do. Then you get a nice knife holder and it has twelve slots…Or the desk is overflowing with stuff, 90 percent of which is junk. Instead of cleaning it, you buy a desk organizer (ie., a junk bunker), which allows you to stack it higher and deeper. Unfortunately junk, if stacked neatly enough, even looks valuable. Lots of closet organizers are just junk bunkers. Your closet is loaded, shoes are running over the threshold and out into the creek. Do you sort and unload and get rid of the foot-pinchers and ankle-breakers? No, you buy a junk bunker, a shoe storage unit. Now you can hang them up one side of the door and down the other (and rip the door off its hinges).
They call the new closet contraptions names like “closet organizer.” These and all other bunkers are just innocent pieces of plastic, wood, or metal; they don’t organize anything. You are the organizer, the king, the controller. You’re the one who has to teach your closets and cupboards some discipline to keep them tidy.
This is just the tighter girdle approach: there’s too much there, too many bulges and rolls, so we move from a 6-ply to an 8-ply girdle and it works (or seems to work) as long as we hold our breath. But the problem isn’t gone–it’s just out of sight. Beware the:

• Cedar chest: A fragrant way to protect things you never wear.
• File cabinet: A way to store paper junk vertically.
• Garment storage bag: Oxygen tent for dying dresses and comatose coats.
• Bookshelf: One of the more attractive ways of insulating a wall.
• China closet: A piece of furniture that keeps dust off the stuff you never feed anyone out of.
• Spice rack: A study in herbal archaeology.
• Hard disk: An excuse to keep every byte of the leftovers.
• Pegboard organizer: An ingenious way to keep unused things in plain view.
• Industrial shelving: A high-tech way to keep our boxes of useless stuff from being crushed by more of the same.
• Hardware chest: A way to organize your lack of control in hardware stores.
• Desk organizer: A chance to slip things into a slot before ignoring them.
• Tie rack: A short course in tie-style history.
• Toy box: A receptacle for broken toys.
• Banker’s box: A high-class way to hide obsolete papers.
• Plastic crate: A petrochemical cage for questionable stuff.
• Record album holder: A device for testing the compression strength of cardboard.
• Desk spike: Death by impalement for pieces of paper you’re trying to ignore.
• Video cassette library: A way to store movies you’ll never want to see more than twice.
• Drawer organizer: A way to add something plastic to the stuff rattling around in there.
• Trunk: A former piece of working luggage that now only makes trips to obscurity.
• Sewing basket: A decorative enclosure for three or four things you use occasionally, surrounded by snarled thread, unraveling bias tape, antique hooks and eyes, and tangled zippers.
• Whatnot: A handy place to put things you oughtnot have bought.

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Tips To Reduce Clothes Closet Clutter

Lots of good ideas.  So let's get right to it.

Install clothing rods at various heights.

Instead of running a single rod the full length of a closet, install two rods, one above the other, to hold shorter items-shirts, jackets, vests, and skirts.  Hang a full-height rod in only a portion of the closet for dresses, slacks, coats, and longer garments.

Group clothing by color
This saves time by enabling you to see at a glance what goes with what.  Odd items that don't match anything else will stand out immediately-get rid of these. 

Group similar items together
You won't have to search your entire closet to locate a certain garment by grouping similar items together.  If you always wear particular items together, hang them together.  Items you wear frequently go in front and "special occasion" garments in back.

Organize shoes

Group shoes according to season, color, style and frequency of use.  Keep shoes you wear regularly in the most convenient place.  Store special-occasion shoes farther back.  Exactly how many black heels do you really need?  Get rid of duplicates!

Get rid of clothing you no longer wear.

If you haven't worn something in a year, you probably don't need it.  Unless a garment has special significance, it doesn't warrant space in your closet or dresser.  Give it to a friend or charity.  Items with value can earn cash at consignment shops.

Eliminate duplicates.

How many white shirts or black pants do you really need?  Keep the ones you like best and that look best on you.  Take the rest to a consignment shop or put in a thrift store drop box.

Get rid of clothing that doesn't go with anything else.

Those garments that don't coordinate with anything else in your closet are probably the wrong color or the wrong style for you.  Pass them on.  They'll be right for someone else.

Don't hold on to clothes that are too big or too small.

Let go of the past.  Live in the present.  Replacing an entire wardrobe if you gain weight can be an incentive to stay on your diet.  Replacing an entire wardrobe could be your reward for losing weight.

Choose a personal color palette and only buy clothing in that palette.

Determine what your best colors are and only buy clothing in those hues.  This will allow you to reduce the number of garments in your closet while actually increasing your wardrobe's versatility, because everything goes with everything else.  Shopping becomes much easier because you bypass what isn't in your color palette.

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New Ideas For Organizing

Image via WikipediaThe first idea is a simple one and I think I used it before but had forgotten.  Use shoe boxes in drawers to separate contents.  Everything will be much easier to find.  For example, use them in your underwear draw to separate socks, underwear and all other undergarments. 

Shoe boxes make a great storage container for smaller toys that usually get lost in the bottom of the toy box.  To keep the lid on, cut a strip of elastic, glue the ends to the box and wrap around.  This will allow for easy access for the little ones and since it is glued on, it can't be lost.

The second idea for boxes would be to glue them one on top of each other.  Place at one end of a closet for extra storage that can be used for shoes, hats, purses or sweaters.  It just depends on what your needs are.  I really like this idea and plan to put it into action the first chance I get.

An empty refrigerator box can be a temporary closet when you put a curtain rod through the sides. Place your rod at least 4 inches down from the top and 14 inches out from the back to allow space for the hanger.  Don't forget to support the area under the rod holes with extra pieces of wood or cardboard. 

A cold cereal box makes a great organizer for magazines.  Just cut diagonally from center of one side to the opposing corner.

I've got just one more idea and it's a good one.  Stand a tall, narrow box on it's side in the cupboard to make a place for cookie sheets, trays and baking pans.

Does anyone have other ideas like these?  Would love to hear them.

I really enjoy being organized but the equipment needed  to accomplish this can be costly.  These ideas save me money and save the environment.


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Tips For Organized Storage

Keep everything within reach of the area where the work is to be done.

Items used most often should be stored between waist and eye level.

The highest storage space is for seldom used items.

Small items are best stored below.

Store bottles, cans and jars at eye level so they can be easily reached and seen, leaving shorter containers toward front.

It may help to put labels on the front edge of shelf.

Sheets and towels can be set vertically on a shelf, just like books for easy selection.

Use shoe boxes or bread pans to hold plastic lids or packets of seasoning mixes.

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