Remember way back to January when I said I was planning on making some labels for the toy organizer that my son got for Christmas? Well, I just finally got around to it. Better late than never, they say!
I bought some large notecards and packing tape from the dollar store. Then at home, I searched around and found some kid-friendly clip art on the internet for each bin. I freehand drew the images on the cards, using the clip art as inspiration, and wrote the words on the cars using my best teacher handwriting. Then I just taped them right to the inside of the bins using the clear packing tape which should keep them fairly protected from rips and tears.
These are the labels I came up with.
I showed earlier how to keep puzzles organized by giving each puzzle a number and then marking each piece of the puzzle with that number. A Mad in Crafts reader asked if I had any tips for dealing with those toddler puzzles with the big wooden handles. I know those suckers can be a pain, literally. The pieces end up all over creation, and if you step on one or your new walker falls over onto one, you have some major hurt coming your way.
These mesh bags from the dollar store are very handy for playroom organization:
They come in smaller sizes with zippers or larger sizes with drawstrings (like the one I used to make my son’s Laundry Monster).
The smaller size is just the right size for those toddler puzzles.
The bag won’t cushion little bottoms from those knobs, but maybe it will help you keep them all in place. The mesh bags are also good for giant floor puzzles that make this kind of mess:
Throw those pieces in a mesh bag and ZIP!
No more worrying about losing pieces.
Then there’s this. This is also a problem.
I love playing Memory with my son, but all those little cards can end up where you least expect them.
Sure, you can put them in the tidy little holder that comes with the game…
…but as soon as you put that back into the WAY TOO BIG box…
..they end up all over the place again. Why do they make the box twice as big as they need to?
A nice, zippered food storage bag is a good solution. Most of them have labels where you can write the name of the game and how many cards go with the game (if you are super obsessive like I am).
You can support my family members who work for S.E. Johnson and buy real Ziploc bags, or you can get cheapy versions at the dollar store. My DT even has those giant zippered bags in stock for larger puzzles and games. If you have very small kids and are using the bigger plastic bags, keep a close eye on them so you don’t end up having one of them run around with a bag over their head like this episode of Mad Men.
Love that show.
What are those mesh bags originally used for so I know where to look at my dollar store? I need some of those for sure!
The mesh bags are used for delicates for washing ie…lingerie, bras.
Great ideas! I love that you can see through the mesh laundry bags. You don't even have to label them.
My dollar store has them on the aisle with household gadgets..clothespins, laundry bags,m storage containers..or do like I do..wander aimslessly ..marveling at all the discoveries to be had for ONLY $1.00 !!!warmest hugs, laughinf smiles..Loui♥
Good idea! Curious to see what happens to that chair! http://madincrafts.blogspot.com/2010/04/help-i-ne…
You have some amazing ideas. I have 3 girls and over the girls they accumulated a lot of toys. What would you do about lots of Barbie dolls, clothing, puzzles, books? How do you know what to get rid of because I think they have way too many toys for such a little play room? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Brittany! I would suggest that you go through the toy with your girls and have them sort into two piles, the toy they play with and want to keep and those they are willing to sell or donate. If you are able to have a garage sale or sell online, you can let the girls decide what they'd like to do with the money they earn from selling their extra toys.