Works-For-Me-Wednesday: Toy Storage

Those who know me understand my need for order. Even in chaos, I must find some sort of order. So it is only natural that I endeavor to bring my son into that world, too.

Poor thing.

I have used these white “dish” tubs from Wal-Mart for his stuff since before he was born. They’re cheap. They’re a great size, holding everything from diapers to blocks. They fit just about anywhere. And did I mention they’re cheap?

So it was only natural that his toys were stored in these tubs. But there was no order. No rhyme or reason.

So here’s what I did.

I decided how many tubs I needed, and what would go in each one. Then I took a few items from each category and took photos.I imported the photos to an editing software, resized the picture to business card size (2 1/2 x 3), added text and printed.I then attached these business card holders to the tubs and slipped in the photos. My thought was that it would be simple to switch out the labels when we shift things around.

It worked great. Except that my sweet little boy loved to peel the business card pockets off. The adhesive isn’t that great, but it would’ve been ok if he’d left it alone.

Since I had a label nemesis on my hands, I kicked it up a notch. I used clear tape. It took two pieces of tape to sufficiently cover the label. He hasn’t yet figured out how to peel off the clear packaging tape, and the labels are holding up beautifully. When I need to put different labels on the tubs, I’ll just peel off the label, tape and all.It makes it tons easier to pick up toys and keeps everything neat and organized. And things get put away in the right place (generally) when I’m not the one supervising, too. (The one on the top right isn’t missing a label…it’s currently EMPTY!) I also labeled the shelves in his Gent’s Chest. These are still the business card pockets. He hasn’t peeled those off. Yet. Poor boy. He doesn’t have a chance.

For more ideas and tips, head on over to We Are THAT Family for more Works For Me Wednesday.