Get Organized For The Holidays!

12/23/2014

We are very blessed to have an amazing family who showers my little man with love at Christmas. As the only grandchild on both side of the family, not to mention the only niece/nephew, you can imagine the toy overload that hits our house every year.

This year, I headed out to our local Target to buy a few items to make our home more organized. “Wait a minute!” you might say. “You’re telling me that you buy MORE stuff to make room for MORE stuff?!” Yes I do. Thanks to the advice of my favourite home organization guru, Clare Kumar from Streamlife.

According to Clare, an organization system must be:

1. Visible– if you see things, you remember you have them, and are much more likely to use them!
2. Accessible– items must be placed so they can be retrieved using the appropriate amount of effort
3. Manageable– items have to be easy to handle – through both retrieval and putting away

I will add that in our case it also needs to be portable. Toys travel from room to room in our house. They also accompany us on trips to grandmas, dinners out, and on play dates.

Here are 5 of my favourite Target finds to help us organize our toys.  (Note that the links are to the American Target website but all products are available in Canada.)

1. I love Lego. It’s fun for all ages and stands the test of time. The only downfall of Lego is the virtual minefield it creates when tip toeing through the toy room. We’ve tried all sorts of storage systems, including the expensive Lego branded ones, which are too complex for a five year old. We love our Sterilite Stack And Carry Organizers storage bins ($9.99 at Target) The clear plastic allows you to see what’s inside and they are stackable making for easy storage in the closet. Plus, the handles make it super easy to carry from room to room or on trips.

2. My little guy has become a budding artist this year. While it’s a talent I definitely want to encourage, there are markers EVERYWHERE! I have tried various containers, pencil cases and jars. None of them have been easy for little hands to open and close and most of them were not very portable when it came time to grab some markers for a dinner out or trip to the doctor’s office. The best system I have found is large Ziploc Slider Storage Bags ($3.69 at Target). I consider this my very own home organization “hack” and hope to see it show up on Pinterest 😉 The colours and styles are always visible, the zipper makes it easily accessible, and the best part is that the weight of the bag allows it to stand up vs. traditional pencil cases that fall over and allow the contents to spill out.

3. I discovered these up&up Magnetic Clips when looking for a way to manage all of the receipts for our holiday gifts ($5.49 at Target). I have a clip for the gift receipts to be included with gifts, one for items to be returned, etc . The magnets make them easy to move around, and they look cute…especially when accompanied by these matching pins. Post Christmas, I’ll be using them to display all of the art work that comes home from school.

4. While not a toy, baking is one of my favourite things to do with the little guy. We have a new obsession with this homemade granola. The more I learn about super foods like chia and hemp heats, the more creative I get with the recipe. Unfortunately, it also means my pantry is overrun with various bags of goodness. These Rubbermaid Food Containers ($19.99 at Target) allow me to organize our ingredients. I like how they stack in various combinations and the narrowness allows for increased visibility on the shelf.

5.  This last one is a bit of a cheat – which is why I bought 6 of them! Nothing is more manageable or accessible than a storage bin. No need to organize the contents (shhh…Don’t tell Clare!) We just quickly gather all of our toys and they are out of sight. I love these Threshold Storage Bins because of their colour and texture ($14.99 at Target). These aren’t your typical toy bins made out of cheap material in primary colours. They have an adult aesthetic, are easy to handle, and are very durable. They can be transported from room to room, even with heavy items inside.

The best part of buying all of these items from Target is that I purchased them on my Target REDCard, which saves me an addition 5% every time I use it! Just enough money to treat myself to a guilt free Starbucks Latte on the way out of the store!

Wishing you and your family, a wonderfully organized holiday season!

Please note that while this post was sponsored by Target, all opinions are my own.  If you come by my house for the holidays, you will be sure to see all of these tools in action 🙂