Make-up Organization: Take Two!

Awhile ago, I talked about how I organize my make-up. Taking one look at the original, you would know that eventually it would turn into a mess. And it did. I mean, just look at this shit.

I must have been smoking some good stuff that week to think the drawer would stay neat and organized.

I said at the time that organizers would be the best bet to keep everything contained and corralled. I was right. However, instead of buying a tray at the store, I decided to upcycle some boxes around the house and make trays.

All of the boxes were cereal boxes, a few tea boxes and I think one granola bar box. Like any good mom, I feed my kids the sugary cereal in the mornings, so in no time, I had enough boxes to fill the drawer. I just wrapped them in pretty scrapbook paper once I cut them to fit the height of the drawer.

And then I filled them all in. 

There were some places where the boxes created holes but I was able to fill these with little things like bobby pins and my extra contact case or rubber bands for The Good Daughter.

If you are new to the blog, know that my number #2 organization tip is to group things with similar functions together to save time and create functionality. This is a great example. 

So all of my lip stuff goes in one box, sandwiched between eye make-up and deodorant.

Contacts and foundations are in the first box followed by my brushes and moisturizer and make-up setting spray followed by my contact cleaners and disposable contacts.

Bronzer and pressed powder in another box.

Samples and rarely used items are all the way in the back.

I makes me so happy to open my drawer in the morning and have everything in a spot I can find. It even motivates me to wear most of the stuff.

So the next time you need to organize something, ask yourself if you have something on hand like cereal boxes you could use instead of buying something new. It will make you feel like a dirty hippy to upcycle. But you wont' smell like patchouli, I promise.

Hair Accessories Organizer AKA Hair Pretty Holder

When The Good Daughter was a tiny little thing, I thought I didn't have to worry about hair accessories. I mean, I only have the barest few to get me by. I don't even wash my hair daily, so there's that too. 

I wish now, that I had gotten a giant ass bow for her when she was a newborn but I didn't. And then she didn't grow hair for nearly 2 years. Bless her heart. 

She's going on 4 now and has gotten some hair accessories along the way. She calls them hair pretties.

Look at that sweet face. A mugshot, 16 years in the making

Before I just had them all lumped in a box in her dresser, but it was messy and unorganized. I wanted a way for TGD to see all her choices but in a way that wouldn't drive me nuts or require any work on my part. Lazy parenting FTFW.

So I made this hair accessories organizer aka hair pretty holder to hang in our bathroom.

All of her hair pretties are hanging out for her to see - flower clips or headband? the eternal question - and choose in the morning.

It was a simple thing to make too - just some foam board, fabric, ribbon and pegs. I did have to fiddle with the head band holders but after some more hot glue, they are now even and can hold several more head bands. 

I decided to use 4 ribbons for hair clips. Then I added two loops that attach with velcro to hold her ponytail holders and then the two pegs for head bands. I attached it to our linen closet in our bathroom using command strips. I imagine when TGD gets a little older, I can hang this in her room.

For now they keep my bathroom and her room hair pretty clutter free.

Week 25 of the Weekly Organization Challenge

This is week 24 of The Good Wife's Weekly Organization Challenge! This week focused on make up.

As a dirty hippy, I don't have much use for make up. I don't wear a ton of it. In fact, most days I don't wear any. I am sure working from home has a lot to do with that. I swear I used to wear more when I worked in an office. But since I never really learned how to apply it, I never did anything beyond plain eyeshadow and lip gloss.

So most of my make up is lip gloss (I told you I had an addiction) and mascara and eyeshadow.

I keep it in a basket in my drawer in the master bathroom so everything is contained.

 

If I wore more makeup I would probably use a divided drawer organizer to keep everything separate. For now I just group like items together (are you sensing a theme here?) for ease of access.

Maybe one day I will get the urge to wear makeup more consistently after watching hours of you tube videos on how to apply it, but for now, I am lucky to get some mascara on.

Organize along with me in The Good Wife's Weekly Organization Challenges

Week 24 of the Weekly Organization Challenge

This is week 24 of The Good Wife's Weekly Organization Challenge! This week focused on first aid kits.

Our first aid kit is relativity small. We have the basics covered - rubbing alcohol, iodine, bandages - which we keep in the bathroom. We save the heavy duty stuff for the zombie kit (coming up in week 48).

I also have a ton of baby powder, since when you have a baby, grandmas and older aunts like to buy the shit out of it and give it to you regardless of your need for it. I mean, really, what the fuck do I do with four bottles of baby powder?!

Moving on.

I keep the first aid kit in the bathroom so I can wash wounds in the sink and not have the kiddo or husband track blood all over the house. Aside from all the useful baby powder I have in mine, there are some items that would be useful to have in a first aid kit. These include:

~Two pairs of sterile gloves
~Gauze and other dressings*
~Soap and alcohol wipes*
~Adhesive tape*
~Antibiotic ointment*
~Burn ointment*
~Adhesive bandages in a variety of sizes*
~Eye wash solution
~Thermometer*
~Hydrogen peroxide*
~Instant ice packs*
~Isopropol alcohol*
~Specialty medical supplies like those needed for high blood pressure or diabetes
~Scissors
~Tweezers*
~Tube of petroleum jelly or other lubricant*
~Zinc oxide*

*notes what I have in our kit, although the lube always makes me feel like a perv

Organize along with me in The Good Wife's Weekly Organization Challenges

Week 23 of the Weekly Organization Challenge

This is week 23 of The Good Wife's Weekly Organization Challenge! This week focused on the medicine cabinet.

Currently we keep most of our medicines in the kitchen. We keep the most used - cough syrup, allergy meds, heartburn meds - in the cabinet with the drinking glasses. We keep the other meds in the kiddo cabinet.

Even though this area is grouped in with bathroom organization, you aren't supposed to store medicine in the bathroom since steam will break them down. I chose to store them in the kitchen since it is the most popular room in the house. I keep the medicines in a basket on the top shelf so no littles can get to them.

We don't tend to get sick all that much but The Good Husband seems to get hit with allergies often and one cold per winter. So we have mostly cold and allergy meds in the medicine basket. I like to group the meds together, so in this case allergy meds in the back, cold meds in the front.

If we were sick more often or had more people in the house that needed more meds, a simple way to keep them organized would be to have separate baskets for each type of meds - allergy, cold and flu, tummy issues - with labels on the front to identify them.

Organize along with me in The Good Wife's Weekly Organization Challenges

Week 22 of the Weekly Organization Challenge

This is week 22 of The Good Wife's Weekly Organization Challenge! This week focused on the bathroom. 

In our house we currently only have two bathrooms, one guest/kids and the other the master bathroom. This post focuses on the guest/kids bathroom since it is the one most people in our house see.

 And like every other room in the house, this one isn't painted or decorated yet either.

We totally fucking suck in that department.

But it is organized and this is how:

Next to the sink, I keep a basket for washcloths and guest soaps. I am running low on the soaps right now, since we haven't stayed in a hotel and I haven't had the chance to steal any, but this thing is normally full.
 

 

I made sure the kids have a place to hang their towels so wet towels don't end up on the floor. I used the command hooks again, this time in a brushed steel color to match the hardware.

I also keep the shower curtain closed for two reasons - one, it allows the plastic liner to dry thoroughly every day after The Good Husband or kids use it; and two, it allows me to hide the baby bathtub and kids toys that live in the bathtub. Let's face it, no one is going to come over and just happen to take a shower. There is no reason for anyone to be in there without advance notice, which would give me time to get the toys out.

However, people are over on short notice that need to wash their hands, so I keep out hand towels and soap in a pump bottle since most people are turned off by the idea of using bar soap.

Organize along with me in The Good Wife's Weekly Organization Challenges