Works for Me: Managing Baby Stuff

Jonathan's mom here! If you know me, you know that organizing is not my forte, but I do give it my best shot! So, I have three tips that have "worked for me" that I'd like to share with you. I hope they are helpful to you and your family!

1.  Use a clear, over-the-door shoe organizer to store and sort tiny baby things. I made one of these for Jonathan's nursery before he was born using Butterick 6869, and you can also purchase one by Googling "clear over door shoe organizer." I like the clear pockets so I can see exactly what I have. From tiny socks to diaper ointment to Snappis to tiny shoes, it's so nice to get what you need easily without having to search the top of the changing table or the inside of a drawer or basket. Here are two: the one I made for Jonathan, and one I made for a dear friend using a crib sheet from Target's Dwell Studio Circles to match her nursery. (There was lots of fabric left over to do other crafty things!)  If you have a sliding door for your baby's closet instead of a regular one, you can use Command Adhesive hooks to hang your organizer on the front of the door.


2.  Use document boxes to sort your baby's outgrown clothes.  (Used copy paper boxes from your school or workplace are great, too, and are the same size!)  They are small enough to carry easily, they stack well, and they are easy to open up and see what you have.  With our firstborn, I sorted his outgrown clothes into "boy" and "neutral" boxes by size.  And when I've found a deal on something I couldn't pass up for a "someday" baby, it's been simple to put my special find in the appropriate box.  Now that we are (finally) getting ready to welcome a second baby, it has been super easy to get out the clothing I need, even though we don't know the baby's gender.

3.  Wash baby's socks in a zippered lingerie bag.  Just keep the bag in baby's hamper, put the socks in the bag when they're dirty, wash with the rest of the laundry, and you'll never waste time searching for tiny socks that the dryer ate again!
For more great tips, visit WFMW!

6 comments:

suzannah | the smitten word said...

i'm impressed with your craftiness--the organizers look great (and useful!)

Heather said...

These are all great tips that worked well for me when my son was little!

Anonymous said...

Great tips! Especially the sock one. Those little socks get lost sooooo fast. :)

Arlene said...

These are great tips; I do a couple of these things, but I'll definitely look into those over the door organizers for my son (and maybe one for me and the hubby, too, lol)

LunaMoonbeam said...

Brilliant!!

Cranna said...

I would just like to say that the polka dot organizer is indeed a tool that has made the first 3 1/2 weeks of life with Mr. M. most enjoyable.

Thanks for making it for him!

A