The Simple Things: An Easy Storage Container

There is a mitten monster on the loose here and apparently he only eats little girl mittens, I think that this year we have lost at least three.  I imagine that the reason he is not around in the summer is because he’s wearing six pairs of sunglasses that have all magically disappeared.  I would like to note that I have been wearing the same sunglasses for the last five years and just recently bought myself a new pair, but I still have my old ones as a spare.

I have found that in order to keep my sanity everything needs to have a “place” to go.  In our new house a lot of things need designated spots to go and once everyone is aware of what spot everything goes we should be able to find what we’re looking for without organizing a search party.

In my desperation for quickly leaving the house I came up with these handy and simple containers to store mittens and sunglasses and other stuff, there will be no more hunting.  If mittens and sunglasses aren’t in the container we won’t be wearing them today!They are simply 2-liter soda bottles with the labels removed, tops cut off (I traced the basic shape using a marker and just cut following the lines), and holes cut for hanging over the doorknobs.  I used a large circle punch to start my holes, but I had to cut them larger with my scissors.I have left these plain for now, but they could be easily dressed up in any number of ways: stickers, paint, markers, ribbon, scrapbook paper.  I’m keeping these simple while we test them, no sense in making them fancy if they aren’t going to be an effective solution.  I am hoping that this new system will make leaving the house quicker and also make my life less stressful.  I have also made one for myself for my sunglasses and coupon organizer.  What are your handy tips for staying sane?, (I need all the help I can get).