Works for Me! Containing Toys (and an upcoming carnival!)

I am playing along with Shannon today over at Rocks in My Dryer and participating in Works for Me Wednesday!

After the dust settled from Isaac's first birthday party a few years ago, I realized that we had entered a new phase. The "Kids Toys are Overtaking the House" phase. If left to its own devices, this phase is not your friend, dear reader. Gone were the days of little board books and sweet rattles that can be tucked away in a single basket. We were becoming surrounded by Little People houses and mounds of Lego's that needed to be organized.....quickly.

Because casa de phillips is not designed with copious amounts of space just waiting for toys to be crammed into it, I had to spring into action before toys banned forces and staged a coup against our family.

Enter these lovely boxes from the Mecca of Organization, The Container Store.

I use these clear boxes to sort and store toys in each of the children's closet. You can find similar boxes at your local Wal-Mart or Target, but they just don't match the heavy-duty standards of Container Store plastic. Because of their clear color, the kids can see exactly what wonderful treasures lay inside. Therefore no set of toys becomes stashed away never to be played with again simply because Isaac could not tell what was inside a box.

Did I mention that these boxes are heavy-duty? These containers have been used as step-stools, modes of transportation, and chairs many a day here at casa de phillips. They have been dropped off high shelves and used on road trips, yet retain their original form. These lovely boxes come in a variety of sizes (the small ones are perfect for crayons and craft items) and are quite reasonable in price. Besides, who can actually put a price on a organized home?

Here are a few pictures of Isaac's closet and how we use these wonderful, wonderful containers:

Here's the really great thing about these containers: Isaac can easily put away toys because he knows exactly where they go! Less work for me! Also, closets stay neat and organized (This is actually how his closet looks everyday after clean-up. It only takes us about ten minutes to clean the house up at night before bedtime because of our nifty way to store toys!)

Works for Me!

By the way, the Saving Summer Carnival is set for Monday June 2nd! The button will be up later today!