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This is my little boys’ closet in the aforementioned terribly finished basement.  Bleh.

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Every morning it’s the same jumble of socks, underwear and jammies haphazardly tossed on an ugly particle board shelf.

Originally I had white bins from the dollar store like Mr. Sock Bin below that worked great.  The only problem was that I bought the bins in 2004 and they finally wore out.

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And while it would only be $4 to run back  to the store and grab some new ones, the whole point of my challenge this year is to see if I can do with out.

My solution:
Make chicken cashew sandwiches on croissants for dinner.
A couple times.  Ahem.
No seriously.  Check it out:

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Those little bites of flaky goodness come in clear plastic containers that are perfect for wrangling clutter.

After washing and removing labels, I dressed my new “bins” up a bit by sewing quick fabric bands …

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… made from the left-over scraps from my boys’ new quilts (thank you Grandma L!)  Aren’t their quilts awesome?  I love the dinosaur scale machine quilting. *Swoon*

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I’ll probably add some cute little labels soon, but for now I’m loving how much cleaner the boys’ closet stays.  Now all those jammies …

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… and socks and undies …

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… have a tidy little space to call home.  (And no more mountain of clothes—phew!)

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Now if I can just find the perfect {free} paint to help the rest of the closet ….

Happy organizing!

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Linking up to:

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16 Comments

  1. Jayna Rae

    Valspar is giving away small cans of paint this week. I think it's 1000/day.

  2. Nike@ChooseToThrive

    Jayna,

    Thank you so much for the tip — you're my hero! All of the samples are gone for today, but I'll try tomorrow.

  3. Umm Hello recipe please… Chicken Cashew Croissants sounds delicious!

    There's got to be a trick to ordering a paint sample from Valspar. I've tried for the past 2 days, even staying up til midnight with no such luck. Let me know if you get through.

  4. Brilliant! Simply brilliant!

    Many Blessings,
    Melissa

  5. morganmadeit

    Great idea! Our recycling center has free and cheap paint that they mix, strain and re-package. I don't know if that's a common practice or not but it might be worth a try.
    morganmadit.net

  6. Kelli @ RTSM

    Very clever! That is a great way to wrangle small stuff like socks and undies:)

  7. Angie @ The Country Chic Cottage

    Great upcycling!!! 🙂 I love it!

  8. Looks great! I use chinese take out containers for small things in my craft area. domesticdeadline.blogspot.com

  9. What a great use for something we usually throw away. Thanks for linking to We're Organized Wednesday.

  10. Sandy Jenney - Organize with Sandy

    I love that! What a neat idea.. and looks great with your little touch! I know this sounds really wild.. but what about covering that particle board with fabric? Velcro it maybe? I don't know….sewer I am not.. lol
    I found your blog from Organize and Decorate Everything. I'd love it if you could stop by and add this to my Organizing Mission – Monday link party (I keep it open until Sat) Hope to see you there.

  11. Sarah @ Modern Country Style

    I love the way you're sticking with your challenge. And witht he addition of the fabric bands, they look lovely!

    Ugghhh, I have socks EVERYWHERE too. And how many odd socks does one boy generate? Too many, that's what!!

    Grrr…. 😉

    Sarahx

  12. A Mormon Mommy

    What a clever idea. I would never have thought of that! Bravo!

  13. Sassy Sites!

    What a fabulous idea!! Thanks for linking it up at Sassy Sites for our Trash to Treasure Tuesday! Have a wonderful weekend! xoxo!

    Marni

  14. Kacee Garner

    I do this for my son's closet too except I use plastic dishpans from the dollar store. They also work for storing paper/files flat or vertically. And they are super sturdy and easy to carry. I love them!

  15. Latoya @ The Scott's Crib

    He Nike, That is just too creative, I would have never looked at those and thought of that! Brilliant!