Lately I’ve been feeling like the girls’ toys are taking over our house! Toys seem to be EVERYWHERE and it has been driving me crazy. So with Christmas coming up and new toys awaiting a happy home I decided it was time to do a little simplifying.
First I rounded up all of the stuffed animals. Have a FREAKIN‘ stuffed animal! WAY too many. Two things we have plenty of: stuffed animals and barbies. The two things the girls want Santa to bring them: stuffed animals and barbies.
So I started bagging and organizing. Two rules I always follow when I get rid of toys. First of all this must happen when the girls aren’t around (obviously) and secondly, I bag toys and don’t head to Goodwill immediately. I hide the bags and wait awhile. I wait to hear “where is my this or where is that?” Anything they miss I get back out, but what I usually find is that aside from one or two things, they don’t miss much. After about a month I head to Goodwill with the toys (or take them to grandma’s house if they’re toys that don’t get played with here, but I’m not ready to part with myself). :)
Cleaning out the toys made me feel so good that I moved on to drawers and closets. Here in San Diego we’ve finally dropped our 5-10 degrees in temperature which signals winter so I folded up all of the summer p.j’s…
to make room for the winter ones. I still have a couple of Christmas p.j. sets stashed away somewhere… I went a little nuts this year.
How long do you think the drawers will stay like this? At least the top two will stay clean for awhile since the girls can’t reach them yet. :) 
Since I was on a roll I decided to finally do something about the ever growing amount of art/drawing supplies that seem to find their way into every spare drawer or cupboard we have.
I gathered everything up in a big messy pile and dove in. BIG trash sack for this project.
Now you can find coloring books and stencils in one drawer…
and all types of paper in another. And another drawer (not shown) full of all of their art supplies.
Now the girls can play, get dressed, and create in a clean, organized fashion. As for me, I just FEEL better.
xoxo, Erin
Are you nesting already!? Actually with your level of tidynest…you probably do need to start ahead of the norm. House looks awesome! I am not going to say come do mine cuz that comment is WAY too obvious.
I want to be more like Erin! Seriously, my whole house needs an “Erin style” organizing make-over! I only have 2 spots that stay organized (pantry and toy closet)and I tell Ryan – see, I really am organized! I just can’t get the rest of the house to be that way! Great job, Super Mom!
You really do have your energy back from the 1st trimester don’t you? Seriously, I’ll pay you to come to my house and do that! I need every one of those areas organized!! You’re soo good!
You are more than welcome to come and “Simplify” my house anytime!!!! You shouldn’t be nesting already though. I expected this behavior more around March!!
Wow…you have inspired me!! I need to do this, too!!! Better yet, why don’t I just hire you to come and do it for me!! That sounds like a great plan!!
Abbie is watching me type, and really wants me to say, “My little kid (her!) wants to come to your house!!”
Your pics took me back years when my daughter was younger…girls have SO much more stuff than boys! And they remember more of their stuff too I think…darn. I love all the pink and purple!
Ahhhhh….. I feel better about life, just looking at what YOU have accomplished!!!
I with Hopie. Just reading this made me feel a little more complete, and a little worn out. Thanks! Now I can just relax the rest of the day:)
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You are amazing and inspire me to organize!
awww…I feel better with you. Now I want to do the same.
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i love it. i love organizing. i love to clean-out drawers & make everything nice & tidy. i love it so much that just reading your post made me feel all happy inside. :) i even learned a new trick or two from you. nice work. so glad you love to organize too!
All I can say is WOW! You are inspiring me. I still have one box of Natalie’s stuffed animals (age 24) in our basement. Let’s see its been a few years since she’s asked for them so I think they can go. I’ll bring that up when she’s home for Christmas.
Yea you pretty much rock the Organized Super Mom category! Way to go! Hopefully this will inspire me. :)
Looks like fun! I love to organize the toys and art supplies. I need to do my son’s room. Frankly, his room scares me a bit…ten year old boys…need I say more! Great work!