There are some parts of our home that seem to be harder to keep organised than others. Under our Kitchen Sink is one of them!  We had a bit of a makeover this time last year but after a year of living and using it is was shambles!

So what I have learnt….

1. Limit the number of cleaning products.  

It is easy to get overwhelmed by a miscellaneous assortment of products.  I have 4 every day sprays (on the top shelf) with a fifth occasional wood polish.  From Left to Right – Dishwashing Liquid, Daily Granite, All Purpose and Daily Wood. Naturally they are all Method products.  

Daily Granite –  for our black granite bench tops. Never have they been left so sparkly clean without any residue! If you are anything like me you clean your kitchen bench about 10 times a day!

All Purpose – I use this for the stove top, appliances and cupboards.  It is an oil and grime fighter! This one is a new “flavour” and smells incredible!

Daily Wood – For our dining room tables.  We have a small breakfast table and then a lunch and dinner table that get a good work out!  

Dishwashing Liquid- In a handy pump bottle as you can see we love it!  I hand wash lunchboxes, tupperware and kids plastics. 

2. Get rid of packaging and replace with reusable storage.

I take all the dishwashing tablets out of their packaging and empty them into this tin.  We use Method “Smarty Dish” tablets. It keeps them out of sight of little eyes and means I can declutter 3 packets into one tin.  Great for buying in bulk.

3. Containerise.  

I use some small plastic baskets from Kmart to hold all of our cloths and occasional use items like gumption, leather cleaner etc.  I also use one for our “wipes”

4. Keep the items you use daily at arms reach.  

This helps to ensure they are easy to put back into the right place! The ones you only use occasionally can go on the bottom or at the back and if you havent used it in the last 6 months THROW IT OUT! 

5. Enter our METHOD Giveaway.

So you too can throw out the rest of your cleaning supplies! 

Enter via Rafflecopter below and tell us

What is under your Kitchen Sink?  

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This is a giveaway. Method supplied me with the products mentioned in this post.

This weekend this happened.

That is one cloud reaching slide.  Ridiculously scary for your average 3 year old.

But nothing about this child is average.  ALL BY HERSELF!

This child figured out at least 3 different ways to make the slide EVEN MORE FUN then it already was.

It made me realise how far we have all come.  Two years ago I wrote about playgrounds.  And how much FUN they were……..

I am the fun police. 

In the spirit of keeping it real I have been so busy on fun police shifts, I have only just realized that I had taken up this position.

Yes, that’s right it has taken me 4 long years to realize I had fully morphed into a fear ridden, anxiety filled, arrester of fun.

The realisation goes like this.  Son aged 4 asks me if we can go to the park AND take his bike.  I can see the look on his face.  He is worried that this event, may enter into fun police jurisdiction.  Negotiating two activities, the park and the bike riding, is a risk assessment nightmare.    I try hard to escape my fun police role and give in with  a “as long as we go now before it is too late, too dark and too cold and you have your hat, sunscreen, helmet, shoes and socks, training wheels, jumper, first aid kit and drink bottle. 

Somewhere between finding matching socks and stopping daughter aged 1 from drinking the sunscreen, we had lost 30 minutes.  It was now approaching the danger zone.  You know that time when it is possibly too cold/too dark/too close to the evening routine time?  This one activity could jeopardise our clockwork organisation systems.

But we do it.  I am determined to let him have fun.  He rides his bike along the path with me screaming behind him.
“Slow down, ring your bell if someone is in the way, watch where you are going, stay on the side of the path, dont go too fast!”
Not sure why I bother he is clearly having such a good time that all heres is FAST.

We have a break and he plays on the playground.  Whoever builds these things sure does not have a fun police hat.   Going up the slide the wrong way seems to add to the fun especially if you can collect your sister on the way and push her to the bottom. Swings are a mid air version of dodgem cars, and seem to magnetically draw toddlers to their high speed collision fun.  The spinning bucket lures them in with a false sense of dizzy fun but leaves them screaming for assistance when they cant stop its whirling.

In case I wasn’t already in a state of anxiety there is a fantastic new spinning swing.  A massive big circle around which a posse of kids are staring and daring each participant to attempt it. Who thinks of these things.   The kids push it around at vomit inducing speeds and much to my horror, son aged 4, spots it.  I bite my tongue.  The voice in my head beckons the fun police to get lost.
LET HIM GO ON IT.  So I do.  He watches carefully.  The kids are getting giddy and then jumping off to wander around the playground in a drunk like state and fall down.  “Go on” I say.   “You can go on it.”

He pauses a while.  Taking it all in.  

“No Mummy, I’m too scared. “

I have done it.  I have succeeded.  What a sensible boy.  I have taught him well.  Or have I?

But wait there’s more.  A hill.  Not just any hill but a pyramid shaped steep incline that is like a child’s Everest.  At the top, a line of children, holding cardboard boxes.  They take it in turns to toboggan down the hill.  The speed they rack up is incredible.  If only I had my speed camera with me.  They squeal with abandon.  The look on their face is pure joy, thrill, excitement. 

“Wow Mummy” son aged 4 starts.  I wait for it.  This looks like fun.  

“That is soooo dangerous”  he scolds and points.

What!  Dangerous?  What have I done.  I have filled him with so much fear he can no longer see the fun.  There is only one solution to this. I kick off my shoes, hike up my jeans and grab his hand.  He looks at me like I’m a deranged woman.  We balance on the top of the hill and wait our turn.  With each child’s giggles and squeals his anxious face gradually turns to anticipation.  It’s his turn.  I maybe ready to have fun, but I still want to catch him at the bottom.  I run down.  He waits for me.  Once he spots me his confidence soars. He leaps.  Literally.  At first he looks scared but then he starts squealing.  He zooms down that hill faster than he could ever ride his bike.  

We went up and down that hill a hundred times.  He got creative and more daring with each ride. Going on his stomach, going backwards, trying to surf the cardboard.  There were times where I held my breath, but I never closed my eyes.  I wanted to soak in every bit of this moment.  So maybe for him it was just a step off a hill, but for mummy it was a giant leap.  A leap without my uniformed hat. Maybe it got too late, too dark and too cold.  Maybe our evening routine was out of whack.  We didn’t notice.  We were having too much fun.

Calling all tooth fairies, we have a lost tooth in our house!

FINALLY aged 6 years and 4 months, Master O, lost his first tooth!  More than a month ago I noticed Master O had two adult teeth breaking through on the bottom.  Sure enough those baby teeth were starting to wobble, ever so slightly. One in particular has been hanging by a thread and last night literally as we were about to go out for dinner, it came out! Well actually Daddy pulled it out! There was a tad bit of shock about all the blood (from Master O AND Mummy) but the excitement of FINALLY loosing a tooth soon took over.  

Of course this happens on the extremely rare occasion of us going out for dinner. Put the tooth back in! I am not ready for this!

After recently searching for Tooth Fairy Inspiration I had some vague plans of what I the tooth fairy, would do.  It all centered around The Fairy Door that thankfully arrived from Elle J this week! You know how I feel about traditions. So let the new tradition begin!

OUR NEW TOOTH FAIRY TRADITION

Place tooth in a glass of water on the bedside table.

Need to work on this one as I was sacred he might “drink” his tooth in the middle of the night!  I am going to go with a cushion or box next time.

In the morning the Tooth was replaced with a note. This was an etsy printable. It came as an instant download package (great for last minute) with a tooth fairy receipt as well .  I had no printer ink or card, so it looked nowhere near as nice as I would have liked! The note thanks him for his tooth and taking care of his teeth and tells him to go downstairs for a treat!

The surprise was that the Tooth Fairy had come!  She had created her own entryway into our home!  She used her saw and hammer to create a Fairy door and left behind quite a mess!  She had tried to sweep and mop up her wood shavings but will be back tonight to finish the job.  She left lots of coins, a receipt, a letter and some fairy dust.

The Saw and hammer (althoguh I think its more like a chisel) These are form a miniatures collection I have had since before I had children!  They are intended for a dolls house and I have been waiting for the perfect moment to use them.  A whole box was once given to me by someone who didnt want them!  The only details I have is that the tags say “Vicki Collection” 

The broom, mop and wood shakings which were some straw and toothpicks cut up, good thinking Daddy.  That was his thoguhtful touch to the experience.

and Master O’s reaction……..

PRICELESS

He was in absolute disbelief.  Worth every minute of the late night panic and shenanigans.

Together they chatted about how she came in, wether she would make a new door next time and what kind of fairy she was.

They decided that the money actually belonged to the fairy and she had accidentally left it behind! NOOOO!!!  They need a lot of convincing that the money was in exchange for the tooth!

BUT IT’S THE FAIRY’S MONEY!!!!!!!!!

So to ease her crying Master O shared his money with his sister.  Seriously I could have cried. 

So I did.  Just a little. You know when those moments just hit you that these amazing creatures called kids are actually yours? And that they believe in such wonderful, innocent, magical, joyous things?  That they are kind and considerate enough to share their much anticipated tooth Fairy money? That sometimes all those really ordinary parenting days accumulate and transform to create an extraordinary moment you want to savour forever.

Overwhelmed by it all.  Not them, just me.

Magical Memories.

Edited to add: The Miniatures:
I just did a quick google of Vicki Collection and found this site 
Gosford Hobbies

A little bit expensive but oh so cute! 

Well my friends it has been a while!  A whole week with no post.  That does not mean that life has been quiet, in fact I have spent so much time on the interwebs but not on the blog! 

So to spur me into writing more this week, I will start with a family catch up.

We have spent June getting our finances sorted.  Creating folders, budgets, plans, timetables and wrangling my Super.  It was during a visit to our accountant that I discovered I had no idea where my super was or how much I had and turns out I really should know these things.  That is a whole post unto itself!

Turns out our finances are in pretty good shape besides now spending a FORTUNE on petrol with the school commute, we are going ok.  Seriously that Electric Car ad where it says it costs $2.50 a week to run, had me in tears! I am starting to think that we are better off filling the car up at the start of the week, just so it doesn’t feel like I am constantly putting in $30-40.  I can remember uni days when I would put $20 a FORTNIGHT in my Barina! What ever happened to cheap petrol? 

Making Plans

It was with massive excitement that we thought we could see some action on our dream home land.  Turns out it will still be another 3 years away.  On inquiry it also appears that the predicted price of the land is WAY OUT OF OUR BUDGET.  But we will find a way.

Our slightly (I mean we have the tiniest bit of money to play with) positive financial situation means we may be able to make some baby steps towards the DREAM HOME. Some land in our area is actually reasonably priced although the blocks are ridiculously small and sloping.  We are doing some research into what type of house you can squeeze onto such a small sloping block (300m2) in the hope of maybe building an investment property.  We looked at a few established homes but they were so over priced and badly designed. We love the building process and love to do as much as of the work ourselves as we can.  So now we are crunching the numbers. Block price + house price –  how much we could rent it out for. If the numbers add up there will be no stopping us.

The New School

The new school is everything we thought it would be.  Master O has 15 children in his class, with a full time teacher aide. I KNOW!  15! Read it and weep teacher friends.  My teacher friends and I are seriously jealous of his teacher! We know how much more work you would get done, how much extra support each child would get, how much less stressful teaching would be.  This is what sold us on the school.  It really is a numbers game. With each extra child in a class, you have less room for hands on activities, more complex behavioural mixes, more differentiating of curriculum to do (if you can do any when you have 30kids) The beauty is he is in a small class without sacrificing on big school facilities and opportunities. But naturally it comes at a cost in both fees and that ridiculous commute. I can only hope that one day all schools could be funded in a similar way, to achieve more teacher support and smaller class sizes.  

Because of the small class sizes Master O has received some one on one work and has simply thrived.  There is no other word for it, he has just progressed so rapidly and is soaking up every new experience.  The curriculum isn’t just skimmed over but dived into. It is hands on, active, real life and in depth. The academic expectations are high but it is balanced with lots of active outside time.  His teacher was impressed at how quickly and effortlessly he settled in.  It was as if he has always been there.  I cried many times the first week in awe of how confident and sociable he is.   As his teacher said “his ability to adapt to new situations will stead him in good form for life”  He has joined the chess club and tennis lessons.  Next week he will go on his first excursion EVER! It will also be my first ever “Parent Helper” Excursion.  Is it weird to admit that I have been overly excited for this day to come!

Little Miss A

Borders on way too cute and adorable for words and one step away from being given away to a good home.  She is slowly but steadily coming our of her shell and taking less time to warm up to new people.  She is talking positively about going to Kindy next year but I am not sure the reality of the fact that her parents wont be there with her has set in yet.  She doesn’t walk but skips, flits, prances and dances.  She fights with me every morning about what to wear and gives us glimpses of the teenage girl horror yet to come.  Her Shirley Temple Curls are constantly held out of her face by a menagerie of clips she has selected and her favourite shoes are gumboots. All STYLE.  She has amazing cutting skills which will be great at kindy but not so much at home.  She has cut clothes, pasta packets in the pantry (she was hungry?) and magazines, books, newspapers.  Not a day goes by that I do not discover a little pile of her clippings. Touch wood, her hair has escaped her skills so far. She is the most caring child and is the first to help any injured living thing.  She wont kill an ant and I find band aids on dolls, ponies, her brother, herself and the cat. Oh and SHE IS OBSESSED WITH CHOCOLATE.  Or as she calls it Choco-lattee. French accent and all.

As for me, I am going to be an aunty!  TWICE! Before Christmas!  Both my Sister in Law and my Sister are pregnant! It will be lovely to have some babies in the family again. I have been dipping my foot back into the work scene and taking the occasional day of relief teaching. I LOVE IT.  A chance to get out of the house, catch up with my friends, and teach without the stress of report cards, assessment and staff meetings.  We have gotten used to having no baby sitters on hand and I have actually managed to go out for dinner a few times and even to the movies last weekend to see THE GREAT GATSBY.  It does mean that we get no “Date Nights” but fingers crossed we may be able to get a night out when we have family come to stay.

So that’s where we are at…..life seems to be just as hectic as ever and not working seems to have given a false sense that I will get things done around the house. But life is good.  I catch my self in moments of realising how awesome everything really is. It’s hard to not get caught up in the big picture and I constantly try to embrace the everyday.  The hot chocolate milk EVERY morning, the school lunches, the car conversations (including Master O telling me when he is a teenager he will get a “Sweet Ride”) the baby cino moustaches and picnic in the park play dates.  It was all of those things I dreamed about when I became a mother and yet sometimes, I think so much about the future, I forget that right now, life is practically perfect.

We love craft.  To be more precise, Little miss A loves craft, Master O will do it reluctantly but always enjoys the end result, and me, well to be honest I think I have more fun than them!

The hardest part of creating craft projects for my two, is thinking of an activity they will both enjoy doing.  It has to be easy enough for Little Miss A but creative enough for Master O aged 6.  It also has to be an activity that requires easy to find resources.

Well Funky Elephant have thought of both.  A “Funky Elephant” subscription allows you to receive a monthly trunk full  ”interesting projects to complete! Watch them get creative and learn through craft, activities, role play and fun projects”

When they say a complete kit they mean complete….

There was everything for two or more children to complete two different craft projects.  EVERYTHING even a drop sheet to keep the mess contained!

 Little Miss A Loved painting her little family of stick people! 

They both loved giving their “family” clothes, “goggly” eyes and string hair.

They turned their stick family into a hilarious puppet show! 

The trunks are available in a 2, 4 or 6 moth subscription and are literally delivered to your door and adressed to the child, making receivng the package half the fun. This would make a great Birthday gift, especially if like us, many of the little kids in our lives live 100′s of kilometres away! We could have a bundle of fun delivered straight to their door. The trunks are great to keep on hand as a riany day bonus or even a school holiday boredom buster.

Even better we are giving away 2 x $25 vouchers for you to receive your very own Funky Elephant trunks.

 Simply Enter via rafflecopter below and tell us?

What would you love about a Funky Elephant “trunk”?

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Another mythical creature is getting ready to make an appearance in our household. The Tooth Fairy! Finally after 6 years and 4 months, Master o has a wobbly tooth!.  He is one of the last children in his class to loose a tooth so needless to say the event is highly anticipated!  So I am searching for a new family tradition to begin.  A tooth fairy tradition.

The Tiny Letter

Never fear you don’t need to figure out how to do this yourself!  These come as printables and can be found on Etsy.  You simply print and assemble your personalised letter at home!

The Tooth Tin

This idea could easily be made at home.  A simple tin, some scrapbook paper and a cute label.  A safe place to keep those teeth as they await the fairy. 

The Printable Letter/Collection

This is one option I will be taking up.  A whole series of printables for the occasion from letters, certificates, boxes, stickers, even a note to hang on the bedroom door. 

The Fairy Door

This is one of those ideas I first posted about on here years ago but have never done for myself.  I think the opportunities this could provide for many different occasions is HUGE.  For our Christmas Elf, The Easter Bunny, The Tooth Fairy and maybe even a Reward Fairy!

The Tooth Pillow

It is so nice to see a range of boys and girls pillows to hang on the childs bedroom door.  I love this idea as it is something that could be passed on to the next generation as well.

The Certificate

I want something like this to keep for my own record! Which tooth fell out, how it fell out and when! A magical way of keeping memories for years to come. I am thinking I may do something like this on the project life journalling cards, ready to put in the album.

So what adventures does the tooth fairy get up to in your house? 

 It’s time to get on track with the family finances.  If you are following this series you will now have….

1. Done Your Homework – Using bank statements you have outlined the amounts coming in and going out of your accounts. You have also sorted these items into categories (Non negotiable, and recorded the frequency of the payments (Weekly, Fortnightly, Monthly, Quarterly)

2. Created a Family Finance Folder – This is where you will “file” away all family financial papers, particularly, bills and receipts. This folder is sorted into categories such as Rates, Mortgage, Electricity, Phone, Internet, Insurance. It is best to have one section for each separate category for example, a separate section for each type of insurance (Health, Life, House, Car) You will see why this works best in the next step!

You are now ready to……..

GET YOUR FINANCE FOLDER  ORGANISED!

Family Finance Folder Form

Family Finance Folder Form

• Print out the FAMILY FINANCE FOLDER FORM (Above).
• You will need one for each category of your folder.
• Glue this form on the inside of each divider in the Family Finance Folder.
• Record on the top part of the form “the details” for each company. This includes the company name, phone number, your account number, policy name, phone pin numbers and internet passwords. By doing this, each time you need information about that company or need to correspond with them you have everything you need in one place. If you don’t have all of this information, don’t worry as we are about to fix that!
• The bottom “Correspondence” section is for you to record, any correspondence with the company. This includes any phone calls or emails sent or received.

NOW ITS TIME TO SAVE MONEY!

1. Ring Each company.
2.  Firstly check all the details are current and ask for your customer number or any other information you don’t currently have on your FAMILY FINANCE FORM.
3. Now ask them to give you a deal! Literally that’s what you need to ask.

• Is this the best deal for me?
• Have you got any better deals seeing as though I have been a loyal customer for “x” amount of years?
• My circumstances have changed and I want to save money but stay with your company, what do you suggest?

Companies want to keep business and you will be surprised with how quickly they will offer you savings!

Also consider: 

• Is your package negotiable?
• Does it still suit your needs? (Do you really need all the Foxtel channels? Do you use STD calls or do you need less data allowance on your internet)
• Can you package multiple items to save money ? (E.g Car, Health and House Insurance or Phone and Internet)
• Can you commit to a longer term plan in order to save money?
• Have you seen a great deal at another company? Many companies will price match their competitors.

This week by doing this I halved our Foxtel bill and realised we were hundreds of dollars in CREDIT with our rates.  I organised to have that amount refunded to us so I could use it to pay off our credit card!  When any money is in Credit it is earning them money, not YOU! How we got in Credit?  We paid more than the required amount by paying fortnightly via direct debit instead of quarterly as the company suggested.  Over the period of 2 years we saved over $600!!!!

By recording the details of this on the correspondence form you have all the information you need in case of disputes, errors in payment and to remind you to call again in 6 months to check for more deals and SAVE MORE MONEY!

Any other tips for saving money on your bills? 

I have serious finishing up issues.  I start a million things at once and can begin a new project in a blink of an eye and then they stagnate.  Some become part of the never going to finish pile, others have little adjustments made here and there.

1. Staying on track of deadlines and life.

AKA send Little Miss A ‘s Pre Prep forms in.

In this technological day and age I can not believe there is not a better system for acquiring people’s details.  Could there not be some giant database password protected where when filling out a form you simply enter your password and it imports all your details? Including Certified copies of Birth Certificates.  Seriously if I have to hunt another JP down to get a certified copy of anything I am going to refuse to fill out the form.  I have had the forms on the desk, filled out, just waiting to get sent.  Something tells me I dont really want to send them as then it is all too real that my last born child is going to school! 

2. Staying on Track of Family Finances.

AKA stop buying stuff from the Reject Shop.

This one is a MUST.  We are falling back into bad habits and MUST curb the trivial spending.  Maybe June could be a Money Challenge Month? Only the essentials? No home decor items, magazines, takeaway coffees, hot chips, scale back on the Foxtel? 

We have some great systems in place, but it’s time to do our finance homework again.

3. Staying on Track with the paper piles.

AKA Finish the Home Office.

I WILL NOT START ANY NEW PROJECTS

until at least these ones are done! 

So are you a starter and not a finisher? Any tips for staying on track? 

There are some VERY clever Mums out there on the Interwebz.  Unlike me who has been a teacher for a long time and a mum, they have manage to fine tune the most amazing “Homemade Paint” recipes!   

FIZZY PAINT

This one comes from Kidspot. It is perfect for using on the driveway, footpath, concrete or pavers. The paint is an unusual fizzy consistency that the kids go crazy over! It is easy to wash off and can be made with things you probably already have in your cupboard!

GLOW IN THE DARK PAINT

Who wouldn’t love glow in the dark paint! If you are looking for ANY kids craft ideas, Growing a Jeweled Rose is the blog to go to! You can buy flurescent paint but glow in the dark paint works best for this. Besides the glowing ingredient everything else you will be able to find right at home.

BATH CRAYONS

Years ago I bought some ice cube trays from ikea that were a long cylinder shape. They were intended to be able to be used to stir your drink with the ice cube, but i have found a different use… Bath Crayons! We LOVED bath crayons but unfortunately the black and blue got into the grout and has stayed their ever since. These are easily made, much cheaper and cleaner too.

PUFFY PAINT

I LOVE THIS PAINT. It is a staple in our paint collection as it is so easy to make and use. A tip is to use it on cardboard or buy some art paper books that have a thicker cartridge paper in them. We bought squeeze bottles from Riot Art and Craft but sauce bottles from your local discount store work just as well.

EDIBLE FINGER PAINT

When I say edible, it really mean non toxic. This recipe uses items from the kitchen cupboard, so although not tasty it is totally safe for accidental finger suckers. Finger painting is brilliant for fine motor strengthening and I have to say, besides the mess, I find something soothing about finger painting. Finger paint on some plastic sheeting (available by the metre at Spotlight) and then “print” their creation onto a piece of paper by laying it on top!

WATER COLOUR PAINT

I haven’t attempted this one yet as I am still trying to figure out what corn syrup would be equivalent to here in Australia. We love watercolour paints mainly for the easy clean up factor. They dont stain, last forever, and give the most beautiful effect especially over the top of a drawing.

SHAVING CREAM PAINT

Source: havingfunathomeblog.blogspot.com via Larissa on Pinterest

This is the first paint recipe I ever made! It was such a favourite with my Preschool class it saw many reincarnations. Green St Patricks Day paint, Red Christmas paint….the list goes on. Once again I love this recipe for it ease of creation and clean up. The kids go ga ga over this. It feels so nice in their little hands! Best bit is you can even play with it in the bath. The main ingredient is shaving cream. The cheaper the better I say. Just make sure you buy Shaving CREAM, not shaving GEL. Yes I am speaking from experience!

CHALKBOARD PAINT

Source: theidearoom.net via Larissa on Pinterest

 

This one is not for the littlies. Chalkboard paint can get quite expensive but not if you make it yourself. All the ingredients for this recipe can be found at the local hardware store. This is great for reusing and repurposing household items or would be great for mother’s Day or Father’s Day gift making at school. Or even for some decorating projects around the house!

You can find all of the original links underneath each image. These blogs are ALL AMAZING! So what paint are you keen to try first? Have a recipe to share?

The temperature here has dropped. By dropped, I mean dived head fist into the single digits.  In the space of  one week we have gone from having the fan on to digging out the blankets.  As the seasons change so does our home.  Different spaces need adapting, organising and replenishing.

When Organising for Winter I start with…..

THE BEDROOMS

Target - Dotty Flannelette Sheet Set

Blankety Beds.  I have two sets of bedding for the kids bedrooms.  Winter and Summer.  For Winter I replace their cotton fitted and top sheets with cozy flanellete.  As I went to do this I realised this would be the first Winter Miss A was not in a cot!  So I purchased these great basic flanellete sheet sets for her bed.  For now I am leaving their coverlets on the bed and adding a thicker blanket on top.  By July I know I will have to get out the thicker quilt covers.

Target - 2 Pk of Holeproof Socks.

Building On the Basics.  This is a great time to restock the kids wardrobes with the basics.  It has been a year since we have needed so many singlets and socks and in that time My Pigeon Pair have GROWN! For Master O I stock up on plain white singlets. These are great for under school uniforms. Little Miss A I can get a little fancier and get a range of white, pink, purple.  I also restock their sock collection.  I find multipacks offer the next value for money and I like to buy at least 5 pairs of socks each.  Socks are a one wear item, take longer to dry and get extra filthy, hence needing 5 pairs! This time of year I also buy the kids a pair of new slippers each.  To help extend the wrdrobe budget I also grab a few plain long sleeved shirts for layering.  They can be worn under a summer pinafore dress, with a summer skirt or under a t-shirt, to give the summer wardrobes a little stretch into winter. With all of these new items coming into bedrooms it also important to cull the old!

15 L Storage Container - Target

Storage. Starting with the socks and singlets I sort, cull and store.  Any socks that are too small, I donate.  Any that are small but I think I could pass on to friends later, I store. I try to do this before buying anything new.  It’s amazing to find that you have items that you had bought, not used and forgotten about! Unfortunately having a “pigeon pair” means that there is rarely anything to pass down, within our family! I also use this time to put cull, sort and store the past seasons clothes.  Little Miss A actually had a whole contianer of clothes that I am sure will still fit this next summer!  I simply took them out of her wardrobe and put them into a storage container. I labelled it with it’s sizes and season e.g Summer Size 3-4.  

Vacuum bags are great for long term storage. Like the clothes that are too small to wear but to good to throw.  But for clothes that we may need occasionally during the current season I like to use a plastic storage container. My trick is to buy a storage container smaller than I think I will need!  It forces me to be more brutal with my culling and is easier to fit and lift on top of the wardrobes.  I like the 15L ones from Target as they are sturdy, clear (not smokey) and have great lids.  They are also only $7!!!

The bedrooms are now “Winterfied”with freshly made winter beds, to cosy up into on a cool night.  Now if anyone knows how to keep “My Pigeon Pair” in their own cosy beds and out of mine let me know! 

This is a SPONSORED POST.  I was paid by Target to give my own opinion and advice on Organising for Winter.