Wrapping Paper Storage and Organization Solution

I work for a gift wrap manufacturer and therefore probably have more wrapping paper, ribbons, bows, tissue paper, gift tags, gift bags, and whatnot than most sane people.  As an employee I get a lot of free stuff as a perk, and even when my closet of supplies is full, it's hard to say no. My neighbors are fully stocked as well since I bring home more than I can handle.

My previous solution, and I regret that I don't have a photo of this for you, was to use our old vacuum cleaner box to store the rolls of paper and a cardboard box (let's say a 14 x 14 x 10) to store the tissue paper and ribbons and goodies.  The bags were stored in another larger bag. All of these were in the coat closet next to our stairs in the downstairs hallway.

I got tired of the chaos that would ensue each time a birthday party came up and I needed to dig through Christmas paper to find a juvenile boy gift bag. So I decided to organize.

My first attempt was to use some hooks and bungee cord and go vertical up the wall in the closet.  It was a good idea, but the rolls were too heavy and not stable in that set up. I tried to do it spending as little money as possible, but with that failed attempt, I was reminder that it is often cheaper to buy the right tools for the job in the first place! So I bit the bullet and paid just under $35 for this beautiful find at a home improvement store:



What is it? It's an adjustable pantry organizer. It comes with several deep and shallow shelves and some bracing rods (which was key for this project), and it mounts to either a wall or a door. It's over 6 feet tall, 17 inches wide and only 6 inches deep. It was perfect for the small closet and since it was only 6 inches deep, it didn't come out too far into the usable space of the closet.

So I went to work.  With a drill in hand, after about 30 minutes, I had this:

Please ignore the bags behind the organizer. That's my current gift stash and the next area to be organized.

You can see in the pictures that I used the shallow shelves to hold the gift wrap and the bracing rods several inches above to keep them upright. I then used the deeper shelves to store my ribbon, tissue paper, gift tags, and bows.

The "everyday" paper (aka - non Christmas paper) is stored on the bottom and the Christmas paper is up top. This was for two reasons. First of all, I'm more likely to access the everyday stuff most of the year, so it is easier to get to at the lower level. Also, as an industry insider, I know that this paper will always be 24" or 30" tall. The Christmas paper may be 24", 30", or 40". That extra height extends upward into my closet and doesn't affect the shelf height for the ribbon.






The Christmas paper is mounted so that the bottom of it is right eye-level for me. I can pull the rolls out from the bottom and put them back the same way.




So this set up is really working for me.  It keeps everything organized and easily accessible and it takes up vertical space that was not getting used otherwise!  Hooray! Now I have to figure out something similar to do with all of the gift bags!

Go visit We Are THAT Family and see what is working for everyone else too!  You just might get some brilliant ideas!

Learning to Accept My Limitations

I have a serious confession to make. I'm afraid that it might disappoint you. I'm afraid that you might shake your head and "tsk" in my general direction. But in the spirit of full disclosure, I must make this confession to you, my readers.

I am not Superwoman.

I know. Shocking.

Wait, what? You aren't surprised?

Well I was when I first figured it out. It's a tough lesson to learn. Especially when you think you've got everything under control. When you think you are supposed to be able to do everything that everyone else does.

Let me tell you what I learned though.

Those people that you are trying to emulate? They are not Superwomen either. There is something in their lives they are sacrificing in order to do what they do. And if you are trying to be just like several Superwomen...who all have different focuses...you surely must realize that you can't be like ALL of them. They can't even do that!

Here are the things I have felt the need to be:

Wife. Yep. My husband needs me. I don't mean he is helplessly useless. But he married me because he wanted me to be in his life and spend time with him. I am called to be his friend, his lover, his support, his cheerleader, his helpmate, his biggest fan, his encouragement, his sounding board, his support. I cannot ever forget that.

Mom. I love my children. I am their mother. They need me to be everything that a mother entails. This in itself is very multi-dimensional and overlaps into many of the categories below. It includes teacher, disciplinarian, cheerleader, friend, doctor, and even just a set of arms to snuggle into.

Engineer. Yes. I am an engineer. An engineering manager these days. This is something that I love to do. I love to use my talents and strengths to help a company succeed. I like using practical and critical thinking skills to tackle a task and create new and innovative ways to approach matters.

Homemaker. Even though I love my career, I feel the responsibility of making our house a home falls to me. I was brought up very traditionally and feel that the cooking/cleaning/ and all matters of the home fall to me. Not that Chip doesn't help--he's actually a HUGE contributor. Not that I don't want him to help, as I am VERY grateful for how wonderful he is. But the responsibility for making sure that it happens is mine.

Cleaner. This is part of homemaking, but it is a huge part for me. I'm a bit picky. When our house is not clean enough to eat off of the floor, my soul is not at rest. These days, my soul is more restless than I like.

Musician. I grew up soaking in music at all times. I love playing. I love singing. I was once much better at both than I am now. This is something I truly love doing, but has been neglected over the last few years when other parts of life have taken over.

Cheerleader. No. Not the kind in ponytails and skirts (seriously...no one wants to see that), but the mom on the sideline or in the audience cheering on my children in their activities. The attentive wife who attends and is enraptured by all of my husband's musical demonstrations.

Classroom Mom. I can't be there to cut out felt for craft time. But I want to send homemade cookies. I want to help with Christmas parties. I want to chaperone a field trip.

Volunteer. I want to help out at our church. I want to help out our neighborhood. I want to give time to causes that I believe in.

Friend. I want to have a girl's night. I want to have friends to chat with and have private jokes with. I want to go our for dessert or laugh over a pedicure with girlfriends.

Gardener. I don't have a green thumb or anything, but I'd love for the outside of our home to look really nice and cared about with brightly colored seasonal flowers and manicured landscaping.

Craft Aficionado. I want to be crafty. I want to make things that impress other people and make our home unique. I want to teach these skills to our children while getting to spend quality time with them. I want to offer one of a kind gifts to friends and family that were made with love and personalization.


And the point of this ridiculous list is that I cannot possibly be all of these things. At least not at the same time. And that is okay. I mean, I know that, but I must truly believe that.

• I must believe that it is okay to have a pile of laundry that needs to be done while I go on a date with my husband.
• I must believe that it is okay to have store bought cookies because I had to work later than allowed me to bake them from scratch.
• I must believe that it is okay that the we seriously need some new pine straw for our landscaping because I'm choosing to sit on bleachers and cheer for my son and his teammates on the t-ball team.
• I must believe that it is okay to say "no" to a volunteer opportunity just so I can spend time on a craft for our home.
• I must believe that it is okay to take a day off of work to shop and have lunch with a friend.
• I must believe that it is okay to leave my children in the church nursery so that I can volunteer somewhere else during the worship service.
• I must believe that it is okay to leave the husband to entertain himself while I plant some lovely annuals in the front yard.
• I must believe that it is even okay to drop all of these things (even the kids--there I said it and you can lash out in the comments if you want) just so I can take a long hot soak in a bubble bath and relax.

It's also okay for your children to see that dad sometimes wins quality time with you over them. It's okay for your children to see that the house can wait to be cleaned until you have helped a neighbor out. It's okay for your children to see that you can take a day off of work just to spend time with them alone. All of these things are good. In fact, all of these things are HEALTHY for them to see. They need to see that mom is a person. That mom is more than a worker bee.

Dropping one for another is nothing to feel guilty about as long as it is not always the same thing getting dropped. Nourish your relationships. Grow yourself. Be everything you want to be. Just realize that you cannot be all of these things at the same time.

And be okay with that.

I know that is what I will be trying to do.

Organization for Everyday Life

Some people are naturally organizers. Some need more help. Some seem to be completely hopeless. I personally fall into the naturally organizer category and Patrick has already proven to be a follower of mom's footsteps.


I wanted to offer a few tips that I incorporate into my everyday life to make my days less chaotic:

• Take my medicine/vitamins while the shower is warming up (consistency is key to remembering).
• Shampoo, rinse. Conditioner. Soap/bathe. Rinse conditioner. This allows the time for the conditioner to work while utilizing the time to get something productive done.
• Get gasoline on the way home rather than making yourself late the next morning on the way to work.
• Prepare lunches for the next day the night before.
• Prepare any checks and mail the night before you need to pay/mail it.
• Get kids' clothes out the night before.
• Consider choosing your kids' clothes an entire week ahead so all the work is done on Sunday before a new school week begins.
• Get own clothes out the night before.
• Have kids clean up their toys before bedtime so the house is clean when you get up each day.
• Have a menu plan for shopping purposes.
• After buying groceries, assign each meal to a specific day (I base mine on the date on the meats and fresh produce as well as any special schedules for the week). This prevents indecision that leads (at our house) to eating out for convenience.
• Schedule bill payments or have a system to organize bills that allows you to never be late.
• Establish a bedtime and bedtime ritual for consistency for your children...they thrive on schedules.
• Make sure you plan and schedule fun time or family time if needed. I know that if we didn't plan on it sometimes, it just wouldn't happen.
• Label bins/drawers/etc to find items easily (we do this with our children's toys as well as our toiletries).
• Clean out the medicine cabinet once a year. Pick a date that's easy to remember...an anniversary, daylight savings time, the first day of spring...whatever works for you.
• Change batteries in smoke alarms consistently (see item above for scheduling ideas).
• Make sure all pantry items are visible or you WILL buy something you already own by mistake (this is one I need to work on!).
• Keep cleaning products together. I personally keep general cleaning products that are used all around the house in the laundry room and bathroom cleaners underneath my bathroom sink. That's always the bathroom I clean first, so that seems to be the easiest solution.
• Keep a calendar or white board of appointment and/or important dates visible.
• Buy birthday cards at the beginning of the month for everyone celebrating that month.
• Keep stamps on hand.
• Throw away junk mail before placing it on the countertop. We have enough regular mail cluttering our countertop that we certainly don't need the addition of more paper!

This is just a list of items that I do (some more successfully and consistently than others) to try to simplify my life.

What about you?