This tip comes from my reader Nancy…
A way to save money on organizing and storing all the stuff children “collect” is to save the boxes that groceries and other store bought things come in. I saved boxes from diapers, wipes, cereal, tissues, etc. in all different sizes. When my girls get a new toy with pieces or start a new “collection” we will find a box the right size, cover it in decorative contact paper and put a label on the box that is cut from a picture on the toy’s packaging and secured with clear contact paper. This gives the toy and it’s accessories, or all like toys (ex. Littlest Pet Shop, Matchbox cars) a labeled place to be put away. Cereal boxes can be cut down to the needed size. It costs about $5-6 for a large roll of contact paper at Walmart and it can be used to cover many boxes, especially if you are careful when you measure and cut what you will need for various sized boxes. Large diaper boxes are great for dress up clothes, building blocks, barbie cars/horses/etc. Tissue boxes are !
great for small toys like Polly pockets, action figures, army men, etc.
I cut the tops and flaps off the boxes before covering them and have boxes that my girls have been using for more than 9 years without needing to be replaced. It is much cheaper than purchasing bins to put everything in, and since you were planning to throw it away to begin with, you can throw it away if it gets damaged.
My girls’ shelves are filled with these boxes with the pictures on them so they know what pieces go where when it is time to clean up too.
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Wanna learn how to save even more money? Be sure to read through all the Let’s Save Some Money posts. Keep in mind that not every tip will apply to your family and something that won’t save you a dime might save another family a dollar so no insulting the tips. You are, however, welcome to email me one at any time!
We’ve always stored/passed on/received used baby clothes in old diaper boxes. It’s a great way to organize clothes by size, and the boxes are very sturdy. When Huggies (Kimberly Clark) said that they were thinking of going strictly to the plastic baggy diaper storage, I protested loudly (or as loudly as you could in print) because I reuse and repurpose those boxes!
This is a great idea except my kids love to play IN the boxes!! I’ve tried this before, but the boxes never last more than a few days because the toys are dumped and the box becomes a boat or train or spaceship and it never fails, they tear it up.
I use baby wipe containers for things like Crayons and Colored Pencils. They come in cute designs and they’re easy to open!!!
Thanks so much for this! I will be using this!
Another great tip you can use is the boxes from the post office. Just tape up the lid if the item requires a bigger box and we put it in the cuby holes :D
To store all my kids stuffed animals, I found bean bags at garage sales that looked decent on the outside. I broke the zipper (they are glued shut), threw away all the beans, and cleaned the inside out really well. Then I put a new zipper in. Now I fill the beanbag with their stuffed animals. They can still sit on it like a chair. And just unzip and pull out stuffed animals as wanted. And it holds a ton of animals. :-)
That is really brilliant!!
LOVE this too!!!
We actually do this as well!!! It’s an excellent was to recycle/reuse and save money. Another thing I do is save all those wipes containers. I have them lined up with all sorts of craft supplies – foam stickers, regular stickers, glue, chopsticks, markers, pencils. They are the perfect size to organize all the craft things. I even use them for flash cards or small toys. Thanks for sharing!