Organizing a Closet for Two Children

Fitting two children into one closet can be a challenge... especially if you are trying to fit ALL their clothing.  I have a few tricks I would like to share about how I have organized my girls' closet, and if you click the photo above, it will take you to Flickr where I have labeled the photo with what is stored in each drawer.

How to have two kids clothing in one closet without chaos:

1. Keep clothes separate. Just because they share a closet does not mean their clothes need to be all mixed up together.
2. Have a system. Our system is simple: tops on hangers, bottoms in drawers.  The only exceptions are pj tops and onesies... I like those in the drawers. Another mini system is that empty hangers get moved to the center. This helps keep the clothes separate and makes grabbing hangers when you are ready to hang clean clothes easier.
3. Only keep the essentials in the closet. We store all out of season clothing and future "grow into it" clothes in labeled plastic bins under the daybed or in the garage.
4. Make it easy. We keep all the shoes tossed together in the crate because it is easy for everyone (even our two-year old to put them away. Her drawer is also the bottom drawer so that she can easily reach her clothes. I also put labels inside the drawers to "help" my sweet husband when he is putting away the girls' clothes.

Under the bed.


Helpful labels.

Now, if only I could keep my own closet this organized! Any tips??

Purple and Blue - A Baby Girl Surprise Jacket

Note to self: do not model the hand knits on the baby... you will end up with way too many photos to choose from.













Striping pattern is detailed on my Ravelry project page.

Little Boy Blue - A Baby Surprise Jacket

The buttons are on, the arms are seamed, my little boy blue is as cute as can be :)



If you are making your own BSJ and you like my stripes, I have made a detailed list of when I changed colors throughout the Schoolhouse press pattern on my Ravelry Project Page. The yarn is just some leftover Bernat Classic Wool and Lion Brand Fishermen's Wool and the buttons are just off the rack from JoAnn's, but even though this sweater is made with humble ingredients, the outcome is stunning... at least in my humble opinion.



More BSJ's to come! My purple version is almost done!

A New Toy and Does this Count as a Sweater?

The other day I was hand-winding a hank of yarn and it went slightly awry... well more than slightly.



This mess inspired a little amazon shopping, and I found this Tabletop Amish Style Wooden Yarn Swift. Because of the Amazon advertising fees I have earned from the purchases made by my readers (thanks, dad!) I had a little gift card to make this purchase possible!

And then today, it arrived! The Amish style yarn swift is great for the knitting hobbyist, it breaks down quickly and is easy to store. You can also get a Nostepinne (a Scandinavian invention) for making center pull  balls the old fashioned way. This swift is definitely not as quick as the Wooden Swift Yarn Winder's that expand and collapse, but it does get the job done without the headache of knotting up your hanks.

Now, I am happily winding yarn with way less mess.

In other news, I knit a tiny pink sweater today... It is for my niece's "Birthday Tree" and turned out so sweet that I may have to knit more tiny things.  But, the real question is... does this tiny sweater count as one of my twelve? I think yes!

Restyling a Flower Girl Dress

Yesterday, I turned the flower girl dress used in my wedding into a new flower girl dress for my sister's wedding! It was fun! Though, I learned a few things in the process I would like to share:

1. If you are working with tulle you need lots of patience and LOTS of safety pins. It is also good to not work with tulle in the presence of two year olds.

2. If you are adding a waistband to a dress, pin it on before you sew it (and mark where the two  ends should meet in the back. Otherwise, when you zip the dress back up one side may be a full inch lower than the other - and that looks funny.

The dress before (lovely for my Christmas wedding, but wrong for my sister's summer wedding):

The dress after (tulle!):

The happy model wearing her "White Princess Dress":

A motion shot:

A happy flower girl!:

I think she likes it :)