I’ve been a big fan of Consumer Reports for years.  In fact, my husband teases me because I’m constantly checking their website to figure out the consumer best buy for everything from digital cameras to dishwashing detergent.

Last week I was perusing the magazine rack at Sam’s Club when I came across a great new magazine produced by the editors of Consumer Reports called Shop Smart.  Like Consumer Reports, Shop Smart is completely ad free and offers tons of advice based on independently tested products.  However, unlike its popular counterpart, this female-friendly magazine ditches the car comparisons and techie charts and replaces them with cleanly designed shopping suggestions on everything from tips on slashing your grocery bills to picking the best birth control.  Overall, I was really impressed.  I looked into subscribing, but unfortunately all the links on their site (www.shopsmart.org) link you to the original Consumer Reports magazine.  I’ve written to the editor for more information but I haven’t heard back yet.  When I do, I’ll let you know.  Until then, you may want to look for it on the racks.

While you’re there, you may also want to grab a copy of Better Homes and Gardens special interest issue of Storage for Kids Stuff.  Although I wasn’t terribly impressed with their organization ideas…Organize Mag does a much better job of that…I did love flipping through their cleverly designed kids rooms.  I found several great decorating ideas that I pulled out and added to my decorating ideas binder.  If you like idea magazines like Pottery Barn Kids, you may want to give this one a try.  Just thought I’d pass it on.

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Moving into our new house last month has required a lot of adjusting. Our new place has different quantities of cabinets, closets, and even living spaces. One of the biggest changes has been the loss of our basement toy room. Consequently, I’ve had to use a little ingenuity to find new ways to store tons of toys in small spaces.

In our old house, these inexpensive stackable shelves used to stack vertically and house my son’s books in his closet. In our new house, I gave them a new purpose by laying them horizontally across the top shelf in my daughters’ closet. The cubbies provide convenient toy storage for the rarely used items and allow me to take advantage of the loads of available space above the hanging bar. This same technique would be great for a hall closet, mudroom, or laundry room. Just thought I’d pass it on.

I purchased my shelves at WalMart for just under $10 each. I couldn’t find them on their website, but I found a similar product at Target.com. Here’s the link so you can check out what you’re looking for before you head to the store.

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As I’ve mentioned before, I tend to use the Pottery Barn Kids magazine as an idea base rather than a catalog. This week’s post is another example of how I borrowed their idea and made my own version for far less cash.

To make this simple arrangement for above my son’s desk, I started with three very inexpensive black frames from Wal-Mart. I found them in the craft section for around $4 each. I removed the glass and then primed the frames with white primer. I used the left-over semi-gloss accent paint from my son’s room to add color to the frames, but glossy acrylic paint would work as well.

Next, I purchased a roll of cork at the craft store for $5 and cut it to fit into the smaller frames. The cork was a little thin and had a tendency to puff up in the frame; so I used hot glue to layer two pieces of cork together and then glued it all to the frame backing. For the larger frame, I created my own double mat with heavy cardstock and then added one of my son’s preschool paintings.

It’s not fancy or particularly creative, but for less than $20 it was a great way to add a little color and functionality to my son’s room. Just thought I’d pass it on.

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I’ve always hated making bunk beds. It’s such a pain to try to reach up to the top bunk to tuck in the excess. My girls have a hard time too. We struggled with it until I came across this bright solution.

You should know, this solution will only work if you intend to keep your beds up against the wall. My girl’s room is too small to have freestanding beds, so this worked great for me.

Rather than buy two twin size quilts. I bought one king size and cut it right down the middle. Luckily, king size children’s bedding is almost always the first to go on sale, so I got a steal (as a bonus, they usually come with a pair of shams). After cutting the quilt, I simply stiched up the rough edges. It wasn’t particularly pretty, but it didn’t matter because no one ever sees the wall side.

The quilts look normal from the room side, but actually only hang down 2 or 3 inches on the wall side. It’s so much easier for my girls to make their beds now that they don’t have to fiddle with the extra width. The king size is a little longer than the regular twin size, but that actually helps too. I fold the excess length under the mattress and tuck it under the mattress supports. It helps keep the quilt from shifting all over and makes it easier for the girls to straighten.

I’ve washed these quilts tons of times and so far, the edges have held up well. I’m sure it won’t last forever, but getting 2 sets of bedding for under $40 is tough to beat. Just thought I’d pass it on.

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Thanks Erika, for you question about the details of the dresser system I listed on a previous post http://meckmom.blogspot.com/2006_02_01_meckmom_archive.html>. Here are few of the specifics.

I have 5 plastic drawers in each kid’s stack. I’ll list them from the top down.

· Shoes & Accessories
This one holds all those miscellaneous items like belts, slippers, hats & cover-ups. It also holds any shoes they don’t wear regularly. The shoes my kids wear on a daily basis (generally 1 or 2 pairs of casual and 1 pair of church) are kept in a big basket by the door.
· Underwear
This one is divided with foam core dividers (see previous post) into three sections. The first section holds undershirts and swimming suits. The middle section holds underwear. The last section holds socks and tights.
· Shirts
· Pants
· Pajamas

Dress shirts, jackets, and dresses hang on the rod above. My kids have fairly wide closets so I’m able to put two stacks facing each other in a closet with just enough room between for the drawers to open. However, when we had an apartment with smaller closets, I slid these under the beds and stacked one next to the crib.

As for the labels, I printed them on full-sheet sticker paper (I like Avery). I use laminating film (the cheap kind you buy in a roll) to cover and protect the label edges. I usually cut it about 1″ larger than the label on all sides.

These drawers offer one more bonus in my house. There’s about 8 inches of clearance between the back of the drawers and the side of the closet. I use that space as temporary storage for all the outdated clothes. Whenever I’m putting away laundry and come across something that doesn’t fit or is no longer in season, I just toss it back behind the stack.
Once a quarter or so I pull the drawers out and retrieve all the old clothes. I pack them by size into big tubs, label them, and stash them in the basement.

If you’re one of those people that can’t sleep at night because there’s a pile of unfolded clothes lurking behind your dressers, then this part of the system won’t work for you. But it works great for me :). Just thought I’d pass it on.

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In an ideal mothering world, I’d never pick up after my kids. They would feel responsible for their own messes and clean them up without my assistance. But let’s face it, sometimes it’s exhausting to enforce the “pick up after yourself” rule throughout the day. I created these “stash boxes” to give me an alternative to the constant nagging.

I really do believe that kids should be responsible for their own stuff, but I hate tripping over toys. With a stash box, I have a way to get the stuff out of my way while still enforcing the “pick up after yourself” rule. I’ve got one of these boxes (I bought them at Target for $9) just inside the door of every bedroom. Their purpose is to hold all the misc. items from around the house. The kids are responsible for emptying their stash box when it starts to get full and/or on the weekend when they do their Saturday jobs.

It’s also very handy for my kids when they’re cleaning around the house. They’re each responsible for tidying up various rooms in the house throughout the week. Before stash boxes, I would often hear “but I didn’t get this out why should I have to put it away?” in a lovely whining tone. Now they know that they can just take all the clutter from the room and distribute it to the various owner’s stash boxes. It speeds up the cleaning time for them and forces the original mess maker to do most of the cleaning.

I have loved these stash boxes. We use them constantly. I imagine they’ll be a staple at our house for years. Just thought I’d pass it on.

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I always loved those art boards you see in the Pottery Barn Kids magazine. They’re so simple and useful. However, at $30 each they were a little out of my range. Consequently, I decided to make my own.

I bought a pre-painted white, 8-foot piece of molding from Home Depot. I cut it into three equal sections and painted each with acrylic paint (I did two coats). Then I sprayed them with clear gloss to protect the finish.

I bought big magnetic clips from WalMart and popped out the magnets. Next, I used a very short screw to attach the clips to the board. I imagine you could also leave the magnets in and use a very strong super glue to attach them. I used 3M’s ‘command adhesive’ picture hangers to attach them to the wall (you can find those at WalMart too, in hardware next to the hooks).

For about $12 I made three of these handy little art boards and it they were finished in less than a day. My kids love having a place to stash their latest pieces and I love having my fridge back. Just thought I’d pass it on.

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This is not a novel idea, just a new twist on an old one. I really wanted my kids to be able to get themselves dressed in the morning, but found the current systems were not designed to be kid-friendly, they were designed to look nice in perfect magazine closets. I created this system as a handy alternative.

I bought a rolling under-bed wrapping paper box from WalMart. I created the dividers by trimming a sheet of white foam core posterboard and then attached them with clear packing tape. I also covered the edges with clear packing tape to add durability. I printed the labels onto white cardstock and then attached them to both the bottom and side of each section with clear laminating film.

On laundry day, I sort the kids clothes into baskets. They pick the shirt, underwear and socks they want to wear each day and I help them find the pants to match. Whatever is left in the basket gets put away in their drawers and the bin rolls back under their bed.

This solution is great because it’s completely kid friendly. Nothing has to be neatly folded and it’s all within reach of even the smallest arms.  Just thought I’d pass it on.  You can find the free file download for the ‘days of the week’ labels below.

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