Restoring Order

Our week got a little crazy. Tuesday evening, Ian and Isabelle's school called with the news that school was canceled for the rest of the week. They had some type of mechanical problem, and needed the time to get if fixed. Unfortunately, the nice weather we had been having gave way to chilly, rainy days.
It was nice to have them home, but it definitely changed my plans for the week. I did want to tackle one more organizational project this week, but by Wednesday night, I still had nothing done.
Yesterday, things got even crazier. A couple who is in the morning class needed last minute child care for their two kids. I knew Ian and Isabelle would love that, because the kids are about the same ages.
Fortunately, I was able to work on organizing Isabelle's crafting supplies while keeping an eye on the kids. Her crafting supplies are stored in the bottom of a closet. I reorganized them with her after Christmas, but they didn't stay that way for long. Part of the problem was that we needed a system that she could keep organized mostly on her own. It was a little too hard for her to get things out and put them back in the same spot. She ended up just shoving things wherever they would fit, and then the next time she would have to dig through them to find what she wanted.
I had put off organizing this because I didn't know what would work with the limited space that we have.

I finally thought of a few things that would help, and Isabelle and her friend happily crafted away while I rearranged some of my stuff to make it work. I love the looks of concentration on their faces!
Once I was ready to start on her stuff, we dumped everything out and sorted it into different containers. I explained that we could only keep what would fit, and she was willing to get rid of quite a few things.

Now we have the same containers, but not as much stuff. The bottom drawer holds makers, crayons, pens, and pencils. Each is in a separate plastic bag to help keep things tidy. She can just take one bag out to use it and then replace that bag.
The next drawer has all of her paper and stickers. The box on top has the notebooks and school papers that she wants to keep. When it gets full, we will have to get rid of some.

We used the small container with drawers to keep all of her stamps, stamp pads, scissors, glue sticks, and glitter glue. This will stay out on the table with some crayons and construction paper. I'll have to see how that works.
The link for this week is not up yet, but I will add it later. I am happy to have some motivation for organizing.