I'm doing battle against an invading army of toys at the moment. blocks, trains, dolls and dress up's have successfully found their way into every room in the house and I can't take a step without tripping over a toy pram or treading on a wooden block. I feel overwhelmed already but with Freddy's first birthday just a couple of weeks away I fear this toy army may just swell ranks enough to make a successful takeover bid.
In a desperate attempt to survive the coming toy apocalypse I have begun pre-emptive strikes, throwing anything currently not being played with, nor likely to be played with into plastic bags and sending them down to the local Op shop. I've also taken the opportunity to address the toy storage issue and sorted all the kids toys into old suitcases, they look cute, are super easy to lug around and keep everything well and truly contained. I'm thinking of adding a few picture labels to the suitcase handles to help the kids with putting away their own toys. Imagine that, kids that picked up after themselves, they might even teach their Dad.
All the kids in Interior Design magazines pick-up after themselves ... and they always look happy.
ReplyDeleteI like your photo ... those suitcases look very cool stacked like that. I'm about to start some toy vigilantism too. I'm going to come down like a tonne of piled suitcases.
What have you named your green short child?
The green short child is an exchange student from Germany, we call him 'Gunter'.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of children in design mags, have you seen this blog, http://unhappyhipsters.com/
a nice place to visit for a laugh. :)
The suitcases are a fantastic idea!! We are moving house soon and I cant wait to go through the kids toys and get rid of all of the "stuff" we have been collecting. We have signs on our boxes and they work great .... it's just that our boxes are now overflowing.
ReplyDeleteI use old suitcases for storage too! Toys and our 'stuff'. Old picnic baskets are good too - all of Zig's Thomas stuff is stored in them. And biscuit tins for the small (annoying stuff) - magnetix, star wars figures, etc.
ReplyDeleteI'm loving the new 'look'. I'm going to copy you.
Did you see someone identified my lamp as a chemist's heat lamp? Where are these markets you speak of?
I think you did a post once on making a wreath with fabric ... can you remember which post it was? Am I projecting someone else's craftiness on you?
ReplyDeleteIm currently waging the same war against toys, unlike you Im losing badly. I tried old suitcases but my little soldiers are destructive and nearly destroyed them, I wasn't having that so back on wardrobe they went. Yours look great.
ReplyDeleteWhite Cat, that could well be the fate of these suitcases. I shall be vigilant!
ReplyDeleteMMMC, rag wreath was indeed me, but I think you have already found the post. Let me know if you want any left over rag pieces, Ive got a couple of bags lying around, doing nothing in particular.
Zigsma, we are clearly brilliant!
Lizey lou, I think toys are the 'stuff' equivalent of mould.
You've inspired me! I am also tripping over toys at every turn but find it really hard to let go of a lot of them cos of sentimental reasons, I suppose I can't hang on to every single block and ball though...
ReplyDeleteYay, that's what we do too! I love the green one, I think I need some colored ones now..... :P
ReplyDeleteIt just gets worse - I was only complaining tonight, toys do my head in :/
ReplyDeleteLove your style, but my boys would ruin those suitcases - draw on them, or jump off them and then i'd be even sadder...
Xx
These are a great way to hide toys. I have done exactly the same in my kids rooms, but I haven't pulled off the stylish suitcase stack like you have. Gunter seems to have enjoyed to many tim tams, but looks happy enough.
ReplyDeleteDon't bother with the labels, it will only perplex you when toys go to wrong case. All in and away is good enough! Nay great!
I hate to tell you Estelle but it just gets worse! You are definately doing the right thing with the pre-emptive stike and funky storage. My little ones are 4 and 7 now and they freak out if I so much as mention getting rid of anything! Luckily we have a few new nephews/cousins to pass things on to but the pile still seems to be expanding exponentially.
ReplyDeleteLove the new look and feel.
It does get worse. Finally we settled on some things going to the thrift store, others being kept, and the ones my girl couldn't bear to part with but were just taking up space went into a box in storage. Thankfully the next time the box is looked in, she's usually quite ready to get rid of a lot of the items. The suitcase idea is a great way to go!
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