The one about organization

Disclaimer: I am not a Thirty-One consultant-- I never have been. I just own quite a bit of their fabulous loot :) I also wasn't paid or compensated in any way for this post.  

One of the recurring resolutions people seem to make this time of year is to get organized.

With this in mind, I thought I'd share some of my favorite organization solutions that use my Thirty-One bags/totes/pouches. I'm pretty sure I own more Thirty-One stuff than many consultants I know.  

This is my greeting card tote:

I keep it just outside kitchen on the ledge heading into the basement. When I kept it elsewhere, I realized I wasn't utilizing it like I should. Now that I keep it within just a few steps of the kitchen, I'm pretty good about filing away cards after I purchase them. I'm also good about getting cards mailed on time since everything I need is in the tote (cards, envelopes, stamps, pens, return address stamp). 

I also made one for my mom for Christmas. She's really good about mailing cards-- just needed some help organizing all of them.

Inside the minivan, I have this Fold'n'Go organizer. I keep blank checking deposit slips and gift cards in there (along with a pen). I change purses often and found that I wasn't always great about making sure these items made the transition into the new bag. So now I leave them in the car and have them when I need them. The folio also has a nice sized pad of paper in it.

Also in the mini, I keep all of my loyalty cards on this Thirty-One key ring. Why lug those around on my every day keychain? Instead, I keep them in the van and grab this whenever I head into a store.

In between the driver's and passenger's seat, I have another Organizing Tote. This resides permanently in the van. It never, ever leaves.

It houses the trash bag, spare diapers/wipes, Wet Ones hand wipes (essential!!), the aforementioned Fold'n'Go organizer, and a Thirty-One zipper pouch. The side pockets contain a stash of pens, pair of scissors, gum, and a lint roller. 

The zipper pouch contains:

• nail clippers & file
• tissues
• lip balm
• feminine products
• Tums
• Vitamin C chewables
• Ibuprofen
• Coupon organizer

I LOVE the large Zipper Pouches. They're probably my current favorite Thirty-One item. As you'll see, they serve many purposes in my life (I own five of them and also gave two as Christmas gifts this year).

This next bag is my every day bag. It's what I carry almost every time I leave the house. It contains a Diapees & Wipees carrier and another Zipper Pouch that houses Ryan's on-the-go toys. I love the mesh pockets on both sides-- one carries Ryan's cup and the other fits my travel mug perfectly! 

My every day bag-- it goes with me everywhere!

If Thirty-One carried NFL licensed merchandise, this of course would be either a Broncos or a Colts bag. But, until then, I decided on UK :) It's fun carrying it around b/c I frequently get stopped by strangers asking if I went to UK. I didn't, but that doesn't prevent us from carrying on a good discussion. In a few instances, the stranger and I are six-degrees-of-Kevin-Bacon :) 

Zipper pouch I keep inside the UK bag

Ryan's on the go toys....dinosaurs, cards, coloring book, more dinosaurs :)

I use this Cindy Tote as my professional bag. I've got a few meetings each month I attend for some groups I'm associated with, so this is where I keep my binders for that. I love that it's big enough to carry my Macbook Pro. Usually larger bags don't have long enough straps, but this bag doesn't have that problem. It's perfect!

Cindy Tote used for meetings

 This tote is from many years ago. I think it's the first Thirty-One product I bought. I use it as my "beach" bag during the summer (we live in the Midwest, so there's no such thing as a beach here!). This is the tote I grab whenever we'd heading over to my parents' house to swim or if we're meeting friends at the local splash park. It has RJ's swim trunks, water shoes, towels, sunscreen, water bottles, and my hat. The bag hangs on the wall on the way downstairs into the basement. Convenient, yet still out of the way.

My "beach" bag :)

I have 2 of the Large Utility Totes. These are probably the only items that I don't have a routine or permanent use for. I've used them to transport casseroles for meetings and to haul Christmas presents over to my folks' house. Usually, though, I use this one (shown below) as a laundry bag for RJ's clothes. His pint sized clothes means they fit into the bag nicely. I like this b/c I can carry this bag on my shoulder plus carry another laundry basket upstairs at the same time. Efficient :) 

Laundry bag for the little one

This is (yet another) Large Zipper pouch. It's very functional-- we use it store all of our cables/cords/adapters for when we travel. We don't travel lightly with respect to our electronics. We have iPads, iPods, Kindle readers, a Kindle Fire, Nintendo DSes, cell phones, and a Macbook. Rather than using our home cables, we have spare cables all packed up and ready to go when we travel. We also have a travel sized 5-outlet surge protector that comes with us. 

Before I discovered the zipper pouch, I used a small purse to carry these, but the zipper pouch is more flexible and takes up much less space. I love being able to just throw this bag into our backpack when we travel.

And finally, I have this mini organizer, wallet-thingy. I actually have two of them (got them during a sale where I could add them on for $5). I don't think I've ever used it. I'm still trying to figure out what to do with it. It used to fit my cell phone, but I got a new phone and now it's too long for the organizer. The pocket is about the size of a deck of cards. Any ideas??

So that's how I use my Thirty-One products for organizing. Fun, huh?

The problem is.....I'm in trouble. I mean....I'm in REAL trouble. 

Thirty-One just announced they now have a new line exclusively for organizing! Bins, hanging folders, large totes....yauzers. 

I'm in trouble. No doubt about it.