Creative Ways to Zip Up Your Stuff
I typically don’t advocate organizing with plastic bags as your prime source for containerizing your things. Although the see-through aspect can make retrieval easy, filled bags don’t easily stack up or stand up on their own. Additionally, if you’re not careful, plastic bags can become a miscellaneous catch-all for your stuff. That’s not organization . . . that’s a grown-up version of “Hide-and-Seek.”
All this being said, though, I was sure to stop by the Ziploc® booth at the 2009 National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) conference last week. Besides handing out free samples, they also distributed an extensive tip sheet of ideas for organizing your household with Ziploc® products. And I have to admit, some of the ideas were pretty creative. The following is a list of some of the more unique and helpful ideas on their tip sheet. If you have any additional ideas, be sure to hit the comment button below and share your brilliance.
1. Seal important papers (or copies of the papers) in a Ziploc® Bag, place it in an airtight plastic container, and store in your deep freeze. In a fire, the freezer is usually the last thing to burn. (Yes, storing a copy of the deed to your house alongside your pork chops and ice cream is a little “different,” but if you don’t have a fire-proof safe, this is a creative alternative!)
2. Every month hang a 1 quart size Ziploc® Freezer Bag inside a kitchen cabinet door to stow all incidental receipts. At the end of the month, date, seal and store the bag. You’ll never lose another receipt. After a year, it’s okay to toss ‘em (I’d rather see my clients discard unnecessary receipts right away and file the keepers in a more detailed system. But if you MUST keep all your receipts and you haven’t gone paperless yet, this method can keep them contained; and it’s better than no system at all.)
3. Keep seasonal/holiday wreaths clean and safe in a Ziploc® Big Bag. (This is a tip I really like. The bags are much cheaper than wreath containers, and you can use the bag’s handles to hang the bag in your storage area, keeping it safe from getting crushed and better utilizing your vertical space.)
4. Make sure puzzle pieces stay together by zipping them up in a Ziploc® Bag that is easy for children to open and shut. (I would also include the picture of the finished puzzle, to make putting the puzzle back together one step easier for kids.)
5. Store skeins of yarn in a Ziploc® Flexible Tote or Big Bag. Cut a hole and feed yarn out for no more tangling. And it’s cat-proof! (You can use this for twine in your utility area, too, with a smaller bag.)
6. After opening large bags of pet food, cat litter, charcoal, fertilizer, ice melt, etc. place them in the right sized Ziploc® Big Bag and seal it up. (No more spills and it’s easy to tote.)
7. Heading to the beach? Take a Ziploc® Big Bag to hold rocks, seashells, sandals, wet towels, inflatable beach toys, etc. without water and sand spilling in the car. (Good for day-tripping adventures, too.)
8. Need to stop painting in the middle of a project? Place the brush in a Ziploc® Bag, seal and freeze. (Just remove the brush one hour before you start painting again.)
So what ways have YOU used Ziploc® Bags to get better organized? Hit the comment button below and share your ideas (But beware, clearing off your desk by dumping all the papers in a bag and stashing it in the closet does not count!)
Simply yours,
Debbie
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I seem to have sheet sets in every size, so I use the large ziploc bags to store and separate my twins from my fulls from my queens! And, of course, I never travel without a supply of ziploc bags for liquids, wet bathing suits, snacks, etc. Love ‘em!
When my kids go to camp – 4H, baseball, etc., I pack each complete outfit in a gallon size (or the jumbo) ziploc bags. This way when they head to the shower, they just have to grab that and then they can stick their dirty clothes (usually wet or muddy) in it and they don’t ruin everything else. I also don’t have to worry about them putting together outfits that might be awful or inappropriate.
Great idea, Fran! And if you have have different sized sheets in the same colors you can easily label the bags with their size, too. Nothing worse than unfolding a fitted bed sheet only to find out it is the wrong size.
Every summer my girls spend 4th of July week with my parents at the beach. When they were too young to coordinate their outfits, I did like you Katrina and put each complete outfit in a jumbo ziploc. When they were learning to read, I would use a sharpie to write the day of the week on each bag, too. Made getting dressed easier on both the kids AND the grandparents and I knew that on July 4th they would be sure to wear that special red, white and blue outfit I had so carefully picked out for them.
Thanks for the ideas, ladies!
Hello Debbie,
I enjoyed all the Ziploc tips!
A couple years ago when I had a garage sale and letting go of my daughter’s birth – 2T wardrobe, I packed each outfit in its own Ziploc bag and included a index card with information on number of pieces, size, and price. It was a great way to keep all the outfits together and convenient to see.
Happy Organizing!!
Grace Brooke
Great idea, Grace!I’m sure that with such an organized and detailed clothing display you were able to sell a lot more outfits, too.
Your idea could easily transfer to re-selling puzzles, board games, and sets of toys with multiple pieces (like those darn, I mean “wonderful” polly plastic toys).
Thanks for the ideas!
Debbie Jordan Kravitz’s last blog post..Creative Ways to Zip Up Your Stuff
As a teacher with multiple schools, I use Ziploc a lot! This week, I’m doing an activity with small cards. By having the cards prepackaged in bags, I can hand each student a pack and not waste time passing out multiple things. I keep all of the packs in a bigger Ziploc that I can just toss in my bag at the end of the day ready for the next location. It has given me more time for instruction and practice. Plus, it’s easier for me to find and pull out the next day.
At home, I use the storage containers in my drawers to sort things without the lids. They are great in a sock drawer to keep all of the colors sorted…especially black and navy.
I also have sorted ribbons for my scrapbooking into Ziploc bags and punched a hole in the bottom of each bag. All of the bags are on a big metal ring so I can have them all close to me.
I’m a big fan of Ziplocs!
My husband and I went on a cruise a few years ago. Someone suggested we use large Ziploc bags for packing. By squeezing the air out, we were able to take more clothes, and it prevented wrinkling. On the way back, one of the bags weighed too much. In the middle of the airport, at the ticket counter with a huge line behind us, it was a breeze to grab a couple Ziplocs from one suitcase and move them to another suitcase. If we hadn’t packed that way, I would have been pulling clothes out and trying to keep them folded and neat as I moved them, while everyone in line stared. Yikes!
Mini-ziplocs are great during a move! I put hardware in them, like those little shelf pegs from a bookcase, seal them up and tape them inside the bookcase. When you go to unpack, they’re right where you need them!
Great ideas, Kristy! Thanks for sharing!
I love ziploc bags for camping and traveling. Just remember that many stores have receipts on that paper that fades quickly. If you bought something under warranty and need to keep a receipt, make a copy of it and file it.
Now that’s some impressive ideas. It reminds me a lot of those commercials for the huge airtight bags to put your clothes in. Hehe.
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