Organised Earrings

Every morning as I get dressed this is the sight that greets me……

I must waste at least a couple of minutes each day unravelling the mess in order to find some jewellery to wear. Consequently, I end up wearing the same 2 or 3 pairs of earrings all the time. Something had to be done!! And preferably without spending any money!!

Cue these little beauties! They originally held some wedding decorations, but I had a ‘light bulb’ moment the other day and realised that they would fit into this miniature set of drawers.

If you’re on a budget like me, ice cube trays also make very effective storage for earrings. Whilst not everyone’s aesthetic cup of tea, popped in a drawer they shouldn’t cause too much visual offence!! 

Ikea and Hobbycraft also have great range of well-priced storage solutions including: 

Mien Storage box 

Moppe Mini Chest of Drawers

 

Flambeau Artbin Solutions Storage Box  comes complete with little plastic dividers so you can arrange and re-arrange the compartments as needed!

Beadalon Stackable Containers Medium 

Although originally for storing beads this pack of 5 containers twist together and would be ideal to take away on trips.

And if you fancy adding a bit of colour to your life, how about these?

Vammen boxes

Finally, for those who really fancy treating themselves to some fantastic jewellery storage (and blowing the budget!) Stackers by LC Designs are great way to organise your trinkets. 

They offer a selection of different trays, that can be stacked in any order, so you can tailor your storage to your exact collection needs. Men are also catered for with suitably macho designs that include trays for storing watches and cuff links.

Have you found any imaginative ways to store 
your jewellery?

Sprout’s House

           xox

Behind Closed Doors

Continuing with my streamlining mission, this weekend I attacked my ‘lotions and potions’ cupboard. This space had originally been designed to hold all our toiletries, but had recently become a dumping ground for pretty much anything we could squeeze into it including ornaments, belts, a wire pig(?) and an oil burner.

It also contained some seriously old creams and cosmetics some bought before Sprout’s arrival in our lives. Having done some research, I decided that an awful lot of it would have to be binned as most websites recommended that the maximum amount of time you should keep a product is 1 year!!

Here’s the low down:

Product	Expiry Date
Mascara	3 months
Eye gels and creams	3 months
Eye shadows and liners	3-6 months
Foundations(cream and liquid)	3 months
Concealers	6 months
Face creams and lotions	6 months
Toners	1 year
Lipsticks	1 year
Powders (pressed and loose)	1 year
Face wash	1 year
Perfume and Fragrances	1 year

So let the purge commence..........

I wish I could say that I threw out more than I kept and the basket on the left was heading for the bin, but this was actually the KEEP pile! However, I did get rid of some products that were at least 3 years old, and also some items that shouldn’t have even been in the cupboard including a plug timer, a variety of jewellery boxes and some medicines.

Then I had a good old sort out......

I grouped what was left into several categories including hair care, skin care, vitamins, deodorants and perfumes. This was a great exercise as it meant I could have a good look at what I actually I had, and as it turned out this included 7 deodorants, 6 bottles of lens solution, 4 or 5 moisturising creams and a million and one kirby grips. Lesson learnt - no more buying deodorant for a while!!

Now for the most important bit! Putting it all back in the cupboard!

I tried to keep each group of items together, so when I open the cupboard, in future, it will be easy to see what I’ve got! I also re-purposed a mug to hold all my nail related products, a cotton bud container to house all my stray contact lenses and a wicker pot for all those rogue kirby grips!

A little bit of before and after action......

So go on, have a riffle through your toiletries and throw out the ones that have been hanging around for ages!!

Sprout’s House

           xox