Works For Me Wednesday ~ November 7

Because it has been such a long time since I participated in Works For Me Wednesday, I decided to throw a bit of a mixed bag into the ring, with several ideas up for grabs. Come with me, if you will, on a mini tour of some WFM items in my home at the moment :)

First up, the cutest little toothbrush holders in the known universe. Why? Well partly for hygiene reasons, partly because my kids are forever leaving their wet toothbrushes on the bathroom counter and lastly, can you see how darned cute they are? The little coloured 'faces' lift up so you can get to your teeth-scrubbers, and I'll tell you, I've never seen three kids run faster to the bathroom for a voluntary brushing session before in my life. I think the set of four cost me about $3. The green one is Mummy's (I keep a second toothbrush and 'my' kind of paste in the kids/main bathroom to save me disturbing Hubs by using the ensuite if he's sleeping off a shift).


Next up, the "Make Yourself At Home" box. I spoke a little bit about it in this post earlier this week, but then I realised showing is so much better than telling, so here it is. The contents will vary a little as time goes on but basically this is just a small little basket into which I've thrown sample-sized toiletries and other pamper items to make guest feel more at home when they stay over. You know, nice lotion to rub in after a bath, floss because you left yours at home, paracetemol because my kids talk at 'eleven' like all the time...


The Shrek toothpaste and the Simpsons bandaids (sticking plasters/bandages) just give it that added sense of class, don't you think?


Next on the list, the Treasure Boxes. What are Treasure Boxes? Why thank you, I'm glad you asked. My middle child (boy) and youngest (girl) share a room, and therefore a built-in-closet. I designated one shelf for each of them as 'theirs' on which to arrange, you know, kid stuff. Papers and trinkets and the wrapper from the chocolate bar Nana gave them for their birthday last year. The problem is, they just kept adding to the shelf. And adding. And adding some more. Pretty soon there's a paper/stuff avalanche every time I have to slide open the door to hang some clothes. So I bought them these boxes - about $4 ea - which are 10 litres or something like 2 ½ gallons in capacity. I told them they could only keep the trinkets that could fit into the box. End result - big purge of unnececessary keepsakes and much, much neater shelves. Plus, the stickers helped to sweeten the deal - they decorated them themselves :) And yes, those are toilet rolls in Boofah's box. He uses them for pins (ten pin bowling) or binoculars. Of course.


Next up is this nifty over-the-door hanger gadget I picked up for a few dollars. Since switching to a 'mostly hang' clothes system (as opposed to folding), having this over the laundry room door means I can hang clothes direct from the dryer. And it's portable too, so I can hang it over the loungeroom door when I'm doing the ironing. Takes up a fraction of the space of one of those hanging racks on wheels.

Our linen cupboard was an absolute mess (made so 99% of the time by yours truly) until I added these labels to the shelves. I just printed off a regular sheet of paper with the names of all my various linen-y groups, cut them out, and stuck them to the top edge of each shelf with a bit of clear contact paper (book covering).


This is how they work. I know. Pure ingenuity.

And as you can see, we a) only follow the system half the time, and b) apparently have clown blood in the family, LOL.

For more Works For Me Wednesday, pop over the back fence and say hidey-ho at Rocks In My Dryer.

Note: I can't believe I did this AGAIN. After weeks and weeks and weeks of not putting in my WFMW post, I decide today is the day, take photos and everything, and then find out it's another backwards day! I might get into trouble but I'm going to post this anyway, LOL. Forgive me dear internets. Also, just to make it 'legit', here's my question:

How do you stop neighborhood cats using your garden beds as a litter box? My kids often cut through the front beds on the way to the footpath out front, and more than once they've stepped in a 'present'. Also, they (the cats, not the kids) seem to favour one particular spot in the garden bed directly outside our front door - and anyone who has smelled cat pee will know, it doesn't smell like cookies and milk, LOL. And that wafts through the whole house.

See....saved, LOL.

Cheers,
Lizzie