Get a Handle on Hair ties

I have three little girls and if you are a mother to girls you know how much they love to look pretty! Since my oldest is eight years old, I've had a long time to accumulate many, many hair accessories. Lately, I've found they have taken over the bathroom!

This is not the first time hair ties have taken over. A few years ago I attempted to organize them into little baskets that fit perfectly into the drawers. It worked too except my girls/husband didn't understand my methods of categorizing them and so after awhile they all ended up mixed together until I couldn't find anything anymore. Nothing bugs me more than to not be able to find what I'm looking for!

I knew it was time to tackle the hair ties again so I got to work. First, I dumped out each basket and began sorting them, really sorting them. All the Velcro baby bows in one pile, all the rubber bands in another and so on. The goal was to make the piles as specific as possible so everyone would know where to return them, not just me. I also took this opportunity to toss any worn out ones/broken ones. You know, the ones you say, "Oh, I can glue this flower back onto the barrette sometime." Yet years later there it still is, broken, and taking up space. Yeah, those all went in the trash.

After all the hair ties were sorted, I knew there had to be a better way of containing them. These piles sat in the hallway for a day while I pondered that very topic. Finally, when I had time, I went to my trusty Wal-Mart... okay, okay so it's very trust-worthy. Most of the time they don't have what I'm looking for, but I was hopeful this time they would. :)

And lucky me, they did! In the sporting goods department I picked up three tackle boxes for two bucks each. Score! They are absolutely perfect for storing all the little barrettes and clips I've accumulated throughout the years. They also fit very nicely in the top drawer in the bathroom with room to spare. I recycled some of the little baskets I used before to hold the more abundant categories also.

I used two of the washtubs I mentioned last week for flowers and fluffy hair ties and they're working great also. Now, everyone knows where to put the hair ties and I'm spending a lot less time wandering around the bedrooms and bathroom feverishly trying to keep a handle on them. They're handling themselves these days. :)