I have to admit that I am a bit of freak when it comes to office supplies. I can't pass up those back to school sales in August...colored pencils, crayons, markers, notebooks, pens, pencils, glue sticks, folders. Sigh! One never knows when one is going to need a new box of Crayolas! I have more than a year's supply. I think I planned on putting crayons in Stockton's 5th birthday party bags but never did. Most of them are still neatly stashed in my supply tote! So, I guess you could say I tend to go a little overboard and sometimes need to reign myself in from buying more supplies than my family really needs. One of my impulse purchases a few years ago was clear pencil boxes.
They were 10 cents, limit 10. I had to get all 10 of them. I justified them as great Scrapbook storage (everything can be great scrapbook storage. I like to store scrapbooking items more than I actually use them!). They sat for awhile, some holding flowers, others holding scout badges yet to be properly attatch to their rightful shirts. Then I started finding many ways to use these handy little things. Here are some of my favorites.
- They are just the right size to hold 4 peanut butter sandwiches to throw into a cooler or backpack. No more squished bread! You can also put one sandwich and a bag of chips if you want it to hold an individual lunch. We do this everytime we go to Disneyland!
- I pack all of our game day snacks into these babies. Candybars in one, crackers in one. Nothing gets smooshed and you can reach for exactly what you want instead of rumaging through a big bag of stuff.
- I keep one in Mason's church bag full of his snacks. When you open the lid you have an automatic little tray to put loose food on and the fish crackers don't get mushed into crumbs by the books. It also fits well in my purse to serve the same purpose!
- Small little action figures are never laying at the bottom of the bag when stored in a pencil box. You know those cute little colored ninjas that the kids buy with their Chuck E Cheese tokens? This is the perfect place for them.
- I tend to be responsible for cell phones and Ipods when it comes game time. You have to have them for pumping yourself up for the game but can't leave them in the car for fear of them getting stolen. I like to put them into the purse snack box to keep the screens from shattering. Hmm....smart mom. I just might put one in Douglas' baseball bag for the same reason. It might save him a few dollars when someone steps on his bag, inadvertently cracking his cell phone.
- My latest discovery...personal hygene kits for travel. I used to have one big bathroom bag that would hold all of our lotions, toothbrushes, hair gel, Q-tips and stuff. Now that you have to pay for each checked bag I have decided to split those items up per person to put into their luggage. Then, when you get to your destination, you can have all of your personal things handy without having to go to the family bag. The hard case also keeps the lotions from squirting out during the airport bag chucking process.
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