10 Genius Tips I Found on Pinterest

Sometimes life with small children is reminiscent of that scene in Overboard when Goldie Hawn is sitting in a daze saying “Ba ba ba ba” over and over again while a kid entertains himself by throwing food at her.

I had one of those moments a couple of days ago. Each member of my little family has taken turns getting sick this last month. It was my turn this week, so while I was sitting on the couch thinking about my aches and pains and generally feeling sorry for myself, my three-year-old sat next to me, poking my side with his finger and blowing at my hair to make the friz dance. I suppose blowing at my hair is better than wiping his nose with it, which is what he did a couple of weeks ago when it was his turn to be sick.

These kids sure do keep me on my toes.

Anywho, I was feeling too sick to actually accomplish anything other than do my best to keep my boys from hurting themselves or each other. A task that is easier said than done, considering that my three-year-old is a clumsy daredevil and my almost-eleven-month-old is quite the capable walker and the size of a two-year-old. Since I couldn’t accomplish anything productive, I revived my interest in Pinterest and all the lovely ideas I’d pin but never actually do anything about.

Some of my favorite pins are those genius ideas from smart creative people that make me think, “Why didn’t I think of that?” To which I answer myself, “Because you’re not smart and creative.” So I thought I’d share some of those genius tips with you. Maybe you’ll have that same interchange with yourself. Or maybe you’ll just think, “Leslie didn’t know that? Wow, she really isn’t smart and creative.” Please be kind.

Also, you can follow me on Pinterest here. And please leave your Pinterest info if I’m not already following you, or maybe the link to a favorite tip.

(BTW, click the images for links, but some of the links go to the blog that provided the picture and not to the specific post that contained the picture. So that may not be so helpful.)

1. Shower Curtain Hooks to Organize Purses

This is my current favorite tip. Genius!!! How did I not think of this? For the longest time I’ve had my purses sitting on a shelf above my hanging clothes in the closet, but it was just messy. I recently whittled down my purse collection and moved it to an empty bookcase in our bedroom, but that can get messy, too. In the very near future I’m going to invest in some shower curtain hooks and make my collection look purty like this.

2. Shower Curtain Hooks to Organize Necklaces

Ok, let’s keep talking about shower curtain hooks. Seriously, I never realized they were so useful. I love this tip because your necklaces become closet decor while remaining organized and tangle-free. I actually have a jewelry armoir that I keep in my closet, but my necklaces have to share hooks and aren’t so easy to see. I plan to take some of my prettier necklaces and do something like this with them.

3. Buckets on a Curtain Rod

More shower curtain hooks! At least that’s what I think are holding up those buckets. This is showing how to organize children’s art supplies, but I’ve actually seen a similar idea in a bathroom to organize cotton balls and such. I like this because it’s such a cute way to organize things that could be so messy and unattractive. Amazing.

4. Shoe Organizer in the Pantry

When am I going to develop that think-outside-the-box skill? The sad thing about this tip is that years ago I read a suggestion to take a shoe organizer with you on a cruise to put things like sunglasses and toiletries and everything else that gets those tiny cabins messy. It worked great, and I now have a shoe organizer in my bedroom closet to store bathroom cleaning products out of reach of my kids. But my mind never made the leap to use one of these things in the pantry, too. I like this because I could put snacks for the kids in the lower pockets and hard to store things like seasoning packets in the upper pockets. Genius.

5. Magazine Organizers in the Pantry

Another common sense tip that I don’t have enough common sense to think of myself. I usually have all those long boxes piled on top of each other and end up knocking something over to find what I want. I need to find some translucent magazine organizers like this one to get that corner of my pantry in better shape.

6. Soap Box for Loose Card Games

Who doesn’t have a stack of cards lying around somewhere? So smart! And such a cheap way to organize them. You could probably even tape game instructions to the inside of the box. And maybe color code them, too (yellow for little kids’ games, blue for big kids’ games, etc.).

7. Store Wrapping Paper on Closet Ceiling

I think this was the first genius tip I saw on Pinterest, so it has a special place in my heart. I really need to get into the heads of the people that come up with this stuff. If you come up with ideas like this, please, write a book in creative problem solving. I need to think like you!

8. Letter Organizers to Store Flip-Flops

I love this so much, partly because the letter organizers in the picture are so pretty. Imagine how pretty your closet would be if you choose one color for all of your organizational stuff but found different textures and patterns. I really need to do this.

9. Magnetic Knife Rack as Car Garage

This is another of my faves. How cute is that! I don’t let Michael collect these metal cars yet because Cruz is so young, but when I do you can bet that one or more of these knife holders will be hanging in their rooms. LOVE. I wonder what else we could organize with these? Pens? Makeup brushes?

10. Tic-Tac Container for Bobby Pins

I need a Tic-Tac container NOW. My bobby pins are currently scattered at the bottom of my makeup drawer underneath other hair supplies. Come to think of it, I guess my entire makeup drawer needs help, but that’s a thought for another day. This tip would also be great for your purse on those days that you leave the house and realize that your hair needs extra reinforcement. Not that I’ve ever had that problem. I am always perfectly groomed. <ahem>

Do you know of any genius tips?