Let's Get Organized with Thirty-One Gifts

As part of my Let's Get Organized! event I teamed up Nicole, a Thirty-One consultant, to bring you more options to help get your home, car, or office organized. I've been a fan of Thirty-One Gifts for a long time now so I'll also be sharing some of my favorite products and how we use them in our home.

I was super excited to review this Large Utility Tote from Nicole because I had already seen my sister use hers and it seemed like something that would be very useful.

When I first got the Large Utility Tote, I just kind of hung on to it for a couple of days trying to decide where the best place was for me to use it on a daily basis.

I ended up deciding to use it to store our extra cereal and chips which I had been keeping on the floor in a coat closet that goes underneath our stairs. This area gets used for a lot of things beyond it's normal coat closet usage.

For example, we store our canning supplies, vacuum, clothes hamper and more under there. Whenever I needed to get to one of these items I had to maneuver around the cereal boxes and such. But, now all of those items are contained in one bag so if I need to get around back there, I can just lift the bag out of the way. Less time wasted maneuvering around everything now. I love how something simple like this can mainstream things.

Our extra chips and cereal stored in one easy location

I also have used my Large Utility Tote for a family picnic.  What I loved most about packing it for a picnic was that it was large enough to hold our small cooler as well as the rest of the food items.

It's also great to use when traveling on vacation (if you're taking a road trip) because I pack a lot of our food and snacks in here rather than using paper bags like I did before. It's sturdy wire rim around the upper edge helps give it some durability to keep our food from getting smashed when things press in around it in the car.

And in case you still need ideas of how to use this to help you get organized, Nicole has shared 31 other uses for the Large Utility Tote:

1. You can leave it in your car with blankets and a sweatshirt in case it gets chilly during a game
2. You can keep items in it for younger kids to keep them entertained during road trips, while caught in traffic or when you have to make an unexpected stop somewhere
3. Holding and transporting scrapbooking supplies
4. Picnics for the family
5. Holding the vegetables you pick from your garden
6. Holding and transporting sports equipment
7. Storing dirty shoes in your vehicle
8. Grocery Shopping (especially if you do bulk shopping at places like Sam’s or Costco
9. Knitting Clubs (holding and transporting all of your yarn, etc.)
10. Consultant's Tote
11. Tailgating
12. Storing toys in between the two bucket seats of any car
13. Beach bag--towels, lotions, food and your thermal totes (My friend uses hers to hold her family's towels and suits to take to and from the pool.)
14. If you're a teacher or a teacher's helper you can use it to transport items to and from the classroom.
15. Carry Christmas presents to relatives' homes so you don't have to worry about them falling and getting messed up (I'm definitely using it for this year instead of paper bags like I've done in the past!)
16. Food and paper products for church gatherings or reunions
17. Great GREEN alternative. Carry to Wal-Mart or wherever and DON'T use their plastic bags--they certainly won't think you stole that personalized bag! :)
18. Using it for laundry for the kids is a GREAT idea. It can work well for both clean and dirty. (I'm sure my kids would love a personalized laundry bag of their own.)
19. Moving "box"
20. “Trunk” for vehicles
21. Weekend trips
22. Rolled up towels, blankets, etc. for guest bath/bedroom
23. Gift wrapping supplies
24. Yard Sales (and may I add Mom2Mom sales? I am definitely using mine for this too. Apparently I need at least one more of these around here!)
25. Board games (Love this idea too. I think we'd use our games more if they were nearby in a bag like this instead of in the top of a closet)
26. Carrying Birthday gifts to get-togethers
27. Playground equipment for teachers
28. Bottom of closet organizer
29. Carrying in firewood
30. Quick 5 min clean up
31. Beach toys

As you can see, there are quite a few uses for this tote!

A closet that has been tidied up using Thirty-One bags

Some of my favorite other Thirty-One products are the Mini Utility Bins. We have the camo one and it holds all of our sons cars in it.

And I also love the Organizing Utility Tote which I use ALL the time. I love the pockets on the outside because it will hold everyone's water bottles or sippy cups and I can hold all of my stuff on the inside. Great for trips to the zoo and park!

There are many other great products from Thirty-One so stop by their online catalog and check some things out!

If you have any questions, please email Nicole and I know she'll be happy to help you. And, if you can believe this, one blessed reader will win a Large Utility Tote! Simply enter the Rafflecopter form below to enter.



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Disclaimer: I received product from Nicole at no cost to me in exchange for an honest review.

Stainless Steel Popsicle Mold Review

I'm sure you've all heard that plastic is bad for us and yet my husband and I initially found ourselves asking, "Why is it bad for us?" and "Are all kinds bad for us?"

When I first learned that specific types of plastic were bad for us, I purged our kitchen of them. Thankfully, we didn't have too many items to get rid of, but unfortunately, the biggest offenders were our children's sippy cups! (For even more information about plastic, check out Life Without Plastic's helpful resource.)

Why would stainless steel be a better option then? Stainless steel is durable, easy to clean and has a protective coating that is scratch resistant. Its scratch resistant surface prevents food particle and bacteria buildup so as to reduce the chances of food borne illness for your family. Stainless steel is also considered "green" because its life expectancy is 75 years! And, on top of that, it's completely recyclable. 

So, if I can choose a glass or stainless steel option now, I certainly do. However, I have to be realistic as we are on a limited budget. That being said, I did not go through our kitchen and throw away every thing that was plastic. However, as we purchase new items, I try to make a better choice.

I think most sippy cups and bottles are being advertised as BPA free these days, but what about the rest of the plastic products out there that our children use?

That being said, finding practical plastic free popsicle molds for our children has been on my radar. I don't like to buy popsicles from the store because they are filled with sugar and really have no nutritional value and the popsicles from the the health food store are just too expensive for our pocketbook.

The solution then is to make our own popsicles.

I have used the paper Dixie Cup method and that does work okay, but it's not ideal because it's messy and you can go through a lot of Dixie Cups in a summer!

Recently I had the opportunity to review the Freezycup™ Stainless Steel Individual Ice Pop Mold from Life Without Plastic.

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Each Freezycup™ retails for $7.95 and comes with 3 reusable bamboo sticks and 2 silicone gaskets (blue and red) and holds 3.5 oz.

They are made of "high quality food grade stainless steel 18-8 (304)" and are Bisphenol A (BPA) free, lead free and Phthalate free." source 

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What We Thought

The kids were pretty excited to each have a turn using the new popsicle mold and they seemed to like using it pretty well.

To make a popsicle, I used a healthy brand of juice from the health store so that I wasn't giving our children a bunch of sugar that is typically found in "normal" juice. Giving it to them in the form of a popsicle worked great because I could give them options like cherry juice or blueberry juice and they loved it!

"Mom Perspective"

I love that this popsicle mold is safe for our children to use and that it is dishwasher safe (Hallelujah!), but I do have a few suggestions for improvement.

I think it would be wonderful if there was a bit of a lip on the lid so that when a child is using it, any drips would be caught in the lid  and not on their clothes.  Also, I would suggest that maybe a silicone grip be added to the outside of the mold for two reasons: one, little hands don't like the feel of the cold stainless steel and two, it would act as a slip guard for tiny little hands. I also wasn't crazy about all the little pieces necessary for the mold and wish there was a way to streamline it a bit.

I found it difficult to keep in the freezer because it would tip over if slightly bumped so I always had to set it on a plate. All in all, while I love the dishwasher safe, stainless steel mold idea, I think there are still a few improvements that could be made before I stock up on these particular ones.

Carter enjoying his Freezycup™

In spite of the improvements I would like to see made, I do appreciate Life Without Plastic's mission.  It is incredible to browse through their site and see all of the products they carry that are WITHOUT PLASTIC! If you're looking for some non-plastic options for your home, Life Without Plastic is a great place to start.

Disclosure: I was given one popsicle mold to keep from Life Without Plastic in exchange for an honest review.