Glove Compartment

A few months ago, my friend Mrs. M raided our local Habit for Humanity store and picked up some terrific cabinet fronts for a few dollars each.  Her plan, originally, was for a bunch of signs made from her Cricut.  Unfortunately, I couldn't come up with any inspirational sayings and went home without a sign.  A few days later I was struck with inspiration.  Called Mrs. M and said please, oh please, may I please have that long, skinny brown front.  She said sure.  (Unfortunately, it took me two months to finally get my little project done and in use...isn't that how it always is?).

A few cup hooks, some binder clips (my sister sent these adorable things to me...she knows that 12 years after leaving corporate America, I still have a thing for office supplies), and some metal face plates and I have an awesome way to hold our work gloves.

 
I was going to use vinyl letters or stickers to "write" the names, but instead I just settled for my Sharpie.  I can always go back later and refine those if I decide to.  (Like if the kids want to see their actual names, rather than their nicknames.)

This gives all of our gloves a home and adds a little charm to the area above the potting bench.  All that for $3, including the cabinet front and the cup hooks.  I'm just so tickled.

Glove/Mitten Organization

We're finally getting over whatever bug took over the Nagle5 last week, but I have no MYHSM post, nor do I have a wonderfully creative hand-made gift idea for you. What I do have is a clever idea for glove/mitten organization that I'm sharing with you all.

Moving from a one-season climate like Southern California to a four-season climate like we have here in Eastern Washington has left me scrambling for ways to organize our seasonal clothing. Truly, we need to shift our clothes from spring/summer to fall/winter each year and we have more clothes than we ever had before. One of the things I've struggled with is how to control the gloves and mittens throughout the season. Kids need numerous pairs of gloves/mittens because they get their gloves and mittens wet, which means they can go through three or more pairs per day. (Some in the dryer, some on their hands, etc.) This year, I think I've come up with something that will help us a) keep control of our own belongings and b) eliminate the often heard phrase "I don't know where my gloves are!".

This was a free solution, too, so you can jump right up and do it, too!

All you need is gloves and mittens, a few old skirt hangers, and ten minutes.

Skirt hangers normally have two clips.



Take the post off your first hanger and don't remove the clips. Take the post off your second hanger and remove one clip and immediately slide it onto the post that you've left the clips on. (It just takes a little tension to get the post out without breaking the plastic hanger.)


(Keep the clip squeezed together so the tension in the mechanism doesn't make it sproing apart!). Remove the second clip and slide it onto the post. Do the same thing with the third hanger. Then put the now-6-clip post back into the skirt hanger and, viola, you have a great way to store 6 pairs of gloves and mittens! (You can use fewer clips, too...if you notice, the one pictured is Buttercup's second one and it only has five.)

Pretty cool, isn't it? (Oh, yeah, don't forget to immediately throw away the metal posts that are now empty because your children might think they are weapons. Not that mine would ever, you understand, I'm just saying!)

We had enough skirt hangers hanging around from my used-to-wear-skirts-to-work days that we were able to do four mitten hangers - two for Buttercup, one for Valiant, and one for me.