Is there a mom alive who doesn’t simultaneously love and despise reusable water bottles? Water bottles have saved me from the horror that is watching my children try to drink from public drinking fountains without contracting the plague more times than I can count. I love them so much that each person in my family has at least two to their name: one for using plus one in the wash. Even I have a couple of them: one for home and one for barre and Pilates classes at the studio. But OH MY WORD, the clutter.
They have fallen on my head after rolling off of the top of the refrigerator (bad place to try to keep them, FYI). More than one has clanked and slammed down the stairs to its untimely squished death after a storage basket upended because kids were wrestling near it. I shoved them all over my kitchen counter waiting for the insides to become bone dry after a trip through the dishwasher because I have a serious fixation with not putting a lid on a wet bottle. No more wire hangers? No. I’m fine with wire hangers. No more wet water bottles with lids in place so they can fester and grow bacteria ever! And I’m not going to even TRY to count how many water bottles have been retired because their extra proprietary, funky shaped lid went missing in our black hole of a kitchen catch-all drawer.
I tried everything I could think of to organize them: wine racks, shoe holders, laundry baskets, and even -out of sheer desperation- plastic grocery bags hanging on hooks inside the basement stairs. Every one of them failed because of one major flaw: nothing had a place where we could store the odd lids and still actually see them. Every one, that is, until I found this Michael Graves Design Over-the-Door Basket Organizer from JCPenney. There are two main differences between this bad boy and an over-the-door shoe organizer.
- The nifty mesh pocket at the top lets you drop in the un-matched lids or tops or straws for the water bottles and still keep a visual on them. No black hole happening there.
- The baskets (or shelves) hold everything from small 1-cup water bottles to the largest canteens (in the top basket) and everything in between. They even hold our 1-liter Sodastream bottles neatly.
To say that I’m a fan of this basket organizer is to put it mildly. I recommend it to all my mommy-friends who have been overrun with water bottles.
MAJOR BONUS: The kids can find their own water bottles and lids for all their summer excursions into the great wild that is our backyard or the playground or picnics or bike-riding with friends, or…or…or… You get the idea. Summer just got a little easier.
Giveaway
The good folks at JCPenney have kindly offered a $100 JCPenney gift card to one lucky Foodie with Family reader. You can use it to grab a water bottle organizer, er, Over-the-Door Basket Organizer and still have enough left over to grab some supplies to make your summer fun! How do you enter? It’s simple! Tell us your favourite #lifehack in the comments below: what tricks do you have that make your life a little easier?
Sweepstakes Rules:
No duplicate comments.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
- Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
- Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “#SweepstakesEntry”; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
- Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
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This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. The notification email will come directly from BlogHer via the sweeps@blogher email address. You will have 72 hours to respond; otherwise a new winner will be selected.
The Official Rules are available here.
This sweepstakes runs from 5/19-6/13/2014.
Be sure to visit the JCPenney brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ posts!
Reader's Thoughts...
Sherry Conrad says
My favorite #lifehack is to teach the kids the right way when they are young, even though it takes a lot longer, it pays off dividends for the rest of their lives.
Carolyn Daley says
My #lifehack is cooking extra food when I have time so on nights when I am busy I can have quick and easy left overs. I love left overs to save me time without compromising for unhealthy choices like junk food or take out. Left overs are just as convenient.
Corey Olomon says
I tweeted at: https://twitter.com/CoreyOlomonWA/status/477312401583243264
Corey Olomon says
I make the kids lunches the night before so I’m not so rushed n the mornings.
shirley hicks says
When I cook I always cook enough to have for lunch the next day ..makes it a lot easier
Marilyn L says
I plan meals in advance – that saves me time and a headache
kathy pease says
https://twitter.com/klp1965/status/477273474654670848
kathy pease says
My favorite #lifehack is that everyone does their own laundry in our house since my kids are 17 and up. It is way too much for one person to handle
Beverly Metcalf says
I try to stay organized, but sometimes that’s hard to do. I find if I make a daily list of things that need to be done, it helps. Thanks!
Nicole Millheim says
My favorite #LifeHack is organizing things to make my life easier. To keep things where they are suppose to be
Sky Evans says
https://twitter.com/SkyShyskyk/status/477211977324838912
Sky Evans says
My #LifeHack is to wake up early and clean.
Lisa says
Organization is so key. I use fruit bag tags on my electrical plugs to make it easy to change out plugs on our portable devices so its easy to grab and go on trips.
jules m. says
i buy clear glass spray bottles and mix up my own cleaners
Karen Drake says
When I cook a meal I make enough for two nights so I can freeze one meal for another night.
Melissa says
I love making list and leaving sticky notes as reminders around the house!
Bruce says
keep things organized
Stephanie Galbraith says
My favorite Summer #Lifehack is the chore lists for the kids. It teaches them responsibility as well as helps keep the house clean.
Iliana Blair says
My favorite summer #LifeHack is to care for my gardens and get a good workout and a dose of vitamin D !
Iliana Blair says
https://twitter.com/madreblair/status/476924733205008384