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
- For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.
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...
Stephanie V. says
Having the kids organize their toys in priority boxes – highest, middle, lowest – then donate the lowest box to keep toys tidy
tvollowitz at aol dot com
mickeyfan says
We created a pantry out of an old closet. It’s amazing to have a place to organize food/large pots/etc.
Tamar says
My online organization skills are pretty awesome 🙂 I like using Dropbox for storage and putting things in appropriate folders.
debbie says
I keep a small basket on top of my freezer in the laundry room with microfiber cloths. They are easy for anyone to grab and use for anything. My favorite #lifehack for them? Use them on a swiffer. They work just as well as the disposable refills and are environmentally friendly.
Kimarie Stebbins says
My fav life hack is that I put those little plastic holders from bread bags on the bottom of your flip flop if it breaks.
Ryan Morin says
Here is my tweet URL for my 2nd entry:
https://twitter.com/ryanmorin888/status/473566229886558208
Ryan Morin says
My best #lifehack is my freezer. Seriously. With it I can keep my meat, fish, fruit and veggies fresh for however long I need. Freezers are a godsend!
Marlene Zerbe says
I am an OT and like to use parmesan cheese containers for crayons – even fat one fit though the holes. ithis year I made them into frogs as seen on another website and we also uise tweezers (harware store types) and insect to feed the frogs.
paige chandler says
I cook a big family dinner on Sunday night with lots of leftovers I turn onto new meals. for the week.
BusyWorkingMama says
My #Lifehack is having my 6 year old help me organize laundry by color and type of wash (delicate, regular, etc.)
Cynthia C says
Tweet
https://twitter.com/clc408/status/473435682720190464
Cynthia C says
I keep a bag of personal care items in my suitcase so I can just throw in my clothing and be ready for travel in a flash. It helps me to not forget anything too.
Crystal F says
My favorite hack is to use a used dryer sheet to dust with. It works great and you’re saving rags or paper towels. Thank you!
Adrienne Gordon says
I made a shoe hanger in our garage for shoes to dry on
jose benavides says
I have four kids and all I can say is to plan ahead and cut corners if needed to make the job at hand easier..
Anastasia says
Tweeted 🙂 – https://twitter.com/Enter_Now/status/473373196520271872
Anastasia says
One lifehack that i frequently use is for cleaning the microwave. Heating up a lemon juice and water mixture for about ten minutes in the microwave loosens up all the cooked on food and you can just wipe everything out with ease 🙂
Thomas Gibson says
I Tweeted.
https://twitter.com/tomgibson_3770/status/473359861473087488
Thomas Gibson says
One of my #lifehacks is something I learned in boot camp. I polish my shoes with feminine pads. They do a great shine.
Wanda McHenry says
https://twitter.com/myfolly/status/473342315852230656