Out of Hangers and the Eco-Kids Link-Up

Out of Hangers!

Sometimes, the simplest things can be like a wake up call. I have been a bit overwhelmed by the clutter of clothing for some time now. Before Baby Squirrel was born, Mama and I spent hours sorting through all the hand-me-down clothes for her. Everything that Bunny, as well as her cousins Birdy and Bee, had worn as babies, was now in a huge stack of boxes, ready for Squirrel. It was massive!

After sorting and re-sorting into piles of keep and get rid of, we narrowed it down quite a bit. While putting the last basket of the baby clothes away, we ran out of hangers. This wouldn't be so bad if we didn't have so many hangers. Half of a laundry basket left, and we ran out of hangers. The way I feel about these clothes is very odd. When Bunny was a baby, I was excited about  all her cute clothes hanging in the closet. I would pick out an outfit for her every day and she always had a matching bow  in her hair on her head. But this time is much different. I am almost sickened by the excess. Embarrassed, to say the least. Ready to make a change.

Still feeling overwhelmed by the baby clothes, I decided to start with my own closet. I had a full closet as well as a box and a half of off season clothes, and things that didn't currently fit. I started by taking everything out and dumping it on my bed. Then I went through piece by piece and only kept things that I love and wear often. After eliminating over half of my clothes, I hung the remaining things up with the hangers backwards. hooked from the back of the closet instead of from the front. When putting away clean clothes, I hang them the correct way. This way, I can periodically re-sort my clothes by seeing what hangers are still backwards.  I will know that I have not worn those items and then get rid of them (I found this idea on pinterest).

My newly cleaned out closet

The next weekend, we did the same thing with The Hubs' closet. Getting rid of over half of his clothes. He was kind hesitant about doing it, but he is loving the extra room and the ease of finding the clothes he needs.

The hanger trick at work

Finally feeling confident, I, at last, tackled the girls' closet.

The girls' closet after de-cluttering

Our clothing cut back is still a work in progress. There still seems to be a lot of clothes. I am looking forward to the end of the season, when I can really see the effects of removing all the things on backwards hangers.

The pile of, now empty, boxes and hangers

Welcome back to Eco-Kids Link-Up!  We had so many great posts shared last week! I enjoyed each and every one of them.  Here are a few of my favorites from last week!

No doubt our playschool children would love this fun craft!

Making Boys Men shared their Autumn Masks with us!

Knitting with Olof shared a post about cloth diapering.  I LOVE (a lot) using cloth diapers!

Bridgit's Bell made some very cute Christmas ornaments.. but I think I could use the same "pattern" to made some felted wool balls for my sweet baby!

If you were featured please feel free to grab a button for your blog.  And please keep linking up great all your Eco-Kid ideas!



Now on to the party!!!  I hope that you'll share some great family-friendly posts that are also friendly for the environment. Some ideas include:

•  Nature Activities
• Outdoor Activities
• Crafts made with re-purposed or recycled materials
• Sewing and DIY home projects
• Science Experiments
• Posts on environmental issues for kids or families
• Non-toxic living
• Homeopathic Remedies

Eco-Kids Tuesdays is co-hosted by Organic Aspirations and Like Mama~Like Daughter this means that anything you link-up shows up on both blogs!

Feel free to link up several of your posts.

There are only a few rules:

Please follow both co-hostess' blogs, and visit some of the other posts and give them some encouragement!  Please stick to posts and photos not giveaways or items for sale.

By linking up, you are agreeing that Organic Aspirations or Like Mama~Like Daughter can feature your photos next week with a link back to your site.  

Please link back to my site using this button (once I get it fixed !!) OR simply text linking within your post!