In my household, the summer is very busy this time of the year.
Now you might think because I take the summer off from school as a homeschooling mom, that things might slow down.
Not in our house, my husband is a pastor, and we have various church functions that we do beginning around July.
Now don’t get me wrong, my family and I have a great time. Though we do stay mighty busy.
My summer begins with our church’s family camp, and then moves on to state convention and finishes with an event called our general assembly where church people from all parts of the world gather for this annual event.
Now while it’s a great time of fun, worshipping God, and fellowship it also requires a lot of work packing a family of eight.
After all, we’re traveling lite now since two of our oldest kids are married and on their own, ha-ha yeah right.
Of course, I have to say that since my baby is 9 years old, packing is a bit easier. I have kids old enough to go get their socks and PJS. Plus, a 13-year-old daughter which is a blessing to help me pack up the little ones.
Like most moms, we are always trying to find a way to organize outgrown clothes that we want to keep and pass down to the next child.
Then there is the question of where to put those winter clothes when the cold passes and we are ready to pull out the summer clothes again.
Just keeping it real here, the biggest problem area for me in homemaking is either getting rid of stuff I think I’m going to use but haven’t seen in years, or organizing the stuff I have.
Yet, I am doing better yall, I have finally gotten to a place of realizing less is more. While not perfect I am getting there. It is a slow work in progress. Slow and steady wins the race, right?
Even in my own room, I had overstuffed drawers with long-sleeved shirts and short-sleeved t-shirts.
I had large picture frames with pictures that I didn’t necessarily want to get rid of, but I didn’t want on my walls.
So I jumped online and went to Amazon. There I went on a quest to solve my organizational woe’s.
I could not find the exact bags, but here is some you might like.
Now sure it’s true that I had to purge some.
All of my Amazon shopping wouldn’t fix my problem if I didn’t get rid of some of those clothes that I didn’t wear anymore.
However, since I cleaned out my dresser drawers, I can put clothes away and get clothes out without the dread of not having room in there.
So, I cleaned out unwanted items and I was ready to get my winter clothes out.
However, the question was where was I going to store these clothes until the winter season returns.
Needing a way to organize my winter clothes, I found these clothes storage bags on Amazon.
They are foldable, cloth with handles and they have a clear window so that you can see what is stored in them.
I like that feature about them. I don’t like having stuff stored and I have to open it to know what I have put in there.
At that rate, your stored items become a guessing game.
My bedroom is done in grays so they matched well with my color scheme.
I purchased both large ones and some smaller ones.
These guys have been such a great help in organizing my home.
I have pulled out my winter wear and it is organized nicely under my ottoman in my bedroom.
I also like that it is not only functional but aesthetically pleasing to my room as well.
I tell my kids that I like having products that do more than one thing.
Like I said before less is more.
I don’t like things just sitting around my house making clutter. I like multi-functional things.
Those large picture frames now have a home that is clean, organized, and not just collecting dust under my bed. If I want to look at them, I know where they are.
I have a large comforter that my mom gave me, but I always had problems storing it because it is so large.
These bags came to the rescue for that.
Winter jackets, no problem. There are so many things that you can do with these storage bags, that I thought it was worth sharing.
Yet, what I didn’t think anything about, was how well they would work for traveling.
There are many ways to use these bags for traveling.
2 years ago, we downsized our family vehicle from a 15-passenger van to a minivan. We no longer had 10 people to get from place to place.
Our oldest daughter was married, and our 2 oldest sons now had a car of their own.
I was ready to turn in my 15-passenger driving days and go back to something smaller.
In a large van, you had plenty of storage space for clothes, packing food, and musical instruments. After, downsizing though, I had to be creative in my packing.
Most of the time on long trips we still have 7 or 8 of us in there.
Last Thanksgiving, we went on a motorhome trip to Florida with 11 people, 2 cats, and a dog to see family.
I had to be creative with packing that trip as well.
Therefore, with space being scarce and packing a lot of stuff, this is where the idea of using clothes storage bags for traveling, came in.
SUITCASE REPLACEMENT
It’s a given that you can use these little guys for packing your clothing rather than using heavy suitcases.
If you use clothes storage bags for your clothes, they can be put in smaller areas, under your seat, or stacked easier for your convenience.
If you need something out while traveling, they have handles to pull them out and you can see what’s inside.
SUITCASE DIVIDERS
When packing for family camp, I not only have to be space-saving, but I also must pack according to what cabin my family is going to be in.
My husband is usually a cabin leader. Most of the time that means that my two youngest boys we’ll be in the cabin with him.
In saving space my youngest son’s clothing is packed in my husband’s suitcase.
Now usually I pack my son’s clothing in separate Walmart bags. I write what is in there far as PJ, socks, undies, etc.
Then his clothes are separated by the days of the week.
This year my daughter told me about how another mom at camp packed her clothes in freezer bags.
That idea worked great. they were labeled for what was inside of them and you could also see through the bag.
I liked that idea, however, I wanted to divide my son’s clothing from my husband’s clothing.
https://letslassothemoon.com/packing-tips/
Now while I have never used them, I know can purchase packing cubes for dividing off clothes in your suitcase, however, I didn’t have any packing cubes so I used clothes storage bags to divide the suitcase. This way it was like having two suitcases yet still saving space for packing.
PACKING BLANKETS FOR TRAVEL
That comforter that I have so much trouble with storing also makes a great option when I go to camp.
Every year I take the same comforter.
You may be wondering why I take a big old comforter.
The reason is, it’s big and heavy. It is always freezing at camp.
Some like it warmer and some like it cold. I mean cold, so I always come prepared to get through the family camp freeze.
Besides I have Hashimoto’s and I get cold easily. Even before I was diagnosed though, I still froze at camp.
It’s a lot of fun, but it’s a given that you will be cold at night if you don’t prepare for the arctic blast, plus you have to be ready for the fans that the good ladies of my cabin will bring cause they are always hot, ha-ha.
Back to clothes storage bags, I can coral that large comforter in one of these bags.
Then you pack it up in the van and you are ready to go.
Another great way these bags can help with blankets is when you are traveling with kids.
It doesn’t have to be cool weather either. If it’s early in the morning when you leave for your trip, kids like to snuggle up with a little blanket.
My problem was with a lot of small kids I would have blankets all over the van.
The kids would want their blankets but after they got warm or awake, they would just drop the blankets onto the floor.
When we had to stop somewhere like a bathroom break or to eat, the kids would just step all over their blankets.
I’m kind of a germophobe so I just cringed to think of the kids walking in those bathrooms and then stepping on their clean blankets.
The thought came to me to pack them up in the smaller clothes storage bags.
I just rolled them up in one of those bags and when the children wanted them, they were easy to get out. When they weren’t using them, they could be put away.
It was a win-win for keeping the blankets and the van clean.
PACKING UP TOWELS FOR SWIMMING
There is a fun little waterfall that my kids enjoy going to.
I like it because it isn’t far, gets us out of the house and we have nice family time while hiking up and down the mountain to get exercise. Using clothes storage bags makes a great way to carry all your towels or even snacks for your day trip.
ENTERTAINMENT FOR THE KIDS
Storage Bags
Whether you are traveling for a day trip or a longer trip, entertainment for the kids is a must.
If you don’t want to hear “Are we there yet” over and over, make sure to occupy the little people.
Storage bags come in handy for toys, DVDs, crayons, coloring books, and more.
All those things that you want to keep picked up off the floor of the vehicle can be organized into one of these clothes storage bags.
Another option would be if you are traveling with your homeschoolers. One of the beauties of homeschooling is a flexible schedule.
Pack schoolbooks, laptops, and supplies that your kids will need. I know that the computer doesn’t have a lot of protection, so you might have to keep a blanket around it.
However, if you don’t have a computer case or want the computer to be easily accessible while on the road, this is a great way to keep supplies handy.
I am sure there are other things that you can do with clothes storage bags, but I wanted to share some of the ideas I had.
When it comes to organizing and packing for trips, you must think outside of the box so to speak, and think more of, in the bag.
I hope I have inspired you with ways to use these bags.
If you have other ways that you use these clothes storage bags, please leave a comment.
I am always looking for better ways to organize my family and my life.