I've had good intentions to get our car organized, well, pretty much forever! But month after month {and year after year} it always got passed up on my to do list. Ironically, the other things that kept me too busy to organize the car often resulted in me spending most of my time in the car running from one "to do" list item to the next.
This summer, my husband {who is an actor as one of his two careers} has been performing at a theater in the mountain town of Breckenridge. In order to be with him, the kids and I were away from home five out of seven days each week for the past two months. Spending our summer constantly on the road turned out to be an excellent motivator to finally get the car organized once and for all.
This post is sponsored by Creative Options, but all opinions and the love of organizing all the things are completely my own!
One afternoon, I made a quick trip to Hobby Lobby to pick up some craft projects to keep the kids entertained during our summer in the mountains, and while I was there I spotted a wall of
Creative Options craft organizers. My mind first went to how great it would be for storing all the kids' art supplies, but then I realized that it would also be the perfect solution to create an organized car kit!
The Creative Options storage cases, like the one I bought, come in small, medium and large sizes. I started making a mental list of what I would want to keep in a car kit, and quickly decided that the largest size - called the Large Rack System - would be perfect for my on-the-go needs. The top compartment has ample space for large items, while the three different pull-out trays allow for organization of all of our smaller items.
I don't know about you, but I don't have time to be reorganizing things over and over again, so I'm always looking for solutions that are easy to maintain! I've learned the hard way that putting everything in one big bin just creates an immediate jumbled mess... so I knew that by giving things a designated place within the trays of this storage case, I would be able to create a car kit that I could actually keep organized!
Best of all, I was able to pull up a 40% off coupon on the Hobby Lobby website while I was standing in line to pay for this pretty, pink storage system! Stylish organization on a budget... talk about living the dream!
Watch this quick 20 second video overview of the Organized Car Kit I created... then read on for the details about everything I was able to fit inside this handy-dandy storage case.
As soon as I got home, I cleaned out the car and made a pile of the items I wanted to put in my new Car Kit.
Wet wipes and sunscreen {two cans - one for the adults and one for the kids} had been taking up about 75% of my center console space, and our first aid kit was floating around on the floor of the backseat. I was able to fit all of these items comfortably in the deep top compartment.
FIRST AID KIT: For those who like all the details, here's what we keep in our car first aid kit:
- liquid allergy relief for the kids {two kinds: one for allergic reactions and one for pet allergies}
- kids' pain reliever/fever reducer
- antibiotic cream
- bandages
- allergy & bug bite relief cream
- ibuprofen
- antacid
- indigestion/nausea pills
With the top compartment full, I moved on to the three storage trays. As you can see in the video above, the trays are all contained behind a clear door, which keeps them from sliding out {this is an especially great feature since the car kit will get jostled around as we drive}. When you unlatch the clear door, the trays simply slide out!
SNACK TRAY: I filled the shallowest, top tray with some of the kids' favorite snacks, as well as bendy straws and plastic silverware. We chose snacks that won't melt, and that aren't too messy for eating in the car, including:
- Cheese and crackers
- Raisins
- Fruit strips
- Fruit bites
- Granola bars
This tray also came with movable dividers, so we'll be able to easily rearrange it in the future to accommodate different snacks.
Too often we've stopped to get something to eat when we are on the go, only to realize after we've driven away that we forgot to grab straws or silverware, so keeping these items in the snack tray will make eating on the go easier for the whole family.
By having healthy snacks at the ready, we'll be able to make fewer trips to drive-thrus when we are out running errands, and the kids will never have to complain about being hungry on road trips when the next town is still miles away.
The second tray is a bit deeper, and has three long, thin divided sections. This turned out to be the perfect configuration to organize three different categories of items on my Car Kit list: clothing care, car tools, and hygiene.
CLOTHING CARE: When you are on the go, it can be hard to stay looking presentable from morning to night. Especially as a mom, it seems inevitable that something will get spilled on me any time we eat out. And I hate leaving the house in a cute dress, only to get out of the car and see that the back of my dress has become a wrinkled mess.
To help combat these challenges, and other unexpected situations, like lost buttons, I compiled the following items to keep in our Car Kit:
- Stain remover pen and wipes
- Wrinkle releaser spray
- Lint roller
- Scissors
- Mini sewing kit with various colors of thread, spare buttons, needles, and safety pins
All of these items fit neatly in the front section of the tray.
CAR TOOLS: The floorboard of the cargo area in our SUV lifts up to reveal storage for our spare tire, car jacks, jumper cables, and the like, but all of our smaller car tools were always floating around in the center console, glove box, or below the seats. Now these items are stored compactly in the center of the middle tray of our Car Kit, including:
- Mobile AC outlet and USB port
- Screwdriver with interchangeable bits
- Tire pressure gauge
- Pen
- Small battery powered flashlight
- Crank powered flashlight with emergency flashers
HYGIENE: It seems like we are always on the go, and often running from the park or zoo to a dinner event. It's hard to feel presentable for a meeting when you've just been chasing the kids around in the sun. To make the days a little less stressful, I filled the back section of this tray with some basic hygiene items so that I we can quickly freshen up when there's no time to run home:
- Deoderant
- Saline solution
- Hand sanatizer
- Lotion
- Breath mints and breath strips
- Lip balm
- Tissues
I always keep my makeup bag and a small brush in my purse, so I didn't include those items in the Car Kit, but think about what you want to have with you in a pinch if you need to make a good impression.
"ARE WE THERE YET?" ENTERTAINMENT: Our kids are pretty good travelers, but on longer road trips, or when we get stuck in traffic, it's always nice to have a few items on hand keep them entertained.
A few years ago, I created a small Restaurant Kit that we carry in the car at all times to keep the kids busy while waiting at restaurants, but most of those items would be hard for the kids to use while riding in the car {like card games and crayons}.
For in-the-car-entertainment, I filled the bottom tray of the Car Kit with items to keep the kids happy while driving down the road, or during a quick pit-stop.
The bottom tray has no dividers, providing the ideal, flexible space for larger items. This undivided tray will allow us to easily update the contents to keep it age appropriate. For now, my goal was to keep the kids entertained without electronics, so I included the following:
- Alphabet animal flashcards and number flashcards
- Books
- Mini magnetic drawing pads
- Travel bingo cards
- Roll-up car carrier and playmat {DIY'd by my mom}
It only took me about 15 minutes to gather up all of these items from around the car and house and put them together in the
Creative Options Large Rack System. Talk about a huge payoff for a small investment of time!
Our family is always on the go, and this Organized Car Kit is already making life so much less stressful, both on road trips and on the average busy day around town. Now I think I need about five more of these storage cases in various sizes to organize the rest of my life!
Be sure to pin the image below so that you can quickly find your way back here when you're ready to compile your own Organized Car Kit! And don't forget to use a 40% off coupon if you shop for your Creative Options organizing system at Hobby Lobby. I always pull the coupon up on my phone while I stand in line, but you can also print them off ahead of time if you prefer.
Labels: car, Creative Options Sponsored, kids, on the go, organization, organizing, sponsored, storage, travel, video
