Lego Storage

We are crazy for Legos at our house.  Both my daughter and my son love them.  My husband and I love that the kids love them, but what we do not love is stepping on Legos - that is no good.  We have several storage systems in place to combat this torture. 

For what I think of as "general" Legos - these are the ones that don't come with a specific set and are used for free play - we have some regular Rubbermaid/Sterlite tubs, a nifty sorting bin with removable compartments, and my personal favorite - the giant Lego head. 

My problem with these solutions, however, is that they don't allow for a way to keep kits and instructions together.  It drives me nuts to spend big bucks on Hagrid's Hut or a Ninjago Rattlecopter and then see the pieces scattered and the instructions lost.  Not to mention mopping up the tears because the kids want to recreate these structures and can't because some crucial, tiny piece is lost in the playroom.  My solution...

... small Dollar Tree snap-top bins.  These are sold in sets of 2 for $1.  I love the bright colors and the secure locking lids. 

They are sized just right for most of our Lego sets and you can fit the instructions right in there with the Legos.   They stack nicely (vertical storage!) and fit well on the shelves in our playroom.

For larger sets, I just look for larger containers.  8x10 Rubbermaid Take-Alongs are great for those and can also often be found at Dollar Tree.

Pennants and Picture Display

Yep, I hoped on the pennant bandwagon.  There is something so cheery and fun about them, so I decided to make some for our playroom. 

I used a quick and dirty method with minimal sewing.  I made a template by cutting a triangle out of a cereal box.  I then parked my butt in front of the TV with said triangle, my scrap fabric bin, and a pair of pinking shears from Joann's (coupon!) and pinked my way through a stack of colorful calicos.  Once that was done, I laid out a few lengths of ribbon and pinned the triangles at fairly even intervals.  I then ran the whole thing through the sewing machine.  I didn't even take the time to match the thread to the ribbon.  I kind of like the contrast.  The whole process took me an episode of True Blood.  Once done sewing, I mounted a few clear small Command hooks and swagged my banner around the playroom.  I love them in the playroom and I also love that I can use them for parties as well.

Under the pennant banner, I mounted a wire for displaying artwork.  I don't know why it took me so long to do this - I guess I was nervous about putting a hole in the window trim and then not liking the wire.  No worries now - it was well worth the risk.  I bought a picture hanging kit at Lowe's.  The kit consists of a spool of thin wire and some tiny brass hook screws.  There's other stuff in the kit, but I haven't used that part.  I simply screwed the hooks in by hand, threaded a length of wire through each end and wrapped the tails around a few times.  Easy peasy.  Add a couple colorful plastic clothes pins from the Dollar Store and Voila!  Instant extra art display area does double duty as playroom decor.  And because our playroom was an addition and still has the windows that look into the family room, we can put artwork facing into both room for double the display space.