You are gonna flip over this Flip Fold!

Even after 40 years of marriage my dh (darling hubby) and I were going around and around with how to fold his T-shirts. Particularly when he installed our closet system for me. He wanted his Harley Davidson T-shirts folded like the store. I am a perfectionist and had a hard time getting them folded just right. I wanted to just fold them in half lengthwise and go from there.
Then I was in The Container Store one day and spotted a Blue FlipFOLD! It was around $15 and I wondered how well it worked, or if it was a useless gadget? I thought it was worth a try, in particular with their liberal return policy.
I put it to the test!!! It is wonderful, I wish the product would have been available when I was folding laundry for 5 kids! I love this thing! I fold towels, dh's underwear, pillowcases, shorts etc. on it! It is seriously fantastic! They also sell a junior size for children's clothing. Ever wonder how the stores fold their clothing so neat? Now you know! I know, that any of you that worked in a clothing store probably know about this great tool, but I never had and I was in "fold heaven".....is there such a place? No! But it makes the whole job more pleasant for me.
Note: There are other brands on the market that probably work equally as well.
I am posting a tutorial of using it here and how the stack looks when I'm done.

By the way? It is great for packing too!!!!

Flip the bottom of the shirt up to the bottom of the folder

 .

Flip the right section over, note his sleeve is laying on the opposite side.

Again, since his shirts are large, it requires one extra flip.

This is so quick and makes it so easy it's the best thing EVER for laundry day!
Flip up to finish! So fast!

If you go to Louisiana

We lived a good portion of our raising children life in the heart of Cajun Country! My husband hails from a long line of southerners and loves his southern comfort foods. He also loves hot peppers and spice! He thinks I'm "hot" that's why we are still together! :)
I love the natural flavors in food, but I also have studied herbs and spices to learn what seasonings will enhance those natural flavors.I grow a lot of my own peppers and herbs as well and have learned how to dry them.  So what does this have to do with organizing you may ask?
Confession: I alphabetize my spices.
When you see how many I have you will see why. There are a multitude of spice racks out there,  so you choose what is best for you, judging on how many you want to store and whether or not you like them out on the counter or not. I prefer these acrylic storage racks available at The Container Store. Herbs and spice have a limited shelf life too so keeping them out of direct light is important to me.


So here is a view inside my spice cabinet. Yes, I'm obsessed.

Hint: There is enough room behind these racks to store extra spice for refills. Behind the large containers I have seldom used items. I always try not to store things where you have to constantly shuffle items to find what you need. Things you use all the time should be in clear view and within easy reach. 


One of my favorite cookbooks, Talk About Good!

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Pantry Organization (Inside)

When the door is opened this is what you will see.

At this point we are only dealing with containerized foods. Before purchasing containers assess your needs. Make a list of things you normally have on hand. Then guesstimate how many pounds, cups or other measure each item needs, list this to the side of each item. Include all dry goods, flour, cornmeal, sugar (brown, white, and powdered), artificial sweeteners, (if you use them), macaroni, spaghetti and other pasta, cereals, (dry and cook types), dry beans, breadcrumbs, croutons, popcorn, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, chips, coffee, teas, snack foods, rice, ice cream cones, chocolate chips, dried fruit, nuts,cocnut and other miscellaneous items you need to store.

Just so you know, I do not purchase a lot of prepackaged foods like Hamburger Helper or other processed foods. However, if you use these you need to either leave shelf space for them or decide to place them in a container. Again all of these items will need to be placed together so we know when its time to go shopping.

I purchased Tupperware containers to store the majority of my pantry items in. A Tupperware representative can help you decide which containers will serve your needs best. I chose Modular Mates by Tupperware because I wanted to fit them to my shelves and desired a uniform look. Purchase pieces based on what you need to store. Please note that if you are unable to purchase Tupperware that there are all kinds of inexpensive storage containers on the market. WalMart has a huge section of Rubbermaid containers, Sterilite and other no-name brands, The Container Store houses a plethora of storage options and don't forget thrift stores or dollar stores. Don't forget to measure your shelving and note the container size, so you know how many you can stack. It is best to find a container that fits the shelf front to back, so nothing gets stored in front of something else. If you have very deep shelves buy some shelf risers or use some boards to boost the back up so you don't have to shuffle a lot of things to get to the item you want. Bear in mind that if you purchase see thru containers that you can easily, at a glance, tell if you are getting low on something. Keep a little magnetic notepad on the side of your refrigerator to list things you are out of OR I will also share my tried and true grocery shopping list that works for any store you shop in! This can be thumb-tacked to the inside of the cabinet or on the wall of the pantry to list things as you use them up. Then when you are headed to the store, grab it, fold it and GO!


When I open my door my light comes on and turns off when I'm finished! My husband installed this cool little switch that replaced the regular switch inside. It's nice when you have your hands full and need to see. Plus it saves on those ever rising energy bills.
Keep in mind as you build your storage that you should try to keep all your baking products together. All the flour, all the pancake mix, and cornmeal. Then a place for snack foods like chips, crackers, and maybe pretzels. Then containers for dry cereal, cooked cereal like oats, or in the south "grits" ! :) Then all the beans, all the pastas, you got it!
Now turn on that light and get going! :)