Loteda - Buying and Selling Children's Clothes by the LOT

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Loteda. All opinions are 100% mine.

Those of us with children know how quickly they grow. And growing quickly means going through clothes while barely having worn them. Buying a whole new wardrobe every couple of months can be really expensive. If you go the alternative route and go to garage sales or consignment stores, it can be really time consuming. That's where Loteda comes in.

Did you know that on average, US households spend $804/year per child on clothing? Loteda is such an interesting concept because it helps you buy or sell children's clothes in by the LOT. That means no need to try and sell the dozens of clothes one by one to try and make some cash. 

All you have to do to sell clothes is take a picture of each one, write down the brand name and condition. Loteda will choose a competitive resale price based on the original retail value, condition, and number of pieces in each lot. They will send a prepaid shipping kit once the lot sells. You just send the clothes back and receive 90% of the resale value just like that!

How easy is it to organize your children's clothes when using this method?! You can read more about How to sell here.

Shoppers can save money as all items are on a discounted price, and save time by buying a season's worth of clothes in one transaction. Returns are easy if you feel the seller misrepresented the quality/condition of the clothes

Sizes are Newborn - 5T/5, and all clothes are Gently-used. And the best part? I've got a discount code for you! 

20% off your total purchase. Use code: Summer20. Expires 8/31/2014
  Would you use this kind of system, or is it out of your comfort zone? 

For more details, check out this video!

Mom Purse Organization plus Sonia Kashuk Giveaway!! [CLOSED]

When my son turned 1 and a half years old, I took the plunge and decided not to bring his diaper bag with me everywhere, but leave it in the car instead in case I needed something. I know, not a very deep plunge, but still. I needed to keep his essentials along with mine in one purse now. I used a spacious Michaels Kors bag to do this. Here's what it looks like when you open it:

When I first started using this purse for both of our items, it was a huge mess with his clothes, toys, snacks etc everywhere. To be neat, the key is to compartmentalize everything. I got pouches for different things in my purse. There's also a convenient chain in this bag to hang keys from so you don't need to search on the bottom every time.

Let's get started with the breakdown: 

I love this striped pouch from J.Crew. It unfolds to become a decent sized fabric bag that can hold many items. Useful if you don't have enough hands to carry all items! Usually the case when you have a child with you! It folds again when you're done into a neat square pouch.

I got this small pouch from the Outlet Mall (excellent place for deals!). Rolling my son's clothes in here makes it much more organized than just throwing it in the purse.

Then of course, my wallet and sunglasses.

On the very bottom of the purse I stack one of his diapers, a disposable changing sheet and a very useful flexible wipes container, which is really slim and holds just enough wipes for a few trips. On the side I keep a container of his snacks, healing ointment and an interactive toy for endless fun (i.e. something to keep him quiet for 3 minutes tops).

 Finally, we're getting down to my last few personal items. A notebook and pen to jot down anything I want to remember. And a pouch from the Sonia Kashuk line. It fits perfectly in purses and keeps everything in its place.

A look inside. It's not clear unfortunately, but there are many pockets inside so that everything has a set place. There's even a zippered pocket hidden on the inside.   

Here are all the items I can fit into that small pouch!  The green cardholder holds all of my gift cards and some rewards cards. I also keep extra plastic bags folded into triangles in my purse. There's a post about it here.

And finally, a little gift for one lucky reader! I bought an extra Sonia Kashuk pouch, but I can't decide what stuff to keep inside! According to this post, it would only be sensible to keep purse essentials inside. But I thought it would be so much more FUN to keep studying, home office or planner essentials instead. Colored pens, fun post-its and other such items. So I want the winner to choose! Comment below what you would prefer if you won, and I'll get to shopping after the winner is chosen! I will be using Rafflecopter. Good luck!

This is my first ever giveaway so unfortunately it will be in the United States only, as I don't really know what to expect. Apologies to international readers! 

Also, those under 18 will need parental permission because I will be needing your address to send the prize.

Giveaway ends on July 20th 2014

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

Repurposing Baby Changing Tables to Beverage Carts

When my son turned a year old, there was barely any use for his changing table. He would wriggle around and try to climb out of it while I was changing his clothes! We ended up just spreading a thin blanket on the floor to change him, while the changing table sat around with no use. Yes, there were still baskets of my son's clothes, diapers and other belongings on the shelves, but he would just flip the entire baskets upside down everyday. That system evidently wasn't working out. 

Here is a picture of the changing table before. I have an entire post on baby organization here. I would say this system works until the baby turns one.

See how I went from that, to a wheeled beverage cart!

Before and after

 A closeup look. There's a slight indication that this beverage cart is travel themed, but it's not too over-powering.

Along with the world map where I can pinpoint the family's travels, I also bought a book from Barnes and Noble to display.

It has the most gorgeous pictures of various places around the world and I enjoy changing up the pages that are on display from time to time. Really takes your breath away.

Hot chocolate and instant coffee station. More details here. 

Herbal tea collection with a teabag strainer 

I got this gorgeous shot glass from Navy Pier, Chicago. I plan to put a wooden honey dipper inside it. Just ordered it from Amazon. You can purchase it here. I will also post where you can find the tea organizer.

Glass bottles at the back give a more vintage vibe.

Some glasses and teacups for guests. Varying the heights of cups gives a little bit more of a dramatic effect.

Keep in mind that there is also another shelf below this one for you to add whatever you'd like! I would add an ice bucket and maybe some snacks.

I do realize that it's too early for me to keep such delicate items out in the open with a toddler around. On regular days, I keep the bottom two shelves empty and the top one still holds the hot cocoa and tea station. This system is mainly for when guests come over. However, if you have a large enough kitchen, you can keep it there and have a gated fence around it so toddlers aren't able to reach it! That would be the ideal situation, so it can look pretty year round :)

If you're thinking of buying a baby changing table, try to look into something that you can use even after the baby grows out of it. Look for a design that is not very childish and can be used in any part of the house. They would work great for entryways as well. Here is where I got mine:

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Toddler Reading Nook in Closet

Having a reading nook for my son is something I've always wanted. There are such wonderful pictures online of glorious and relaxing reading nooks for adults and children alike. Living in an apartment makes it a little difficult to find space to have an added space like this, but thinking outside the box helps. 

We had a blank wall in the master bedroom closet which was just dead space. Since I have my own closet in the guest bedroom and the boys (father and son) share the master bedroom closet, I thought it would be appropriate to keep a little reading nook for the tiny tot in the unused space: 

My son absolutely LOVES this little area! As soon as the closet door opens, he runs inside, grabs a book (or three) and sit down to read in his own baby language. It's just adorable to see a tiny bookworm :)

For the sitting area, I had a cushion and Boppy pillow from before, so that didn't cost anything for this particular project. However, I had bought these wall shelves from Amazon:

It definitely meets the needs of a 20 month old. Each shelf can hold two layers of books, so there's enough room to grow for now.

I've set up another option in the picture below. Instead of using cushions, you can also use a toddler chair and add a chalkboard so they can draw. I'm waiting until he gets a little older to add the chalkboard though (I will most probably hang it below the shelves) because he is too young to use chalks right now. Would be a great little area to learn his ABC's! You can see how I made this chalkboard for an extremely affordable price right over here. 

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Closet Organization - How to Give your Apartment Closet a Boutique Feel!

Ever wondered how to give your closet a boutique feel? If you have a walk-in closet in your apartment, this is possible even without those fancy built-ins which are seen in more glamorous homes!

Now, this process is a bit more difficult if you're sharing closets with someone. In this new apartment, I wanted to spruce up my closet a bit and go all girly, so I let my husband take the closet in the master bedroom and I took the one in the guest bedroom. For some reason the guest room closet is more spacious, but the space in the master bedroom closet was perfect for my husband's stuff. A bit inconvenient to walk to the guest room, but this closet is still my "happy place"!

Let's get started, shall we? Here's what it looks like when you open the door:

Being from the Indian subcontinent, I mainly wear a long, flowy dress called "shalwar qameez", 99% of which are gifts! In our culture it's the norm to gift friends and family with clothes on special occasions. 

Here's how I arranged the dresses:

If you read my old closet post, you can see in detail the benefits of color coordinating clothes, and having uniformity of hangers. 

In this post, I'd like to elaborate more on the key things that make your closet give the feel of a boutique. First, let's start with clothes. 

If you have a large enough walk-in closet, I'd recommend hanging all of the clothes up, rather than some hanging and some in the dresser. I decided that if my long dresses don't fit on this particular rack, I will be donating it. One tip I find that helps me while donating clothes is choosing a number. Usually if I don't choose a number I end up just donating a couple of clothes because I THINK I need more, when I really don't. Find actual people around you who are in need of clothes as this also helps in encouraging you to give away more - personal stories. I found out that there was a lady in my community who was stranded by her husband and left with children to fend for, without a job. I wanted to give her clothes, and these are all in good condition, but if I had not picked a number, I might have given just 3 or 4. Choose whatever suits you best at the time, 10, 15, 20. 

Giving away clothes and keeping only as much as my (walk-in) closet can fit helped make me feel less overwhelmed. I try my best to keep a one inch distance between hangers as this gives the clothes breathing space, looks neater and prevents wrinkles. I have decided that if there's ever less than an inch distance between hangers, then it means I will have to donate more clothes!

According to statistics (which I'm not sure how accurate they are, but they sound true to me), we only use 20% of our clothes 80% of the time. If you find that you haven't worn something in over a year and it has no sentimental value, give it away! I'm sure you will not miss it once it's gone, and your closet will look a WHOLE lot better, I promise!!

On to the purses:

I thought it would be cool, innovative idea to use S-hooks to hang up purses, until I went on Pinterest and realized half the world was already doing it. *sigh* But here you have it. They look much neater than being stacked on top of the wire shelves or being put in suitcases. Before I hung up my purses, I didn't have too much of an idea of what I actually had. Now, I can see them clearly. 

This method helps to really analyze what you have and what you need or don't need. So using the example above, I realized I have way too many neutral shades, and really will not be needing anymore. So when I go shopping and find another neutral purse attractive, I can remind myself that I have a whole line of them at home so I won't need to buy it. 

For storing purses, it's a good idea to stuff them with tissue paper or newspapers so that they maintain their shape.

I kept some of my jewelry out on the rack to give that boutique vibe. 

Along with some (el cheapo) fragrances on a tray.

Here's what it looks like to the left of the door:

I added a mirror to make the space feel more open, and of course, a boutique needs a mirror and an ottoman! Let's just ignore the fact that this is a $10 mirror and the "ottoman" is a stool from Target which was on clearance ;)

One thing that I did, which decreases the "sophisticated" look I'm going for, actually, is that I added greeting cards that were given to me by family and friends over the last few years. Although it doesn't look very elegant at all, it gives out a really positive vibe and reminds me to be grateful for my loved ones. Each card emits nostalgic memories, and since this is my personal closet, I thought it would be the perfect place for me to put them up.

I have a step stool against the wall to reach the higher shelves, along with my shoes.

Again, same situation here. All of my shoes have to fit this specific rack, and if they don't, they have to leave. 

Finally, let's take a look behind the closet door:

I put up a command hook on one of the bare walls. This allowed me to hang up my favorite dress of the season, giving it a fun look.

Behind the door, I hung up my long scarves on an over the door hanger. This can hold up to 3 scarves on each hook, and has 6 hooks, so it's pretty convenient!

I still have to work on the top shelves of the closet, but that will be a later post...much later :)

That's all I've got for today! Do you have any tips for closets? Share in the comments below!

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How to Pack Mugs, Glasses and Bowls

Yup, you guessed it! We're moving soon. As in tomorrow. So while on a lunch break, I thought I'd make a post on a quick tip. Packing fragile items: 

You'll have to find a slim box for this one. I found our computer monitor box being unused, so decided to use it for the short road trip to the next apartment. 

It's a great size as it's able to fit over 20 glassware items. 

I started off by cutting bubble wrap into long strips, and zigzagging my way around the mugs. I used double layers of the bubble wrap to ensure maximum protection. 

Here's how it looks placed inside the box. The mugs that are not covered will be covered with the next row of mugs when cushioned in alternate directions.

I then proceeded to do the same with the glasses, putting them in 4 at a time. 

After putting in the mugs and glasses, I still had plenty of extra space, so I added these bowls using the same method. 

There was a bit of a gap on the side, so I filled it in with rolled up clothes. 

Here's the finished product! 8 mugs, 8 glasses and 3 bowls, completely packed with no space to move!

When closed up, it looks like it's going to remain safe and sound! I'd recommend to still handle it with care and keep it horizontal at all times if possible. It should be safe if vertical, but I wouldn't risk it!

I'm looking forward to the move so that I can post new organizational tips and tricks in a new apartment! Especially excited about the closet!!

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