Organizing the Small Stuff

Have you ever noticed that it’s the small stuff that is the hardest to organize? I’m here to tell you about a product that is meant for photos but is also great for organizing the small stuff that gets out of hand.

Using a photo organizer, I’ll show you five ways to organize the stuff that usually ends up shoved in a junk drawer.

Product Versatility

I plan to regularly highlight products that have multiple uses. Sometimes products are marketed for one specific purpose. However, clever people that we all are, we find additional ways to make use of them.

You can use a pair of tongs while cooking. Pretty straightforward, right? Did you know you can also use them to squeeze a lemon if you don’t have an actual lemon juicer?

You can also use an old-fashioned can opener (not electric) to open those annoying clamshell packages. Not exactly exciting or life-changing, but still good to know.

I don’t want to share products that can only be used in one other way. I want to share products that you can repurpose in many ways. The products I’ll share will mainly be for organizing. But, if I come across other products that make life easier, I will share.

Today’s product is the Iris 12-case photo storage box.

This organizer is a 16”x10 1/4”x 5”h plastic container that holds 12 4×6 plastic cases inside. There are many ways these can be used but I will discuss five ways I like to use them.

Storing Photos- The Obvious Solution

You can use this product as intended by filling it with photos. You can fit approximately 100 4×6 photos in each box. Since there are 12 boxes in each case, you can fit about 1200 photos in all. That’s a lot of photos!

The 4×6 storage containers are acid-free for protection. I like to use several of these organizers and separate them by category. I have one case dedicated to travel pictures, one for our kids, one for each side of the family, friends, and so on.

The organizers are stackable, but I prefer them to be side by side. I label each 4×6 case and then the outside of the organizer as well.

Organizing Tech Gear- The Clever Solution

Using this organizer for tech products has made my life so much easier. Heck, it has made life easier for the whole family.

I have a love/hate relationship with technology. It provides many conveniences, but it also causes a lot of headaches. Is anyone else sick of user ID and passwords? Anyway, we live in a technological world, and that comes with A LOT of gear.

With the 12-case organizer, you can fit a ton of tech products. In some houses, I bet they could fill the whole organizer with cords alone. Cords nobody knows what they go to (I have a case labeled “mystery cords”)

My tech organizing case has cords, cubes, power banks, and extra earbuds. I use cord wraps to label what they go to.

Obviously, you will not have your phone charger in this organizer because you use it way too often. That would not be convenient or efficient.

I have charging cords for several items, including my son’s remote-control boat, lanterns for my backyard, and an old camcorder that we pull out very rarely. These are products we use, just not daily.

I also have a case just for cleaning products like those tech-safe cleaning cloths. If anyone in the family needs an extra Apple cube (now you know we don’t own the latest and greatest iPhones), they know where to find it.

Just like the individual photo boxes, I have each storage case labeled for its contents.

Organizing Office Supplies- The Efficient Solution

Many people worked from home before the dreaded C-word, but now that number has drastically increased. We all need a small number of office supplies on hand for schoolwork, correspondence, and bills. But if you work from home, you need everything on hand that you’d have at a regular office.

Whether you work at home or not, you can organize your small office supplies in this organizer. 

You may prefer to keep most office supplies near or on your desk. You wouldn’t put your stapler in the organizer because you would probably use it too often. Besides that, it wouldn’t fit in a case.

Instead, you can use the organizer as a sort of backstock keeper. For example, you may have a tape dispenser and a stapler on your desk, but the refills could be kept in the organizer.

I filled the 12 cases with paper clips, rubber bands, post-its, pens, pencils, dry erase markers, staples, flash drives, labels, tape, thumbtacks, and glue sticks.

Items kept in the cases will vary depending on your specific needs. However, most people have these supplies around the house and can benefit from having them all in one place.

Organizing Craft Supplies- The Creative Solution

If you are a crafty person like me or have kids, then you probably have plenty of craft supplies in your home. When my kids were younger, we always needed playdoh, pipe cleaners, felt, and other craft supplies for elementary projects. As they’ve gotten older, we no longer need those items.

Since I do a project of some sort at least once a week, I have a lot of craft supplies. I have a closet dedicated to craft supplies. Craft supplies can really get out of control and become disorganized so storage for the small items that you use fairly often is very helpful.

Some of the items kept in my craft organizer are:

• buttons, thread, pins, needles, and other sewing tools
• velcro and magnets
• adhesives (super glue, Sugru, museum gel, and craft glue).

I have a laminator, a 3-hole punch, and a paper trimmer that need their own space outside of the craft organizing case. You may be interested in my post on organizing craft supplies. I discuss larger crafting supplies, paper storage, and gift-wrapping supplies.

Organizing Small Toys- The Sanity Saver/Solution

Anyone with young kids knows that sometimes they need to be kept busy. It’s nice to have something to keep them occupied on airplanes, sitting in restaurants, and waiting in doctor’s offices. You can use this organizer as a busy box.

Each of the 12 cases can be an individual busy box. That is a similar idea to the busy bags you may have seen on Pinterest.

Kids, especially toddlers, have a short attention span and don’t want to play with the same thing for an hour. You will increase your chances of keeping them satisfied if you have a variety of activities for them.

One thing to keep in mind is to keep it as light as possible because you DO have to carry it. I have many ideas about what could be put in each case, but you will obviously have to pick what is age-appropriate for your child.

Some great sanity saver ideas could be:

• small coloring pages with crayons
• playdoh and plastic tools
• matchbox cars
• stickers
• puzzles
• Lego bricks
• card games (Memory and Go Fish are great choices)
• educational activities

I keep my cases inside a storage bench at the end of my bed. I planned to use the bench as storage for blankets. However, when I found how perfectly these cases fit inside the bench, I knew it had to be where they lived.

There you have it! One product used five different ways. This product has helped me corral a lot of small items that can end up in junk drawers. I hope you have found this helpful and can use one or more of these ideas in your home.

“5 Ways” will be a reoccurring post that I plan to share at least once a month. Be sure to keep checking back so you can learn about all these great products.

Don’t be afraid to use products slated for one use in other ways. Your imagination is your only limitation!

Do you think one of these solutions could work for you? Can you think of any other ways to use them? If so, please share in the comments.

Thanks for reading!