If you have been following on Facebook or instagram you know that I’m posting ‘quick tricks’ of the motherhood trade.This last week was ORGANIZING tricks (that help a scatterbrained daydreamer). I’m ending the weeks on Mondays and today I will complete it with an actual full blown post. I used up every free minute these last couple days to present to you all the gory deets of how my purse comes together because it HONESTLY has made my life SO much easier!! Hope it can sparks some ideas of how to create more ease and harmony in the crazy chaos of cute children we live in!!! Enjoy.
THE MAMA PURSE!! We all have one! Filled with all your essentials, it is the on-the-go survival kit for you and your babies! I totally get that surviving even just a few hours outta your house with kiddies can mean packing half your house and lugging a heavy old bag around!
That’s when I got really serious because I’m a little gal and don’t like to carry more than I need.I also learned my lesson (over and over again) that having or not having wipes or diaps when needed IS the difference between a smooth sailing and a complete shipwreck!! I’m naturally all over the place and needed a super simple system that would make sure I had what I needed, that was ready when I was. I needed not only something organized, but something that would be easy to KEEP organized.
After frantic years of losing keys, digging around for a wipe and lots of STRESS, this is what I finally came up with. I use and LOVE LOVE LOVE this little system because it keeps things light, simple, modularized and totally versatile!! Here is what goes in my mama bag:
4 Main things: Nursing cover, Water bottle, clutch and diaper bag. My keys clip onto the the purse handle.
Nursing cover: This is a MUST if my babes are still nursing, I’m ready to nurse whenever they are, no matter where I am! This is definitely one of the best gift baby shower gift I have ever received! Not only is it uber cute, but I have put it to SO much use with all three of my tots. My sister in law made it, she’s phenom.
Water Bottle: This is the BEST waterbottle I have personally ever owned. It does NOT leak (I’ve used SO many leaky bottles.. UUuuuggggggh. The. Worst. In. The. Purse.), easy to use because it pops up a straw on the push of a button, no spills if the kids need a sip. Keeps us all hydrated. It is a Contigo© bottle, It is pricier than I would normally spend on a water bottle but COMPLETELY worth it.
Clutch- Why a clutch if you already have a purse?? Think of it like a mini-ready-to-go-out-the-door without-kids-purse. I can also easily put it in another purse or backpack if I want a change of look or function. It holds everything I need.
Here are my personal essentials: phone, wallet, a little lip shimmer, little coin pouch (see below what’s inside), pen and notebook for inspiration and checkbook. Sorry, I got this at the DI thrift store so don’t even know where to find this specific one, but here are some fun ones.
No coins here: Instead I keep little things that I don’t wanna dig around for: bobby pins, more lip stuff and a USB (ya never know when you need quick file sharin’)
Diaper Bag: I LOVE this compact diaper bag SO much. It is small, ALL diapering needs are self contained and NOT my WHOLE purse. I don’t carry a diaper bag, I carry a purse. If I need to bring a diaper bag (anywhere with kids) I throw this in!! This is what I hand to the sitters. This is what I throw out of my bag if i’m not going anywhere with littles.
Features I love about this little bag is that I can put lots of diapers, I will even put a onesie and bib in the main pocket.
It comes with a changing pad It’s small but nice to have.
But that’s even not the coolest part. This is:
You can access wipes single handedly from your purse whenever you need them!! We all know that wipes are not just for bum wiping but to clean everything! And when you need one, you need one QUICK. The flap is magnetized so it stays closed BUT it’s totally easy accessable. Here is MY trick of the trade for this bag:
It comes with one of those small plastic wipe containers to refill but they ran out or dried out SO fast and it was a hassle to refill (I have no patience). What I did was just slip a whole package of plastic packaged wipes (I took off the plastic dispenser thing) and now I have a seemingly endless supply and it stays moist! There is a zippered pocket inside just for the wipes compartment. YAY! This rad ‘quick change diaper bag’ can be found here for a good deal.
I’m working on creating an even BETTER diaper bag base on this idea..(ok, ok, I have three little kids, it might be a while before it’s for real, but you just wait!! Eeee.)
I also stuff plastic bags (the produce bags left from grocery shopping) in the pockets. I’ve found there is always need for those even beyond taking out soiled diapers!! I know you can buy them but I like reusing as much as I can.
AAAAND…Just so I can prove to you that I’m REALLY NOT naturally an organized person, take a look at what I dump out of my purse after about a week (or less?) of not going through it…pretty, eh?
Thats what I LOVE about this trick of the motherhood trade…reorganizing is a cinch!! Just pull out my four items and put them in my purse and everything is back in order. Except my floor. But at least my purse is beauuuty again.
I just want to end with a tribute this this black beauty. (cue sad violin music) It was a freebie at Sally Beauty Supply and it endured so much use from me and my boys. It used to hang on my banister ready for me to grab out the door. But then my three year old hung on it. And the handles broke. Sniff.
I was sad but then happy again realizing it was a good chance to get a NEW mama bag.I found the perfect one: a clearanced YELLOW purse, sqeeeeeeee! LOVE. I don’t think it’s gonna last with the skinny handles but I’ll love it as long it survives us.
What are your ‘bag of tricks’ when it comes to the Mama purse and organizing the chaos?? We all wanna hear!