Have you ever made a New Year’s resolution only to break it within the first few days? Don’t feel bad. You have lots of company. Every year millions of people break their New Year’s Resolutions.

Why do people fail to keep their resolutions? They fail because resolutions are nothing more than a statement of a desire. There is nothing behind the statement that will insure that it happens.

Goals, on the other hand, are desires with an action plan. If you’re ready to make this year different, set goals and make a plan for achieving them. If you do, you’ll be able to look back at the end of the year and see how much you’ve achieved rather than regretting what you failed to do.

If you have a comment, feel free to post your thoughts below.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1 ripe banana, peeled and sliced
• 2 cups frozen blueberries
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
• 1/2 cup pomegranate juice
• 1 scoop of vanilla flavored protein powder
• 2 to 3 tablespoons honey

Directions:

Put all the ingredients in a blender and process until smooth.  If needed, add 3 to 4 ice cubes and blend again.  Pour into glasses and serve.

Do you get frustrated because your child’s toys are scattered all over the place?   Are toy pieces missing or broken because your child dumps them all into a big toy box?  Do you constantly admonish your child for not putting his toys away?  If any of this sounds familiar, you are not alone.  Toys seem to be the biggest organizing challenge for a mom.

The answer, to these problems, is to implement kid friendly storage solutions that make it easy for your child to find, use, and put his toys away.  The following guidelines will help you in choosing toy storage solutions that are kid friendly.

1. Convenience

Any storage product you choose should be easy for your child to access and use.  If a unit is too difficult to open or close, clean up will become a struggle.  Make sure that drawers and lids open easily.   If possible, remove lids so your child can easily reach in and get things.

2. Visibility

Use clear containers whenever possible.  Children need to be able to easily find what they are looking for and easily see where things should be put away.

Clear Plastic Box

Clear Plastic Storage Unit

3. Sturdiness

The containers you choose should be sturdy enough to handle daily wear and tear.  Choose products that can handle being dropped, bumped and slammed.

4. Affordability

Don’t spend a lot of money on organizing products for your child’s room.  Children outgrow toys and decorating themes quickly, so you don’t want to invest a lot of money in high-end products.  You can stretch your toy storage budget by using a variety of inexpensive items.  Check for bargains at dollar stores and thrift stores.   Think of creative ways to recycle a container.  And don’t forget to check around your home.  You may be able to use items you already have.

Plastic dishpans can be used as containers for blocks, trucks, dolls, etc.  Their shallow design makes them easy to use.  Dish pans can be placed on a shelving unit.

Dish Pan

A laundry basket can be used as a toy box or as a container for balls and outdoor toys.

Laundry Basket

Metal or plastic buckets can be use as containers for toys.  Place several of them in a row on a shelf for a pretty display.  Paint metal buckets to match the decor of your child’s room.  Your child can also use the bucket to collect toys during cleanup time.

Metal Bucket

Moving boxes or shoe boxes covered with contact paper are a very inexpensive storage solution.  Just make sure that the box is sturdy.  You might want to decorate the box with pictures of the toy category (cars, trains, dolls) cut from magazines, children’s books or old greeting cards.  Then cover the entire box with clear contact paper for added strength.

5. Practicality

Use items you already have like wicker baskets for small items and laundry baskets for larger toys.

Small Wicker Basket

Re-purpose a bookshelf for organizing toys and books.

Bookshelf with Organizing Bins

Legos® are hard to keep organized.  The Lego® sorter pictured below is ideal for sorting all those little pieces and it makes clean up a breeze.

Box4Blox Sorter

It can be hard to find a way to store a large collection of stuffed animals.  This toy hammock gets stuffed animals off the floor and when placed at the right height, keeps them within easy reach for nighttime snuggles.

Teddy Hammock

Don’t forget to use the space under your child’s bed.  Use a long rectangular storage bin with wheels so that your child can pull the bin out easily.  If needed, remove the lid for easy access.

Under-Bed Storage Box

Organizing a bathroom can be difficult considering that most bathrooms have very limited storage capacity.  The challenge is to find organizing products that utilize the space you have to its full potential.  Below are our top recommendations for getting the most out of your bathroom’s storage space.

Replacing your current shelves with slide-out shelves like the ones pictured below, will increase your bathroom’s storage capacity.  Not only do they make accessing the back areas of your cabinets infinitely easier, which means you will actually use the space you already have, but, in some cases, you can add more shelves per cabinet.  Home improvement stores, as well as many kitchen and bath companies, have these available.

Many people don’t get the most out of the space under their bathroom sink because the drainpipe makes it difficult to add storage.  The shelf below is a great answer to that problem because it fits around the pipe.  With this unit you get two shelves under your sink to which you can add bins or boxes for organized storage.  How’s that for stretching your storage?

Under Sink Storage Shelf

Another way to add storage under your sink or in your cabinets is to add a clear multi-tiered drawer like the one below.  The see-through drawers help you see what is stored inside and, depending on the size of the drawers, you can add interior organizing trays.

Mini Three Drawer Organizer

Make the most of  the unused space above your toilet.  By adding a shelving unit like the one below, you can double your storage for towels and toiletries.

Over the Toilet Shelves

Organize your makeup easily with a divided tray.  We like the clear acrylic kind, but any sturdy material will do.  Just make sure that it is sturdy and that you can clean it easily with soap and water.

Cosmetics Organizing Tray

A drawer doubler give a second storage tray that rides on top of your existing drawer’s sides.  This is great for cosmetic items that you access on a daily basis.

Drawer Doubler

Another good choice for organizing cosmetics is an expandable drawer divider.  You can organize the interior of your drawer to hold makeup, accessories, medicine or grooming supplies.

Expandable Drawer Divider

If you run out of cabinet space you can always use the top of your counter for additional storage space.  Simply place a small drawer unit like the one mentioned above or a vanity organizer like the one below on your counter.

Vanity Top Cosmetics Organizer