Dress up clothes...need organizing ideas! PLEEEZE!

[youngwife]

Can I just say that I really hate dress up clothes?? Sure, the kids love them, they stimulate lots of imagination and role play, but oh....... They end up every where.

I have a bin specifically for dress up clothes and items. It has no lid, and the children *should* be able to just toss them back into the bin. But, for some reason, my 2.5yod and 5yod don't get this concept. :

So, help me organize them before I toss them out. Or tell me how much better my life will be without them.

They have survived several ruthless toy downsizes, but if we don't get a handle on this, I may have to find them new homes.

Thank you for advice and suggestions,

Rebecca

[mumkimum]

I've recently decided to ditch our open bin and do a drawstring laundry bag for dress up clothes. Growing up, we had a trunk with a lid. I might let some things go while 'switching over' - having a more limited & contained space seems to help keep amounts under control here.

[Alyantavid]

My kids have an issue with putting ours away too. They used to be in a cute wicker basket in the playroom but I finally gave up on that and put them in a rubbermaid bin with a lid. At least now, I don't have to see the mess and they like to put them away just so they can open and shut the lid.

[youngwife]

Thanks for the ideas, ladies.

For now, I have packed them up, and stored them in the closet. I think a little break from them and the mess will be nice...actually, bliss!! :

Maybe, if they have to ask for them (after the designated timeout is over), then maybe they will be more likely to clean them up.

At this point, I have not set a designated time frame. Never is looking good.

[kanga2roo]

When I put up a little set of fancy hooks and hung one of those mesh containers from the ceiling the kids actually LIKED to put the clothes away The hooks let them feel grown up and kept things better organized so they could see them. We used the different mesh compartments for different things- like hats, skirts, shoes, etc.

[BCFD]

I loathe anything with characters on them, but one day I was shopping at the Goodwill and came across and really cute Cinderella plastic/cardboard mini wardrobe for dress up clothes for $8. I had to buy it. My girls still don't quite grasp the concept that they have to hang them back up, but what I try to do is play the "lets all get in there and clean up together" game. The wardrobe is for all their dress up clothes - princess dresses, astronaut suit, cowboy suit, etc. We also got this from Costco one year and all the other stuff goes in there - necklaces, shoes, scarves, hats, basically all the accessories.

My friend had a great idea. She got this rack from Ikea and her kids hang all their dress up clothes on it. I think I like her idea better!

[Amys1st]

DH made a rolling rack about the size of a 5 yr old. All the princess stuff is on grilie hangers my mom found way on sale - like the satin ones. the fireman etc is hung on normal hangers.

[KathinJapan]

ours go on hangers in the closet. necklaces and crowns etc.. in baskets and hats go in a storage thing meant for sweaters. It also hangs in the closet, maybe it was meant for shoes.. anyway it is all in the closet, but not in time out.
Kathryn

[Slabobbin]

I have tried many different methods.

A storage bin to hold it all - didn't work because things got broken and everything got dumped out all at one time when they wanted to play dressup.

Hanging them on hangers, with everything grouped together (necklaces that went with the set, etc.) on the hanger with the actual outfit. This didn't work because the kids couldn't hang clothes back on the hanger nor did they group it together when they cleaned up.

Finally I purchased several peg hooks and hung them at child level. I also hung one just a little higher than one of the hooks. The outfits go on the hooks with the hats to the outfits on the hooks above. I put these in a corner with one on each corner (to make a dress up corner). Then I have a wooden shelf with bins to hold all of the misc. stuff that doens't hang up. It makes cleaning up very easy because the child is able to do it. Nothing really has to be sorted (as with the hangers) so I don't get anal about it being "right". Even a small child can usually hang a dress on a hook.

[karemore]

We haven't figured this out yet either. Right now we have a big rubbermaid tub in DDs room, but it's always overflowing and everything is all jumbled together.

I think it'd hate having things hanging out on hooks or racks where I could see them though.

[Cascadian]

I've seen people convert simple bookcases (like Ikea ones) into mini hanging closets...they simply drill a hanging bar into the top part of the bookshelf, sans shelves, and voila!

I also use containers with snap-lids for the jewelry...the million bits of jewelry.

And I purge (secretly), regularly.

[AuntNi]

Originally Posted by kanga2roo

When I put up a little set of fancy hooks and hung one of those mesh containers from the ceiling the kids actually LIKED to put the clothes away The hooks let them feel grown up and kept things better organized so they could see them. We used the different mesh compartments for different things- like hats, skirts, shoes, etc.

I second this suggestion. We hung up fancy hooks at DD's level on her bedroom walls. I think this served two purposes. #1) The fairy princess dresses lining the walls make really cute decorations, and #2) Fancy clothes neatly hung up feel more "special" than dress-up clothes thrown in a Rubbermaid tub. So there's more of an incentive to take care of them and keep them nicely hung.

Dress-up shoes, feather boas, magic wands, etc, go in one dresser drawer. We don't accumulate more than can fit in that drawer.