Organizing those dang grocery bags...

If I could completely have it my way I'd never have these grocery bags--but hubby's good sense and economics prevail...so now and then instead of using my reusable grocery bags (or when I forget to take them with me to the store--or even sometimes take them to the store and then leave them in the car...ever done that?) I get groceries in plastic bags that we reuse for garbage bags in the bathrooms, bedrooms and for quick trash cleanups around the house.

 Well I had purchased a couple of these wire baskets to help give me more storage in my pantry.
Unfortunately plastic bags are like rabbits, I think they make more and more as they sit places...







so now now my basket looked like this...and it was never even intended to be the home for the bags.

 

 So tonight I decided enough is enough I need that space. I want the snack area to be easily accessible so you don't really have to think. Just grab a snack and go. I've worked hard to make sure that there are snacks on hand that are healthy, and give good energy. So dried fruits, nuts and healthy bars. But if we can't find them in chaos then what's the point of having gone to that trouble?

So I emptied the basket.

 Now what to do with the bags?












I was getting ready to throw out an empty disinfectant wipes container when I had an epiphany. I could up-cycle, utilize wasted space and still keep the bags that I'd worked so hard to collect (haha)

So I stripped the lid till it looked like this--I took the flap part of the lid and attached it to the bottom of the container because I like the color and wanted to see a little peek of it on the soon to be top.


I printed out a free stencil pattern that I liked,
and wrapped it around the jar.

I placed the bags in the container pulled the top
bag through the hole and secured the lid

Looking Good!!!

Next I cut a hole in the back. I just used a pair of scissors and made a stab. Nothing pretty...you'll also notice my wrap doesn't go all the way around. I figured it would be against the wall, why print out two sheets and try to line them up etc. etc. I may use fabric to cover my next one (I'll be making these for each of the bathrooms and bedrooms!)


I used a basic 3M hook and put it on the wall in the pantry making sure I wasn't blocking my access to anything.

 Finished Product--What do you think?

 Even better? I've now reclaimed my baskets for their intended purpose.
Healthy snacks. Check.
Easy to find. Check.

Not bad for a few minutes work.
(took longer to make this post than it did to complete the project!)