Here's a re-post of my all time favorite way to organize the spice cabinet. I spent about 20 minutes tidying mine up today, and encourage you to spend a few minutes working on yours too if you can this weekend!
My spice cabinet has been a mess for months . . . despite several attempts to re-organize. Because I'm such the penny-pincher, I've refused to spend any moo-lah on items that could better organize my spices, which has led to crazy disaster every night as I start to cook!
Finally, as I was cooking this week and got knocked in the head by a pie plate (yup, it was that bad), I decided that this was just ridiculous. (Seriously!) You see, we've been married for almost sixteen years, and I've never done anything to make this mess better. . . I've tidied it, but there was just no system in place! So yesterday I ran to Walmart and spend $30 on a few items to Fluff it Up. (Why on earth did I wait so long?) Here are the results . . .
I found a 12-pack of Ball canning containers for $7, and purchased plastic lids to match for the tops. I added my more frequently used baking products to those (things like baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, yeast packets, etc.) I also purchased a few racks to give me extra space, and baskets for the top to keep all of our cookie cutters & cake decorating items in (I've made every single birthday cake for my kiddos, so I have quite a stash of goodies up there!) My favorite purchase were little tiny Ball canning jars that are just perfect for a few seasoning mixes I keep on hand – cinnamon sugar, homemade Ranch dressing mix, and Italian Seasonings. (They're so cute, but you can hardly see them – they're hiding just behind the powdered sugar shaker!)
Recently, a friend convinced me to purchase a nicer computer and it has made a huge difference in my productivity on PPP in 2012. (I spent my first year blogging on a $300 netbook . . . it was just awful!) I've started to realize that sometimes (when you can afford to!), spending a little money to purchase items that make you work more efficiently is just worth it. And you can imagine the amount of time that I've spent searching for spices in that mess up top has definitely hurt my productivity! So, while I don't want to spend too much on things I don't need, I do think it's okay to splurge every once in awhile on things that will make me more effective in my work (which is cooking for my family!)  Especially since I saved enough money in my grocery budget this week to splurge on it . . . yayyyyy!
Find a few minutes over the next few days and see if you can give your spice cabinet a good clean out ~ you never know what you may find while you're there!
Here’s a sneak peek of this week’s upcoming challenges so you can get ahead for the week:
- Day 12: the pantry (part one)
- Day 13: the pantry (part two)
Looking for more ways to get organized in 2014? Here you go . . .
- Day One: Shine Your Sink
- Day Two: Dust The Top Of Your Entertainment Center
- Day Three: The Entertainment Center Day 2
- Day Four: Â Your Budget (Free Printable Budget Spreadsheet)
- Day Five: Complete (Complete.) the Laundry
- Day Six: Organize Your Laundry Room (Frugal Laundry Room Update)
- Day Seven: The Ironing
- Day Eight: The Linen Closet
- Day Nine: The Fridge
- Day Ten: The Freezer
misty white says
What type of lids did you buy? and where? for the mason jars
Whittney says
I love the mason jars as well, would love to know where to look for them and the price =)
Laurie says
The Dollar Tree carries them Whittney! 🙂
Judi says
I used lazy susans and alphabetized my spices about 6 years ago. Haven’t had to reorganize, clean out in all that time, and I always know what I have and what I need!