a Saturday pantry re-do...

This past weekend I could take it no longer! My pantry was WAY out of control! I would find myself getting anxious just at the thought of having to go into it and TRY to find something. Plus, I didn't even know what was in there anymore -hiding behind all sorts of boxes and mess. So, I decided to make it my mission to get things in order and get my pantry back. I felt that getting things in order will only help my in my planning of meals and save me a bit of money (and my sanity!) in the long run.



 I started by just standing there, looking and feeling completely overwhelmed! HOW did I let this happen?
After those feelings of defeat left me I trudged along...my mind on the goal of a nice, clean, workable pantry space. I actually got inspired to even start this project from a blog called The Manly Housekeeper. Can you believe it? The site was great, though, and it gave me a great idea for organizing: plain ol' mason jars! This tip got me going in the right direction. 

So I started the task by taking everything out of the pantry first. You would be amazed as to how many empty boxes of crackers, cookies, and other strange things, lurked in there. Candy was hiding from goodness knows HOW long ago. Stray stale rice crispys, odd bits of sticky stuff and too many crumbs to count is what I encountered along the way...oh joy!

Oodles of tea bags, a minute amount of white chocolate chips,  bags of brown-stuff that I can't recognize! All on the counter it went- to sort through and to see what stays and what goes. And, a TON went bye-bye.

My main goal (other than a cleaner pantry) was to fill as many glass or see-through containers as I can.

That way, I could see "how much" was left and easily see when I needed more. So, I poured this sugar into a glass jar for easier reference. I then took a sharpie pen and wrote directly on the glass.



 One trick that I use is to use a permanent pen to label jars...when no longer needed, just wash off with soapy H2O. If you are really feeling crafty though, you can try another neat labeling idea: chalk board paint like at The Flibbertigibbet blog.  My friends, that know I like to paint ODD things, will be surprised I didn't do this. Well, I STILL plan on it, so there!! lol

So, moving on...

I tried to house similar like-minded items together. This is the baking shelf. Sprinkles, cake stuff, baking chips, etc... it is all right here for me, every time I need anything.

This spice rack was already here. I just went through it and got rid of super-old spices or empties.

As you can see, this is the spices shelf. I just used a cheap piece of masking tape to label it. Go ahead and fancy it up if you wish. I think that see-through containers are most important for me on this shelf. When one thing is running low I can quickly add it to the shopping list.

Jars and liquids...





My plastic grocery bags finally have a home of their own... in a reusable bag.

                                             

So, there you go... It really does look better in person than from this photo. I can see where everything goes and the kids (and husband) now know where to put things away (well...we'll see how that goes!)