Toy organization

I never really had a organization system for the toys I purchased for the birds, which often resulted in me "finding" things I forgot I had. And since the move, most of the toys were kept in boxes in the garage (which was too full to ever see a car in it's midst) which left me more clueless about what I had and didn't have.

With the Sidewalk Sale on Avian Avenue fast approaching  I did something I swore myself I wouldn't do this year and made some wishlists (I was sick yesterday and had some "me" time - which I spent on the birds, what's new...)

I had three full lists (Crystal's Bird Toys, Avian Organics and Oliver's Garden) and one partial list (Things for Wings); although the vendors are not yet announced, I have a fairly good feeling that these stores will participate. In any case, my lists got long and at the end of the exercise I was a bit taken aback at the amount I put down. Granted, I don't know what the sales will be so those were not taken into consideration so it's quite likely my totals would be less than what I came up with.

Still, this got me thinking that I should really take inventory of what I have hiding in boxes before committing to more toys.

So today the Boy and I tackled the garage - at least where bird toys were concerned. We went through every bin and box, filtered through the toys I wanted to keep, those I wanted to give to a local rescue (toys I purchased a while ago, forgot I had and that I know now aren't really things the flock will like) and those I just wanted to toss. Looking at the pile of kept items, I came up with some categories; toys from Things for Wings, toys from Crystal's Bird Toys, toys from Oliver's Garden and toys from "Others". I wanted to use large clear identical plastic containers for each category, plus a smaller one for perches, so out we went to buy some. We got lucky and found 4 identical large containers and one that seemed perfect for my collection of perches.

The "Others" bin was filled but everything I wanted in there went in there. The other bins have a little wiggle room and I told myself that as long as I kept my toy supplies contained into those four bins, then everything was in control. I also kept a similar size plastic bin that I already had for bird related items to keep toy making supplies. This exercise also made me feel better about what I intend to purchase during the sale.

It's also nice to finally know what my bird toy inventory is really like!