Made in the USA...at the Dollar Tree....whaaaaat?

You might be as shocked as I am, but it's true!  I love to buy their twisty crayons (aka unbreakable for Mr. J), but they're not Made in the USA.  However, all of these items are!

The clear bins are for holding my dry goods (BPA-Free) like beans, rice, etc.  I had an odd assortment of tupperware that was bugging me (didn't match).  I would much prefer glass, but we can't afford to spend $10/each on glass containers.

The Quick Erasers are a copy of the Magic Erasers and they are amazing!  I clean out the sink at the end of the day in under 20 seconds and it's beautiful and shiny.  Then, I just rinse it and re-use it :)

On to the sponges; they're thinner than others, but I don't use them very much since we have a dishwasher :)

Do you buy things at a dollar store?  If so, have you noticed things that are made in the USA?

Have a blessed weekend!

How I organized our homeschool stuff for free

It's been nagging at me.  It's been looking at me every time I walk by, sneering.  Stinkin' homeschool supplies were totally unorganized and bugging me but we don't have the money to go buy a whole bunch of storage thingys.  Then it dawned on me.  What about those 6 plastic shoe box storage thingys that we've kept our bills in for the last 8 years.  Ya know the ones we'll never look at again, nor have we popped open a lid in at least 5 years.  So, I purged them all.  The bills have been taken care of...if you know what I meant. 

Now the shoe boxes actually have a functioning purpose and I don't have to be mocked any more anytime I walk into J's room.  Before organizing, everything was literally stuffed into the blue thingy (last picture), except for the books.  I wrote in Sharpie on top and on one side what the contents are. 

I bought this Alphabet at the Dollar Tree

Don't mind the Christmas stuff on the top left corner

Crayons, craft supplies and paint/brushes

Our puzzles

The Kumon books, workbooks, coloring books and plain drawing paper

Foam shapes, play dough toys, and lacing toys

Rest of the stuff: pipe cleaners, extra paint, painting bib and 2 memory games

If you're not familiar with Kumon Books they are AWESOME.  I also highly recommend buying your craft supplies at your local $1 store.  My Dollar Tree rocks in their "school" section :)

How do you organize all of your stuff?