Things I Love: Bento Boxes from Rubbermaid

If you've been around here for longer than a month or so, you know that my house and I fight a constant war with organization.   I am always throwing out, decluttering, rearranging, pitching fits about all of the junk and disorganization.

The other day, my girl Mandi and I betook ourselves to Target to get some storage boxes, baskets, and assorted oddments.  I had planned only on getting some plastic tubs for the kids' office because we're going to Disneyworld in a few days and we're all on a budget and junk.  Anyway, we were wandering the aisles lamenting the absence of stainless steel sugar bowls (okay, I was lamenting the absence...Mandi was pretty much along for my crazy ride) when we spotted them:

Rubbermaid Bento Storage Boxes

Actually, I didn't spot jimmy.  I was too busy looking up the depth of the kids' desk on Mandi's phone when I heard her make a noise that was a little like "Wheee!"  I looked up to find her holding a canvas-covered box with a little compartment inside.

"Yes, that's very nice, but that stuff is too expensive and I need something for..."

I have no idea what the something was, because at that point, Mandi pushed on the little compartment AND IT DISAPPEARED.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?"  I said.  Nobody blinked because I'd been loud and obnoxious the whole time I was there.  Apparently Emergen-C + a double pump chai latte + echinacea tea = Heather on speed.  Good times.

She popped out the compartment again and I fainted on the spot.  This was...like...a magic storage thingamabob.  When I came to, I knew I had to get one.  I had to get one because my crochet stuff was threatening to actually weave itself together and become some sort of giant Craft Monster.  For years, I had stowed the stuff in one of those square jute boxes that slowly loses its crispness until by the time you get sick of it, it is sad and tired and doesn't hold anything properly.  After stowing the stuff, I would shove the box under the end table and light a protection candle against the Craft Monster.  I would have taken a picture of the sordid mess, but it was embarrassing.  So, just use your imagination.

In any case, the Bento Storage Box did exactly what I wanted it to do.  I popped out the dividers in each corner, leaving me with four square containment areas and a rectangular area in the middle.  My yarn balls went into the square containers.  Projects in progress went into the middle container.  Like so:

Perfect.

The top of the box

can function, apparently, as a tray, so I put my yarn bowl and current project on there, as well as my folder full of downloaded projects, my hooks and scissors, and a book that I'm using to learn granny squares.

Then I pushed the whole thing under the end table and gloated because I was so awesome that I bought myself a Rubbermaid Bento Extra Large Storage Box and made my crochet mess all pridddy.

If you have a crochet mess, I definitely recommend doing the same.  I think it would also be awesome for a photo shoot--hats, wraps, blankets, camera, comb, wipes, and bug spray would all be easily toted around in this sucker.  (Please pretend that these pictures were not taken by a potentially feverish blogger at 11:30 at night.  And that they don't look sort of...awful.  Mkay, thanks.)

I might have to get a second one...
.

You need a little bento box in your life.  Or a big one.  Whichever will tame your Craft Monster.

Rubbermaid didn't pay me to write this, in case you were wondering.  This is all on me, y'all