This week’s Works for Me Wednesday is themed: Organization! Since I’m so very type-A and consider “organization” my middle name, themes like this really get me excited. I get to share, and I also get to gain a whole lot of ideas from so many other smart ladies out there!

Okay, Meg. Deep breath. Breathe.

Moving on.

My daughter has just turned three. She’s a Barbie aficionado through and through….just like her Mommy was. What this means is that there’s a seemingly steady inflow of Barbie dolls, clothing, and accessories, coming into our house from several avenues. The most recent acquisition was a chance interception of my cousin’s old Barbie stuff, which I bought from her before she and my aunt sold it at a yard sale. Since they live in Tennessee, I surveyed the lot via phone, texted photos, and email….but it ended up being all ours for a great price. It was all delivered to us this past weekend at a family get-together. Yippee!

Whether you hit a jackpot like this or buy Barbie things a little at a time, any mother of girls will agree with me that the amount of “stuff” can get out of hand….and get out of hand fast. Here’s what we did to assimilate the onslaught of all-things-Barbie, organizing it in a neat and tidy (and I think somewhat attractive) fashion:

We dumped out every tiny piece of everything into one big pile, then sorted it and sifted through it to break it up into three main “categories.” Luckily, I’d been holding on to some super cute cardboard hat/storage boxes for a while. Knew they’d come in handy for something girly at some point!

There’s an entire box just for Barbie shoes. Oh, can you imagine this on a larger scale? Barbie doesn’t know how great she has it. She really doesn’t.

The largest canister holds all things miscellaneous — food, dishes, appliances, etc.

And did you know that every single new Barbie doll comes with her own brush or comb? We know. And so it forced us into dedicating an entire zippered pouch for just those. Barbie has absolutely no excuse for having a bad hair day.

There are two totes/boxes of Barbie furniture and larger what-nots that slide right under the bed.

Right inside my daughter’s closet is a three-tiered stacking basket cart that I’ve used in some form ever since my firstborn was an infant. Now it holds Barbies in the bottom two levels, and Barbie’s horses (which don’t stack quite as well) in the top.

And last but not least: The tote o’ clothes! There are fashions within these four plastic corners that span from 1981 to 2009.

Thanks for dropping by! Now head on over to WFMW at We Are THAT Family for other monumental and nifty organizational tips!