Outside The Sandbox: housekeeping

Okay so the Lego collection had gotten a little out of hand in our house. Each time Ironhide wanted to play or build he had to spread tons of Lego into the middle of the floor. We had them in a 4 drawer container but they were so jumbled it took hours to find parts. It was not a creative environment.

Then one bright November morning I saw this lovely low cost Lego organizing system in Family Fun Magazine.

This design could utilize the drawers we already owned and give Ironhide a proper building space for all his creations. I wanted to do this project that very weekend but the entire family came down with strep so it had to be postponed until after Thanksgiving.

When December I arrived I knew the holidays would bring more Lego sets so the entire family sat down for what we thought would be an hour of Lego sorting. We were so very wrong. This pile looks manageable in the photo but in real life this was a big job.

It took two adults sorting and one kid kinda sorting kinda building 4 HOURS to turn that pile into these six neat drawers. I have to admit it has been a long time since we sat down as a family without the TV on and just talking working on a project together. I loved every minute of it.

(Hubby's enthusiasm turned to dogged determination by the 2 hour mark and by hour 3 he was promising never to purchase another Lego. He was kidding.)

Christmas was mere days away so I only had a $25 budget for this entire project. So the next day I made my supply list and headed for the stores.

Project Materials	Qty Needed	Price Per	Total Cost	Actual Cost
Neon Green Duck Tape	3	$6.00	$18.00	$6.00
Lego 15 X 15 base plates	2	$15.00	$30.00	$0.00	We owned multiple green base plates with fit.
Sterilite 4 Drawer Storage Cart	3	$25.00	$75.00	$0.00	We already had them.
Industrial Strength Velcro	3	$4.00	$12.00	$4.00	Coupons!
Plastic Drawer Dividers	8	$5.00	$40.00	$0.00	I made my own with leftover presentation board and Duck tape.
2” Thick Presentation Boards	2	$7.00	$14.00	$7.00	(The original designed called for wooden board but we thought thick sterofoam was a better solution saving time and money. If it didn't work we could always go back later and get a board.)
Total			$189.00	$17.00