The New Bag

I haven't been happy with my purse/diaper bag situation lately.  My purse isn't quite holding everything that I need, but I really dislike lugging around the diaper bag.  I mention my favorite blog often - iheartorganizing.blogspot.com - because she always has really great ideas for organizing just about everything and wouldn't you know it, just as I am thinking that I need a new bag system, I read a post on that blog about her travel tote, so I decided to create my own.  Here is what I did:

I got this bag on sale at Target:



The outside is vinyl so it can get wet without soaking everything inside.  It's big enough to hold a bunch of stuff, but not too big.  And its pretty!

Here is what I keep in it...

My portable purse that holds the wallet, keys, chapstick, and cell phone that I blogged about here:

For the baby and toddler stuff, I got this fold over frame clutch from Target:

I put wipes, a few diapers, an extra change of underwear and pants for the big girl that is being potty trained, a onsie for the baby, a bib, some poop bags that I put the dirty diapers in, and a plastic freezer bag for possible dirty clothes.

I got a notebook similar to this one from Target as well to keep in the bag:

I tabbed it with a section for to-dos (since I always think of things to do while I'm not near my computer to do list), a section for work, and a section for 2 year old B's preschool class next year because I have somehow agreed to be the parent coordinator which is going to make for a lot more work and many more things that I'm going to need to remember to write down.  I also left an extra tabbed section for a possible errand or grocery list?

I bought these decorative files from Amazon that fit perfectly in the bag:

I use 3... 1 file for papers for B and baby M (side note... I'm just realizing that baby M is almost not a baby anymore!!), 1 file for work, and 1 file for B's preschool class (since I'm the parent coordinator I'm going to be hauling around a lot of paperwork for that class too - what did I get myself into here???)

So far my bag is working out great.  There is a zipper pouch inside where I keep pens and mints and other small loose items.  The tote isn't too big, yet fits all that stuff and there is still room to throw in sweatshirts or food/snacks or toys, etc.  If I am going out without the kids, I just throw that portable purse that holds my wallet and stuff into a bigger purse and I'm good to go.  The diaper bag is still around, but I keep it downstairs as a storage place for when I need to do changings, etc. downstairs.

Oh, and I got almost everything on sale so it wasn't too expensive to put together - yay!

My Purse

When I first had 2 year old B,  I don't think I ever left the house without her... and therefore never left the house without the big diaper bag.  There came a point in time, though, that I started venturing out without the little baby in tow and found myself throwing this light and pretty thing that I hadn't seen in months over my shoulder.  It's called a purse!!  Then at some point I discovered I didn't need the diaper bag and could just throw a few diapers and a wipes case into my purse when out and about with the little one.  But that was short lived because not too long after I put the diaper bag away, baby M arrived.

Here I am again, at the in between point of switching between diaper bag and purse on a regular basis.  I have 4 things that I always take with me when out of the house: my wallet, my cell phone, the car keys, and Chapstick (because I'm addicted).  When 2 year old B was a baby, I was always throwing these things in the diaper bag, losing them, digging around to find them, and then throwing them into my purse... and then repeat when I needed to use the diaper bag.  Then I discovered a brand of mainly baby accessories called petunia pickle bottom and fell in love!!  They have the prettiest prints for any baby and travel organizational needs.  They are way out of my price range, but, on one of those daily deals websites, I was able to purchase a Powder Room Case similar to this one:

It solved my purse/diaper bag switching issue perfectly.  I put my "always take with me" items in the case...

... and then I just move the case from diaper bag to purse as needed.  See:

This little system doesn't have to be used solely for diaper bag to purse switches, it can even be used for purse to purse change ups too... as long as you have a large enough purse!  The next purchase I would love to get from petunia pickle bottom is the Wanderlust Wallet.

I can't justify spending $62 on a wallet though, but I'm keeping my eyes out for a deal!!

In case you are wondering, I do own just one other petunia pickle bottom item.  I needed an Ergo carrier when baby M arrived so I went with a petunia pickle bottom one.  It was actually only a little bit more than the regular Ergo carrier, but so much prettier!  Here is the one I have:

How do you make the switch from diaper bag to purse?  Or purse to purse?  Is it a free for all where everything just gets thrown in, or do you have a way to keep it all organized?  I'd love to hear!!