As we prepare for Mexico… my favorite way to pack the kids clothes

is to use these ziplock bags, they work great for babies & kids under 6 but as the clothes get bigger you do need bigger bags. I have a supply of XL, and XXL ziplock bags (some that size can even hold towels, blankets, and sleeping bags) that I have used & re-used, but didn’t have a new box to include in the picture.Now, this AMAZING packing idea comes straight from the organize queen Sara Staker, so much credit needs to be given to her. I have done this for almost a year now, and the perks of packing this way are endless. To list a few, when my older kids shower or bath and start looking through hotel room drawers or the suitcases for their pajama’s/clothes they are not tearing apart and/or digging through piles of clothes to do so. Making a huge mess in the process for me to come re-fold and re-stack. They simply find the outfit they want in a bag that contains: a clean pair of underwear and complete outfit all nicely ziplocked so it still smells fresh & clean like home (a very big deal to me, I’m HUGE on scents.) Also, if you are traveling internationally, or domestically these days, when the security/customs agents decide to open and dig through your suitcases the clothes don’t have to be handled by 12 different people before they arrive at their final destination. Because they’re in bags! If you are the lucky traveler who gets to have a broken/un-zipped suitcase meet you at your final destination and your clothes are pouring out of your suitcase while they go around and around the turn-belt, the bags help to hold everything together better inside. The ziplock bags keep the suitcases more organized. You can almost get them “vacuum-packed” by rolling the ziplock once the clothes are in it prior to sealing it so you can fit more clothes per suitcase. This works great for using smaller suitcases because you can’t really over-pack large ones these days and keep them under legal traveling weight. On another note, if you are thinking this is way too big of an extra expense for packing, I do recycle my bags after each trip by stacking them all up, folding them in half, and tucking them away in my closet till the next time. I have gotten a lot of use out of most my bags before they reach their end.

Sara even takes this a step farther than I do (sometimes.) Keep in mind that Sara is an awesome professional photographer. She labels each of the ziplock bags with each childs name and what day they should wear each outfit on the trip. By doing this, she coordinates their outfits to be color-coordinating so if they are taking every photo opportunity possible the kids outfits look really great together and she may end up getting a fabulous family photo. She can even remember by pictures what day of the week it was at times just from what the kids were wearing. She is truly amazing. ALSO, on another note, if you are traveling with a nanny/grandma/sitter and may not be with your kids each time when they need to be getting dressed this also helps to be prepared so you don’t have to be terrified by what they might pick out on their own if they have bags pre-packed. I just use the bags to pack and let the kids pick. But, you can definitely take this a step farther or you may have ideas of your own to improve this. If so, let me know too! Anyone who loves “everything has a place, and everything in its place” (music to my ears) I hope you put this packing tip to use!