Just a side note before we get started if you don't know this about me, you soon will...I am a list making, organizational freak. It's really become some what of an addiction since we've started living in houses...and since my pregnancy brain became working mommy brain that impedes me from remembering 90% of things so I write lists...about everything. And you will see my list creations come to life...now!
When we moved into our first rental house, one of the first things I wanted to create in the massively open kitchen/den area was a baking center. I searched through many different pinspirational photos and links to finally come up with something that would work great for us. Since then, the supplies of the baking center have now worked their way back into the pantry and will probably stay there because they are nicely organized and out of sight.
To start the organizational process, I made a list of all the necessities that would be housed in this "baking center". Of course included were the key players like all purpose flour, white sugar, light brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, chocolate chips, sprinkles, etc. But I also wanted to keep things like flavorings, icings, and the non-food items like cupcake liners and cookie cutters in there as well.
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| Download the FREE printable PDF version of this list HERE! |
Once I had my list, I needed to decide what containers were going to work best for us. I thought about glass but decided that since we have a daughter, plastic would be better so it wouldn't be too heavy for her to carry. Once I decided on plastic I looked at a few different containers, but continued to come back to the ones I kept seeing at Ross. I started off with a few of the large size containers and then one X-large. I procrastinated waited on buying anymore and then found myself wandering through the aisles of Ross hoping to see some on a shelf. That's when I started searching and found out that they are also available at many other places including Walmart, Bed Bath and Beyond, and Amazon. The containers we used are called Snapware Storage Containers. I have found most of mine from $5-10 at Ross and paid around $20 for the set I got on Walmart.com.
They look like this...
This set is found here on Amazon.
One of the X-large containers holds all of the larger cookie cutters, cupcake liners, cake decorating tools, icing tips, extra attachments for the hand mixer, and other miscellaneous items left over from parties. I do have the 100+ box of cookie cutters from Wilton (see here) that I just keep in the box it came in on the top shelf of the pantry. The second X-large container holds all of the things that don't come in large quantities or need to stay sealed until use like chocolate chips, jello, pudding, chocolate bars, almond bark/chocolate coatings, and packets of yeast. The picture below shows the boxes with the lids removed.
I keep all of the larger or paper packaged items in the other containers as seen below. The thing I love about these containers is that they are dishwasher safe, have a rubber seal inside the lid that keeps them air tight and spill proof, and they stack so easily! Because I have a smaller size pantry I wanted to utilize the large space I had under the bottom shelf. It wasn't big enough to hide our trash can so we decided to move one of the unused shoe organizers from my husband's closet to the floor of the pantry. It fit perfect and easily held all of the individually boxed items (except the smallest boxes which hold unflavored gelatin packets, coffee granule packets, baking powder, and meringue powder which are on the shelf above).
The only thing left to organize were the smaller, round or odd shaped items which included sprinkles, food coloring, and flavorings/extracts. For this, I used a small 3-drawer plastic desktop organizer that I found at Target. I can't find the small one online but I know I have still seen them in the stores. The small one was the perfect size for the smaller items I needed it to hold. I was worried about the extracts laying on their sides but none of them have ever leaked.
The set we got came with the round boxes as well but we never used them so I ended up selling them in a garage sale. They were a good size for individual portions of dip for lunch/snacks, but we already have a complete set of Rubbermaid food storage that we use for things like that so I just decided to pass them on.
Once I was finally through organizing, I decided it was time to label. I had of course looked through tons of ready-made labels on Pinterest but none of them had all of the items I use so I decided to create my own. I used Avery Clear Easy Peel labels (found here) that are easy to remove before washing. I wash the containers before I refill them just to be safe. I have seen labels that can be used in the dishwasher, but I decided to go for a removable label in case I wanted to change out different size boxes for different products. So far everything has stayed put except the labels on the indention of the drawers (as seen above) but that hasn't bothered me too much.
Well, as promised here is the link to download the labels! They do have a red border (that barely shows up when printed) but the document is in Word so it can be adjusted to your liking. There are also a few extra labels on there that I occasionally use (i.e. cake mix flavors) and a few blank ones to add in things you may use that I don't (i.e. coconut flakes).
Download the labels HERE!
I hope you enjoyed this organizational adventure and as always, thanks for stopping by!
~Ashley Berry
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