During this packing process, we have downsized our toy bin to a small basket. Woody is kind of wondering where all of his friends went...but as the lone cowboy in the room, he's happy to have Princess Anna's undivided attention.

This is what it looked like before the downsizing. Yes, that IS a life jacket. Now...I know this is not much compared to a whole toy room of toys, but it was a lot for us. We've never really had a dedicated toy room, so everything just gets tossed in a giant basket.

And it was NOT appealing. Who would look at this big pile of stuff and think...

"Hey!! Let's play!!"

Well, the dogs do. But that's beside the point. The girls would pass it by day after day and go on to something else...like tattooing themselves with Sharpies, or something equally as invigorating.

But the instant we downsized and displayed only a few toys...Emma sat right down and was enthralled! When it wasn't an overwhelming mess, she was drawn to the simplicity of choices.

I do know all the secrets of toy bin rotation. But it's never worked for us, mostly because we just don't have that many toys! I prefer to keep only what we are using right at that moment. The majority of our "toys" are dress-up clothes and accessories...with a few puppets, instruments, baby dolls, a stroller, and the play kitchen.

When we move into our new house, there will be some major purging and re-organization of activity areas. I can't wait to get it all organized and have an AMAZING space that will inspire and bring the girls joy every day. We are planning on creating a dedicated art/sewing/play room right on the main level and I've been pinning some colorful and innovative ideas to get inspired!