If you’re a boy mom, like me, inevitably this has happened to you. You wake up in the middle of the night to go check on your kids, or to adjust the thermostat, and BAM out of nowhere you have this stabbing pain in your foot. What did you step on? Oh yeah, one of the 5 million Hot Wheels cars lying around. For me it happens more often than you think; even in the middle of the day. You see, my boys (and their dad) have a little bit of a car problem.; to the tune of almost 400 of them! (And my oldest isn’t even 3 yet.) While I don’t mind buying them for them, (paying $.97 for a car is much better than paying $20 for a video game or other toy) I don’t really enjoy having to tip-toe around my house every day trying to avoid their evil murder plots. Ok, Ok, I know they aren’t trying to kill me, but sometimes it seems that way with all the strategic places they hide those things!
About 6 months ago I told my husband we had to come up with a better way to clean up the cars. At that point we were throwing them in a square crate, but that wasn’t working because they were always falling out the holes as I was moving them and the cars were getting broken. And if the car wouldn’t drive how it was supposed to a meltdown quickly followed. I knew their had to be a better way. One day while we were at WalMart he saw these thread organizers. They were the answer to my prayers! Since we had a car in the cart, of course we have to buy one every time we go to the store, we opened the package (making sure not to damage the barcode so we could still pay for it) and it fit perfectly. We bought three that day and quickly filled them up.
These containers are perfect because they are just the right size to fit the majority of Hot Wheels or Matchbox cars and because they have one space that is twice as wide as the rest we are able to fit the trucks in there too! Each box can hold 48 cars if you place them one per compartment, or up to 96 if you double them up (which we’ve done before). These car organizers are super sturdy too, they’ve been dropped, thrown and jumped on and they still are holding strong. With the handle on top they are super easy to carry too!
One of the added benefits to having the cars go in these carrying cases is that the boys actually don’t mind cleaning their cars up now. They like being able to put the cars in the “right” spot. And you better believe they have a system of which car goes where. Now if only this want to clean and organize survives through their teenage years! So if you are having the same frustrations as me when it comes to cars everywhere, go buy 2 or 3 (or 6 or 7 in our case) of these Thread Organizers and keep your mind, and feet, happy.
Britney says
We have one of these and I totally love it!
Sydney says
Yay! They make clean up so much easier don’t they?!
Kristina says
This is brilliant!
Sydney says
Thanks so much Kristina!
Becky Blad says
Thanks for the tip! We so need this. My boys have a lot of little cars here and there and it’d be so nice to have it organized in one place!
Sydney says
These are definitely a sanity saver and makes it so much easier to keep things clean! Thanks for stopping by Becky.
Christine says
Love it! That is so genius!
Sydney says
Thanks so much Christine!
Sarah says
I am a girl mom with similar problems, Legos and barbie accessories….oh the pain!
I have one of these boxes for hair accessories, I need to try it for barbie stuff. Thanks for sharing.
Sydney says
That’s a good idea…hair accesories! I may have to go buy one for me too now!
Amy | Canary Street Crafts says
This is brilliant, Sydney!! Such a great idea!
Sydney says
Thank you Amy! I can’t stand things not being organized… This was good for my OCD mind!
Mitzi says
I have three boys so this is brilliant! Thanks!
Sydney says
You’ve got your hands full Mitzi! Hope these can help 🙂
Heather says
What a great idea! I will have to remember this when my baby boy is older! 🙂
Sydney says
Thanks Heather! They are definitely a sanity saver!
Danica says
Awesome! I need to get one of those! My son’s cars and trains are just everywhere!
Sydney says
Thank you Danica! Let me know how they work out for you!!
Emily, Our house now a home says
This is a great solution, my two boy’s have soooo many cars. This also would be a great way to take cars on long trips. They can bring some cars and not have a big mess.
Sydney says
Thanks Emily! We took two boxes on our road trip to California and it worked out great! They could get the cars out they wanted, close the lid and drive the cars on top of the box.
Kim @ Life is a Lullaby says
This is great! I will need to get one of these once we have all those little toy cars for our little guy as well. Now the trick is, how often are you putting the cars back in the organizer?
Sydney says
Thanks Kim! My boys are very particular about what cars go where and have developed the same ocd cleaning schedule I have so, luckily, they clean them up and put them away every day! Fingers crossed these habits continue through their teenage years.
Mel (Melly Moments) says
I will definitely be investing in one (or a couple) of these!! I can’t explain how badly we need one for the crazy amount of cars he has and loses! The places (nooks and crannies) I find them in astonishes me sometimes! This will surely help keep them organized. Thanks for sharing! Pinned 🙂
Sydney says
I hope they help keep things organized for you Mel. I know it’s crazy where kids find to hide things. When we moved last year I found over a dozen cars in the most random places. That doesn’t include the half dozen or so behind the fridge!!
christy says
You are brilliant! I am using this one!
Sydney says
Ah thank you so much Christy! I give all the credit to my hubby!
Kim @ This Ole Mom says
I have a little boy with a lots of hot wheel cars too! I have tried everything. Hot wheels does hurt when you step on them . I love your idea but I don’t know if he will put them back into the organizer.
Sydney says
Thanks Kim! I made a game out of it with my boys… and they have OCD cleaning from their dad and I so they have to put every car back in the right spot or they go bonkers lol
Rebecca says
great idea Sydney!! thanks for sharing!
Sydney says
Thank you Rebecca! Thanks for visiting.
Heather says
We SO need one of these organizers! My son has cars everywhere… I try to keep them in a basket, eek never works, lol!
Sydney says
That’s what we were doing too and it was so messy I love these! Thanks for stopping by Heather!
Gentle Joy says
That does look so much nicer…. now if you can convince your kids that those cars are so much better in the “car garage”, you will be doing great!… and better than I was able to do. *sigh* They put them in one of those for travel or to clean up the room, but on a day to day basis, a tote was the most I could hope for. 🙂 Now, my boys STILL have cars… and now they organize them better…. but they are teens and up. 🙂 Don’t give up… these years are wonderfully precious…. fun… and frustrating. 🙂
Sydney says
Thanks so much Joy! I’ve been working with my boys since they were little little and they now clean their cars, and other toys up on their own every day. Habit and routine. Sure hoping we can continue this into their teenage years
anna says
where can we purchase this clear car organizer?
Sydney says
Hey Anna! We bought ours at Walmart but you can find them at Walmart, Hobby Stores or Amazon. Here are the exact ones we have: https://amzn.to/2LAddwr
RIFAT says
This is really a great article and a great read for me. It’s my first visit to your blog and I have found it so useful and informative. Thank you