This giveaway is closed. See who won here.
On Wednesday, I organized the basement, which we shared yesterday. With this weeks giveaway, you can do a little organizing in your home. Bonita is a Thirty-One independent consultant and she offered up a fantastic organizing utility tote.
It’s large, and can be used for just about anything. Toss papers, a computer, and office supplies in for a portable office. Keep one in your car with emergency items. Fill with cleaning supplies to carry around the house without running all over. Stock the bag with your child’s daily essentials for an outing. Or hey, pack a picnic lunch and blanket and enjoy the nice weather. Whatever you do, your hands won’t be as full.
The black happy dot fabric will coördinate with almost everything, too.
The Goods: One organizing utility tote in black happy dot fabric from Bonita at Thirty-One.
To Enter: Leave a comment, which can (but doesn’t have to) include our Just for Fun question.
Just for Fun: Tell us your organizing quirk(s). Do your shoes have to face the same direction? Everything must be a set?
Contest Closes: Thursday, June 14th at 11:59 pm, central time.
Number of Winners: One!
Ships: Anywhere in the United States.
Other Info: We will select the winner using random.org and announce on Friday, June 15th. Good luck!!
P.S. Sunday marks Ben and my 6th wedding anniversary. Do you have any wedding related questions or post ideas? We’ve got a special anniversary themed giveaway lined up starting Sunday, so don’t go too far.
Nora Rose
/ June 8, 2012Organizing quirks would mean I have to be organized first.
I do like everything to be visible but once I get to the final five minutes (and random things to organize) of a long organizing session, I tend to hide them in drawers just to be finished. So every so often I open a drawer to find some random things that definitely don’t belong.
Jade
/ June 8, 2012I probably have more quirks than this but when I put silverware away, knives go first – all in the same direction, then soup spoons (facing the top), then dinner forks (facing top), then dessert spoons (facing down) and last salad forks (facing down). It makes me crazy if they are all facing the same direction LOL
heth76
/ June 8, 2012Love the bag! If something is a set I have to have the whole set before it can be put away
Jennifer S
/ June 8, 2012My quirk is that i need to have all the clothes off the floor. I dislike when my husband leaves his clothes on the floor. Hamper, shelf or hang it back up!
Lisa
/ June 8, 2012Such a great giveaway. I like to have all of our towels folded nicely in the linen closet. I’ve been known to re-fold them all just so it looks clean and pretty. Meanwhile, lots of other closets are a disaster.
Stephanie Phillips
/ June 8, 2012I love these totes!
Hm, organizing quirks.. I honestly don’t think I have any odd ones! I despise piles so I toss important mail all the time because my husband will have a stack on our mantle for a week and I get impatient and just throw it away. It’s pretty bad. Luckily almost everything is online nowadays so I can look up whatever bill I accidentally threw out.
Nicole
/ June 8, 2012Oh ive been organizing my house like crazy lately! Thanks for the chance to win!
Sara
/ June 8, 2012I need to be more organized! I wish I had a quirk. HA! What a great bag!
La Joy Evans
/ June 8, 2012My organization quirk is that my clothes are in my closet by colors and type. My pants are color coded from the light colors to the darker colers and my shirts are the same but I have them sectioned by sleve length. I know, jut crazy! All of my shoes are in clear shoe boxes and stacked in order of sandals, flats, pumps, etc… LOL!!
Thanks for the chance to win!
Leslie
/ June 8, 2012Probably my biggest quirk is in my closet. My sweatshirts go to the back, since I use them the least, then long-sleeved shirts, then 3/4 length shirts, then short sleeves then sleeveless shirts. I used to arrange by color as well, but over time (with young 2 boys) I just started not caring. I’m happy to just have them in the closet.
lana
/ June 8, 2012I love organizing, just don’t have much time to get it all done!
Nikki Petrowski (@NikkiPetrowski)
/ June 8, 2012Fun giveaway! Hmm, organizing quirks: I organize my pantry by type of food (veggies, fruits, meats, etc) and then by subtype (beans, corn, etc). As for my closet, its organized by sleeve length and then split into work or casual wear.
Denise
/ June 8, 2012The clothes in my closet are organized by colour and season, I wish I was more organized everywhere else in the house.
Britny
/ June 8, 2012Congratulations on your anniversary!
Tara F
/ June 8, 2012I have to have all my shoes facing forward
vickie
/ June 8, 2012Happy Anniversary!
I like my shoes are facing forward and my clothes hung in groups (pants, shirts dresses, etc.)
Sandy A
/ June 8, 2012Love Thirty-One bags. When I clean/organize I need to have all mug handles facing the same way (& arranged by favorites front to back on shelf, all linens folded and stacked by color, clothes hung by sleeve length and color (short-long and light-dark), all labels in pantry facing the front and arranged by height and type of product, no paper/mail sitting out–drives me nuts! I could go on and on–sad I know. But then I do have my “Exploding Drawer” as my husband call it–it is a mess and over flowing with stuff I keep for no reason…
Liz Schulte
/ June 8, 2012Thanks, cute bag!
Kristi Leavitt Kearney
/ June 8, 2012I wish I was more organized, but I do like my towels folded a certain way. When my kids fold them, I sit on my hands not to re-do them.
Nicole McKee
/ June 8, 2012My closet is hung from shortest to longest sleeve, then shortest skirt to longest skirt. And each ‘section’ is hung with colors following ROYGBIV. It’s just slightly OCD.
Aditi
/ June 8, 2012Love 31 gifts organizing totes!
Aditi Mukherjee
/ June 8, 2012I love 31 gifts tote. So useful and cute!
Corie
/ June 8, 2012I’m a crazy person so most everything in my house is “organized” in my own way. Everything has a place. I try not to be too hard on my husband and kids b/c it’s not really their problem, it’s mine.
I love bins and totes and crates and whatnot. But I keep virtually NOTHING. I mean, I’m really sentimental (I keep every single paper that comes home from school, cards, etc.) but if it can’t go in a properly labeled bin or a box, it’s out of here!
Meghan
/ June 8, 2012Love that bag! I have to have clothes in the closet facing the correct way, and all on the same colored hangers, and grouped together properly (short sleeved shirts, then long sleeved, etc).
Abby Butts (@abby_butts)
/ June 8, 2012The bills in my wallet have to all be facing the same direction. It started with my mom who would always say “the boys have to all look the same way”.
Kathleen
/ June 8, 2012I wish I had organization quirks! I just moved in with my new husband and am determined to be more organized.
Katie Burkhardt
/ June 8, 2012My organizing quirk is my clothes in my closet must be organized by color.
andrea p
/ June 8, 2012First of all, a big happy anniversary to you & Ben! My question is: Do you have any special anniversary traditions? (ie- a fave restaurant, gift, etc)
And my organizing quirk is that I hate having odd numbers of things! lol
Patty Durre
/ June 8, 2012Great give-a-way! Yes, my hubby thinks I have lots of quirks. Towels folded my way is a must. I taught the kids from the start how to fold them. My clothes on white hangers, hubby’s is on black with shirts from light to dark and then pants from shorts to long. Bottom sheets must be properly folded, not just “sorta folded”. Yes, I am OCD about putting my sheet sets away; top, bottom and then pillowcases. Ok, maybe I do have lots of quirks.
Lisa P.
/ June 8, 2012Love the bag! I need to become more organized!
CherylM.
/ June 8, 2012Thrusday June 14th is my birthday so this would be a great Win!!! A place for everything and everything in it’s place!!
Chance @ Designed by Chance
/ June 8, 2012Love that bag. I’m not as organized as I wish, but I do keep an emergency bag in my car.
malibou
/ June 8, 2012What a cool bag.
Like many others, my clothes closets are very organized. My husband thinks it’s weird that all of our clothes is not folded the same way to put into drawers. I fold things based on best fit in the drawer. Mine, my husbands and my sons t-shirts are all folded a little different.
Thanks for the opportunity to win.
Kristin Simons
/ June 8, 2012Love this giveaway! I don’t really have any organizing quirks…one would have to organize to have those! This bag would be a great start!
Betsy
/ June 8, 2012Not so much of an organizing quirk, but still a quirk. All of the screws on switch plates/outlet covers have to be lined up in the same direction.
Nikole
/ June 8, 2012My clothes are in rainbow order by sleeve length. I have three separate rainbows going on in my closet!
Darbi
/ June 8, 2012Oh, so pretty! I don’t think I’m organized enough to have any quirks. Oh well!
Vonda
/ June 8, 2012Love the bag. I always try to be one of those people who has no clutter laying around and has everything in place in closets, cabinets, drawers, etc. Stuff gets out of control sometimes but mainly I keep it pretty together. Totally Type A on ‘everything has a place’!
Rebecca
/ June 8, 2012I pick out all my clothes/shoes/etc for the entire week of work out on Sunday night and organize it in a seperate location so it’s easy in the mornings.
Leila Waddell
/ June 8, 2012I love the bag. I try to be organized, but remodeling the house and with a 2 years old it is kinda hard.
Jennifer Altheimer
/ June 8, 2012My organizing quirk: I load the silverware in the dishwasher very oddly. There are 6 slots and I have to put them in order “Spoon, spoon, spoon, fork, fork, knife”. It may sound weird but it really makes unloading easy!
Marissa H.
/ June 8, 2012I don’t have any mentionable quirks, but my 2 1/2 year old son has to put his cars away all facing the same direction. He gets his obsessive cleaning habits from his dad!
Wendy
/ June 8, 2012I am quite organized in my closet – closet organized by clothes typle, sleeve/pant length, and color; shoes on shelf with one facing forward and one facing back to maximize the shelf space. I have a lot of clothes and I want to be able to see everything easily.
Amber
/ June 8, 2012My side of the closet is a disaster while my husband’s is crazy organized. Not sure how he does it!
Heather
/ June 8, 2012I need that 21 bag! I don’t have to have all my shoes facing the same direction
Amber Ziegler
/ June 8, 2012I love 31, but don’t have this bag yet! Hopefully I’ll win!
Joy Weber
/ June 8, 2012I hate it when my drawer organizers don’t match!
Lindsey R
/ June 8, 2012I love the 31bags. I guess my biggest quirk is just clutter in general. I want everything to have a place and be in its place. I cant stand random stuff laying around.
Julie
/ June 8, 2012Love that bag. It would be so helpful for organizing my car
Jackie
/ June 8, 2012I fold my towels exactly the same every time so they stack well.
Rebekah Woosley
/ June 8, 2012One of my quirks is loading the dishwasher. All knives have to be together in one compartment, spoons, forks etc. Plates have to be loaded largest to smallest and glasses too!
Kandice
/ June 8, 2012I don’t have too many organizing quirks, but my socks absolutely have to match.
Adrienne
/ June 8, 2012Hmmmm… I get a little quirky when it comes to shoes. We have a strict 2 pair rule. 2 can be “out” at any time, but the ret have to be put away…
SalBug
/ June 8, 2012I’m completely OCD about everyone. As I walk through a room I’ll straighten out several items. More often than not, my husband will see me and make them crooked again just to get under my skin. I’ve learned to laugh – - – and straighten again! ha ha
Jen N.
/ June 8, 2012The only organizing quirk I have is that all my clothes must be hung up & facing the same way in the closet.
Michelle
/ June 8, 2012I’ve been wanting one of these bags for awhile now. I think I would do as you suggested – an office on the go. It would make paying bills, etc. much easier.
My organization quirk? I like to fold my towels and sheets a certain way so that it looks like Martha Stewart lives at my house! Everything all nicely lined up and perfect? Yes please!
Michelle from http://www.the236.net
Michelle Bauer
/ June 8, 2012I think I am the only person who doesn’t own anything Thirty One still…haha
Amanda Ryan
/ June 8, 2012Happy Anniversary!!
I have a few quirks, not a lot, but a few.. my money has to all face the same way in my wallet, and be in order from smallest bill to largest, but if I pull it out and fold it in half the smaller bills have to be on the outside, my clothes all have to face the same way in the closet and when I load the dishwasher, the silverware has to be grouped together, smalls spoons in one slot, small forks in another, big spoons in another, kid’s silverware in another, etc, this way when I unload the dishwasher I can just grab all of the spoons from one slot and put them in their slot in the drawer, it drives me bonkers when my husband forgets to do this when he’s doing the dishes.
Amy S.
/ June 8, 2012Love the bag! I think one of my quirks would be lining up all of the utensils in the kitchen drawers. In my defense they fit better and don’t get stuck when you try and open the drawer but my hubby just shakes his head when he sees me organizing them
Kathy
/ June 8, 2012I love 31! My shoes have to be in their boxes and on the shelf. No loose shoes for me!
erica
/ June 8, 2012Happy Anniversary! Let us know how you celebrate. I like our bed to be made every morning!
Melissa
/ June 8, 2012That flowered bag is soo nice! My cousin got it as a diaper bag.. Adorable! Anyways, mine is that every hanger in my closet has to be facing the same direction or I’ll go CRAZY.. Seriously
Jen
/ June 8, 2012My organizing quirk is probably separating my earrings by type. My earring holder folds out and I have gold, silver, silver with gemstones and dark metal earrings all separated on their own panels.
Michelle
/ June 8, 2012My organizing quirk is that my clothes are arranged in my closet by color. The quirky part is that aside from that…how they’re arranged doesn’t necessarily make much sense!
Kelli
/ June 8, 2012Would love the bag. I don’t really have any organizing quirks….I wish I had a couple….I would probably be able to find things more easily!
Heather
/ June 8, 2012I guess I do not have a lick of organizing ability. My shoe closet is so bad I have to quick open it, get what I want and close it again to keep them from falling all over! I love the thirty one bags, they are awesome for my scrap booking supplies, thanks
Tanja
/ June 8, 2012I am a bit of an organizational freak. I love my label maker, my shirts are all color coordinated, I fold my towels the same way and the sets get stacked together.
I have been made fun of for my specific way in folding sheets as well.
Lori
/ June 8, 2012I can’t stand clutter, and one of the ways I try to stay organized is by sizing my books by size and color to make them look more orderly on the book shelves! Great giveaway!!
katyshops
/ June 8, 2012I love the bag & I love to organize! I have many strange quirks… Clothes in my closet hang by color by the colors of the rainbow (ROY G. BIV) – that is my weirdest!
AnneSATX
/ June 8, 2012I like to organize alphabetically whenever possible. My mind just thinks that way — books, CDs, DVDs, spices, you name it. If it can be alphabetized, I’ll do it.
Megan B
/ June 8, 2012I have to keep all my clothes in the closet color coordinated. Drives my husband crazy but keeps me organized!
Michelle
/ June 8, 2012Would love this for family outings.
Elizabeth G.
/ June 8, 2012I don’t really have any organization quirks. I just try to organize things so I have to do the least amount of effort to find them and retrieve them. I’m very lazy.
Regan
/ June 8, 2012Love the bag! I have a lot of organizing quirks, but I fold the sheets in the same exact way so they will stack easily in the closet.
Janice S
/ June 8, 2012That is a great organizing bag. Thanks for the chance to win. I like all my clothes hangers to face the same way in the closet.
the Iowa Expat
/ June 8, 2012YIkes, more quirks than I’d like to admit. My closet is arranged by colors, all shirts/dresses/jackets must face the same directions and are grouped with like items. Towels must be folded in thirds and stacked neatly according to color. I could go on, but I think that’s enough…
HollowSquirrel
/ June 8, 2012Love the bag!! When I fill the dishwasher with eating utensils, I group knives in the back quarter, forks all together, and then spoons in the front, so when they’re clean, it’s quicker to put away — grab all the spoons in one swoop & put away, etc. Lame, but it works for me…which I had more, better quirks involving my closet. dang.
jenny
/ June 8, 2012My to-do lists must be neat and tidy, once i have too many things crossed off – I re-write it so it looks clean again. Possibly procrastination at work!
Melanie
/ June 8, 2012Nice bag!
My husband and I like to put away laundry differently… I think we’ve finally compromised and I do his clothes his way while he’ll do mine my way.
Abby
/ June 8, 2012Corners of the washcloths need to face the same direction on the shelf!
heather f
/ June 8, 2012I’ve got grandbabies and we go swimming once a week. It’s kind of a trick to get them dressed after when they are all wet but this bag could help carry grammie survival essentials!
Heather
/ June 8, 2012I like everything neat and straight. Books, picture frames, baskets on counters etc.. My friends call me OCD!
Stefanie
/ June 8, 2012Hoping to win! I love that bag!
My quirk is always folding my towel and putting it make on the bar after showering.
tanya nguyen
/ June 8, 2012i have to organize all my sons shows in order by size. love the bag
Donna
/ June 9, 2012On an organizing role right now. I NEED that BAG!
Devin
/ June 9, 2012I organize my clothes in the closet by color.
Heather S
/ June 9, 2012What a fun giveaway! My quirk – if at all possible, things need to be arranged by size.
Sydney Whittall
/ June 9, 2012Ha – I also fold my towels exactly the same way so they are identically stacked. However, look one shelf above the towels to see the mess of shampoos, lotions, band-aids, etc., and the effect is lost.
Stephanie
/ June 9, 2012My closet is organized by sleeve length first and then color second – I guess I spent too many years in retail, but it HAS to be this way – and of course – NO WIRE HANGERS!! My husband has full reign of his closet and let’s just say I won’t even hang up his stuff because I would go bonkers!
Oh, and of course the toilet paper has to be unrolling in the right direction, but that’s a given, right?
Brittany
/ June 9, 2012I’m a complete neat-freak, everything as to be nice and tidy and even if there’s a mess in the other room it’ll bug me ’til I fix it. Haha, but it works out great because my girlfriend is the same way.
Brittany
/ June 9, 2012Oh and Mine and my partner’s 2nd anniversary is coming up as well, its the 29th which is also my birthday. You’ve got 4 years on us!
Kristy
/ June 9, 2012I’d have to be a lot more organized to have a quirk. Maybe someday when the kids don’t follow behind me undoing all my cleaning.
Stephanie B.
/ June 9, 2012Organizing quirks? To have quirks I’d first have to organize things.
holly austin
/ June 9, 2012love these totes! and i’m totally and completely UNorganized
Jin
/ June 9, 2012I hope I win. Love the bag!!
Kristin
/ June 10, 2012I fold my hubby’s jeans a certain way so they’ll fit in the drawers so he gets so aggravated when he folds them and I tell him he’s doing it wrong :/
Breezi@not your average fairytale
/ June 10, 2012I don’t exactly have any organizational quirks- except all of my scrapbook pages have to be put away in chronological order….
brandileigh2003
/ June 10, 2012I don’t really. I just throw everything together.
Zhaleh
/ June 11, 2012I have actually lost a bunch of decorating quirks since I’ve grown up, but I remember as a kid I was almost OCD about my chores. When I loaded the dishwasher I sorted the utensils and categorized all the dishes, all the handles facing the same way…now I feel lucky to haphazardly throw them in.
Deborah
/ June 11, 2012I must have my clothes hanging in the same direction, and grouped by type and color. This is something I’ve been doing since I was ten years old.