Find a Home for Your Treasures

It’s time for spring cleaning!  Now is the time to organize, clean and be productive.

Have I motivated you?  No?  Alas, it didn’t work for my family either.  I even tried adding a loud “Woo-hoo!” at the end of my spring cleaning speech.  My family just rolled their eyes and let out a dramatic groan.  

It was clear that my family would need to take baby steps when it came to spring cleaning.  This past weekend, I encouraged my children to spend some time making sure everything in their room had a “home." Books belong on the bookshelf, Polly Pockets and Transformers have their own Tupperware containers, and Barbie dolls can lounge in their cruise ship. 

We discovered that both kids had a collection of rocks and shells that were homeless.   My daughter has an amazing knack for finding heart-shaped rocks.  My son tends to collect rocks and shells that can fit in his pocket.  Unfortunately, we found rocks scattered on dresser tops, in our beach bag, and even in the Green Lantern’s jet plane.  I suppose superheroes like to go “old school” every once in a while and fight crime with rocks. 

Since my kids did not want to throw away their “treasures,” I decided we may as well find a creative way to display them.  I knew that  in Aliso Viejo would be the perfect place to explore our options.

Located in The Commons shopping center, Michaels has a huge assortment of craft and home decor items.  It took my daughter only a few minutes to find a beautiful glass jar for our rock and shell collection.  Mission completed.

Of course, we couldn’t leave Michaels without exploring the rest of the store.  My family spent the next hour walking up and down the craft and hobby aisles.  We had fun figuring out which projects we would like to work on as a family.  The clear winner was a rocket that can blast high into the sky.  

Once we were home, we sorted through our rocks and shells and placed them carefully in the jar.  My kids are proud to have their treasures displayed, and I am thrilled to be a little more organized.  Since we are frequent beach and park visitors, I am quite sure we will be heading back to Michaels for some more “treasure” keepers.

Even if cleaning and organization are not on your weekend to-do list, I recommend a visit to Michaels.  Walking around the store sparked my family’s creativity, and I really enjoyed the time we spent together.

Michaels weekend hours are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sundays.  Make sure to sign up online for special coupons and offers.  Right now there is a customer appreciation coupon that offers 25 percent off your entire purchase (including sales items) from March 27  to April 2.