Going back to school is a messy business. What I did this year for my kids’ clothes saved us time, money, and space! We spent a beautiful, fun weekend creating Kids Capsule Wardrobes for Back to School.
Back to school time has so much to juggle:
- School supplies
- Paperwork
- Before School Dates
- School Clothes
So this year, we decided we would make the school clothes fun and affordable while organizing my kid’s space. We are so happy we did. Want to know more?
This year getting ready for school cost us $400. That includes school supplies, shoes, clothes and all. For four kids, that’s not so bad!
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Fall outfit model
It was The Capsule Project that helped us the most saving us money and space; two commodities we need to use efficiently.
After coming across the idea of a capsule wardrobe multiple times in the past three weeks, my interest was piqued. It all started with Jacey Verdicchio of The Balanced Wife. Her posts sent me over to Un-Fancy. I caught up with Nellie Bellie‘s wardrobe choices as well.
- Outfit combination
But it was only when I met Karin from Truncation Blog that I decided to take the leap. Karin is a Twin Cities Mama who understands the need for simplifying and the struggles of being a mom, so since I wasn’t ready to take the leap for myself yet, she was more than supportive of my efforts to try it out for my kids.
More School Clothes Shopping Ideas:
FFTC’s Guide to School Clothes Shopping on a Budget
What I love most about Karin’s example is her personalized rules. Most capsule wardrobe rules are very strict, designating a hard and fast number to the pieces you can have (37 or 40). Karin is a little more laid-back, due to the unpredictable nature of Minnesota weather.
Truncation Blog Capsule Rules (Paraphrased)
- Four seasons: June-August, September-November, December-February, and March-May.
- No predetermined number limit–each capsule has the smallest number comfortably possible.
- Capsules include clothes and shoes, not unders, accessories, workout, jackets.
- Will allow for digging out warmer clothing in the middle of the summer if needed.
- No shopping once the capsule is closed until three weeks before the next capsule.
- Spend only budgeted amount for next capsule.
(If you want the more detailed version, go here)
The Kids Capsule Wardrobes Project
In our case, we took all of our clothes, determined how many shirts and bottoms we wanted and started counting them out. We also determined how many sweaters/sweatshirts to allow.
This is Minnesota.
But the first thing we needed to do was organize their room.
Our starting point.
Then, we needed to sort clothes.
The end result.
The Finished Capsule
I am featuring Kyla’s fall capsule, so as not to overwhelm you with all my children!
If you are interested in seeing an adult-version, Karin has just posted her fall capsule. Oh, it makes me drool. I love it. And in an effort of full disclosure, I just put together my very FIRST capsule. If you are interested, I will be putting it in our newsletter that goes out on Friday, so make sure you sign up for Family Planning if you want to see it. (It’s nothing special and I still need to go buy a pair of khakis that probably won’t make the photo, but I’ve pretty much finished)
@FamilyFunTC Check out Family Fun Twin Cities take on the capsule wardrobe for your kiddos. Good stuff!