Freezer Organization

Enough is enough!
I am sick and tired digging my way through this icy horror I call a freezer. It amazes me that such a small frozen space can be such a nasty sticky disaster. I mean seriously, it is a tundra, how can it be sticky?? As for cleaning the freezer, forget about it, it had to be thawed before I could clean it properly.

Bins Are Always Better
The great thing about using bins is how easy they are to clean, without having to thaw an entire freezer! 
I freeze a lot of vegetables, fruits, and prepared foods, so I need my freezer space to work for me. Thankfully I also inherited an upright freezer I keep in my garage. I admit that makes a huge difference in the way I decided to organize my refrigerator freezer, it allowed me to buy inexpensive (slightly bulky) bins. If you have to maximize your freezer space, I still recommend using bins, however you might consider the slightly more costly compact bins. Try using flush rectangular plastic bins, but select a pliable plastic, you don't want anything that will easily shatter once frozen. 
I purchased these plastic bins at Walmart and Dollar General for $2 or less a piece. With so many household projects in mind to spend on, I was reluctant to put money toward the freezer.


Contain & Label 
My little family has the lazy gene, and we have it bad. That means one or more of us (let's not question who...it might be me) often throw bags of frozen what-not into the freezer with a quick twist, but no tie. No wonder my freezer was so gross, with mystery bits fallen out here and there (ew!). This is the perfect time to start practicing habits of order... that means being diligent and taking the extra few seconds to make sure whatever we put in the freezer is properly contained in freezer safe bags, and labeled. To that end, I keep a sharpie and a roll of regular masking tape by my refrigerator in easy reach. Organizing my frozen foods in bins by type puts an end to all that rummaging I had been doing. Thank goodness! I know exactly what I have in my freezer, no guessing required, no unexpected messes.


Making Bin Labels
Create labels to hang on the front of your bins using wallet sized Scotch self-sealing laminate sheets. Type up the labels in Word, measure to size, print, cut, and follow the laminating sheet instructions... this part is very easy, but just to make it one step easier for you I will attach my Freezer Tags in a Word document that you can download and customize.
After laminating you will need to cut a slit in the tags for the ribbon, a sharp exacto knife does the job. You may also find you need to cut a slit in your plastic container if there is no place to loop the ribbon through. 
Now you have an orderly and attractive freezer!