Putting the Real in Ideal: Our Version of Chair Pockets

In an ideal world, I would have the time, sewing talent or money to make or order custom kitchen chair versions of these nifty organizers:

But, since I don’t, I have gone with a “do what you can with what you have” philosophy.  So, here is my economical version of our first real chair "pocket" organizer:

Now, I know what you’re thinking: That’s just a bag hung on a chair, not a pocket.  You are right.  But, I got tired of waiting for the ideal chair pocket to materialize with our limited budget of time, talent and finances.  So, I rummaged through a literal pile of possibilities until I grasped a solution – a bag of just the “right size” that I like but rarely have had an occasion to use.

You see, our no-cost-to-us chair bag serves the same purpose as a more ideal store-bought, or (dare I dream) custom-made chair pocket would.  In fact, it is even a tad more functional and smile-inducing for us.  Not only does it hang on a chair and coral our Morning Circle materials, it also pleases me to remember the colleague who gifted me the bag after some travels in Asia.  Plus, having a bag instead of a pocket is handy for us, since the bag can easily be carried from its home on the kitchen chair to a blanket on the front lawn, or to a chair on the back porch, or to wherever else we choose to have our breakfast and Circle Time.  That works for me!

What’s in our chair "pocket" bag?  Right now:

• Give Me Grace by Cynthia Rylant, which we have begun using once again as part of a Morning Prayer Pegs
• Psalms for Young Children by Marie-Helene Delval, which is our current devotional
• The Magic School Bus Plants Seeds, which is our picture book of the week (Luke's choice, after he won it through our library's summer reading program)
• a therapy brush, to remind me to begin Luke’s Wilbarger Protocol brushing and compressions right after breakfast

In the future, I will be adding a few other materials, which will hopefully include a magnet calendar that I have been working on, a portable daily visual schedule and a prayer intention book/album.

Do you use anything akin to a chair pocket?  Do you do a morning circle or breakfast book basket?  What tools and resources do you find enhance your breakfast time rhythm and how do you organize them?  Is there a way you’ve adjusted an ideal vision to meet the realities of your time and resources?  Please share in a comment.

This post is being shared as part of the Organizing Junkie's 52 Weeks of Organizing, since it is yet another small project I tackled to help me organize materials to keep our homeschool rhythm moving smoothly, as well as at We Are THAT family's Works for Me Wednesday, since translating my ideal vision of a custom chair seat organizer to a reality within our family’s resources works for me, and at Life as Mom's Frugal Friday, since our chair bag provided a no-cost alternative to a possibly pricey custom made chair pocket for us.  Please visit these link ups to enjoy other tips and inspiration.