I'm a Pro at One Thing...

And likely, one thing only.

As I was packing, I kept thinking, Do other people know how to do this?  Is this just something I figured out?

I've never asked Google how to pack.  But we've lived in five apartments and four houses.  This move will put us in our fifth house.  

Chris asked what I was posting.  When I told him it was a tutorial on how to pack plates, he gave me one of those pats on the leg that says, "You're cute.  And silly.  No one wants to know how to pack."

That's a lot for a pat on the leg to express, I realize.  But it's not the first time I've gotten that specific pat either.  

So for the three of us who are moving soon or will move in the future or are just reading this because you are related to me in some way, let's get started.

First, the stats on my "stuff."  I feel it's important for you to understand how much of  my own packing materials I already own (unfortunately) and how much stuff needs to be wrapped up in said materials.  

1)  I own four full sets of china.  One of my Grandmother's, one from my Mamaw, my own formal pattern and my casual pattern.  

2)  I own four full sets of four colors of towels.  Dark green, purple, yellow and country blue.  Because 22 year olds should not be allowed to register for towels.  I had a "grape" themed bathroom.  Thus the purple and green.  And a blue and yellow bathroom.  Of those colors, we only use the yellow now.  In the kids bathroom.

3)  I own approximately 9,554 fabric napkins and placemats.  I love to set a table.  I have yellow, white, white, white, gray, red, orange, white, aqua and white.  Believe it or not, I actually cleaned out a whole lot of that stuff.  But I still have oh so much.

4)  I own all the white serving pieces I can get my hands on.  It's an obsession.  ALL OF THEM.  

5)  I own three full sets of crystal glasses.  White wine, red wine and tea glasses.  Let us NOT DISCUSS the fact that we do not drink wine.  Okay?  That's not the point of owning crystal glasses.  Clearly, the point (and goal) is to someday own a beautiful china cabinet and DISPLAY the glasses.  No one uses them.  Oh.  And various crystal vases, a punchbowl, serving bowls and pitchers.  All in the same crystal pattern.  Because SOUTHERN.  

Listen, here's the thing, I like having people over and I like making those people feel special.  And I make things special with fancy "stuff."  

(Should you ever come to my house, please know I will have killed myself getting ready for you and LOVED EVERY SECOND OF IT.)

(You're welcome.)

(Those are some of the moments when I get one of those "You're cute and silly" leg pats.  Or maybe a kiss on the cheek.  Either way, it expresses the same sentiment.)

Thanks to all those towels and napkins, I don't have to buy bubble wrap or packing peanuts.  Y'all.  I keep those ugly towels JUST TO PACK with them.  They've spent the last four years under our bed in a space saver bag.  

I used the towels and napkins for the boxes I put in the first POD.  This go round, I used sheets and, oh, our duvet cover.  The idea is the same.

Without further ado, I give you...

How to Pack Plates

Step 1:  Lay out the towel/sheet/duvet.  I used the counter top but you can use the table or the floor.

Step 2:  Lay out the plates.  One up.  Next down.  Give four or five inches in between each plate.

Step 3:  Fold the top of the towel/sheet/duvet over on top of the plates.  Like so.

Step 4:  Put another plate on top of the ones facing up.  So you'll skip the ones facing down.  

Step 5:  Now start folding the plates and towel/sheet/duvet on top of itself.  Kinda rolling it in a way.  Those four or five inches you left between plates will be filled as the height of the "roll" grows.

Keep rolling...

Rollin', rollin', rollin'...

Almost done.

Step 6:  Step back and admire your plate roll.  It's a thing of beauty.  And safe from breaking into a thousand pieces.

Step 7:  Put the roll in the box.  This was a large box.  But the roll was pretty big.

I got 8 plates in the roll.  There was plenty of room.  I could have gotten 12.  I just didn't need to but I have before.  I use the napkins to wrap tea cups and bowls.  Those get put in on the sides of the box.  With this method (can I say, "method?"  Sounds so important.)  (And it's so not.), I can pack an entire set of china in one box.  Nothing gets broken and those ugly towels get used.

The towels and sheets and napkins all get used to wrap breakables.  I put lightbulbs in pillow cases.  Frames in pillow shams.  Etc.

The downside?  You have to unpack all the boxes to find the all the bedding.  

But hey, those boxes aren't gonna unpack themselves.  Might as well get to it.

The good news about moving so often is we clean everything out every 3 to 4 years.  If I haven't used it in those years, and that does happen, it goes away.  Of course, this time, we're downsizing.  To the smallest house we've lived in since our first home in Georgia.  Lots of stuff gets the ax this time.

But what I'm keeping won't be broken!  

Yay me!