Storage Solutions For Crafty People

If you are like most of us, then you may find yourself looking for that needle in a haystack in your craft space. Or maybe, you will find yourself hunting for a specific ink pen that you know you have somewhere. The point is that is you find yourself looking for things a lot, then more then likely, you need to take the time to get your craft space organized.

What does it take to get yourself to the place where you know what you have and where it is? Mostly, it is just some healthy time, a little ingenuity, and a few dollars from your craft budget.

We have gathered together a few ideas for your crafty space with hopes that it will inspire you to look at your space. And maybe take one or two steps to get your crafty space a little more organized.

I know that this step is never pleasant but the end result of getting rid of the "stuff" that just takes up space is a reward in itself. No matter what craft you do, we all collect things that we never use or hate to dispose of just in case we need it sometime in the near future.

But think of it this way, that stuff is just taking up space in your craft space. If you got rid of the stuff that will never probably use, you would have more space for the stuff that you do use.

If you have never committed to zoning your craft space, this may be the time to get it done. Zoning means all like things are in one location. When you zone your craft materials, you save time and energy.

That means, if I need a die, I know exactly where that doe will be. If I need a pice of blue paper, I am going to know where to go to get it.

How you zone is up to you. It is simply a matter of selecting a specific place for specific items. For example, I have a table where my Gemini cutting and embossing machine is. In a drawer in that table is all of my cutting plates and mats as well as a book for the machine. Underneath on a shelf are all my dies and my embossing folders. All the things that I need to emboss and cut in one location,

Figure out your system and I guarantee that your crafting experience will be enhanced.

Everyone would love to be able to go to Ikea and buy all those wonderful drawers and cabinets that they sell to completely make over a craft room. I love to see pictures of people who do just that.

But for many of us, that might not be within the reach of our budgets. Many of us are looking for ideas that would make our craft beautiful, be functional and have a reasonable cost to the project.

I also believe in repurposing things to create less of a footprint on the world.

There are lots of things that you can make yourself to help you organize your craft room. Making it yourself is rewarding and saves you lots of money. You can add your own special touches. Being able to reuse and organizing tools is a great way to save money-money that you can easily spend on your favorite craft stuff !

There are plenty of things that you could borrow from your kitchen to repurpose into your craft room.

• Old muffin tins are perfect for holding odds and ends. You can paint them with some Rustoleum in the color of your choice
• Take a lazy susan as a base. Use some candle sticks in between some cake pans. Paint the pans and the lazy susan to match. You now have a spinner organizer.
• Canning jars are perfect to store ribbon, spools of thread and other embellishments
• Repurpose an old spice rack. Use the jars to hold buttons, pins, and embellishments
• Reuse an old recipe box to store die cuts, stickers or stamps
• Tin cans wrapped in washi tape or card stock can hold just about anything
• Tin cans of all different sizes can be covered with paper and used to store things like pencils, glues, tools, paint brushes and more

You may easily have more storage space than you realize. Look at the walls in your craft space. Then think bout how you could use that space with shelving ! Shelving is economical and easy to install. You can use boxes, jars, baskets and more to create some coordinated and decorative designs to create more storage.

After you wash discarded pill bottles, you can use them to store all kinds of things in your craft space. Here are some of them.

1. Sequins-Store your sequins by color or shape in used pill bottles
2. Glitter-The lids will hold and prevent a mess
3. Buttons-Store your buttons inside larger pill bottles
4. Pins And Needles- Another good use
5. Gems- Store them by color or type
6. Scrap Extenders-Never lose them again

What craft person does not love ribbon? We love the colors and textures that ribbon brings to our projects. The only question is how to store it. Here are our favorite solutions to help you store your ribbons:

• Use A Paper Towel Holder-you can stack all kinds of ribbon on them
• Pants Hangers-perfect if you have closet space
• Inexpensive Photo Boxes- you can organize your ribbons by size, color or type
• Upside Down Molding Mounted On A Wall- will hold lots of ribbon spools
• Mount Gutters On A Wall-practical idea to store ribbon
• Tic Tac Containers-store all those ribbon bits

• Put Them In A Binder-With just a three ring binder and some page protectors, you can create a simple storage unit. Store by size or by manufacturer. Add some dividers if you have a lot of stencils
• Put Them Into A Hanging File System- Make tabs to label them

No matter what your craft is, you can't go wrong with a rolling card near your work area. These carts range from $35-$75 depending on the size and how many tiers you want. you want. They can often be found on sale, and of course, if you have a coupon from one of the major craft outlets, you can save even more.

These rolling carts can be stored in your workspace, or they can be rolled out of a closet when you need them. It is up to you how you use them.

Another thing you can do with your cart is to add command hooks. These hooks can be added to the side of your cart to hold tools and mats all in one place.

• Use A Thread Board- just stack up your washi tape
• Use A Left Over Wax Paper, Parchment paper or Aluminum Foil Box- decorate with paper and store your washi tape

• Use a tension curtain rod to suspend in an area for ribbon storage
• Hang a bathroom caddy on a door or inside a closet door to add extra storage space
• Hang a canvas shoe organizer behind a door or on a curtain rod to hold all kinds of craft supplies
• Get a quart or larger paint can. Take 4-5 tin cans and decorate them with fabric or paper. Glue the tin cans around the paint can. Great idea for paint brushes.
• Surround a peg board with a frame to create a one of a kind supply center.
• Use a plastic ceiling tile in a box to store your copic markers

1. Hang them on a magnetic strip mounted on a wall
2. Use inexpensive cup hooks on a strip of wood
3. Mug holders
4. Silverware caddies
5. Coffee mugs
6. On a pegboard with hooks
7. In flower pots
8. Off a decor wall rack

If you have a closet in your craft space, here are some easy ideas to get that space under control and organized:

1. Organize your paper with a paper filing system. You can make your own with cereal boxes, Just cover with paper and place them on a shelf
2. Keep the messy stuff hidden- Use boxes, baskets and containers. Look around your home to see what is available. Check out your local thrift stores. Geberally you will find good buys.
3. Keep supplies that you use most often in clear plastic drawers. Label the draws to minimize your time finding what you need.
4. Claim the space behind your closet door. Hang a pegboard, add some strips. Add some thin shelving
5. Use pants hangers to store larger spools of ribbon

• Use Pants And Skirt Hangers-drape small amounts of left over fabric on a pants hanger. You can also use skirt hangers. Organize by color or types of fabric.
• Use A File drawer-cut a hanging file in half and drape the fabric over it

Keeping your thread organized does not need to be a challenge. Here are some ideas to get your thread collection organized.

• Embroidery Hoops- They come in different sizes, so you can customize the size that you need. They are reasonable in price. You can just thread them on. Or, if you have a lot, do color hoops. Use hooks to hang them in a closet. Or hang them near your work space,
• Mason Jars- These are so pretty with your spools in them. Organize by color and place them on a shelf. You will be able to find exactly what you need in a heartbeat,
• Ice Cube Trays- Perfect to store your bobbins and they stack.
• Thread Stand Or Wall Unit- These units will hold a lot of thread exactly where and when you need them
• Magnetic Strips- You can use magnetic strips on a wall or in a frame to hold your bobbins
• Plastic Cupcake Holder-Nicely hold both your bobbins and thread in a recycled plastic cupcake holder
• Pill Box Bobbin Holder- Try using a pill box to hold bobbins. They are inexpensive and available anywhere.
• Golf Tee Thread /Bobbin Holder- Glue golf tees spaced on a tray. They will hold your threads and bobbins.

We all have them and we all love them. The question is, where are they? It's time to organize those buttons that you love to use on your sewing projects and papercrafts. Before you get started, get all your buttons together. Lay them out on a bed or a work space. Decide if you are going to organize them by color or type. Then, sort your buttons.

Here are my favorite tips to organize your button stash:

• Jars - I just love to see buttons in jars arranged on a shelf. They are so pretty, Why not display your button collection? Any jar will do. Recycle jars from your kitchen. If you don't have a shelf, store them all in a pretty basket.
• Use A Plastic Divider Box- you can find them just about anywhere. Perfect for smaller collections. If you have a larger collection, you can stack them one on top of another
• In Small Zip Lock Baggies- I keep my button stash in small baggies in a photo box

No matter what kind of craft that you do, it is important to know what you have. AS you grow in your craft, you will as most of us do, gain more supplies and tools. Knowing what you have on hand is as important as knowing where it is.

When you are shopping online, for example, you will want to know the colors of the ink pads and the type of ink pads that you have. So when I am shopping for ink pads, I pick up my ink pad catalog and I look to see what I have. I can then make a decision that will not duplicate a specific color.

You can use notebooks, index card system and samples on large rings, it is up to you. But when you are standing in an aisle thinking do I have this at home, these are a real answer when you are shopping

Here is one idea to get started

You can catalog by brand, by color, or by theme. Use whatever works for you best.

What can you catalog:

Buttons

Cloth

Craft Pads

Ink Pads

Ribbons

Stamps

Thread

Wool