Craft Organization


Hi, Everyone!
   I thought I'd mention craft organization today and show some of the ways I organize my "stuff."  Happily, as I mentioned in an earlier post, organizing "stuff" is one of my favorite things to do.  I'm forever trying to find the definitive way to access my overflowing collections of craft supplies, tools and projects.  Toward that end, I've researched many other people's craft rooms on line and in books, and I've incorporated some of their ideas and come up with some of my own.  Today I'll focus on one particular area, a treasure I got from a store that went out of business.



   When I heard that Movie Gallery was closing, I wondered if they might have some fixtures that would be useful in my craft room (aka dining room, study, computer room, as it's evolved).  When I saw their wrought iron candy rack on wheels, I fell in love!  To save you from the drama of me just missing getting it, calling another store in a neighboring town and putting dibs on it only to find that it was already promised to someone else, and finally getting a call from the original store telling me I could have it for $50.00--$25.00 less than the store in the neighboring town--oh, well.  You still got the drama!  I'll show you how I use it.  Here's a picture of it right after I first put things on it:

This is the front view.  All of the shelves and baskets are removable and can be placed in a large variety of configurations.  You can see that I have flowers in canning jars on the top shelf, and rolls of ribbon and fibers next to them and below on the next shelf, along with Cricut cartridges and Close to My Heart stamps.  Below that I have a box of photos to be scrapped, a basket of adhesives, and below that to the right, a jar of ribbon and a case of glue sticks.  On the shelf below that is my Cuttlebug and a piece from my Anna Griffin tote bag.  Next is a plastic box I decorated and indexed for stickers, then a basket with embossing powders and glitter.  The bottom shelves are empty.

   Fast forward a few months, add more cartridges and drawer units, and you have a different configuration to handle the additional "stuff."



   On the top I still have jars of flowers sorted by color, then Stickles (glitter paint) and other paints. 

The next row is entirely Cricut cartridges.  The first section on the left is composed of Imagine cartridges, and the rest are original carts.  All are in alphabetical order.  Hanging on the left of this row are packages of ribbons and extra cutting blades, and below them are paint markers.  Hanging on the right is a small "book" system for embroidery floss that I've used for small pieces of ribbons.  Each remnant is wound around a plastic "bobbin," and then similar colors are stored in plastic bags that are punched to slide on the binder rings.  It's an easy and compact way to store and carry a variety of ribbons to crops.  Here's a link to the bags at Hobby Lobby:  http://shop.hobbylobby.com/products/bag-it-floss-organizer-645929/

Embroidery floss organizer used for ribbon






Anna Griffin ribbon organizer



   On the next shelf you can see the remainder of the Cricut carts on the left followed by an Anna Griffin ribbon storage box.  Instead of just storing the ribbon inside the way it's designed, I've turned the lid over and stacked it on top for additional roll storage. 

 For now the space beside that holds rolls of vinyl used for cutting on the Cricut.  Below that on the left is adhesive storage.  On top of the adhesive drawer is a yellow Rolodex that I'm planning to use for a craft project inspired by one made by Sandi Geneovese.  Here's the link to that project at her Scrapbook Showgram.  http://scrapbookshowgram.com/?p=1524  I purchased these colorful plastic drawer units at Wal-mart, and I'm using this one for runner-type and pen adhesives.  The basket houses refills, pop dots, rolls of tape and other types of adhesives.  The Anna Griffin tote insert fits behind the wicker basket.  To the right of that is a wrought iron basket that contains a Close to My Heart plastic container for their stamp sets, a Crop-a-Dile punch, my Cuttlebug die cut plates, a Memories Direct set of stamp ink duo daubers, and the Polaroid computer program "My Memories Suite."  You probably can't see them well in the picture, but I also have a yardstick and a clear plastic ruler hanging on the right side.

   The next shelf holds my sticker box and two plastic holders of Copic markers.  In a separate basket are embossing powders, glitter and a box of homemade glimmer mist equipment.  Finally, the bottom area has a basket that contains my Cuttlebug storage binder, http://www.amazon.com/Provo-Craft-Novelty-Cuttlebug-371575/dp/B0015KCV92 , then my Cuttlebug, and next to that to the right are two drawers that contain various types of decorative punches. You can probably find the Cuttlebug storage binder on sale on the web if you check around.  By checking the link, you can see what it contains and if it would work for you.  On top of the drawers are 3 styles of paper cutters.  One is the Craft Lite cutter with interchangeable blades that are stored in another section of the unit.  This is only the front.  I still have both ends and the back to show you, but we'll save them for another day!

    Hope you're having a blessed Sunday.

Love'n stuff,

Sandy :)