Craft Storage 102

Welcome to the second part of my series on organizing craft supplies. Here, I hope to help you wrangle the trickier supplies. Most crafting activities have one thing in common: small pieces. From buttons and beads to stickers and zippers, these tiny pieces can be hard to get -and keep- in order. For all of my tiny misplace-ables, I use inexpensive plastic boxes that have separate compartments inside. The compartments are often adjustable in size and the boxes are available in many colors, but are most often clear so that you can view the contents without opening the box. They are sold in craft stores, Wal-Mart, Lowe's, and can often be found in second hand stores like Goodwill. They hold and separate beads, buttons, embellishments, thread, needles, small stickers, small tools, and the list goes on. They come in various sizes, but sturdier ones (the kind made for hardware) are a bit pricier. I find that the kind sold in the craft section of Wal-mart hold up just fine to the bits and pieces that I put in them.

Make friends with this guy.

Yarn is another item that is difficult to keep in order, especially if you accumulate a lot of it. I prefer a nice wicker basket to keep in the floor. It's pretty large and keeps my yarn on display. If you have more that a few skeens, however, you may want to invest in some of the stacking crates that I suggested using here to help store shoes. They also make a great home for yarn. Another creative way to store yarn is in the over-the-door pockets that most people put shoes in. I have to give credit to indlugy.com for this wonderful idea.

A pencil case is a handy way to keep all of your crochet and knitting needles together and would go nicely with any of the storage options I have listed for you. Pencil cases are a good way to group any writing utensil and I find that they work well for storing jewelry tools, such as pliers, wire cutters, and the like. You can find small plastic ones in the school supply isle for $1 or under. Larger ones may be a bit more, but they last for years. If you want to go all out, you can always buy a tool box from the hardware section with many divided spaces to keep all of your tools together. 

As always, if you have any ideas that you would like to share or questions, please feel free to to leave them in the comments below. You can also find me on various social media networks, listed here. I love hearing from you. I hope that you enjoyed this post and were inspired. Until next time, happy organizing!