Craft Storage 101

Lots of people, both men and women list crafting as a hobby. It relieves stress and focuses the mind. Many even find that their crafting can turn into a very lucrative endeavor when the apply themselves. Crafting requires supplies. Many are small, but a few can be considered big, bulky, and hard to store. Many people, such as yours truly, do not limit themselves to only one kind of crafting activity. That means more supplies. If you are a multi-crafter, then you know just how much organizing your supplies matters. In this three-part series, I'm going to share with you what has worked for me when storing things correctly means the difference between actually getting to work on your project or spending your allotted time looking for that one thing that you know you have, but can't seem to find.

I consider myself a recovered "cluttered crafter". You may laugh, but I have been working in all sorts of mixed media crafts since I was a child. I don't waste craft supplies, so I have amassed a lot. It takes work to keep it all in a neat and orderly system. I really did not care about how it was all organized until I started losing things that I needed. I knew that I have the item, I just could not seem to locate it. Sometimes I would find it a time later, only to realize that I had lost the project I was working on. Something had to give. Craft supplies are not cheap by any stretch of the imagination. Finding them on clearance is blessing. Losing them in my own home was a waste of time, money, and effort. I really do hate to waste things.

To start off, as a general rule, crafting supplies should be stored in a cool dry place away from sunlight. You can add them to my list of what not to store in the bathroom. I have jokes. Moving on.

Scrapbooking seems to be a really popular activity. It requires its own plethora of supplies. There is paper with different patterns, stickers, rub-on transfers, paper punches, stamps, ink, adhesives, cardstock, page protectors, scissors (regular and sets that cut different shapes and patterns), specialty pens, photo corners, and the list goes on and on. There is a lot to keep up with, and I did not even list the actual album that you will be working in or the photos.

To  keep most of your flatter supplies in check, may I suggest a large accordion folder. They help to separate paper by size and pattern as well as keeping stickers and other small items in order. It is separated, but together.

Pens, brushes, and cutting tools do nicely in a multi-sectioned pencil cup. If you can find one with a lazy susan bottom, it is so much easier to spin and browse supplies, ultimately finding things faster.

 If your supplies overflow these containers, you may want to look into a large tower of plastic drawers. These are wonderful for keeping stamping items in. I cannot tell you how functional these really are when organizing anything. I have pictured the sets from department stores in previous blogs. Here, I'm going to show a few specialty towers available in craft stores and online.

These work great to store other supplies as well. Polyclay and related items do well in these drawers. To organize smaller items, such as findings, glitter, or glaze, simply insert small plastic baskets as separators. You can find them in different sizes in sets of two for a dollar at Dollar Tree stores. If you have a lot of heavier supplies, these towers tend to sag under the weight and become unstable. 

For heavier items, such as paint bottles, large containers of adhesive, and bulky paper cutters, you need something sturdier. I would suggest shelving with a good amount of weight capacity. Invest in a quality shelf and it will last years. Lowe's offers great shelving. The plastic ones are less pricey and go on sale from time to time. You just have to check your local stores. Grouping smaller items (like paint bottles) in baskets on these shelves helps you to use all of the available space. Make labels for the different baskets so that you will know what is inside without taking the whole basket out. Just use your imagination and replace the items below with craft supplies. 

Next time, we will tackle some trickier to organize items. If you have questions or comments feel free to leave them below. I would love to hear from you. Thanks for reading and happy organizing!