organize it

Papers, pens, and ribbons oh my…where do I put it all and still find it next time?

I am always on the lookout for new and better storage and organization and it can get overwhelming trying to decide what to use and for what. Paper alone can be a hassle, if not stored properly it can get torn or bent up. Have you ever bought something with a specific purpose in mind and you get it home and low and behold it won’t work. You end up accumulating stuff that just sits and sits and sits. Well hopefully some of this will help you find your way out of that mess!

There are so many things out there that you can buy; everything from paper holders to ribbon dispensers that are specific to that item. But I say check around your house, garage sales, and thrift stores see what you can find that you can make work. (works for finding furniture too)

I went to IKEA and bought towel rods in different lengths, as well as some of their hanging bins and baskets. I put some of my large punches on the rods and some of my hand held punches in the baskets. I put my smooch sprays, inks and some of my gel pens in the hanging bins. Here are some pictures…

  
I think I spent less than $30 on 3 rods, 3 baskets, 4 bins and 4 small glass jars. I thought it was a good deal and all items are useful! I also bought some glass jars, in different sizes, for my loose flowers,  ribbon spools, buttons and beads. I like how all the different colors look on my shelves….

I bought the Jetmax Embellishment Center and Desktop Carousel, I believe they used to be built by Making Memories, not sure. Anyway I bought both at Michaels when they were on sale. I bought the plastic jars and the drawers that go with the center…took out the ribbon rods because it was hard to replace them when I used the whole roll. You have to take off however many if the one in the middle is the one you finished! LOL  I like the plastic jars for brads, clips, eyelets, etc…they are light weight and come in a few different sizes.

I found some art bin cases that I store items in that I have broken down by theme. For instance I have one for dogs, kits, wedding, etc, I also have ones with my vacation stuff in it, pictures of the kids, and so much more! It is so nice to need something for a wedding card or page and viola there it is.

Paper is one of the hardest things in my opinion to store. I started out with it flat, laid in slots in cubes. But unless you are doing just a few sheets you end up pulling out more than you want. Same if you store them straight up in the cubes. Then I tried hanging folders, but that didn’t work for me either. So I went and bought the cropper hopper vertical paper holders (got the value pack 12 x 12) to go on my shelves in my cabinet. I store by color in the large holders and in the small ones I put my specialty papers. Just have to be careful pulling the holders in and out so the ends don’t bend.  I put my smaller paper, again by color, on shelves but not in holders. When I say by color I follow the roy g biv from elementary school! Do you remember that? (red, yellow, orange, green, blue, indigo, violet) Makes it easy to organize!

Now for my copics! I purchased towers from Studio 3 Solutions to hold them all! I know, I know I could have made my own but these are perfect and I took them out of the box and they were ready for action! Here is the site:   http://www.studio3solutions.com/ I love them and they hold a lot!

I had a utensil caddy from Papered Chef, but I gave it away a few years ago. It’s funny how you change how you want things to be arranged and you get rid of it then later on find you wish you hadn’t! Been there, done that several times!

I truly could go on and on but I won’t bore you anymore! LOL I am posting some tips about storage and organization on the tip and tricks page so check that out before you go! Oh just one more thing..yes it’s the last on this post..truly it is! LABEL I mean it label everything. I cannot stress this enough!

Take Care!