Easy Ideas For Storing Craft Supplies

By Belinda Osgood

Craft, in its many different forms, requires a variety of tools and supplies. Even if a person enjoys just one craft, they will find themselves struggling to find a safe home for all of the accouterments. When one dabbles in several crafts, as I do, then that issue multiplies to an almost overwhelming problem.

A place to keep all those scissors and needles, glues, pens, paints, and papers, ribbons and wool becomes essential to keep the items safe from damage and easy to access. Without a storage system, things easily become lost or ruined. It also contributes to a lack of productivity. Fortunately for the avid crafter, there are many storage solutions, which are either low cost or free to do. Many of them involve a little crafty handwork, too.

Small objects such as buttons and beads can be stored in almost any container from clean jars to empty matchboxes. For a tidy idea, collect empty matchboxes, and glue together to form a stack four by four. Wrap around the edge with decorative paper, leaving the ends uncovered. Make a hole in the front of each matchbox insert and thread through wool or ribbon, leaving a small loop on the outside as a handle. Tape the ends to the inside of the box. If desired, glue a sample of the contents to the front of each insert. You can make this set of 'drawers' as large as you need. Try making two stacks and join them back to back for a more stable creation, plus twice the storage.
Ready-made plastic drawers are available for such purposes. They are an ideal solution to storage problems however the cost is much greater.

Empty boxes are fantastic for keeping all sorts of supplies flat and clean. I use a pretty gift box someone gave me one Christmas to keep all my Christmas stamps together. A flat chocolate box houses pictures trimmed from a magazine, and another one for scraps of paper suitable for punching.

Small empty bottles, such as the kind used for vitamin supplements make ideal storage containers for left over punched shapes. I make use of people's punches I do not own and punch as many as I can fit into a bottle in a variety of colours. Simply glue one to the lid for easy recognition. I then keep the bottles together in an ice cream container. A box would work well, too.

Many crafts involve numerous supplies of paper of all sorts. The perfect solution to store these is a concertina file -- the sort that people often use to store old bills or important documents. Label each pocket with a colour and simply file each sheet in its appropriate slot. There are enough partitions to separate them even further. I have two pockets for each colour, one for plain and one for textured. It is not only a user-friendly way to locate the colour you need for a project; its portability is excellent for those craft sessions with friends.
Store balls of wool in ice creams containers. The lid will keep it dust and bug free. They are also easy to stack in a cupboard or wardrobe. Similarly, keep spools of ribbon tidy in a box or plastic container.

Invest in some cheap clear files. I have one to house sticker sheets, grouped according to theme. Another one holds patterns and instructions on various craft projects. A third one I reserve for photos. When sorting photos for a scrapbook I put a page's worth in each pocket. Then when I have time to make up a scrapbook page, the photos are already organised.
It is much more fun to save your dollars for spending on new supplies for your crafting pleasure. Make the most of the many household containers which are recyclable into useful storage solutions. You will save your bank account as well as the environment.

Belinda Osgood is an author on http://www.Writing.Com/ which is a site for Creative Writing.
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