Craftgrrl

the only way (being a totally disorganized lady myself) that i can keep my craft stuff organized is with small shoebox sized bins...i keep them all labeled on the outside (thread, paint, beads, WHATEVER) to eliminate rooting through looking for stuff. however, my biggest problem is that they are taking over my closet and i have no where to put my clothes!

If you don't have very much room, you could get those plastic stacking drawers and shove them in a corner. I normally just have needlecrafts (crochet, cross-stitch, random sewing projects) so I have a huge Tupperware for my yarn, a small one for my needles/thread/notions, and my embroidery floss is rigged up on a piece of wire shelving. I ought to take a picture of it sometime - it's different than anyone else's floss storage. Oh yes, and if I'm working on a big crochet project, like an afghan, I have a tall round basket next to my chair in the living room so I can hide it away when I'm not working on it but I can get to it quickly. If only I had a lid for the basket, though...

I'll at least explain what I do, if that helps.

There are little plastic rings you can get at Michael's in the needlework/yarn area. They come in like ten to a bag or something, so you'd need several. Then I wrap my floss around a piece of cardboard that's 6-8" long - something like that - and I cut across one end so I have lots of 12-16" pieces. Then I fold them in half and thread the loop through the plastic ring, feed the ends through the loop so you're attaching it like tassels on the end of a scarf, and take a little teensy label and attach that to the ring as well so I know what the color number is. Then I have a bunch of large rings that are open/closeable(they're shaped like pears - not sure what they're called though) that I thread the plastic hoops through in number order, and I have a rack that I put the large rings into. And the rack can hang on the wall, which serves as an impromptu piece of art, with all the pretty colors on it. :)

That was complicated. Hope it made sense!!

I have a few tool boxes that i keep stuff in. I use the flat ones with a clear cover so I can see what's in them. I think they were around $5 at home depot.

yes, plastic bins are essential. i run a small business out of my home and i have to keep everything in bins or i start to loose my mind. i buy them 20 at a time at target (they are like 89¢ each) and store the lids in the basement. i bought cheap modular shelves at menards (i think this might be only a local store- but check home depot or lowe's), they are plywood and just slide together. they were 10 bucks a piece and they are very strong. i have about 10 of those lining one wall and just put everything in bins.

I have two 6 feet shelves next to each other in my room. It makes for a LOT of space. I keep all my fabric in large plastic totes. I keep all my patterns in an old manderine oranges box. I keep all my sewing notions in a large plastic sewing kit, including my push pins which I keep in a tomato pin cushion. I keep all my needlework projects in their plastic in a large shoe box. I keep all my ribbon in a hat box. SO basically, group like things together, in boxes, on shelves & try your hardest to put things away when you're done. If you can't manage to do that, try to make time each week to put your stuff back into it's right place. It becomes habit after you've been doing it for a while. (Good luck with your move) :)

I love those little plastic bins with drawers. I think the most important part of staying organized, though, is to actually put stuff back after you use it. Otherwise, having a system hardly helps since things aren't where they belong!

Target has a "crafters collection" of furniture now... a sewing/craft table, a little cabinet, and a rolly cart/cabinet. That would be a good idea if you have a room that you normally do crafts in.

I too underscore the use of those plastic shoe box style storage containers (labeled of course!). I used to like glass canning jars cuz they come with their own case! But living in SoCal now and I don't want broken glass in my stuff after an earthquake! I also keep various small containers - like altoid tins and even smaller ones for random stuff like needles, threaders, wax bits for thread, sequins etc etc etc. Then put a simple label on the outside listing contents and the organization gets even better. This also makes it good for projects on the go. You can grab what you need and put it all in a good cloth grocery bag/book bag and you're off! I also sort my fabrics in prints and solids in the ROYGBIV method so I know I have all my fabric of a certain color together. It all goes in a dresser that is devoted to craftiness and doubles as a tv stand/buffet.

use bulldog clips hung on nails to hold paper, small pieces of fabric, ribbon scraps, etc. Keeps them flat and you can actually see what you have. They can be hung all over the walls inside of a closet, on the back of the door, in the basement, etc.

Oh! Almost forgot - I saw a think in martha about using a magnetic knife bar thing to stick your scissors and other metal tools to. I am ALWAYS losing my scissors. You can get those magnetic bars at ikea for around $6, I think, if not cheaper.

yes, definitely with the plastic bins. preferably stackable, and MAKE SURE THAT THEY OPEN FROM THE SIDES, SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO MOVE THEM TO OPEN THE BOTTOM ONE. completely crucial. my stackable bins take up an otherwise unusable back corner of my closet (college apartment rooms are small), with one that has sewing remnants and thread, one for magazines and other usable pictures for decoupage and all that, ummmmmm god, i don't even know what else i've got in there. but you can get them for pretty cheap at target and walmart and such. make little labels to stick on the front with what's in them so they STAY organized. ;)

I also use plastic bins. They're great, and although I don't have very much craft stuff with me right now, I'll try to describe how my stuff was organized when I did have a lot of it.

Plastic bins, even if they are seethrough, are USELESS unless they are labelled! Use masking tape and indelible marker and you're all set.

One bin should be everything to do with sewing. Fabric scraps/remnants, needles, thread, pins, buttons, sewing machine supplies, everything should go in that bin. Put needles and pins on an index card and stick them in a smaller box of their own.

Another should have to do with yarn-type crafts; for me it's knitting only, but I know people who crochet as well. Tape pairs of needles together and label them with size, and organize accordingly. Keep circular needles in their original packaging if possible, but if you don't have it anymore, loop them through a piece of corrugated cardboard with the layers pushed slightly apart so they don't get tangled. Wind yarn up tight and organize it any way it makes sense to you--weight, color, fiber content, brand, whatever makes sense to you.

A third had to do with decoupage and similar crafts. I put all my glue in a separate plastic bin, so that if a bottle cracks or spills, none of my magazines are ruined. Keep magazines, glues, paintbrushes, paints, glitter (also in its own separate bin), markers, and surfaces you want to decoupage in here.

I also had a "miscellaneous" bin, where I'd put beads, polymer clay, and other random supplies that didn't fit in the other categories, but beware of this tactic unless you're the uberanalretentiveorganized type, like I am.

Hope I helped at least a little.

i am all for the see-through bins as well. i also built floor to ceiling shelving to put all of the bins and pretty boxes (with lables) on. it makes my dorm room look like a real place with floor to ceiling pink and red shelves and it is so much better than tons of rubbermaid under my bed.

also, with things like embroydery floss, beads, etc. a lot of my friends just put all of the same item into a box, and then take hours to pick out the right color bead or the right floss. i put my colored/types of floss into different zip lock baggies (as with beads) and then put all of those baggies into a matching boxes.

for very small items (needles/beads) i use film canisters and then label the sides and lid.

a lot of people have covered key things. but, i think that maybe you could watch the show clean sweep (on tlc, at 6pm every weekday in eastern time zone) because that show is all about organization and you could maybe get some ideas off of them.

at the moment, i have all my craft stuff spread betweena bit green tupperware bin in my room, and the shelves in my closet. I hope toi get for christmas a big storge unit with drawers, so i can be more organized.

i hate bins and how sloppy everything looks with them. my chosen method is shoe holders, the kind you can buy for $6 or so that hang in the closet or on any pole. they have the little cubby holes for holding things. i also use the shoe holder shelf, you can buy it at kmart or walmart or any organization type store. its just a shelf with lots of cubby holes to keep your different things organized. then you can get shoe box type things to put inside and label, like a drawer system, but not. ;)

just go with the flow and drown in your disorganization.

it's what i do.!!!!!!!!!!

i bought pink semi-stackable drawer type things, plastic. at the dollar store. 10 bucks for 3 drawers, a small top one, and two same size bottom ones. they dont exactly stack (since theyre cheap) but theyre pink and sparkly. they really really help because..im totally disorganized.
im still kinda disorganized, but...im lazy. haha

I'm so completely disorganized too. My room is a mess. Of course my dorm room is pretty easy to keep clean, but I'm home on break now & I don't know what to do w/myself. I figure if I just do all the projects I've been meaning to do then I'd have more room... if I just got rid of all the stuff I want to get rid of & reconstruct all the clothes so I can hang them up rather than have bags of them taking up closet floor space. I have a nice little craft box for craft stuff & an art box for art stuff, but currently my newly aquired knitting stuff is sitting on the floor in plastic hobby lobby bags. Dunno what advice I could give you :-/

i read this post and all the comments today, and decided to get myself one of those plastic file cabinet things from walmart. it works great and i finally have a place to organise all my fabric/patters/crafty stuff! yay. you guys rock.

When I was moving a lot I used toolboxes. The big "I am a guy" type ones. Now that I have my own place I still keep one for all my paints and brushes. I also used a lot of plastic totes. I have one devoted to patterns, and 4 devoted to fabric. The difference now is that I took a shallow alcove and built shelves for it all to sit on. I also stole a dresser we were thowing out, and packed that in the corner under the shelves for notions, lace, ribbons, etc.

So my little alcove has a small table for the sewing machine, and workspace, with a dresser next to it, and shelves over it. I got unhappy with how cluttered the space looked, though. So I made curtains to hang over the shelves to hide them, and then used three bi-fold shutter doors hinged together to pull closed in front of it. They work like an accordian, sort of, and they look a lot nicer than all the craft junk I always have sitting on my table.

I also put this post in the faq under "storage".

HOW IN GOD'S NAME DO YOU KEEP YOUR SEWING/CRAFT SUPPLIES ORGANIZED?!
I don't, to be honest. I'm a super slob when it comes to my craftyness. Luckily we have a spare bedroom here that has become the computer/craft room. So it's kind of okay ish that my craft stuff is everywhere.