Craft Storage Ideas

The Craft Closet {Hazel Hamman}

Hazel Hamman — Thu, 23 May 2013 12:00:46 +0000

Hallo to all of you. It’s Hazel from Sunny South Africa and here to share my Craft Closet with you. I’m not a curious person and normally I wouldn’t put something like this on my blog but part of being a contributor at Craft Storage Ideas is to share your space (and systems and ideas) so here we go!

First of all, it really can’t be called a studio as it is so small. I had to stand outside to take the pictures but it’s more than enough for me. We live in a big, open plan house and since both the boys left home, I have ample room but I love the idea of having everything contained to specific spaces and then I craft all over the place. You will see that most of my furniture is on wheels. When all the children and their friends are at home, I tend to hide in the craft closet but if my husband is working on his ipad or watching TV, I’ll use one of the tables we have nearby – even the deck outside if I feel like it. Let’s start the tour:

Who would mind the size of the room if this is the view over the park that greets you every time you walk into it?

This is a view of my scrap space. I have two of the same desks – they started out in life as changing tables for my (now) 25 year old son, then my husband used them in his home office and when he upgraded to a full scale office, I snitched them. That’s the only thing I did to my room – painted everything with leftover paint in pretty ice cream colors. On the ends of the desks I’ve got fabric bags – in them goes all my scissors, measuring tapes, rulers – you name it – I have it on hand.
And my sewing corner. I try not to move my sewing machines around so most of my sewing gets done here.

Above my sewing desk are all my sewing goodies. I use these plastic tubs all around my house – the pantry, bathroom, garage, office, etc. No, I don’t like plastic but I hate dusting and we don’t get nice wire baskets down here.

The little drawers on the bottom shelve houses all my different threads and to the right the punched out shapes that I use for packaging. It is much easier storing scraps like this and you are much more likely to use them if they are pre cut.

These two drawers came from my father’s desk. When they downsized the desk was shortened to fit into their spare bedroom as a dressing table and I snitched the drawers. I use them in craft exhibitions – just take them off the wall, use and afterwards they go back. Girlfriend #1 (the interior designer) didn’t want me to paint them but they just looked too drab and dingy so out came the paint brush. You can see – I left the fronts and the handles intact to humor her.

A while ago I shared with you a cutting table made out of storage cubbies. Well, this is my take on it. I used crates that we normally use in the winery. My husband secured them together with cable ties and added the wheels. I made jackets for my trolleys – in the pockets is magnetic sheets so that my nestable dies stick to the outside. I love this as I roll the trolleys around to where I am and everything is available at a glance.

My inspiration board. A painted garden trellis. This comes off the wall for craft fairs as well.
This is on the shelf when you enter my craft closet. The old sewing machine was a pressie from Girlfriend #1, the windmill was my son’s from days gone by and on the far end you can see the patterns that I’m currently using.

I do have an additional closet that is part of my living room furniture where I store my scrap supplies. In there is paper, hardware, stamps, dies – everything to keep my paper addiction satisfied. Nothing is labeled but I know exactly what I have (and I use it!)

Last of all – I also utilized the ceiling space. There is a condude running all the way around the room and I used trouser hangers to hang my items for craft fairs up there. Packed and ready for shipment and I can see what I’ve got at a glance.

You will notice that I don’t have a computer in my craft closet. My husband and I both work from home and we have a separate office (just off the open living space) where all the computers and printers are. Everything is on a wireless network which means that I can work on my laptop anywhere in the house and my photo’s print on the office printers. Works very well for me.
That’s it – it’s small but it’s all mine. I hope you have enjoyed your tour of my craft closet. I’ve never shared this on my blog but plan to do so while I have all these beautiful pictures. You are welcome to follow along as I reveal where everything goes and how I did it. I’ll link them all up to one post – just a click away and all will be revealed. Just click here.

Thanks for coming to Craft Storage Ideas today. Me and my fellow contributors love to have you over. If you want to know something, please let me know in the comments and I’ll gladly answer. Have a great day and please check back to see what’s interesting or new on the storage scene.

I Love It All {Monika Wright}

Rebecca Boyer — Tue, 21 May 2013 12:00:44 +0000

It’s Tuesday! Which means it’s time to introduce you to our special guest contributor, Monika Wright! Living in the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee, Monika has 3 children {as well as several fish, 2 cats and a dog} and is married to Mr. wRight. At least she thinks so! While she still creates scrapbook pages about her family, her true passion lies in creating mini albums and journals to document their stories.

Monika followed her dream and started her own business, I Love It All, in 2010 and has been designing art prints and mini albums for customers around the world ever since. She also serves on the design teams for The Twinery, My Mind’s Eye and writeclickscrapbook.com.

Let’s give her a warm welcome!

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I began scrapbooking in 2009 with a small 3 drawer paper organizer atop an old dining room table and here I am 4 years later with more paper than that old organizer ever dreamed of storing. I’m a gal who doesn’t like clutter, so I battle with my need to have quick access to supplies and tools while wanting to keep things hidden and pretty.

I have been known to splurge now and then, but I also have a practical side and have found that empty food packaging make wonderful storage bins. I recycle snack cracker cartons, fruit cup containers and gift boxes to fit inside drawers that no one but me will see anyway.

What kind of budget did you have when organizing your space?

When I moved from my son’s former bedroom out to our sunroom a few months ago, I knew that I would need quite a few items. Because of the growth of my business the past 12 months and my need for optimal storage, I wanted to invest in myself and my business’ future for the long haul and I knew that it was going to cost some money. While the IKEA product line was budget friendly, the three tool chests were by far the largest expense, but worth every single penny paid. It would have been more cheaper to go with more of the IKEA storage units matching the two I purchased, but they would never have held the amount of goodies in such an organized manner that these chests do. I will have them forever.

Here’s a link to specific items I purchased for my Studio overhaul.

What was your greatest challenge?

There are a few things I had to keep in mind when designing the room.

1. Since my Studio is directly off our dining room, I wanted to keep in mind the visual appeal of what was seen from a high traffic area of our home. That I placed the small settee, floor lamp, rug and ottoman that were already in the sun room where they are was a conscious decision to give my otherwise utilitarian room a soft, inviting feel.

The bonus about having a sitting area in my Studio, I find, is that my husband and I often drink a cup of coffee here together while we chat and catch up on our e-mails. And, as I prepare this post, my youngest daughter is playing games and talking to me about a zillion different things. My kids love to be in here with me!

2. Because the sunroom is an addition and not originally part of our home, all electrical outlets run along the wall to the right of my desk are, behind my IKEA Expedit shelving unit. There are industrial grade spotlights above the tool chests and my husband had the bright idea to use electrical conduit along the ceiling to hide the wiring so that I could have light above my crafting area, which is an unexpected twist to the ultra modern pendant light I have above my computer desk.

3. This isn’t just a crafting room, it’s also the office space I use to conduct business for I Love It All, my Etsy shop. That meant finding space for two printers, the specialty paper I use to create the art prints I design, a professional grade paper cutter, various other crafting tools and the usual amount of paperwork that goes along with owning a business. Therefore, I had to find creative ways to store Design Team papers and embellishments, my personal paper stash as well as the crafting supplies I use to create mini books and journals and art prints for the shop. I’m guessing you can imagine how much paper that really is.

Are you an “organize it once” kind of girl, or are your storage solutions constantly evolving?

Generally, I am an organize it once kind of girl and while I do find new ways to organize, I am a huge creature of habit and once I find a plan that works, I stick with it. What you probably don’t know is that my Studio is really still in limbo and these images required some creative rearranging to snap the photos I’m sharing with you today. I imagine there will still be a few tweaks to my system until I’m comfortable with my new space and have a {final resting} place for everything.

What is one thing you’d like to improve about your storage/organization?

I’d like to find a short rolling cart to slide under my desk area that would allow me to store both my sewing machine and my vintage typewriter so that they’re both within easy access. I rarely use my typewriter as I have to pull it off the shelf and try to find an empty spot when I’m in the middle of crafting, which means that every available flat space is covered in paper with no room for more gadgets. I’m thinking I will repurpose a white laminate paper cube and add some wheels I already have instead of buying something new.

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I love Monika’s space! It’s accessible while still creating the most storage capacity possible. And using the tool chests – brilliant!

You can find Monika here: blog | etsy | facebook | instagram | pinterest

Even better, she’s sharing a 20% discount coupon code for her super cute shop, I Love It All: BEHAPPY

Craft Room Tour {Mom’s Space}

Cicily Lesher — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:34:03 +0000

Happy Monday! This is Cicily the Pink Dalmatian Scrapper with another craft tour.

I thought I would share a cozy craft room that is near & dear to my heart. It’s my Mom’s craft space! She chose this cozy corner of the basement for the view out the back to the corn fields. And while it’s small, it’s an organized and inspirational space that is comfortable to craft in.

I have to say that my favorite craft spaces are ones with personality and decorated to show something of the crafter within!

I love my mom’s solution for pin storage!

We both share a passion for “found” storage solutions and love finding treasures at 2nd hand stores. This is one of her latest finds, a record cabinet that is perfect for 12×12 paper pads!

These were just a few of her great storage solutions. I hope this inspires all you crafters who have small spaces and inspires all crafters to make your space uniquely you!

Organized Clear Stamp Storage

Melissa Chipperfield — Fri, 17 May 2013 13:00:15 +0000

Always hunting for stamp storage ideas that are simple and organized, I was thrilled when I stumbled across Jennifer McGuire’s recent post! Using plastic containers originally designated for storing soda cans in the refrigerator, she discovered a way to store her clear stamps with the help of either Office Depot CD sleeves or Avery Elle stamp storage pockets:

A girl after my own obsessive compulsive heart, she labels each and every pocket with an electronic label machine for additional efficiency when looking through her stamp sets:

I love that these clear sleeves make it easy to see what stamps are in each set when searching through your stash! I think this may just be the solution I’ve been looking for! Go take a look at her post where you’ll find even more information, including links to the specific products!

Storage Solution Roundup: Wafer Thin Dies

Noelle McAdams - Contributor — Thu, 16 May 2013 12:00:38 +0000

Hi all! Noelle here today with my latest storage solution for my ever-expanding collection of dies. You may remember from my Studio Tour that I had been using these knife racks from Ikea for storing my dies. I had five of them, and they eventually became so crammed that I was faced with a dilemma… Either get another knife rack or come up with a better way to store them since I had way too many. Being that I design for The Cat’s Pajamas, and sometimes guest design for other companies, I am blessed because I get a lot of free stuff in the mail. It’s wonderful! However, lately my tiny space is feeling even more cramped than normal. I have barely any wall space and I knew that adding another knife rack (maybe even 2 or 3 more down the road…) just wasn’t going to work. So I needed to come up with a new idea. Then looking around on Pinterest I found a few cool ones…

Magnetic vent covers nailed straight to the wall.

Decorative magnetic board

Pocket binder

Die storage on rings

ArtBin magnetic storage case

And I came up with my own system, though very similar to others I’ve seen. I had this long silver bin I got at the thrift store a few months ago, I decided to make that my bin for the dies, though in hindsight I might end up putting the cards in plastic pocket sheets in a binder instead of this bin. The cards I made are 3 ¾” by 5 ½” so they would fit nicely in 4” x 6” pockets. But for now, the bin works well. The width of the bin dictated the width of my cards and you can see that some of the dies overhang their cards a bit.

I started out using those cheap magnets that come on the phonebooks. I have a pile of them and they’re so thin that they cut well with a paper cutter. You can even punch through them I once discovered while trying to turn my sons Perler Beads creations into magnets! When I ran out of those, I went to the craft store and got two packs of that magnetic strip that comes in rolls. It even has adhesive already on the back.

I used more of that cheap white cardstock that I’m trying to use up. I cut one of each die also from the white and adhered the white die-cuts that would be included on that card on the front. On the back I put the magnetic strip, and the dies that were for that card. One thing to note is that while nesting dies work fine on this magnetic strip, you can’t really layer dies on it. The magnetic pull of the knife racks is far stronger than these little craft magnet strips.

I decided to use a color coding system, since I tend to work in terms of manufacturer, but you could also break it down by themes, shapes, borders, etc. I started with my Cat’s Pajamas (TCP) CutUps, since I have more of them than any other kind. I didn’t get any more done before this was due, so sorry you won’t get to see the rainbow of manufacturers! When I was all done with all the die cards, I made a yellow divider card, and yellow tabs with the names of the dies included on each card. I’ll do blue for Spellbinders, green for My Favorite Things, red for Papertrey Ink, and so on. This is how the one section looked, the others won’t be nearly as big as this one, but I like how I can keep expanding this without needing to use up more precious wall space.

Maybe a couple of the knife racks will end up in my kitchen…. I’m sure something else will take up that wall space in my studio soon enough!

Have a stellar day! :)

All About The Furniture: Cutting Table from Storage Cubbies

Hazel Hamman — Wed, 15 May 2013 12:00:26 +0000

Hallo! Hazel, from Sunny South Africa again. By now you would know that I am the world’s biggest hybrid crafter. That translates into “ I’m allowed to have a lot of stuff”. I also love to recycle, reuse and repurpose – that means A LOT MORE STUFF.

Today I’m sharing cubicles recycled into a wonderful cutting table. The idea is super great and easy to do. I hope my husband is not reading this post – I want him to think I’m brilliant and saving him money by thinking up “our” next project – a table from recycled storage cubbies!

I got the idea via my friend Pinterest ex the blog of Georgia Peachez. First up the before picture of her space: a folding table (balanced on paint cans for extra height) and a wall of cubbies.

And NOW:

In Georgia’s own words:

“Instead of building a wall of cubbies, I used the cubbies to build the island cutting table. To build this I used 4 sets of cubbies and connected them for stability using L-brackets and mending brackets. The top is just a cutting board.”

Hop over to Georgia’s blog and tell her how much we love her idea and while you are feeling inspired – try it out and send me a link to your project. I would love to see what you did and …………………….. my hubby and I will sure try an adapted version of this – I will post my link in the comments as well. Just watch this space!

That’s it from me. I’m off to find my husband. Have a great day and please check back as my teammates and I have a lot more storage ideas to share with you.

Craft Room: Our Home Away from Home

Laura Silva — Mon, 13 May 2013 12:00:38 +0000

Hello! I am so excited to share today’s craft room with you. I recently stumbled upon this room by a sweet comment from the blog’s owner on my own blog, Laura’s Crafty Life. This room is gorgeous and so beautifully organized and decorated!

Maria, from Our Home Away from Home, has done a great job incorporating DIY builds, craft supplies and fantastic decor items to make this a truly inspirational place to be!

The first thing that struck me was how beautifully the red accents jumped out against the backdrop of white furniture. She made a lot of these items herself from items she thrifted and re-used.

Her husband built the shelves and cabinets for the room. (Handy guy!)

I love how she organized her crafting supplies to make them easily accessible and also a stunning part of her decor.

If you get a chance, head over to Maria’s blog to check out the reveal. So many amazing details! She is still not completely done and I can’t wait to see all the finishing touches.

Recollections Craft Accessory Organizer: Product Highlight

Cicily Lesher — Fri, 10 May 2013 12:00:02 +0000

Hello fellow crafters! It’s Cicily the Pink Dalmatian Scrapper with today’s product highlight. I always enjoy seeing everyone’s variation on the Recollections Craft Accessory Organizer, I even have one myself. So I thought I would share what some fellow crafters have done with the product to personalize it for their accessory needs.

My mom pointed out to me that her latest wall mounted organizer was slightly different then mine and when I went online to get this picture, sure enough one of the shelves is missing and there’s no longer bead-board in the back. So you may notice that difference between some rooms. I wanted to point that out in case someone rushed out to M’s and was disappointed with the change. The Recollections Craft Accessory Organizer is a wall mounted shelving unit that has multiple shelves & cubbies to organize your craft goodies. The wall mount keeps everything off your crafting space & the minimal depth means items aren’t buried and lost in the back.

This is my Embellishment organizer. Recollections does make containers to fit in the cubbies, however I didn’t care so much for the price or the fact that they were plastic. I measured the openings and found jars and glass containers from Walmart and filled them with my goodies! I also added a metal strip to the bottom and usuing magnets hang Stickles & stamping tools.

This is the new style of organizer (my Mom’s). Also using the jars from Walmart & other assorted glass containers.

Here’s one that went opposite from me and used it exclusively for ribbon.

Have a small crafting space? Here is one used in a closet!

I love all the color & decorated containers.

Have you seen CSI’s very own Dorris Weeaks craft room? She has 3 of the organizers! Click on the picture to go to a CSI tour of her room.

Here’s a closeup of the 2 she uses for stamp display/storage and how she modified the shelving to hold more. Click on the picture to go to the tutorial on how she did this.

There are so many options and ways to organize your embellishments within the Organizer. These are just a few ideas. Let us know if you have a unique way to use your Recollections Craft Accessory Organizer.

DIY Cork Covered Pencil Cups

Melissa Chipperfield — Wed, 08 May 2013 12:00:44 +0000

Are you into recycling everyday things into useful storage items? I found the perfect little DIY project for such a thing!

Cork covered cans, anyone?! Who knew tin cans could be so adorable?

Allison over at The 3 R’s Blog provides complete instructions for these eye appealing holders! You can personalize these by using any silhouette images you’d like! Be sure to go take a peek!

Enjoy your day!

Genevive Rulona {Thoughtful Crafts}

Rebecca Boyer — Tue, 07 May 2013 12:00:26 +0000

Good morning! I’m thinking you are going to love today’s guest post! Here’s Genevive!

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I’m Genevive Badilla – Rulona, a Filipino based in Singapore, wife to my very supportive and loving husband Benjo Rulona, and mom of two adorable boys Rujim and Miguel. I am a teacher by profession but motherhood and scrapbooking changed my career plans. I am now a busy stay-at-home-mom, taking care of my boys, maintaining my online craft store, ThoughtfulCrafts.

Welcome to my “happy place”. So thankful to my dear husband for approving and supporting my hobby and passion to the point that he allowed me to use part of our dining area as my studio. I used to be in this room but I decided to shift outside so I can use the bigger table when I have workshops (yes I conduct a class of four here!), but more than that, I like to see my kids while doing my stuff and they won’t think their Mommy is hiding in her room all the time haha..

1. What kind of budget did you have when organizing your space?

We are just renting this house so all the things you can see in my craft room are movable and temporary. As much as possible I don’t want to spend too much on storage. Apart from the fact that I am quite a stingy person haha! But I feel so blessed to be able to work as scrapbooking instructor and design team at Made With Love, a local scrapbooking store and so most of my stuff are freebies or bought using our DT vouchers on top of huge discounts during sales! My greatest splurge so far is whenever I go to Ikea where I practically get anything white — from the white billy book case to white baskets and boxes. I also like to go to Cash Converters (a second hand store in Singapore) where I got these glass containers to hold my buttons and flowers…

2. What was your greatest challenge?

I must turn the lights on when I work and I must go outdoors to take photos of my projects. So when I will have my own place someday, that’s the first thing I must keep in mind!

3. Are you a “organize it once” kind of girl, or are your storage solutions constantly evolving?

I think I’m an “organize as I go” kind of girl and yes my storage solutions constantly evolve. There are times when in the middle of creating something, I just think of an organizing Idea and I do it right there and then. Like when I thought of this twine basket. I was cutting some dress form die-cuts for a project when I just thought using it as twine spools. It turned out cute

4. What is one thing you’d like to improve about your storage/organization?

If we will be blessed to have our own place in God’s time, I would like the wall to be painted white instead of orange, I will get rid of those boxes under my work table (by using up those papers fast!) and think about a better way to organize my punches.

… see my son’s art work on the wall

… latest projects on a, this was a grocery basket given by a friend last Christmas

…out of sight, out of mind. I use washi tapes all the time and I believe it’s because they are right in front of me when I create.

…putting up this shelves was a fun experience for me. I felt like I was altering a giant printer’s tray

… I put all my dies at the bottom because they are heavy. These bookcases will curve over time when you put heavy stuff on them.

… those white boxes hold my ribbons and embellishments.

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I really do love Genevive’s room! It’s perfect! And I love that it’s not hidden away, but in plain sight so she can still interact with her family! Be sure to visit Genevive’s blog for more details about how she works!