Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Organizing: Craft Cabinet

So, as is the case every January, I am in the mood to organize! To sort. To clean out. To purge. To straighten.

I started in a wonderful place! My craft cabinet! This cabinet is over my dryer in our laundry room. The question was asked recently how I store all my magazines and clippings for notecards and envelopes, so I thought I'd just show the whole cabinet.

My Mom helped me get this in order over a year ago and it has really been manageable to keep it fairly tidy. Plus, it helps me set limits on what I can keep.

Starting on the top shelf:

Small spice jars (thrift store) hold jingle bells or small craft items.
Flat gold box has ziploc bags in it filled with clippings for notecards. And, on top of that is a "craft" journal. Where I can log ideas that I've tried or want to try.
The next box holds wooden goodies: old spools, beads, etc...
And, a small cardboard box on the end gathers all my stamps and ink as well as craft paints.

The next shelf has a box of sewing notions, jar of buttons, the black floral box holds all my ribbons and then the twine dispenser on the end.

Moving down - this shelf is really the "notecard making" shelf! The right side are the magazines that I've read and are ready to be cut up. When this stack is at its max - I have to get rid of some and I did have to do this while straightening this up. The left side is all my paper. The red folder is craft ideas I want to save and try someday.

The lowest shelf is obviously the things I use the most. The ice cube bin on the left holds all notecards and envelopes that are already made and ready to be used. Next to that are canning jars with colored pens, pencils, and goodies such as tin stars, mini clothespins and the like.

Then a small wire basket holds all my paper punches and glue fits behind that. The white metal container at the back holds fun scissors and colored pencils.

Two white wooden containers next to that hold crayons and glues of all kinds. And, a 2/$1 organizer on the end is perfect for my good fabric scissors and pinking shears.

I do have a few other supplies that just won't fit here (like 12x12 paper) and those things are inside my living room coffee table trunk (which I call our rainy day cabinet - a story for another day) and it also holds extras of things like glue sticks and spiral notebooks.

All my fabric is in a little stand in my closet - and that is my limit on craft supplies. I need the limits of keeping things in certain places and not exceeding that or it gets out of control rapidly! I'll share more as I continue organizing!

8 comments:

Mary Ann said...

This looks great, Monica. My craft/fabric shelves are in dire need of organizing once again. I know I cna consolidate a lot of it, so it doesn't take up so much space. Thanks for the inspiration!

Wendi said...

It is always fun to peek in someone else's closet. Especially when it as organized as yours. Thanks for the inspiration!

Chrissy said...

I'm so impressed! I've been out of the loop for the last week - looks like everyone has been really busy!

Anonymous said...

I was wondering how to store my magazine clippings after I started clipping for cards as you suggested. I settled on gallon-size Ziploc bags, too. Great minds think alike, eh? :-)

Your craft storage looks great. I had to organize and downsize mine this Fall because if it's not organized, I can't find anything ... and then NO crafts get done because I feel too overwhelmed when I open my craft cabinet. It feels so much better now to open my cabinet and be able to go straight to what I need.

Susan P. said...

Your closet is so wonderfully organized!! You are an inspiration to me because that is one of my biggest downfalls. I usually keep my house real neat and tidy but I'm ashamed to admit my closets and dresser drawers are a mess:( I wish I could get you to come and help me get it all organized!

Monica Wilkinson said...

Yes, having it organized means more crafting gets done!

Susan - it is definitely easier to do with someone else! When my mom or sister and I get together - we organize! :)

Amy said...

Wow, you should be so proud of yourself. What an accomplishment. That is my goal this year to reorganize our closets!

A Hopeful Hollar Knits said...

Thank you for sharing all your "secrets". I'm very interested in learning more about card making and this bit of info is quite welcomed! It looks very efficient.