Creative ways of storing craft supplies...

Who here has some good tips/ideas for storing craft supplies? I have TONS of ribbon and a lot of it is loose ribbon with no more spool and I'm not quite sure how I should store it. Any tips? Thanks!

When I paper scrapped, I had a small curtain rod (decorative) that I had hanging over my scrap desk and that is how I stored all my bolts of ribbon. I've seen them now made specifically for ribbons.

I also have TONS of ribbon, and lots of loose, so what I did was bought a nice basket with straight sides, cut foam core board (I got a HUGE sheet at M's for cheap - by Elmer), and then wrapped my lengths of ribbon around them, securing them with a straight pin. Its a bit time consuming at first, but it looks really nice! I put 1 color on each board, unless it was from a set, like Doodlebug ones or Basic Gray.

ETA: I also do like Paula does, and put rolls on a dowel on my desk. I had DH drill me some holes and ran a thin dowel through them. I put my really thick rolls of ribbon on those.

Here are a couple photos to show my ribbon storage:

here's how I want to do mine!

http://nicholeheady.typepad.com/capture_the_moment/2008/01/ribbon-jar.html

Sarah8914 said:

here's how I want to do mine!

http://nicholeheady.typepad.com/capture_the_moment/2008/01/ribbon-jar.html

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I did do that. But it was a HUGE PITA, lol.

So now I use giant glass jugs, the ones with the lid that is separate and the wire closes down on top. I have 1 that holds all my blues and greens, and another that has my black and white, orange, and red. Then I have several smaller jars with bits and pieces, and odds n ends.

I have a bunch of clear mason jars. I sort my ribbons by color. One jar for every color of the rainbow, plus whites, browns and blacks. I don't do anything fancy, just shove the ribbon in the jar. It adds a touch of color to my work area, plus I can see what's in the jar before I even pull it out.

Sarah8914 said:

here's how I want to do mine!

http://nicholeheady.typepad.com/capture_the_moment/2008/01/ribbon-jar.html

Click to expand...

That does look nice...and time consuming lol.

I have a bunch of crap collecting dust in the closet, and more crap collecting dust on the desk beside the computer. Was a paper scrapper for 2 years before I went digital....still pick up ribbons and flowers sometimes.....so that's like, 6+ yrs of schtuff? I'm a bad influence of disorganization. Will hush up and keep reading now :blink:

I use the little plastic cases and cardboard inserts that they use for embroidery floss.

http://crossstitch.about.com/od/storagesolutions/a/craftbox.htm

This is what I use and it's made by Snapware. Plus then in the extra storage I can put a measuring tape, scissors, glue dots, or whatever. I also have different sizes of these in the family room next to my recliner with all kinds of things stored in it...and they all snap together.

I bought mine at Joanns with a 40% off coupon but they also put them on sale frequently.
http://www.snapware.com//product_buy.asp?dept_id=3001

I bought 8 huge glass jars at Ikea. I had hundreds of rolls of ribbon, plus dozens of the cardboard holders and other containers. I just took every ribbon and wound it around my fingers and paperclipped it, and organized by color. It was easy and the ribbons don't get too curly. I love digging around in the jars.

Sorry, this is the only photo I have of them posted somewhere - they are on top of the shelf unit.

maryinaz said:

I just took every ribbon and wound it around my fingers and paperclipped it, and organized by color. It was easy and the ribbons don't get too curly. I love digging around in the jars.

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You *just* did that? :blink: That seems like a very time consuming and hand-cramping endeavor!!! It looks great though!

Ok, let me just say that I :wub:LOVE :wub: your photo border that you have on there --- can you tell me a little about how you did the border? I see the blue underneath.. just wondering cause it looks great.

maryinaz said:

I bought 8 huge glass jars at Ikea. I had hundreds of rolls of ribbon, plus dozens of the cardboard holders and other containers. I just took every ribbon and wound it around my fingers and paperclipped it, and organized by color. It was easy and the ribbons don't get too curly. I love digging around in the jars.

Sorry, this is the only photo I have of them posted somewhere - they are on top of the shelf unit.

Click to expand...

I want your craftroom!! Seriously Im jealous LOL

maryinaz said:

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I have the mason jars on a shelf by color (just stuffed in, not wrapped on anything). It's very pretty.

Of course, I apparently have a problem. I not only needed one for each color, but I have dark blue / light blue, dark pink / light pink, dark green / light green. And these are the large jars. :huh:

Thanks all! You can see the rest of my scraproom/office on my blog http://mmlarson.typepad.com in a photo album.

If you have a lot of ribbons, like I did, nothing is very quick. I didn't mean I "just" did it, I meant "I simply" did it, meaning it wasn't complicated to wind them around my fingers and paper clip them. But it works great if you have long lengths of ribbon. If the ribbon was a short piece, that was just thrown in the jar as is.

I've had the photo border up for several years. It was highlighted in Creating Keepsakes a few years ago. Basically, I used my extra photos, plus I also went around and took photos of things in my house - some I took on a panoramic setting (with a P&S camera) for diversity of size. The navy blue behind it is simply cardstock. I cut the cardstock to be a little taller than the photos, ran it through a Xyron and attached it to the wall. Then I also stapled it where the photos would cover the staples. The photos were also run through a Xyron and then attached to the cardstock. It's held up really well!

Awesome ideas, ladies! Thank you!