Craft Room Organization

as i mentioned in my last post, i wanted to show you a few ways that i organized my craft items in our activity room.

i personally love to see how people organize things. its always so inspirational to me, so i’m hoping you feel that way after reading this post. the things i’m going to show you are super easy and could be done no matter what kind of storage space you have. in other words, you certainly don’t need a whole craft room in order to implement these ideas.

one of the first things i wanted to do was to get my fabric organized and easy to access. i used to have it stored in a dresser in my garage, but whenever i needed something, i’d have to dig through each drawer until i found it. after putting up our shelving unit (see details here), i debated putting my fabric out in the open, because i didn’t want it to look messy, but having it out not only makes it super easy to get to, but has also been really inspiring, as i can see what i have and think about what i want to do with it.

however, in order for the fabric to be out but to still look organized, i found a way to fold it so that each piece could be neatly stacked on top of each other. its super simple, and i think regardless of where you store your fabric, you could benefit from having it all folded to the same width. here’s how to do it:

first, cut a piece of cardboard to the width and the depth that you want your folded fabric to be, and label the cardboard. mine was 7.5 width by 8.5 depth.

lay out your piece of fabric. if its uneven from previous cutting, just fold in the ends or extra pieces until you have somewhat of an even rectangle. if the piece is really large, you can even fold it in half if needed. lay your cardboard template on top, lining up the bottom of the template with the bottom the fabric:

fold one side in, snug against the side of the template:

then fold the other side in until it hits the other side of the template:

reach in and slide the template out of the bottom, keeping the fabric folded to the correct width:

lay the template back on top of the folded fabric, at the bottom:

then begin folding the fabric up, using the template as your guide to depth:

keep folding until you reach the end of the fabric:

if you are left with some extra fabric that is not enough for a full fold:

just fold the leftover on top:

and then flip the entire piece so that the extra piece is folded underneath, on the bottom:

slide your template out, then stack them up! because each piece of fabric is a different size to begin with, and some styles of fabric are thicker than others, they will not look perfect, but because they are all relatively the same width and height, they stack nicely:

i keep my template on the bottom of one of my stacks so that i always have it on hand to refold if needed:

having my fabric organized and out in the open has been a game-changer for me!

aside from my fabric always being a mess, my ribbon storage in the past has completely driven me crazy. i used to have them stored in a big plastic container in my garage, and as hard as i tried, they would just end up all tangled and bunched up. i just couldn’t ever figure out a good system for them. and therefore, i never ended up using my ribbons, because they were hard to access. but i saw this idea, and knew that it was the perfect solution:

all i did was wrap each individual ribbon around a wooden popsicle stick, and when i got to the end, i used a straight pin to hold the end in place. i used large sticks for my wider ribbons:

and regular sticks for the skinnier ribbons. also, i am a hoarder of glass jars, and have a cabinet full until i can find a use for them, so the smaller ribbons are stored in old glass peanut butter jars:

the larger ribbons are stored in these jars: Anchor Hocking 1-Gallon Glass Jar. (although its cheaper to buy the larger ones in bundles if you need multiple. Anchor Hocking Glass Jar (Set of 2), 1 gallon). i bought 2 of the gallon sized and 4 of these half gallon sized: Anchor Hocking 1/2-Gallon Glass Jar. they are super sturdy jars, made of thick glass, which seems less likely to break easily, which is great because my kids are always pulling them on and off the shelves. the glass lid makes it easy for little hands to lift off and the wide opening is great for easy access to whatever is stored inside.

speaking of glass jars, be on the lookout as you are cooking for any jar that might be of use. most of the ones i’m using on my shelves are those that i’ve pulled out of my pantry!

i also bought a few things when we were at IKEA that i thought would be useful to hold items, but also look pretty and decorative at the same time.

these were little planters that are the perfect size for paint brushes, scissors, and hole punches:

and this decorative bowl stores glue guns, glue sticks (organized into more empty food jars) and tape:

i also bought a number of these inexpensive magazine holders. each one stores a different type of paper, keeping everything together but also easy to get to:

i also bought photo storage boxes to hold different crafting supplies. i try to group like items together so they are easier to label and find, like all paint supplies in one box:

i found some smaller inexpensive baskets, and used small chalkboard signs, like these: Mini Chalkboards, as labels. i hung the signs from a small clothespin clipped to the top of the basket:

with everything labeled and everything in its place, i can quickly access whatever i need.
so truly, no matter your space, so many of these ideas can be implemented in various areas of your home. i’m realizing that i didn’t need to wait until i had a craft room in order to have my supplies organized!