Who would have thought is a short week we would see in excess of 30 inches of snow? They say more on Monday, but I have no idea where we will put it!
Being trapped inside due to the weather, has made for some great crafting time. This year I am trying to organize time, money and things better than I have in the past. I thought a good place to start might be to go shopping in my craft room. You know, you get a little itch for something new, and you jump online to order it, or call up your demo, or head over to your local craft store...well not me. I have the best store ever right in my own home, filled with discounts gone by. Unorganized chaos, at the moment, but I keep telling myself, it looks worse before it gets better...
Anyway, as I am organizing ( and shopping ) in my little craft room, I was wondering how many others suffer from my afflication? I hoard the beautiful patterned paper, never cutting it, for someday, I love the darn $1 bin for ribbon, clear stamps, stuff, crap I don't need....
So here I am re-organizing, instead of creating! How do I let it get so out of control?
Here are a few tips to help get myself organized....
1. I am unmounting my Wood Mount stamps. Frankly, I need the room! The method I am using is to microwave each stamp for five seconds. Then peel off the foam and rubber image together as one piece. I will store them in CD cases, easily obtained at the dollar store or office store. I am not worried about having an image on the back. I am cutting copy paper to fit my CD cases, and stamping the images on the front, and also cutting a 1/4 inch strip for the name. So far, I don't need to apply any adhesive to the back of the foam. They stick quite well. If it should wear out- Club Scrap's Mount It Glue or Aleen's Tacky glue will work just fine.
2. I am saving my change. I have one of those coin counter jars in my scrap room. Everytime I have coins, I throw it in. You would be amazed. I started doing this on January 1st. I have $100 already!
3. I plan my shopping. I watch a lot of YouTube videos telling me all about the new CHA products, or a new technique or tool. I do a lot of research on price and product before I buy. Then when the change jar hits enough for whatever I want, I splurge and buy it. Here is an example, where the research paid off. I have wanted a Scor-Pal for a long time. The best price I could ever find was $49.99. Never a sale. Then I hear about the Martha Stewart Scoring board- retail $19.99, and Michael's carries it. So I saved up the change, and found a 50% off coupon, so now I have a new Martha Scoring Board for $10. Sweet!
4. I made an organizer for my Cricut cartridges and books/overlays. These things were everywhere! I saw a great tutorial on a blog to make one, using a Snapware ribbon storage container. I now have 20 carts and books and overlays stored neatly in one container, and it cost me $7. I also have room for more carts. I think I mentioned this in an older post, and I can't find the blog at the moment- so Thanks Again! for the info!
5. I picked up a turntable storage thingy at Staples for $5! It is great and compact for little things you use all the time, scissors, brads, etc. In the past I have found invitation envelopes which fit A2 size cards for $5 a box. So, I always check out Staples for the little things.
6. I made my own Clip It Up. Now I am sure it is not as great as the real thing, but it works just fine. I found a standing double sided towel holder at a Linen & Things going out of business sale a while ago. I think I paid $10 for it. It is weighted in the middle. I then used paper clips to hang my embellishments from it. I works really well.
7. You know those $1 photo albums you can get at a local craft store? They are about 4 x 6? I use them to store my sizzlets, and also to store $1 acrylic stamps. The books become very fat and won't close, but I have them up on my ink cabinet that is wall mounted,opened, so it does'nt bother me.
8. Part of crafting is to enjoy what you make. I was looking for a way to display finished cards, and I have seen many. I use clothes pins and clip them to my curtains in my craft room. This way, I can change them easily, and I get to see my work all the time.
So, a few tips. I would take pictures, however that must wait until the room is clean. When I finish the unmount project, I will shoot a video of my clean space.....
So are you an addict too? Leave me a comment with your organizational tips, or ways you save!
Happy Crafting!
Boy thought I was organized, but a lot of your tips I certainly could use, like the removAl of the stamps from the wood. I HAVE LOOKED IN THE dOLLAR STORE FOR cd/dvd cases and they only have the slimline which will not work..but will keep looking. Thanks for the info
ReplyDeleteMy clip-it-up is not finished...the base is made up of one of those fruit/veggie 'cardboard' boxes and 3 springs I wrangled from a recliner we were throwing out. I also got 2 BIG bags of green stuffing from that adventure.
ReplyDeleteYou can also use the different styles of shower caddies out there for various items in the craft room{I also made a hanging wall bin from a plastic coated shelving unit for a Creating Keepskaes message board challenge that I can upload to Flickr if you're interested}.
I also tend to cover up bubble mailers with pretty papers and trims for small item storage.
I cover up those 12x12 box mailers as well with pretty papers and such...I use white glue.