If you are a crafter or know of one, then you can understand that their version of paradise is having a dedicated room to glue, cut, sew and pin to their heart’s desire. For some households creating a craft room is easy, they have an empty room and the built-in shelves required to store all the tools and supplies they need to create their works of art. Yet for some other families, they must wait till an adult child moves out of the home before they can convert that former space into their craft oasis. Regardless of the space you have, one of the most important things is to organize it. At Workman’s Friend, some of us are avid arts and crafters and as such completely understand that trying to find the right ribbon or twine for a project in a room of chaos is unnerving and can rob you of valuable crafting time. That’s why we’ve developed the following list of tips and tricks to keep your craft room organized.
Related: Seven Tools Every Crafter Should Own
1. Purge
Before you separate your colored glue from your tissue paper you must purge the entire room. That means going through all of your craft materials and determining what you’re going to use and what you’ve bought in the past that you’ll probably never use. Like other shoppers, many crafters are guilty of buying items in the store or online because they look pretty. You may never have had the intention of using the purchased objects but you figure they might look good in your crafting room. These are the items you must get rid of.
2. Evaluate
Ask yourself, what crafts do you need to store and which ones can you organize together? Some items such as Christmas-themed wrapping paper or décor can be stored until you start on that festive season’s crafts in November. At this stage of the organizational process you can group stuff together, such as all the twine or all the fabric in one pile in different piles. This sorting process will make the next stage of organizing much smoother.
3. Contain
At this point you’re only left with the crafting supplies and tools that you use on a regular basis. They’ve been separated into their respective groups. Now you need to figure out the best way to store them. Fortunately, there are as many ways to stow crafts as there are supplies available. The key is to look at your space and your budget to determine if buying plastic containers or recycling empty jam jars is more suitable for what and where you’re trying to store items.
- File Your Fabric - Instead of folding your fabric and putting it on shelves, why not file it? That’s right. Take a hanging file folder and cut it in half. Use half of the folder and drape your fabric over it. Place the new fabric holder in your filing drawer and you’ve got your own fabric drawer.
- Make your art spin - It’s understandable that you’d like to stow away and hide most of your art supplies in drawers or closets. However, there are certain items like glue sticks or markers that you may want to have out on display. That’s where a Lazy Susan comes in handy. By using soup cans or buying tiny metal buckets you can store your most frequently used items in an organized but attractive way. Simply arrange your cans on the Lazy Susan, fill them with the items you use regularly and then spin it around whenever you need to use them.
- Tic Tac your ribbon - Sometimes no matter how many times you roll your unused ribbon back up it still unravels all over your floor. Next time you’re at the store to buy gum try buying a few boxes of Tic Tacs. Once you’ve finished with the mints (or you can transfer the mints into a larger Tupperware container or jar) recycle the containers to keep your ribbon spools intact. Fortunately, the Tic Tac boxes are quite narrow so you can store dozens of them in one drawer.
Reinstall
After you’ve determined how you’ll store each type of craft supply and tool, the last step is to put all of these items in their new places in your dedicated room. Throughout the re-installation process, you’ll find that some items will easily fit into your new space and other items may need to be kept in different containers or gotten rid of altogether. What is fun about this step is the creativity that’s required to ensure all of your essential craft tools and supplies are properly and beautifully stored in your new room.
Crafty Advice
Keep in mind that there are many ways to organize and store your materials and instruments. It may seem like an arduous task trying to clean out and consolidate your craft room. But the result will be a clean and beautiful room that invites you in to glue, cut and sew to your heart’s desire.
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Workman’s Friend Barrier Skin Cream is a light-weight and odorless hand cream perfect for all crafters. A simple application of our moisturizing, non-greasy formula means your hands won’t be slippery when holding a sewing needle or scissors. When it’s time to clean-up a simple wipe and you’re done.