Managing Your Craft Supplies

Today I am sharing some tips on managing your craft supplies. One of the best things about fall is that I love to craft. Something about the cooler weather and the holiday festivities just gets me in the mood to make more things.

Over the years I have accumulated lots of craft supplies. I have been through periods of rubber stamping, jewelry making, scrapbooking, crocheting, ceramics, embossing, and more.

Tips on Organizing Craft Supplies

I used to spend as much time collecting supplies that I spent actually doing the crafts. Isn't it ironic that too many items one purchases in a creative move can actually inhibit the creative skills needed to use them?

Several years (0k quite a few years) back I made some changes so that I would not feel so overwhelmed with all of the supplies.

I want to share these tips that helped me spend more time crafting and less time collecting. 

 

Designate a space for supplies

If you are not lucky enough to have a craft room like me, designate a desk or cupboard or closet for craft items. Having a space that you can get to will make it easier to access.

If they are stored deep in a closet or garage, they are more likely to stay there unused. If you only have a small space, that is fine too, just make sure it is easy to get to so that stuff does not get buried or forgotten.

Decide What to Keep

Before you start to find storage for items, take a look at your craft supplies and see if you really want to keep all of the supplies you have.

More boxes just mean more stuff beckoning at you so keep them at a manageable number. The number will vary depending on space, time, money, and craft type. When we go on sites like Pinterest, we want to do all of the projects, but it is not realistic.

Craft supplies are like clothes. We tend to hold on to them thinking we are going to use them one day, but after a year or two, it is not likely. Pick the ones you really want to do and focus on those.

If just looking at the supplies or the effort required to make the craft gives you anxiety, you might want to consider donating the supplies to a worthwhile organization or sell them on eBay.

Once you have decided what to keep, think about storage solutions

Store like Crafts Together

Once you have established a place for supplies, store the supplies in containers by type of craft.

By keeping like items together, you can pull out one box/basket with all your materials instead of digging through drawers and closets gathering stuff in preparation.

Things to consider before you start storing items are whether you need large or small containers. Do you want a box with dividers or would boxes with layers help? Will clear storage be useful or do you like the more streamlined look of covered boxes.

Drawers or boxes? If you need lots of quick access, sometimes a drawer system would work better.

Can you use a spinning lazy susan type of system? These are great when you use a lot of supplies together.

Do your supplies need to be mobile? Keep items you use often (like scissors, glue, etc...) in a basket or in a bucket with a handle for easy access and transport.

 

 

 

 

Consider storing craft books and magazines in containers to keep things tidy. 

 

Some of my favorite small item supply storage containers:

• small drawers
• toolboxes
• containers with lids
• magazine holders
• photo boxes
• acrylic holders

Small boxes from the dollar store are great for ribbons. They are not only efficient, but they are cheap solutions.

Now What?

Now that your supplies are all organized, schedule time to work on your projects. Call a friend and make a craft date. Or call several friends and make a recurring date and rotate the location. These sessions can be so much fun!

Putting those items to use will help you to keep them organized.

Want more organization tips? Check out these articles.

Freezer Organization

Paper Organization

Inexpensive Storage Solutions

How do you store your craft supplies? What crafts do you love?