For me, this is the really fun part about organizing – organizational products! I love all the wonderful products out there created just for the purpose of organizing. And probably just as much, I love to repurpose items from around the house to organize my supplies. Let’s take a look at some of the options that are out there, or perhaps right there – already in your home!
When selecting organizational products it is best to think about your own taste as well as how you work. Do you like your products to be visible and easily accessed? If so, you might want to consider clear containers or open baskets. If you prefer your supplies to be tucked away, out of sight for a neater, streamlined appearance, you might consider drawer units, cupboards, and solid boxes.
Store on Display
Try these organizational products to store your supplies out in the open.
Consider using a rail and container unit – designed for kitchen use – above your desk to organize scrap supplies as Mou Saha does.
Simply hang supplies on a coat rack for both a fun and stylish way to organize product.
Wall hooks and clip rings perfectly store ribbon and packaged items, and there are so many types of hooks to choose from. Try a decorative hook, multi-hook, or single hooks lined up in a row. Hang them anywhere: walls, side of a bookshelf, end of your desk – wherever is most convenient for the way you work.
Ribbon spools look beautiful and are easily contained on a paper towel holder.
Spinning racks, such as the Clip It Up, are perfect for so many different types of supplies. I use mine to hold letter stickers and rub-ons.
Carousels are great for organizing so many things. I use a Making Memories carousel to organize some of my smaller embellishments that I like to keep close at hand.
I love to use open baskets to organize supplies – chipboard, stickers, rub-ons, etc. each have their own basket. Baskets offer a big open area for holding your supplies and they are portable, allowing you to take your basket of supplies right to your project.
Keep a long bread basket right where you create for frequently used supplies, such as adhesive.
Nicole Harper keeps all of her “go-to” products in this cool multi-tiered tray from Pottery Barn right next to her work surface. A multi-tiered basket, found in the kitchen aisle would work great too.
A vintage tool box perfectly houses Nicole Harper’s spray ink and could be filled with all sorts of different supplies.
Organize supplies in trays placed on shelves. The trays are portable and can be brought right over to your project.
Clear, lidded jars are perfect for storing items that you want to keep visible and dust free. Megan Hoeppner uses these cute little glass jars for her itty bitty supplies such as brads and buttons.
Wall mount shelving units are a great way to utilize wall space to store your supplies. Laura Vegas uses this shelf to store her paint.
Create your own tray type shelves using sections of rain gutters. Have your local home-improvement store cut the gutters to size and simply cap the ends and mount them on your wall.
Paper trays store your paper flat, which prevents warping or curling, and there are many styles of 12 x 12 paper trays available. Laura Vegas organizes her cardstock using clear paper trays.
Repurpose an old soup or coffee can for holding supplies, like this pencil cup my daughter made for me. These could hold buttons, brads, beads, etc. Decorate yours to coordinate with the décor of your creative space.
Try mini buckets for mini supplies like brads, eyelets, beads and such.
Small embellishments can be easily organized in magnetic spice canisters. I keep mine on a magnetic blackboard above my desk.
Store Tucked Away
Try these organizational products to store your supplies out of sight.
Closets are a great place for scrap supply storage. Why not put all those great closet organizing products to use! This multi-tiered pants hanger is perfect for holding ribbon spools.
Store page kits in plastic zipper bags and hang them from trouser hangers.
Add clip rings or curtain hooks to a towel bar or a simple curtain wire, to organize ribbon, stickers and much more.
Small wooden drawer units meant for use in garden sheds work great for organizing markers as well as small embellishments. Plus you can pull out the drawers to take right to your project.
Digi scrapper Joey Manwarren uses this sleek workbench to organize her traditional supplies, and keeps tabs on what’s in each drawer with magnetic labels.
Customize drawers with individual drawer liners, to organize all sorts of supplies. These long clear liners were really made for organizing silverware, but they work perfectly for border strips too! Remember to measure the inside of your drawer before heading to the store. It also helps to take a tape measure to the store as the containers may not have the dimensions marked on them.
I’ve lined a basket with canning jars to hold my flowers, organized by color. I store another basket on top of this one which acts as a lid over the flowers keeping the dust away.
Try organizing patterned paper in hanging paper files as Megan Hoeppner does. These files would also work well for stickers, rubons, and other non-dimensional supplies.
Vertical files are also a great way to store patterned paper and cardstock.
3-ring binders filled with pocket sleeves make organizing smaller embellishments a synch. Plus they are very easy to transport wherever you want to scrap. It’s easy to organize your embellishments by color or theme with 3-ring binders.
Now that we’ve looked at some specific products to organize your supplies, let’s take a look at some creative spaces for more organizing inspiration!
Megan Hoeppner’s creative space.
Laura Vegas’ creative space. You can see even more of Laura’s space on her blog.
Mou Saha’s creative space. Check out this video tour of Mou’s space for even more inspiration.
Mandy Douglass’ creative space. Mandy also has a video tour of her space.
Nicole Harper’s creative space. You can see even more on Nicole’s blog.
My own creative space, which you can see more of on my blog.
As you can see, there are so many creative ways to organize and contain your supplies. Check your kitchen, garage, and garden shed for containers that you can repurpose for your scrap supplies. If you’re shopping for new, make sure you check the kitchen, bath, garden, and tool aisles for useful containers.
We’d love to hear how you organize your supplies too! Let us know in the comments for your chance to win a copy of The Organized & Inspired Scrapbooker, a Creating Keepsakes Embrace Your Space Hanging Embellishment Tote, or a set of Creating Keepsakes Hanging Craft Small Storage Drawers!
-Cindy Tobey, contributing writer
P.S. Give yourself permission to let go of things that you really won’t use and free up some room, both physically and mentally, to focus on the things that really get you excited to scrapbook! Decide which products to keep, and which products to let go of, by taking the product organization quiz on Club CK!
Love all these photos–so inspiring!
My favorite storage item lately is my Stack & Store Caddy, which holds lots of little containers of brads, buttons, clips, and so on on a spinning caddy. Love it!
I’m in the process of putting my clear stamps on acetate & into a binder. Working on organizing….! Thanks for the chance- that issue would be PERFECT timing!!!
Great ideas!! I have a lot of my paper in hanging files that just sit in a cardboard box the right size – no great expense there! I have a plastic pocket CD-holder hanging on the wall to keep paper scraps within sight & reach. The more within sight & reach the less wasted time!
I love the ribbon spools on the trouser hanger..awesome..
This post amazing, I love love love all the idea’s that were put together in this post. I have a small scrap space, so I’m always looking for an affortable way to stay organzie. My fav is clear storage cases. With a small space its hard to display/store things in the open, so with the clear storage cases I can be inspired by the colors while I create. These craft rooms that were posted gives me so many idea’s for the craft room/space I will one day have. I’ll continue to work for that dream space. Thanks for the inspiration and chance to win goodies.
Two organization ideas I currently use are: I put my clear acrylic stamps into clear cd cases. The cases then fit into a basket so I can easily flip through them when I need one. Plus the case opens into an easel making it easier to see & use the stamps!
My other great storage idea is I use a spinning utensil rack (purchased at Target for $9.99) and I store my most used tools in it like scissors, adhesive runners, bone folder, cricut spatulas, etc. It looks good and is functional!
I am constantly organizing my scrap room! I have SOOOO many supplies that organization is a struggle for me sometimes. This book would be great to have!
I have a scrap room that doubles as where my teenage son sleeps (though most of his stuff is in another room). I have an 8 foot counter with 2 storage towers, a desk for the computer and printer, shelves, a big storage chest (along with a bed, nightstand and a closet full of supplies). Yeah, it’s packed!!! But I know where everything is! I love that most of it is hidden away because then it doesn’t look so messy. I do have some glass jars of various sizes for some pizzazz.
I’ve been eyeing the clip it up, looks like a perfect on-hand organizer for my clear stamps! The idea of using a pants hanger to hang ribbon spools, though, is brilliant. Will use that one, for sure!
Love all these tips and my favorite one that I use is the over the door shoe holder for all my punches! So easy to see and put away quickly! Thanks
I use Cropper Hopper paper holders to keep my ‘general’ pp in. I keep my seasonal, event, and themed items in Iris storage boxes. It makes it easy to grab and go to crops or when I want to work on a specific album. I installed shelves on a small wall between my closet door and room door and went vertical from floor to ceiling. I can store my rolling tote, shoulder bags and a hanging file storage box (for 8 1/2″ by 11″ papers)under the lowest shelf, and have storage from floor to ceiling.
I have decided that January is “organizational month” for my scrapbook supplies! I love using clear, plastic bins so I can actually see what is inside. I am a visual person, so this system works well while containing the clutter. I also try to take advantage of wall space with shelves to hold containers and baskets. Thank you for the great ideas and pictures to go along with them!
I organize sticker sheets by theme (alphas, Christmas, Spring) and then in files. The files go in an open plastic toy organizing bin.
I use clear plastic containers so I can see what I have. I won’t use what I can’t see. I also have each container clearly labeled.
Love seeing all the organizational ideas..I am always looking for more way to organize.
One of my favorite things is my brad/eyelet organizer. I think they are Craft Mate and are sold in the beading section. They have different sizes/styles of organizer with the same basic idea: small sections to organize small items, with individually opening lids. There is also a “trick” to opening them so little hands can’t get in to them.
Wow I have spent the last 2 days organizing my scrapbook area and these ideas came just in time. Thanks for sharing.
Some great and timely tips here. I love some of the organizational ideas using regular store or hardware store finds, as the specialty organization stores are often more expensive.
I am working on organizing my scrap space now and am loving all the tips. I would love that book! Thanks for the chance.
Right now my ribbon is stored in covered bins but I am running out to get a pants hanger. I just love that idea!
love all these great idea – especially the paint storage! I’d love to have something like that for my glimmer mists and smooch sprays!
Great ideas…thanks for sharing. I’ve been sorting ribbon scraps and flowers by color, then putting them in zipper bags and putting them in a clear, plastic tote with dividers. Works great…I can see at a glance what I need.
My main way of organizing is the wallboard in my spare room closet. I can place things on the pegs, or put them in the assortment of trays, and bins that hang from the board. It was wonderful getting things off the floor, and into the closet. Close the door…Poof! It’s gone. I’ll be snagging some of the additional in this post that’s for sure. Thanks for the post!
I don’t really have a great way to store anything – that is what I’m looking for! LOL! I need all the help I can get with my tiny room full to overflowing with just about every craft you can think of! I don’t just scrap, I sew, stitch, paint, knit, crochet, draw, color, play with clay and make jewelry,etc. It is overwhelming to walk in and try to find something. Even with the large square shelves I got a couple of years ago. I’m still trying to get the room the way I want/need it to be.
I love the idea of the multi-tiered pants hanger for ribbon. That’s a totally new storage technique I’ve never seen that I might actually use! I have a few of those hangers around somewhere!
lots of great ideas for containers for all the little bits we all have! I think my best tip or what works best for me is having square or rectangle shaped containers. Where there are tons of cute round or circluar shaped containers they don’t stack as well or squeeze out every inch of space like the old fashion 4cornered ones due. I also cover my containers with my fav scrap papers or old children’s book illistrations!
i use clear shoe boxes and stackable shoe racks to hold all my ribbon- grouped by kind(solid satin in one, printed satin in another, metallic,twine and twill tape, etc.), then i group embellishments the same way-chip board in one ,brads and fasteners in smaller divided craft boxes in one, all my markers and pens in one,tools in one, and so on. the shoe racks that i have hold four on a shelf and there are three shelves per rack. then you can stack the racks together.for my12x12 paper i found a 2-drawer legal file cabinet with wood for the bottom of the drawers that my husband cut out so the files would hang right, then he bolted together the two drawers. i use the bottom drawer for storing all my packs of 12×12 page protectors that i don’t need often. this has been my greatest find as i am a major paper junkie and have tons!! the file folders i use are made by cropper hopper and have to be ordered from their site.
I’ve used most of these ideas over the years in my scrapbook time. However, I’m finding that when it’s time to scrap I’m too lazy to seek out the supplies in many different spots, one for embellies, one for buttons, one for ribbon, one for flowers, etc. This year, I am going for LESS, I will prekit things that go well together in premade ziplocs and then when I sit down to scrap, I will challenge myself to use EVERYTHING in the kit!
I actually use a lot of these ideas…I hang what I can & plan to hang more. Clear jars are my friend. Paper is stored upright for easier access…it takes up less space that way too.
My favorite organization item in my scrap room is my Ribbon organizer. I used Binder rings, paper clips and an old Wall mounted coat rack
you can see pictures on my Blog
This is why it’s so hard for me to get organized…I love EVERYONE’s ideas…and their spaces!
I need my supplies within easy reach, relatively in-site, but neat and away (i have cats that like to ruin my stuff and my craft room is in a room that i can’t close off)
I like to take my punches and punch out extras from left over, really scrappy, card stock instead of throwing away a piece that has room for more punched pieces. I do this while I watch T.V. I put them in two types of containers, depending on their size and volume of extras. One container for the small items are the old computer tape (back-up)cases. They are small and clear plastic. The other containers are the 4 x 6 photo container cases (that hold about 100 photos). These are great for larger punched pieces and high volume pieces. I store these containers in one larger plastic container that has a handle and keep it under my desk for easy access. Saves me from having to pull out my punches if I can find one already punched in the color I want. Great way to use throw-away size scraps.
Thanks for the ideas. I use an over-the-door shoe organizer to hold all my punches. I would love to know where some of the furniture comes from in these amazing spaces.
I’m still in the process of organizing things. However, these are things that help me out a lot now: I have most of my nicer colored 8.5×11 cardstock all organized by color in hanging file folders. Most of my non-border punches are above a small table mounted on a board on the wall (the board also has a cork board covered with batting/fabric and ribbon for holding random things. I have shelving directly behind my work space that contains some plastic drawers where I keep tools that I use a lot like markers and adhesives, cutting tools, etc. I also have some embellishments in little plastic containers mounted in little spinning trays so they are easy to see and access, I wish I had this for ALL my embellishments! And my most favorite thing I have for organization is a lazy-susan that I have all sorts of often used items on it. It sits in the corner of my desk and I just give it a spin to get ahold of whatever tool I am looking for.
I just redid my crafting space, but I’m still looking for ideas for a few things. I love the ribbon storage ideas. That is one that has always baffled me for some reason. I store my paper in the fabric bins and LOVE it.
I love organization supplies! love them!
I really like to repurpose older items in the house, smal jars, vases or old pie tins. But the largest is an Hoosier cabinet my parents found in an old barn in New England about 40 years ago. It’s painted off white but the paint is now rather distressed and has all of the original hardware, so fun!
I keep everything in this from stamps and ink pads to drawers full of blank chipboard mini books waiting to be used.
One of my oldest and most favorite inexpensive organizers are the plastic parts organizers with drawers that guys use for storing nuts and bolts in their work areas. There are actually some of them that look nice in a scrapping area. To store chipboard letters and die cut letters and find them easily, I used some of my alphabet scrapbook stickers and put each letter on each drawer. These organizers also work great for buttons, eyelets and other small embellishments.
I can’t remember where I first learned this, but one of my favorite storage tips is to use inexpensive page protectors to keep scraps of pattern papers. I keep one page protector on each shelf of pattern paper and when I use paper from that shelf, the leftovers go into the protector. Later, when using more of that paper, or coordinating pieces, I have the scraps handy. I may have 20 different paper lines on one shelf, but I can still easily find my scraps. I know I’m using more scraps this way.
I am currently trying to get my supplies organized in the tiny, tiny area of our apartment that I have. I’m working on both organizing like-items together and keeping them available so that I’ll use them.
Thanks for some wonderful organizing tips and ideas. I have an island built from the Ikea Expedit shelving units that is fantastic for holding lots of my “stuff”! I also like to put random bits and pieces in vintage dishes to contain them but keep them handy for inspiration.
I’m a mess so this would help me a lot
I have a lot of stuff in my little space, which is nothing more than a spare bedroom. A large armoire which stores 90% of everything. Paper in vertical storage by theme and color. Plastic drawer storage units within the armoire have items sorted by theme…family, school, pets, etc…and extra embellishments sorted by color. I have drawers of tools and adhesives. I have another storage unit in the closet with mini albums, brads, chalks, inks, stamps, etc. Then I have a counter height table I work on with a decorative planter holding items I use most. Another work surface is parallel to that table. It’s actually a kitchen island, with a butcher block top. It has a drawer storage for adhesives, pens, etc. Two doors with a shelf inside for larger items. And a towel rack on the side, which I use to corral all my supplies for the current project at hand. I use binder rings to hold the supplies all together (in it’s original packaging or placed in a gallon ziploc baggie) and hang them from the rail. I tend to work, I mean create, best when organized.
Great article with great ideas. I have seen some of these before and have incorporated them into my creative space, but can always use more ideas. I have been repurposing containers, but hadn’t thought of the hanging jewelry or lingerie organizer – that is a good one along with the multi-tiered pants hanger. I use clear jars, mostly from IKEA for pens and brads and things I need to see. I am one of those that has to be able to see it or have it in labelled boxes. I just bought one of the Expedit units from IKEA for magazine holders, their storage boxes which hold stamps and journals and paints and embellishments, etc., etc. I organize my stickers, embellishments by theme put them on harbinger clips and hang them from a arm attached to an IKEA gardening/storage unit that is my work surface and shelving. My brads are in a condiment organizer. I also work best when the area is clean and organized, which takes an extra effort sometimes to always put things back when a project is done, but it makes the next one so much easier. Thanks for all the great ideas!
Love to organize my room and have new ideas. I also use those three tiered baskets hanging down to put supplies in that I want all the time. I use cabinets with doors drawers, open shelving and boxes with 12×12 shelves to hold my paper both patterned and card stock. I also did a really neat thing the other day. I went to the office supply store and bought one of those crates that hold hangin files. Bought some hanging files and came home and listed colors on the differnt file folders9oink, red, black etc.)
then I sorted my very misorganized scrap box into these folders by color and it is working wonderfuly. I go to it all the time now becaue I can fund what I am looking for in the color that I want. I love it.
Nice tips and beautiful pictures.
Great article which fantastic ideas!
I use the sterilite 3 drawer 12 x 12 units for my organization. I have two for scraps based on color: red/pink, yellow/orange, green, blue, purple, neutrals. Others I use for long stickers, acrylic embellishments, metal embellishments, quilling, embossing powder, dimensional stickers, alphabets, chipboard, ect. I also use bead boxes for small embellishments. These are plastic boxes that have multiple mini boxes inside. I have one each for buttons, brads, metals, flowers, and mini alphabets. Works great especially when I go to a crop.
Very portable and easy to pack.
Great ideas!! I LOVE looking at others’ creative ideas for storage. I organize using totes, baskets, see-through paper storage, jars for buttons, flowers, etc. Keep the ideas coming!!
My craft room is always work in progress! I get most of my organizational supplies at the thrift store and some I have gotten at the newspaper where I work. I have some very nice cabinets with trays that work great for wood mounted stamps. I also another find from the paper office with 21 drawers that are good for my accessories. I have spray painted them both. I still wish all my stuff matched, but it workes for now and I am happy to have it and have a room dedicated to my passion.
I like using fabric and felt on my pages, and have quite a collection too! It was all getting rather out of hand, so I repurposed to shoe organizers- the kind that hangs from your cupboard rail, with shelves… very similar to the Creating Keepsakes Hanging Craft Small Storage Drawers pictures above, just without the drawers! It makes for colorful, easy to use storage, and I can see everything at a glance.
I like these ideas since they are useful for the average person and not costly.
To store buttons, flowers, etc. I use plastic Jiffy Peanut Butter jars. Run them through the dishwasher and use some sticker remover to get rid of the strip of glue from the label. They look good, hold a lot, and it a good way to recycle (reuse).
I ended up getting a set of elfa carts from The Container Store–their medium-sized drawers are 14″ squares so they hold paper beautifully. They also fit a plastic liner that contains various-sized wells for smaller embellishments–there are 12″-long wells on the sides for ribbons and borders, and in the middle are several different sizes for flowers, stickers, packages, etc.
You can get them with or without wheels, in white or silver, and with different tops such as butcher block or melamine. Plus you can get awesome accessories to hang onto the sides such as ribbon holders and coat racks–their tie and belt rack is perfect for loose yards of ribbon!
And if you get them on wheels, you can either attach them all together or keep them apart and wheel them right next to your work table.
Jill
I use a slender wooden dowel supported by curtain rod brackets on the wall to put all my ribbon spools. I used to keep all my ribbon in draws (I had collected lots of it!), but really needed the space for other things, so by using the wooden dowels I utilized empty wall space