The Rainbow Connection

With so many options on supplies, resources and tools in the scrapbooking industry, it only makes sense that storage would be an issue for most scrapbookers. I’ve seen storage solutions from brand name to product type, but I have to admit that the solution that best fits me and my scrapbooking style is to organize by color.

Everything seems to make sense to me when I organize by color. It makes putting pages together so much faster when I don’t have to go hunting for that green embellishment I bought last week. I can simply pull out my green embellishment drawer and it’s all right there. Another great perk to organizing this way is using your supplies. When I purchase something new, I immediately take it out of the package and sort the objects into their respective drawers. This way, new and old products get used on a regular basis and I rarely forget what I have.

Here are some examples of ways to organize your scrapbooking products by color.

Embellishments
Decidedly one of the hardest things to organize is embellishments. They come in all shapes and sizes and they can be really hard to locate on demand. I organize each of my embellishments into small plastic drawers from Target, starting with purple and moving through the rainbow all the way to silver and gold. As I get new embellishments I unpack them and put them into their color grouping. I now have 12 drawers that house my embellishments and they fit perfectly on top of my desk hutch.

Ribbon
If you’re like me, you have gone way overboard on your ribbon hoarding. My simple storage solution for ribbon is accredited to IKEA. I got some of the tall glass jars from the kitchen department and sorted each piece by color in separate jars. I set the nine jars on top of my embellishment drawers for easy access. If you’re trying to save money and organize at the same time, consider using mason jars as your ribbon holders. They are cheaper and a little easier to find.

Buttons
I started out by putting buttons into the embellishment drawers, but quickly realized that they were taking over. As a solution to this problem, I used small spice jars (also from IKEA) to store them. If you’re not up to making a run to IKEA just for spice jars, try cleaning out some of those small lidded candle jars as your solution.

Attachments
I house my small attachments, like brads, clips, jump rings and eyelets inside a small, clear compartmentalized case. Mine (made by Making Memories for buttons) cost no more than $5 and holds more than enough attachments for me. For a cheaper solution, try using a floss box from your local craft store. Just make sure you don’t tip that upside-down, because it’ll be a mess.

Paint
I organize my paint inside a cubby hole in my hutch. I put each bottle in order of color so I know where to look for that perfect shade to match my project. If you don’t have a hutch, like I do, consider a turning spice rack from your local all-purpose store. You can organize into appropriate color sections and then turn it around to grab the correct bottle.

Paper & Cardstock
I use a wire rack to store both my paper and my cardstock. Organized by color of course, my patterned paper is in the top 17 racks and the cardstock takes up the bottom portion. When organizing my patterned paper, I try to blur my eyes and pick out the dominant color in the pattern to decide which color group it should go in. Usually this trick will help you correctly organize your paper. When your paper is organized by color you’ll know just where to look for that piece that will perfectly match your picture. This will save you time and money in the long run. For a cheaper solution, try using the Target wire cubes. Put them together with zip ties for a custom fit.

I hope these storage ideas and solutions will help you organize your products more efficiently. I know this method has really helped me to cut down on buying duplicate supplies and encouraged me to use the products that I have purchased. You can find more pictures and details about how I organized my space by reading the article on my studio, here. This might give you some of your own ideas that I may not have thought of. Just make sure you share!