Craft storage for teeny tiny spaces

As I mentioned earlier, I have a bit of a crafting problem, which of course means that I also have a craft supply addiction.  I’m always picking up something new for my current project or even for those projects I’ve filed away in my brain for someday. Storage wasn’t a huge issue when I was living in a two bedroom condo in North Carolina.  Now that I’m bunking at my daughter’s house while figuring out my next housing situation I have to fit all my crafting goodies in my bedroom.  Along with my computer desk and computer for my business and of course my bed for sleeping.  Trust me, if I could find a way to get away with not needing to sleep I would in lieu of additional storage space.

It became evident pretty quickly that I had to come up with some creative storage solutions. Ones that didn’t mean shoving everything in the closet and hoping I could find it when the time came. Luckily, Michael’s came to the rescue with recent super slashed prices on Recollections storage cubes.  I bought two, one with three drawers, the other with a combination of slots/shelves.

After putting them together, which was pretty easy, this is how I organized them.

1. The bottom drawer is for plain white cardstock and greeting card blanks. I may add other solid colors when my stash of white cardstock gets low enough to fit anything else.
2. The middle drawer holds my 7 gypsies Binderie that I got for …wait for it… $7 bucks in the clearance aisle at Michaels. (I haven’t used it yet, but I KNOW I will) My Stampin’ Up envelope punch board is also stored there as well as other cutting tools, scissors and rotary cutter in the box, decorative scissors and my exacto knives in the silver case.
3. The top drawer is for adhesives. Glues, pop dots, tape runner, Hermafix, if it sticks something to something else, this is where it goes.
4. The vertical slots hold various colored cardstocks and decorative papers in both 8 ½ x 11 and 12 x 12 sizes. One slot also currently houses my one and only Project Life kit in Cinnamon.
5. The horizontal slots hold the follow from top to bottom:
   1. My fiskars paper trimmers (2 of them!) and assorted rulers.
   2. My Tim Holtz alcohol inks and Ranger Stickles in a skinny cardboard container. You can also see a couple of glass dropper bottles that I have yet to find a use for but love the look of.
   3. My 6 x 6 and photo mat paper pads.

On top you’ll see two storage boxes I scored at Michaels at 70% off. I love the teal and the Dream Big Message on them. At the moment they are holding my Copic Markers and assorted stamping ink pads, etc.

Next to the Recollections cubes you’ll see a pretty teal plastic rollaway cart that I scored at Target for ten bucks during their recent back to school sales.  This is what I have stored there:

1. The bottom drawer holds my wood mounted Stampin’ Up stamps that I scored on Craigslist for $30.
2. The middle drawer currently holds my growing collection of Prima Julie Nutting paper doll stamps, a heat gun and the Rollagraph handle and roller stamps that I scored in the above mentioned Stampin’ up haul.
3. The top drawer is my miscellaneous supply bin. It’s currently holding a bag of white feathers, a bag of makeup sponges, small manila tags, several colors of bakers twine that I grabbed at the Dollar Tree and some cellophane bags.

On top of this little cart is my handle basket from Thirty One Gifts (I have two of them, but the cat’s toys are currently housed in the other) where I have my washi tape threaded onto the handle, some old Creative Memories fast layout idea books in the back along with an assortment of CM page protectors in a file folder.  My assortment of baker’s twine is threaded onto wooden skewers that stick nicely into the basket sides and my big bottle of Liquitex Gesso, assorted ribbon and fabric scraps and my big bottle of Un-du all live inside.

You may also notice three little jars with chalkboard labels on the top that hold paper clips, t-pins and homemade texture paste as well as the cutest little lightbulb jar that I currently have tiny clothespins in.

This setup, while not incorporating all of my supply stash, is keeping my most often used items handy, while looking neat and tidy.  It’s also a constant work in process as I find new ways to organize in such a small space.