By Christina VanGinkel
The biggest complaint I hear continually from fellow scrapbook enthusiasts is lack of storage options for some of the more odd shaped supplies that we as scrappers seem to accumulate at an exceedingly fast rate. Just when someone thinks they have all the room they could ever need for their tools and supplies, they often discover a new technique, tool, or supplier that they just have to acquire! However, as I said, once they get the items home and try to decide how they are going to store the stuff until they use it, or if it is a tool, in between uses, they are at a loss.
Therefore, with that thought in mind, I figured I would share with you some of the more useful ideas I have come across for various scrapbook tools and supplies.
Date Stamp Holder
If you are a user of stamps, and have acquired any of the popular date style stamps that have a rounded handle with a slimmer base leading up to the stamp itself, be sure to check out the spindle style racks. They look like two Frisbees, one atop the other, with curved slices taken out all the way around them for you to conveniently slide the handle of the date stamps into. They work particularly well because even if the ink on the stamps is still a bit wet, the stamps are suspended so that they are not touching anything. I found mine for less than seven dollars in the new Oriental Trading catalog that is devoted to scrapbook supplies.
Ribbon Storage
Another favorite organizer that I have come across, that is actually available from several different places, is a simple see through plastic storage box with holes running along one side. You simply set your rolls of ribbon inside the box and feed the end of each ribbon reel through one of the holes. This allows you to see the ribbon, but also keep it clean and dust free and very easy to access. That is about the most anyone could ask for when it comes to convenient storage of anything!
For ribbon, I have also seen several people store their ribbon in glass canning style jars, and place them on a shelf where they are both easy to see and access, and are kept free of dust.
Cup Hooks
Yes, something as simple as cup hooks screwed up under a shelf, are the perfect way to suspend numerous things. Small gift bags for example, could be filled with various paper scraps, notions, etc., and suspended by their handles from the hooks. They would be easy to use, easy to access, and easily replaced as needed.
Metal Spice Rack
The kind often seen on the inside of kitchen cabinet doors, makes a great organizer for small glass jars filled with all sorts of tiny notions. I have seen where several of them were mounted one atop another and two more side by side, for a maximum amount of use of a minimum amount of space. The woman, who had them in her scrap room, had them filled with glass, baby juice bottles. The juice jars are a bit narrower than typical baby food jars, and they were a perfect fit for the spice rack. Because the jars are a bit taller also, they really took advantage of all of the space.
Three Ring Binders
Standard three ring binders, with zip pockets, are one of my favorite forms of storage for scrapping supplies. You can quickly see at a glance what you have stored, they are easy to pop out the pages of supplies to use when needed, and they keep everything stored in them clean and orderly. Paper, fibers, buttons, stickers, and much more can all be stored in them. If you have tons of supplies, you could even break down the storage by using one binder for each embellishment type, all your fibers in one, all your stickers in another, a third just for rub-ons, and on and on. Then, just hang a shelf in a convenient spot in your scrapping room to store the row of binders on, or tuck them into a cabinet at floor level. A freestanding bookshelf would also be an ideal storage option for the binders.
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