January is National Get Organized Month (GO Month) and many of the tips that home organizers use to keep a house clean and clutter-free can work for your crafting area, too. With a combination of planning, sorting, storage and (gulp!) destashing, you can have a work space that helps you feel more creative and be more productive.
Here are a few tips on getting started, followed by details on our $150 GO Giveaway for one lucky crafter!
Craft Supply Organization: First, Make a Plan
It can be tempting to just dive in, but even a little bit of planning will help you in the long run. Having an action plan gives you a feeling of capability–and also keeps you from wasting your effort on an organization system that won’t work for you. So before you begin your organization project, ask yourself the following questions:
Question #1: What kind of space do I have available?
Some crafters are lucky enough to have a whole room to devote to crafting, while others can only dedicate a shelf or two. Knowing how much space you have to work with will help you figure out how best to use it.
Just one of my many craft supply tubs in need of organization.
Question #2: Where do I expect to find the craft supplies that I need?
This question is the most important one in terms of figuring out how to best organize your supplies. If you expect to find your acid-free paper in an organizer along with all of your other scrapbooking supplies, then you probably want to organize your supplies mostly by craft. However, if you expect to find all of your papers together, no matter whether they are meant for scrapbooking or watercolor painting, then you may want to organize your supplies by item type instead.
Don’t be afraid to combine approaches! If you mostly make jewelry, you might keep your jewelry supplies in one location while the rest of your crafting supplies are mixed together on a different shelf. If you store all of your papers in a tiered paper organizer, you can still mark the shelves so you know to keep the acid-free scrapbooking papers together on the top 3 rows. Many people organize tools and other multi-use supplies in a separate location from their other crafting supplies, too.
The key is that there is no “wrong” or “right” way to organize your craft supplies. If a particular system works for you, it’s the one you should keep using!
GO Giveaway: Get Organized with $150 of Organization & Storage Products from ConsumerCrafts!
Working on getting your craft supplies organized in 2012? Show & tell your biggest storage or organization challenge, and you could win a $150 prize package to help you get started on a solution! We will choose a winner from all submissions we receive by 9am on Tuesday, January 10th. Share your submission one of three ways:
- Comment here with a link to your blog post
- Comment here with a link to your photo and description on Flickr, Photobucket, etc.
- Share your photo and explanation via Facebook
3. January 2012 at 6:53 pm
Oh dear, I have so many obstacles to my productivity but I would have to say, I need a better way to organize embellishments (brads, buttons, eyelets, etc). I have 6-7 different containers in 3 different places. SOS!!!
4. January 2012 at 8:35 pm
I embarrassed my daughter by posting on Facebook how messy my crafting hoard is! It seems that I spend more time looking for a particular item than I do to complete a project. HELP!
4. January 2012 at 11:33 pm
I have so many craft supplies stashed plastic bags. I really need a better way to store all this stuff.
melodyj(at)gmail(dot)com
5. January 2012 at 5:37 pm
Question for you..do you get 3 total entries, or just one entry, done in one of those ways? The reason I ask is that my blog is not up and running yet…
5. January 2012 at 7:20 pm
I have my crafty things stored in several different places. I have a craft table and some storage shelves in a small corner of my living room-plus I have a secondary table in my bedroom ( which as time moves on I will probably have to get rid of), part of a bookshelf behind my bedroom door and some storage cubbies under our bed. I am looking for some way to get everything organized where I can find what I need when I need it. I tend to spend too much time looking for things. I’m in a serious sos!
6. January 2012 at 9:01 am
Ellen: anyway you enter, you will only get one entry. Good news is you don’t need a blog for the last two entry options!
6. January 2012 at 11:16 am
I’ve got a craft room:) HELP, theres seems to be no way to put all of my craft stuff in any kind of order that would be easier to find. I’m a must see to use person:( as are my 13 grandbabies(ages 2-13 years old) who love to scrapbook, stamping, embossing, vinyl decorating, paint, watercoloring, candle making, jewerly making, loom knitting, sewing, etc… We spending so long trying to make room to craft, & find needed items, that we have very little time to craft:(:(:( I feel like all children, & adults too need to be exposed to all types of crafts, sooo… they can be, or do almost anything, for a hobby or a future career!!!
don’t know how to leave a link:( other than just putting address to my blog: http://diannescrafty.blogspot.com/
6. January 2012 at 4:44 pm
I have posted photos and a description of my problem here on my blog..
http://scrapndare.blogspot.com/2012/01/my-disorganized-organized-chaos.html
Yes, it’s a messy, it’s disorganized, organized chaos at it’s best..
I have a tiny space and too much stuff.. and too many different crafts I like to do..
Thanks for the chance to win, some hopefully better solutions.. for my war against the crafty clutter blues..
7. January 2012 at 5:02 pm
I’m having problems getting this to post- hopefully 3rd time’s a charm! While I did a major cleanup last year, it’s not all working for me. My room is a holding place for furniture that didn’t have other homes (a bathroom shelving unit?!) I have a dresser that belongs in my son’s room once we finally get the changing table out of his. It’s wasted space for me because I try not to use it knowing it’s going away. I also have drawers labelled but I’m finding some are overstuffed and some of my categories just aren’t right- definitely needs a revisit.
The hope is the changing table will come in my room SOON – it has great storage space and a huge top I can use for my Big Shot and Cricut. Then I need to figure out how to reconfigure what I have already.
http://jensunchartedterritory.blogspot.com/2012/01/trying-to-get-organized-again.html
8. January 2012 at 4:41 pm
Here’s my mess “confession”
http://nulandnews.blogspot.com/2012/01/craft-room-confession.html
When I was writing the post, I realized in some ways it’s better than I thought – but in others, it’s worse. If I win, can I also win some time (or a helper) to whip this mess into shape?
8. January 2012 at 7:35 pm
This giveaway would be a dream, I posted over on my blog my story, I do all my crafting in my room, in a small space, so I can be near my husband who has MS and is wheel chair bound and spends most of his time every day in bed. What little space I have needs organizing, not so much cause it is horribly messy, but so unorganized for lack of good organizing tools. I am constantly dropping things, stepping on things, losing things, knocking things over. So if I am lucky enough to win, please help me to organize it to make a little less stressed craft time for me. Cathy
http://cathyplus5.blogspot.com
8. January 2012 at 7:58 pm
I have a great scrap space in our finished basement, where I can scrap and watch TV and be with my family, so it doesn’t feel like I’m alone or neglecting them.
However, I have way too much stuff, and a very messy workspace. Here’s a picture of it:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7130682@N07/6663366983/
9. January 2012 at 9:25 am
Here is a link to my mess- I mean craft space!
http://forgetmeknotnonsense.blogspot.com/2012/01/i-can-not-believe-i-am-going-to-show.html
9. January 2012 at 4:37 pm
My biggest organization challenge is my work table! There is just so much I want to keep close at hand. So the top of my work table has everything from markers to paper to Cricut to sewing machine! Also, my laptop when I’m scrapbooking. I watch (mostly listen) to movies while working.
9. January 2012 at 7:40 pm
Organization is my worst thing. I have a small craft room and I have a hard time finding stuff
9. January 2012 at 8:02 pm
Right now my plan of attack is to spend a little time sorting every night until it is done. I think whatever I want to destash (within reason) is going to be donated to a charitable organization rather than trying to sell it. That way it is gone right away, AND it is going to a good cause. My biggest problem is definitely ME though. I think I need to be retrained like a child to put things away when I’m done with them…
http://silverdreamsdesign.blogspot.com/2012/01/organization-my-dirty-little-secret.html
9. January 2012 at 8:40 pm
I’d love to win some organizational supplies. I seem to be very visual, and love to see all my stuff. But I think I might have too much stuff for the space, as I don’t put things away because most of it doesn’t have a “home”.
Here is the link to my blog with photos of my craft areas:
http://dodogshavebellybuttons.blogspot.com
Thanks!
9. January 2012 at 8:55 pm
http://funaday.blogspot.com/2012/01/storageorganization-challenge.html
Here is my challenge space. We have a closet under the stairs that tries to serve many purposes. I would love to make the most of this space, let’s get it organized!