Crafts Unleashed

Welcome to Organization Week! We’re spending a whole week sharing our favorite organization tips, peeks of our studio spaces, and offering solutions or products that will help you start the New Year tidy and efficient!

I shared the “craft room helpers” portion of this post with you before…but since it’s Organization Week, I thought it deserved a mention!

As a semi-professional crafter, I spend a part of almost every day in my craft room. While I’m lucky to have my own room for crafting, I still am concerned about space and efficiency. Today I thought I’d share with you some of my favorite craft helpers  that make my crafting easier and more convenient.

One of my most-used craft items is my Tidy Mate Tray. It’s a simple but ingenious tool- it’s a plastic molded tray with walls 1/2 inch high to keep your craft items IN, but then there’s a funnel so you can return them to their original containers. I use it for seed beads, eyelets, and of course embossing powders and glitters. I actually have two of these- just in case one is in use when I need another. I also use them for sorting beads and corralling buttons while I’m pawing through them to find the perfect one.

Another item I use is my Storganizer. (Remember when I tricked it out and decorated it? THAT was fun!) But really, I kept it on my work desk and use it for my everyday craft supplies that I need to keep on hand. I love that my scissors, glitter glues, markers and ribbons are all at my fingertips!

If you poke around my studio, you’ll also find these Protect and Store organization boxes. They are great when you need to gather your materials in one place neatly. I’ve used them for quilt pieces, scrapbook pages-in-progress, and mixed media collages. They are wonderful if you are in the middle of a project and suddenly need to clear the table (dinner, anyone?) but aren’t ready to put all of your supplies away. Just toss them in one of these clear, stackable boxes and- voila! You’ve got your project corralled and waiting for another day.By the way, they come in 3 sizes, which makes them even better!

I also love a good crafting tool kit, and I find myself reaching for my Cricut Tool Kit almost daily. It’s got a scoop tool (to lift pieces from the mat), knife tool (sharp edge for sliding under paper), hook tool (removes small circles of paper and cleans small holes), scraper (scrapes and cleans off entire mat), bone folder (score paper, creases paper, and marks paper). scissors, and clear ruler. I use the ruler and scissors all the time- and that little hook tool is my best friend! I use it for scratching patterns on paper, making marks on clay, and positioning crystals in glue. And when I need to take it with me to an event, I just zip it up and everything is in one tidy place. So convenient!

And here’s a sneak peek at my Polymer Clay workstation and my craft closet!

Craft tip: Keep like items together so you can sit down and CREATE, instead of spending time looking for materials.

I keep found objects, paint, adhesive machines and project boxes in here. And of course, LABEL!

So, those are just a few of my faves. What are YOURS? Any tips/tricks/solutions to share? We’d love to hear from you!