How to Organize Scrapbooking Supplies in Small Spaces

The great thing about scrapbooking supplies are all the wonderful patterns and papers, tools and stamps. The hard part about scrapbook supplies is finding homes for all those patterns and papers, tools and stamps. Here are a few steps to getting those scrapbooking supplies organized, even if you only have a little space to spare.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• ziplock bags
• storage chest or tackle box
• pantry rack
• hanging file folders
• peg board and hooks

1. Store ribbons by color in ziplock bags, and hang the ziplock bags on a coat hanger. I used extra drapery rings to clip the bags onto a coat hanger, and now all my ribbons hang neatly in a nearby closet. You could do this with any small scrapbooking supply. When I'm working on a scrapbook layout, I just put the hanger over a nearby chair.

2. Keep embellishments in a plastic storage cabinet or tackle box. Custom made embellishment boxes for any craft are expensive, but you can use anything from ice cube trays to storage cabinets designed for the garage workshop to hold your scrapbooking supplies. The best storage solutions are clear or transparent and have lids.

3. If you have the back of a door available, or some wall space, use a pantry rack to store all your stamps. Pantry racks usually go inside your pantry door, so they're very narrow, but tall. In other words, they're perfect for storing stamps or other chunky scrapbooking supplies.

4. Organize paper by color in hanging file folders. This step saves space since the papers are all upright. It's also easier to pull out the papers you want when they're stored this way. Just be sure that the file folders and box or cabinet you want to use for this application are deep enough that your scrapbooking supplies don't get damaged.

5. Pegboard and hooks can be used to hang any scrapbooking supplies from scissors to pails of pens. Pegboard can be painted to match the room, and can support an amazing amount of scrapbooking supplies. As long as you mount the pegboard securely to wall studs, feel free to use as many hooks, hangers, and shelves as you like to organize all your scrapbooking supplies.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep your eyes open at hardware stores and in kitchen centers for unconventional organizational tools. It doesn't matter if a container was never meant for scrapbooking supplies, if it works for you, use it!