How to Organize Supplies for Miniatures & Dollhouses

Oganize miniature and dollhouse supplies in divided bead cases.

Working with miniatures and dollhouses provides is rewarding and absorbing. Organizing supplies for your projects creates a more efficient work environment, freeing you to spend more time designing, building and finishing projects--and less time hunting for tools and accessories. Having everything at hand, abiding by the time-tested maxim of a place for everything and everything in its place, allows you to focus fully on each project. Miniatures.org recommends specific supplies for a miniaturist's toolbox. (See References 1) Invest in some organizing cases--and cabinets to put them in--to transform your miniatures work area into a zone of tranquil productivity.

Things You'll Need

• Divided cases with tight lids, such as bead or tackle boxes
• Bookcase or cabinets
• Small spice cabinets with drawers or other miniature storage drawer systems
• Self-adhesive labels
• Felt tip pen
• Table
• Cabinet units (optional)

Instructions

1. Set up a mobile work box. Miniatures.org suggests acquiring a heavy-duty plastic tackle box with drawers or removable divided trays. (See References 1) Place your most frequently used tools and supplies in this mobile work box. The mobile work box offers you the advantage of moving to better light or taking a project with you when you travel.

2. Arrange other cases for supplies for things you build or customize yourself. For example, use a bead sorting box for tiny hardware items, a large tackle box for landscape materials and other tackle boxes for spools of wire in different gauges, corks, clamps and all the other items you use, placing items for specific types of projects together.

3. Set up divided storage cases by type of item. For example, place all the miniature kitchen implements in one case, home decorating items in another case with larger compartments, and building supplies in other cases with compartments sized to the contents.

4. Place items you use frequently in a miniature chest of drawers, such as spice cabinet with drawers, on or in reach of your craft table. Write the contents of each drawer on self-adhesive labels. Peel each label off the backing and affix it to the drawer it belongs to.

5. Dedicate a bookcase or cabinet for your organized miniatures and dollhouse supplies. Write a label for each storage case, such as "Dollhouse Bedroom," "Dollhouse Garden," "Dollhouse Lighting," "Miniature Paintings," with matching labels for all of the supply cases. Affix the labels to the side of the case that will face you when you put the cases away.

6. Create your own miniatures supply organizing cabinet from an existing cabinet. Martha Stewart.com recommends creating a curtain to cover a shelf unit or open cabinet. (See References 2).

7. Place freestanding kitchen cabinets under the worktable for additional space to organize supplies for miniatures and dollhouses, if desired. (See References 3)

Tips & Warnings

• Add locks to cabinets of miniature supplies children can reach, due to choking hazard from small parts.

• Keep tools and products containing chemicals out of reach of children.

References

• Miniatures: Tool Kit
• Martha Stewart: Crafts Cupboard
• Ron Hazelton's Housecalls Home Improvement: How to Build a Table for Crafts

Resources

• http://www.craftguidance.com/crafttable.html