I picked up these two options at my local Joann's store.
I used bold print to make bulletin boards for inside the armoire doors. I thought it would be a fun place to tack pictures, inspirations, scriptures, or quotes. I simply measured the inside panel of the door and cut my cork board to size. Then I took my fabric and cut it about an inch wider and longer than my cork board. Then I used double stick tape to adhere the fabric to the cork board, wrapping it like a package at the corners. Finally, I took some upholstery tacks and gently tapped the board in place. I love the way it turned out. My only purchase was the fabric. I reused some old cork board and my neighbor gave me the upholstery tacks.
Once I selected my color palette, I started collecting items that I thought would work for organizing my various crafting items. All of my craft items were stuffed into whatever boxes, totes, and bags that I could tuck way into our furnace room. My goal is clear out all my craft items from the furnace room to make room for other items we need to store. When I organize a space, I want my items to be easily accessible, clearly labeled, and cute!!
I started at The Dollar Tree. They had various plastic crates, baskets, and boxes in lime green, fuchsia, and aqua - just the colors I was looking for. I bought about 20 different items!! When I brought them home I sorting out what supplies would work in each item. I took a few items back, but about 3/4 of my organization woes were solved in one stop!!
I also started looking for items at garage sales and thrift stores. I made a list of supplies I still needed to organize. I have picked up a few wall organizers and shelves that will have to photograph later, once I paint the room. Stay tuned!!
My friend, Alex, told me about a cool organizing option from Home Depot. Last summer, she was putting together her kindergarten classroom, so she had me run to Home Depot and pick up one of these organizers for her. The link shows a similar option. The size we picked up were being discontinued. Since I was picking up one for her, I thought one might come in handy for me.
It was about $15. She had found a fun tutorial on Pinterest on transforming it into a teacher's toolbox for her classroom. A cheap can of bright lime green spray paint for plastics and this basic gray toolbox is transformed!
Then I went to TeachersPayTeachers and found a free downloadable template to make my labels. This site is amazing!! Lots of inexpensive or FREE files shared by educators. I found a font I loved and then glued fun scrapbook paper to card stock and printed them out. Then I took my Xyron sticker maker (which I got at a garage sale for next to nothing!!) and made each of my labels for the organizer, a sticker and adhered them to my drawers.
I used the larger label template for the drawers as my labels for all my other organizers. Some of them I hole punched and attached with twine and others I made them into stickers.
Photo storage boxes are another inexpensive organizing option. They come in a variety of colors, prints, and sizes and I wait for them to go on sale for less than $2 a box before purchasing them. You can find them at your local craft store in the scrapbooking department. I created a table in an Excel document with the height and width of each label. Then, I printed them on scrapbook paper and cut them to fit into the slot.
One way, I got a bit further in my organization, is to write on an index card what items are in the box. Then I take a couple of small pieces of plasti-tak and adhere it the inside of the lid. This is extremely helpful if I can't quite remember what items are in the box. I can quickly look at my list and know if I'm in the right one!!
Canning jars are yet another simple and cheap way to organize. My mom has quite the jar collection, so she let me have a dozen to organize my buttons. I have inherited both my grandmother and great grandmother's buttons. I had them all in a large glass jar that I would have to dump out to find the few buttons I would need for a project. Now they are much more accessible. I have used them in a variety of ways over the years and was ready to get them somewhat organized. One night, while watching a movie with the family, I worked on sorting the buttons into the canning jars. I replaced the seals of the jars with a piece of chalkboard paper and labeled each jar with a chalk marker.
Next Craft Room Project will be about my work space!! Stay tuned!!
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