De-clutter Your Crafts
Ten tips to cut the clutter out of crafting
After a hectic holiday season, one of the most common New Year’s resolutions is a promise to get organised. This can be especially true for crafty folks who’ve spent weeks and weeks making homemade gifts over Christmas and have all the leftover scraps of fabric, cards and odds and ends to show for it! So start the New Year off to a fresh clean start with some of these top tips and ideas for organizing your craft supplies and decluttering your craft room.
A destash is basically clearing out all of your old supplies and materials you no longer need, they may be left over from old projects, impulse buys (we’ve all done it!) or just items you don’t see yourself using any time soon. You can then either recycle the materials, sell them as a bundle on eBay or even donate them to a fellow crafter by posting on online craft boards- The Cut Out + Keep online community have been known to do destash swaps and donations regularly.
Seriously, it’s going to change your life. Pegboards are fantastic for easy access and storing pretty much every craft supply you can think of; scissors, ribbons, sewing thread, wrapping paper- they’re really versatile and you can even make little shelves on them to store things like glue or paint.
This is a good way of storing ribbons that aren’t on a spool- it’s also much easier to choose the ribbon and see how much of a particular ribbon you have left, and stops them becoming tangled and creased up in a drawer or jar (like mine were). Check out the Ribbon Ring website, or make your own version from drapery hooks.
There are loads of different options for organising your spools of thread, but I’d recommend making a basic holder by hammering some long nails (from any DIY Store) into a flat piece of wood, evenly spaced apart, with enough space for each Spool to sit next to each other. You can either hang the board up on the wall like a picture frame or have it laid flat if you have the surface space for it- You can also of course, jazz it up however you like with paints or even by buying a fancy picture frame for it.
Sounds pretty simple, but you’d be surprised how many people have all their beads and buttons sitting in jars or containers all mixed up together, and whilst this isn’t the organisational crime of the century, it generally leads to them never being used because you can’t see what you really have in there. Organising by colour helps you pick what you’ll be using for your next project, and stops you from buying even more unnecessarily. So rather than rooting around for the perfect colour try splitting up your buttons and beads using multi compartment clear containers- you can get them from any craft shop or eBay.
Use a noticeboard (bought from any office supplies shop or online) to pin up pictures of things that inspire you, cards or even sewing patterns- they’re a great way to declutter your paper drawer or to review when trying to come up with new crafting ideas. There are two options for buying a noticeboard- the classic cork notice boards, which are cheaper, or the fabric ones- which, excitingly, you could always recover in a fabric of your choice.
Shelving is the best way to store your crafting materials if you're short on space. You can buy shelves from any DIY or home store for as little as a few pounds each and after they’re up you’ve given yourself tons more space for materials, boxes or even a place to keep and display finished items.
If you have any spare nails or pegs on the wall, then pop a wire hanger up there to hang your fabrics on- it keeps them from creasing and displays them ready to be used in your next project- rather than hiding away in drawers where you may forget you even have them
1. Destash
A destash is basically clearing out all of your old supplies and materials you no longer need, they may be left over from old projects, impulse buys (we’ve all done it!) or just items you don’t see yourself using any time soon. You can then either recycle the materials, sell them as a bundle on eBay or even donate them to a fellow crafter by posting on online craft boards- The Cut Out + Keep online community have been known to do destash swaps and donations regularly.
2. Get a pegboard
Seriously, it’s going to change your life. Pegboards are fantastic for easy access and storing pretty much every craft supply you can think of; scissors, ribbons, sewing thread, wrapping paper- they’re really versatile and you can even make little shelves on them to store things like glue or paint.
3. Make or buy a ribbon ring
This is a good way of storing ribbons that aren’t on a spool- it’s also much easier to choose the ribbon and see how much of a particular ribbon you have left, and stops them becoming tangled and creased up in a drawer or jar (like mine were). Check out the Ribbon Ring website, or make your own version from drapery hooks.
4. Make a spool holder
There are loads of different options for organising your spools of thread, but I’d recommend making a basic holder by hammering some long nails (from any DIY Store) into a flat piece of wood, evenly spaced apart, with enough space for each Spool to sit next to each other. You can either hang the board up on the wall like a picture frame or have it laid flat if you have the surface space for it- You can also of course, jazz it up however you like with paints or even by buying a fancy picture frame for it.
5. Organise your buttons and beads by colour
Sounds pretty simple, but you’d be surprised how many people have all their beads and buttons sitting in jars or containers all mixed up together, and whilst this isn’t the organisational crime of the century, it generally leads to them never being used because you can’t see what you really have in there. Organising by colour helps you pick what you’ll be using for your next project, and stops you from buying even more unnecessarily. So rather than rooting around for the perfect colour try splitting up your buttons and beads using multi compartment clear containers- you can get them from any craft shop or eBay.
6. Get a noticeboard
Use a noticeboard (bought from any office supplies shop or online) to pin up pictures of things that inspire you, cards or even sewing patterns- they’re a great way to declutter your paper drawer or to review when trying to come up with new crafting ideas. There are two options for buying a noticeboard- the classic cork notice boards, which are cheaper, or the fabric ones- which, excitingly, you could always recover in a fabric of your choice.
7. Put up a shelf or two
Shelving is the best way to store your crafting materials if you're short on space. You can buy shelves from any DIY or home store for as little as a few pounds each and after they’re up you’ve given yourself tons more space for materials, boxes or even a place to keep and display finished items.
8. Store fabric with wire hangers
If you have any spare nails or pegs on the wall, then pop a wire hanger up there to hang your fabrics on- it keeps them from creasing and displays them ready to be used in your next project- rather than hiding away in drawers where you may forget you even have them
What are your top tips for organizing your craft supplies?
Comments
“When I put my folded fabric remnants on the shelf, I stick a small address label on the corner with the measurements written on it. That way, I don't have to unfold it later to check if it is big enough for what I want to do. Really saves loads of time.”
