Crafty Organization Thursday: Organizing LIttle Bits of This & That

My name is Toni From and I love to organize. It is just something that is in my nature and finding the perfect storage solution for crafting items thrills me beyond what is probably normal. Regardless of my unhealthy addiction to labels, color-coding, and design ideas, this weekly column, is all about my readers, and a way for fellow like-minded crafters to help one another solve our clutter problems once and for all. Good morning, it's time for another Scrapbook Organization Thursday and today we are talking about how to store all of our little bits of this and that. I will also be discussing how I store my ink pads and my Project Life tools. Last week we discussed tool storage, you can find that post HERE. The other Scrapbook Organization Thursday posts you can find HERE, HERE, and HERE.

All of those little bits are so difficult to sort and containerize. There are just so many different types of embellishments, for example. There are wood veneers, brads, gems, bling, buttons, and let's not forget all of the ephemera packs that so many scrapbook paper lines have come out with. The list is endless and I find that there is not a lot on the subject for how to store these adorable little items.

The systems I use are not earth-shattering or things that others have not probably already done, but they work for me. When you are trying to figure out how to sort all of your little embellishment bits, I am going to suggest you ask yourself these three questions.

1. If you were designing a particular crafting project and pull out embellishments do you look for them based on type of embellishment (wood veneer, buttons, brads, stickers, etc...?)
2. Do you search for these items based on color (red, yellow, green, blue, purple...?)
3. Do you search for items using a little bit of both of these?

If you are like me, you probably found that all three of these were a little bit true. That realization can make it so baffling to figure out how to sort all of this little stuff. What I would highly recommend is to seriously down size all of these little things. If you have less to store, the items you do have are easier to find. Once you have downsized all of your little bits and pieces, then it's time to organize them in a way that makes sense to you and your creative process.

One storage solution that I have found that works really great for embellishments was this letter sorter from Staples. It is from the Martha Stewart collection, but unfortunately I do not see them online anymore. They are just a basic letter sorter/ mail center organizer that you can find just about anywhere. I found a similar acrylic option at The Container Store that has divided sections that I think would also work really well for sorting embellishments. You can find that HERE.

I use this letter sorter for items I have pulled for a project

 this letter sorter is used to organize embellishments by type, such as, 

labels, tags, enamel dots, and mistable shapes

I store other larger embellishments in these three bins. They are located on my white bookcase behind my craft table and very easily accessible.

The first two pins hold my accessories (sorted by type) 

and the last one is for items I have pulled for projects

Now this is my favorite organizing find to date and one that is working so great for me. I use this to sort all of my little bits of this and that which are not kept in their original packaging. This is also working really great for printable labels and embellishments, random stickers that were left on sticker sheets, and also vintage tickets and what not.

  This acrylic compartment box is from the Container Store. 

You can find that link HERE. It is my 

favorite small embellishment organizer ever!

If I want a little embellishment in a specific color I just pull it out, grab what I need, and put it away. I keep this acrylic tray safely stored and tucked away in my white Jetmax cube on my white bookcase located behind my craft table. You can find Jetmax cubes at Michael's craft stores HERE.

acrylic tray storage

I store embellishments that come with kits in little white ceramic bowls that I purchased from either Target, Pier One, or World Market in the $1-$2 range.

kit embellishments

more kit embellishments

shipping tag storage

all of my white ceramic bowls grouped together

The Breakdown of How I Store Little Bits of This and That

• Labels, enamel dots, tags, and mistables are stored in a letter sorter
• Items pulled for projects are stored in my second letter sorter
• I have pull our drawers that store larger embellishments still in their original packaging
• I use an acrylic tray to sort printable labels, cut out stickers, and other small bits (sorted by color)
• I use ceramic bowls to sort wood veneer, kit embellishments, buttons, confetti, sequins, and any other bits and baubles.

Let's talk storage. How are y'all sorting your little bits of this and that? What fun ideas have you implemented into your space? My friend, Taniesa, from The Crafty Pickle has a blog post discussing a really inexpensive ( and I believe totally ingenious) way to store little embellishments that you do not want to forget to use. You can find this blog post HERE. If you stop by Taniesa's blog make sure to send her some love and tell her I sent you. 

I will be back tomorrow with some cards to share, and next week I will be soon with another Scrapbook Organization Thursday: Organizing Project Life. Next week, there will also be posts with scrapbook layouts, Project Life, and with a little luck a full studio tour (I am really trying to get the last little bits finished.) I hope to see you here.

I hope you all have a very Happy Thursday and Happy Scrappin'

xoxox

Toni